A small step forward as I get the profile boards for My Last Great Project Layout painted in the customary WMD Slate Grey. I took them off the baseboard to make painting easier and once dry they can be reattached which will be another small step forward! Mrs. Woody though, is still waiting for steps forward with her list of jobs for me to do!
Whilst waiting for the glue to dry on my ballasting job from yesterdays post, I needed something else to do so I commenced demolishing a wall! Not on Mrs. Woody's list but never the less a job that needs to be done. WMD Towers has a bow window. A bow window is different from a bay window in that whilst the bay window is constructed from the ground up the bow window is just a window frame that looks like a bay window but without the brickwork underneath, Back in 2004, to hide the ugly wooden supports and the less then perfect brickwork I constructed a false bay window brickwork as well as a porch (which is still fine as it had deep foundations!). It did the job until in 2016 with the draught, the clay that the foundation stands on dried out more than usual and the false wall started to lean forward. I had not tied the wall into the existing brickwork deliberately because I always suspected there may be an issue and I did not want the false wall pulling on the main structure. Now that was either good planning or just an excuse for not digging deep enough foundations. However when I say the WMD Towers foundations go down 5 feet you ay understand why I did not follow with the false wall! What started as a slight lean has progressed over the years so it is time to demolish and rebuild! You can see the gap in between the window sills and the brickwork showing just how much the wall was leaning.
A carful use of hammer and cold chisel has seen brickwork butchery progress!
Despite calling it brickwork butchery, I have only broken two bricks for which the WMD Stores have spares so most will be reused once I sort out the foundation!
Whilst the wiring the that I described in some previous posts is finished on the baseboard the original ballasting that I did some time ago was never finished (not unusual for me) and to be blunt, some parts were not as I would want them to be. That was partly down to the fact that the baseboard was in place on the layout and I could not reach very well. With the baseboard away from the layout I had the perfect opportunity to put right what is wrong and finish the project. Now ballasting is not the most exciting job to do but it can be relaxing so I have had a few hours of soothing work to relax me! And you do see some progress although I will need to wait for the dilute PVA glue that I spread over the top to dry before doing anything else! That should give me some more time to relax or do some jobs on Mrs. Woody's list!
It was my birthday some days ago and as always Mrs. Woody did me proud with some fantastic gifts. I won't say how old I am but as a hint, if you add the two numbers of my age together you get a number between 11 and 19!
Whilst loyal blog reader Mrs. B works that one out I will get to the gifts.
First off there is this Gecko Models 1/35th scale Cruiser tank which has a fighting compartment interior to it. Probably one of the less know WW2 tanks it will no doubt be an interesting build and should add something unusual to the collection. Not built a Gecko kit before so that will be something new for me too. Just hope there is not too much in the way of small and fiddly etched brass parts!
Well, just under a year to go to the next gift day!
It is back to wiring on the fourth baseboard of My Last Great Project model railway layout and I am pleased to say that it is done! Well just about. I just need to attach the chocolate box connector to the baseboard and harness the wiring runs together but that is it! The point motors are all installed and working despite me wiring two on the crossovers in the track back to front but that was easily solved after trying to work out for two hours what was wrong! That swear jar is becoming rather heavy! It is amazing how sometimes the most obvious can be so difficult to spot as I often inform Mrs. Woody as she enquires about progress with her 'For me to do list'!
These two chocolate box connectors will eventually take the wiring to the yet to be built control panel. The great thing about these are they are robust and easy to join and take apart.
Maybe the swear jar contains enough for a custom built control panel?
Having missed going to the Rocks by Rail Museum last week, more about why another day, I arrived to find that the Museum is planning t go hi-tech! Now Hi-tech for the Museum is not some form of digital display or inductive cooker, it is in fact to control the points on site from a central lever frame saving a lot of walking! What is a lever frame you ask. Well it is this only it is its side in the photo from where it was delivered.
Just as I predicted yesterday, I had another butterfly moment and although there is still wiring to finish on the baseboard I decided to make a start on the profile boards! some 3mm ply was used and it was a job and a half to mark everything out so that it matches up to the other already in place boards as well as the scenery modules already constructed. However, the initial job is done.
Wiring continues on My Last Great Project layout with the point motors having been fitted which is never an easy job. Basically you have to feed the actuation pin from under the baseboard and try to get it through the small hole in the tiebar of the point. It is a bit like keyhole surgery! You then have to ensure that the motor will actually work the point and then mark and drill holes through the mounting plate of the motor into the baseboard and screw it in position. A third or indeed a fourth hand would be useful! However, success eventually came about with all eight now in place.
Further back ache and contributions to the WMD swear jar have seen six of the eight motors actually wired up.
There is still a lot to do once the wiring is finished including things on the surface of the baseboard including profile boards and tidying up the ballast as well as thinking about the scenery. In my butterfly mood at the moment of fliting randomly from one job to another who knows what tomorrow may bring!
In one of my butterfly moments of fliting from one thing to another, I have put aside the oil depot kit for a while to allow me to get on with the wiring of the final board of four on My Last Great Project layout. There is some logic behind this in that I would rather get this job done whilst the warmer weather is with us. Nothing worse then dealing with wires in a cold room!
The big clear off from the board of rolling stock and yet to be attached scenery saw the board on its side.
Building this Ratio Oil Depot kit has been very laid back and relaxing for some reason which makes a nice change from my usual plastic part panics where some calamity strikes meaning hours of searching for a lost elusive but critical part or trying to unglue a wrongly located part getting finger prints everywhere from wet glue, etc, etc! Hopefully this trend will continue to replicate itself in future builds. Somehow I doubt it though! Anyway, back to the oil depot and a relaxing time adding some etched dial faces to the various pipes and painting said pipes sees the project move on. Not too much more to do now!
On a different note, I have mentioned the classic K6 phone box on this blog before. They are very iconic and since they have been removed from the streets many alternate uses have been found for them including as garden tool sheds, green houses, showers, community book swap centres, and many other things including as a drinks bar. Prices of these phone boxes is high and you need about £2500 for a good one which means you seriously want to own one if you pay that. However, whilst out with Mrs. Woody, who was listing up products for future jobs for me to do, I saw this.
