What a difference a day makes!

Its been a long hard day but what a difference a day makes! Early this morning I ventured into the freshly plastered kitchen and began the task of painting on a misting coat of paint to seal the plaster. 

With that done it was then the neck aching task of painting the ceiling. And boy does my neck ache now! However it did look brighter in the room.

With two coats on the ceiling it was time for the walls and that was a lot easier and so the room is now at least in colour. It could all do with another coat and hopefully I can get that done tomorrow but Mrs. Woody will certainly notice what a difference a day makes when she gets home!

In the meantime I am going to be the victim for testing the bath out. I'm hoping for a bit of a soak to relax my muscles but that could depend on whether yesterdays repair of the split in it holds!

Talking of holds, the track links that I built up yesterday are now being fitted to the Tiger 1 turret. Hopefully they will hold!

There's a hole in the bath dear Mrs Woody!

There maybe some of you who recall the wonderful comic song, 'There's a hole in my bucket' and it is on YouTube  by clicking here.  I was reminded of this song as there was a slight disaster at WMD HQ yesterday with the bathtub gaining a 6 inch split in it rendering its water holding capabilities at nil! 

I won't say how it was caused but luckily I was not present at the time so am blameless!

Having reviewed the split I thought that was it for the tub. Mrs. Woody had already announced our intention to rebuild the bathroom to Phil the builder who wisely said it would be at least next year before he could get round to it so I had visions of having to have flannel bathing for the next 6 months! However, having regained my calmness a search of the internet showed that splits in baths are not that uncommon and there are ways to repair them. For something of the magnitude of the WMD bathtub a glass fibre repair seemed the best option. I had to go and put the banners for the August Bank Holiday events at Rocks By Rail (where I found there is some competition for visitors!) ....

...so it was the ideal opportunity to get the necessary repair materials. Strangely the WMD Store was out of glass fibre materials so I actually had to buy some! 

I won't tell you that Mrs. W thought that I had posed for the box illustration but I was impressed by the claims made on the Big Boy repair box! This stuff should repair just about anything if the claims were right. I just hoped that it lived up to expectations.

Bad as it was that the bath was split, that split had to be on the side of the bath against the wall so the whole bath had to come out. Now I fitted that bathtub decades ago so getting it out should have been simple. However, decades ago I was somewhat more flexible than now so it was a pig of a job. With the bath out and upside down the extent of the damage was more evident.

With the split pushed back together a small hole was drilled at the each end of the split to stop the it spreading. Then the area was sanded to roughen up the surface and give the glass fibre something to adhere to. As WMD HQ has a number of cats who would love to take part in the repair process and no doubt become a permeant part of the repair patch the door to the bathroom was shut. Even with the window open I was as quick as possible mixing the resin and applying it and three sheets of glass fibre mat to the repair area and getting out of the room before I began to see strange things!

An hour later I returned to the room where vapours had diffused and the resin had set. It looked good. With the tub back up the right way I ran some epoxy into the crack just as a belt and braces approach. It may be grey but ait sanded back and as the tub will be replaced it will do as long as it is water tight.

Looks OK, from a distance!

With everything connected back up the tub was filled! No leaks!!!! Now it just requires a suitable victim volunteer in the shape of Mrs. W to test whether it is capable of offering the full bathing experience it previously did. Mrs. W will be volunteering later!

Meanwhile, this slight distraction has meant that things that needed to dry in the kitchen rebuild have done so with these cats able to explore without leaving paw prints! I really need to get that painting started!

Despite all the excitement I have managed to construct seven track links for the Tiger 1 tank build. 

Dragon even make the track links complicated! Three parts for one link with the guides being a challenge to fit. Rather than try to clean them up as I cut them off the sprue I just glued them to the track and once set will clean them up - working smarter not harder as I get older! 

Floored!

After a week of hindering helping with the great kitchen rebuild I am floored! Shattered, Ready for rest! However the kitchen is now also floored! A self levelling compound was spread smoothing out the lunar landscape of the existing floor and hopefully leaving a near bowling green like finish! Just hope the cats don't get in before it dries!

The cat sat on the floor and getting plastered!

Murphy Cat, sat on the floor of the ripped out kitchen where his food bowl used to be and probably thinking, like me, when is this going to be back to normal!

There was a time when getting plastered was usually the result of a night out on the town but for me those days are long gone! Instead the kitchen rebuild has reached the stage where things start coming together with the walls and ceiling now plastered. John, the plasterer, did a fantastic job getting it all done in a day and with the warm, weather it should soon be dry.

It is fascinating watching a good plasterer as they seemingly defy gravity as they trowel on plaster and turn what looks like a disaster area into a smoothed surface ready for paint.

Meanwhile after a day of pulling electric cables through the underfloor area of upstairs which entailed emptying cupboards and pulling up carpets I did have half an hour in the Man Cave where another hatch is complete for the turret. 

I have also started the rear storage container that attaches to the rear of the turret.

There are some interesting brass etched clamps and padlocks for that storage container which look as though they could test my abilities and patience! Talking of which, I started bending these wing nuts up in the photo below from the etched sheet. They are designed to go under the turret hatch of the tank and there are 14 altogether but I suddenly thought why am I doing this? I'm never going to see them! So I made an executive decision and have left them off. Don't think Mrs. Woody will let me make decisions like that about the new kitchen though!

