Letting lunch settle!

Woody got to go to a Christmas lunch which was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with old friends over some good food and drinks. What I thought would be a couple of hours turned out to be more like 6! However there was still an opportunity to do a bit in the Man Cave as well as let lunch settle and the 09 gauge skip wagons that I have got to go with the 3D print loco came out of their box to see what needed doing.

First off there was a small amount of  smoothing to do to the bottom of the skips.

With that done the three skip bodies were looking good.

The skip chassis have been deigned to accept standard n gauge wheelsets. Whilst I want to paint the parts before adding wheels I thought it best just to see how it worked out before I got too far. An old wagon from my n gauge stock supplied some wheels on a temporary basis and they fitted a treat. As the n gauge wagon needs its wheels back I will see if the WMD Stores have any spares in stock and if not then they are something that can be bought in.

The skip itself is made up of three 3D printed parts, the skip itself, a cradle to hold it and the chassis to which the cradle is fastened.

The cradle just sits on the chassis and needs no work to clean it up or get it to fit.

At this point I could not resist putting he three wagons temporarily together and standing them on a piece of track with the loco.

I'm impressed with how well the wagons and loco look together. Apparently the real Caravan loco can only haul three skip wagons so this is an authentic train! I need to now figure out a way of coupling the wagons and loco together. There is provision in the 3D prints to fit Peco 009 couplings but I am thinking something more authentic such as a bar and pin coupling made out of something like brass strip and rod. However I will ponder over that as I let ;unch settle!

Relaxed!

Another day at the Rocks by Rail Museum where out of season without guests things can be a little more relaxed. 

No one about in the workshops so where are they? Well I should have known -in the snap cabin with tea on the go and relaxing!

Even once out of the snap cabin it was one of those days when relaxing was the order of the day and I cannot blame anyone for that! The Museum is also about friendships and camaraderie.

 

Much as I also had a relaxing day I did get some work done. In the absence of anyone else involved in the gabion baskets/cages project I just used my time to source more rock/hardcore to fill the next set of baskets that are due to be delivered shortly. 

Having quarried out the source of dried out cement bags to the side of the plant shed it was time to discover new sources.

Now there is a way up the side of the plant shed....

Which leads to the back...

Where in all that undergrowth there is a veritable treasure trove of hardcore ready to be quarried!

 

I got about 10 wheel barrow loads out of there so there is plenty of infill material ready to go once the gabions arrive and the rest of the team are about, obviously relaxed from not being here whilst I am about! I was certainly relaxed as I left after another great day at the Museum!

Batteries not included!

This has arrived at WMD HQ.

So, what's in the bag Woody I hear you ask! Well it is this.

£5.15 off Amazon bought me a DC speed controller with direction switch. Bargain! You may be wondering what it is for. Well it can be used in conjunction with a suitable power source, in this case a PP3 battery which was not included, to power a small model railway loco which in this case is the Kato chassis under the 3D print Caravan loco that I posted about a few weeks ago.  As batteries were not included, (where have I read that before?) I did have to use a PP3 battery connector which the WMD Stores had in stock - they need to have a good range of stock as I tell Mrs. Woody when she wonders why I buy random things at railway shows, but I could have bought another one for no more than about 75 pence if needed. The battery was also in stock but could be bought for about £2,50. Connected all together temporarily and this is what it looks.

 

Having initially thought I had a bought a dud as it did not seem to work, I found my simple error of having connected the battery supply wires the wrong way round. After that was sorted it powered up Caravan and, well its is probably the best controller that I haver had! The loco simply crawls along at a very realistic speed and the speed control knob is very smooth to operate. So for a total cost, including the battery, of £8.37 I have a controller for this small project. Fantastic! Just need to build it now so that will be one of next years projects or possibly the year after or even the year after that!!!!

 

Red sky in the morning!

It was early rising at WMD HQ this morning which enabled me to take in this amazing morning sky! 

As the old saying goes, 'Red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning, shepherds warning'! However, not being a shepherd nor intending to be one, and I think most in the farming World would wish that to remain the case, I ignored the warning! However it was a cold day which is why I moved into my Man Cave to do a bit more scenery work which sees the last sub-base nearly finished.