Insulated, boarded, hatched and time at the Museum!

 Its hard going at WMD HQ as I get involved in the kitchen rebuild but I did have time for a few hours at the Museum where work on the vacuum compressor saw some head scratching as the pulleys didn't match the drive belts available.

 I thought that three people on the job was a little top heavy and then I saw John emerge from underneath!

I also had some time to work on the Dragon Tiger 1 kit where the turret is coming together and put on the hull it looks so much netter.

Several hatches left to build yet  and given the number of parts that Dragon seem to like to make assemblies they won't be a quick or easy build!

Somewhat quicker is the kitchen rebuild where the ceiling was bought down enabling the electrician to have an easier job and the void is now insulated which should help with heat and noise. It just needs boarding and plastering. 

The back wall has now been rewired and boarded out ready for the plaster work. If only I could do things this quick!

  

Things move on!

Things move on! Firstly the turret of the Tiger 1 tank kit by Dragon is coming together with work on adding the various details and hatches. There are a lot of parts!

Plumbing in the kitchen rebuild has been going on with pipes installed for the sink and washing machine. 

The plaster board on the back wall was in such bad condition that the best thing to do was rip it off and reboard it. The plasterer will find it easier and quicker to skim new boards rather than patch in multiple holes and dents in old boards. Having ripped off the plaster board, Phil the builder revealed the horror of what lies under it. Not a great stud wall which literally had been thrown together by the looks of it. Phil was going to get some timber to strengthen it all but luckily WMD Stores had some in stock so that saved some time!

It certainly looks better for it.

Hopefully tomorrow things move on further with the electrician coming. Wonder what he will find!

Lets start putting it back together!

I'll talk about the WMD kitchen rebuild in a moment but first a bit on the Tiger tank build which despite the chaos is still being worked on. Continuing to build it gives me the sanctuary of my Man Cave where the normal level of chaos that I work in is less then that in the main house!

I have moved onto the main gun which needs to be constructed before the rest of the turret. As with all the other parts of this kit there are many more parts than some other kit manufacturers would include. The barrel is made up of eight parts with more for the breech. Most other kits would have two or three. I'm not complaining though! One thing that did surprise me was that with the inclusion of a metal spring the barrel, when assembled has a recoil action!

Some of the parts assembled.

The barrel assembled (apart from the muzzle) along with the breech and it all being mounted in the mantlet.

With everything square and straight I used a clamp to raise the assembly and left it to dry.

Meanwhile, Back in the chaos of WMD HQ, there has been some plumbing work. I always thought that the water pressure was not that great and Phil the builder found out why! As a new stop tap was required he was going to try to move it into the concealed pipe cover. Digging through the floor he found that whoever originally put the pipe in bent it almost crushing it and therefore reducing the amount of water that could get through. 

You can probably see the bend and crushed bit better in this photo.

Having worked his magic the crushed part is cut out, the new, can't seize stop tap is now located inside the cover and all looks good.

Well that is the first step forward on the kitchen rebuild and putting it back together. Lots more steps to go - just like the Tigger tank build!

Chaos at WMD!

 At the start of the day WMD HQ had a functioning kitchen. It may have been old like me but as I had debated with Mrs. Woody on numerous occasions it still, just like me, functioned. Mrs. W's counter was that like me it showed its age and was somewhat tatty round the edges! Fair enough! I can not argue with that!

Before.....and I have to give credit to Mrs. W for moving a lot of stuff out yesterday as I was at the Rocks by Rail Museum....

During... and Phil the Builder has been brought to his knees by the enormity of the task or discovering my bodges over the many years that I fitted and adapted the kitchen or as it was the nottest day of the year or by the fact that I was hindering helping him!

After......  well those are still to come!

Meanwhile yesterday stint as Second Man on the diesel during Driver For a Fiver which at the time felt exhausting now feels as though it was a breeze! It was a great day with about 25 more people able to say they have driven a locomotive!

Now what's for dinner Mrs. W given we don't have a kitchen!

Brassed off!

The inside of the lower hull of the Dragon Tiger tank has been painted white. I am thinking of leaving the hatches open and whilst there is no full interior detail to the tank, at least seeing some white through the hatches might give some impression of something being in there!

With th previously painted fans and radiators masked the white could be sprayed to the interior of the lower hull.

With the masking removed it certainly all looked different!

At this stage it was time to be brassed off with trying my hand at creating some of the small etched brass parts. First off are the holders for the tools mounted to the hull top. There are three parts. the lower one and then two on top which involves creating a hinge type joint. Given the size and my inabilities it is a miracle that these are actually being made by me. So far I have made three taking 45 minutes to do! That brassed me off especially as I have another four to do!

Front end work means double the work!

Time to do some work to the front end of the Dragon Tiger 1 tank kit. First off was to construct the two hatch covers. Now most of the older kits that I have seen for a Tiger do the hatch in two or three parts. This one takes six which means double the work!

The front mounted machine gun would have normally been about 3 or 4 parts but on this kit eight!

The lamp is four parts as opposed to the usual two.

Whilst it may be slow and painful to construct kit parts like these there is a sense of satisfaction that it has been done and with minimal contributions to the swear jar - although that is not always the case! Anyway the front end is coming on but I still have to deal with some tiny etched nrass parts which may see the swear jar swell!