This work features in the latest WMD YouTube production which is guaranteed to cure insomnia! Hopefully it will uploaded before the morning!

Neaarly there!

Just like the wait for Christmas, which I need to reassure Mrs. Woody if she is reading this will be worthwhile for her gifts, the landscape sub-bases are almost done! Just a slight problem in that the long section on the side which I wondered if it would hold together - well it didn't! However a quick decision to cut it in roughly half means I should still be able to use it.

My chosen cutting implement for this delicate and precision work? A saw! It did the job though!

With the sub-base seperated the remaining plaster impregnated bandage was applied followed by more goo and left to set on the floor with a small weight just to stop it warping as it dried.

One part in place......

Both parts in place with just that central piece left to go! Hopefully, given the smallish size there should be no issues so I can say 'nearly there' - famous last words!

Whilst shopping for Mrs. W's gifts I was able to catch a quick couple of pics of this Class 56 loco in Colas livery which is one you cannot really miss but I nearly missed the opportunity! Obviously I was too busy pondering upon Mrs. W's gifts........

It is a bit of a catching up with Christmas tasks day at WMD  so not a lot of model making taking place! However, such a day is always useful to look back on some of the achievements over the years. For instance this Italeri 1/24 scale DAR XF 105 tractor unit that I built in about 2013/4.

It was more or less a straight from the box build but I did convert the front axel to be steerable as the kits original was fixed in the straight ahead position. It was also an unusual kit in that Italeri used the mid roof cab version rather than there normal high roof version which visually makes a lot of difference. I do recall the decals were difficult to fit in place and the swear jar would have received a number of contributions whilst that task was undertaken! However it was worth it as with that bright orange paint job it does look good - well to me anyway!

So lets see this archive from the WMD vaults from about 10 years ago!

Natural goo!

Mixing more goo for the scenery sub-bases on my Last Great Project layout has reminded me that I have not talked about cycling much this year. And why did the goo remind me of that? Well, my bike is well and truly splattered with the natural stuff!

As I always say, I prefer to use the time to ride it rather than clean it. It all the muddy back roads that cause the issue and I guess I really need to do something before it literally becomes part of the natural landscape at the moment! I will leave it to your imagination what I look like after going out for a ride!

Back in the mud less WMD Man Cave, work progresses on the scenery with the 'gooing' of the large sub-base that I blogged about on Thursday now complete. I have now moved onto the large sub-base along the side of the baseboard. First off some carving of the foam/polystyrene has taken place with more to d later but this has allowed me to apply plaster impregnated bandage to one side first. The picture below probably explains it better than my words!

This time I applied the goo mix before all of the sub-base has been plastered. Not sure why I did this but it seems to have worked! With the sub-base temporarily back in place it is looking good to me!

I still have the other side to do.

Taking a wider look at the scene it is beginning to come together. Once the sub-bases are all plastered and gooed, it will be time to start adding some vegetation which really will bring life to the scene. In the meantime I will keep on plodding along - just like plodding on riding my bike. Which ever one I do I seem to end up with the same goo result!

 

The yoyo trolley!

It may have been a damp, misty and grey day at the Rocks By Rail Museum yesterday but that did not dampen the enthusiasm to get things done!

For me that involved yet more rock bashing to create more fill for the gabion baskets/cages which was made a lot easier by the fact that metal container that had stood near to the middle of the picture below had disappeared. Not sure where it went but no doubt that will be discovered another time!

It was back to piling some of the finer material quarried from the rock pile onto the platelayers trolley and then wheeling it up to site where this finer material was used to top off the gabions.

There is probably about 5 to 6 tons of stone there! That trolley has come in very handy but it must feel like a yoyo going back and forth!

With the gabions completely full it was time to backfill behind them. Luckily, there was a source of material just down the line so the trolley was wheeled down and excavation began!

Then, like a yoyo, it was back up the line to unload the trolley! 

Just about there as Alex and Gary rest after a hard days work! They probably need to rest as the next job is the set of gabions to go on top of these! 

Meanwhile, The darkness looking into the plant shed reveals that the roof is finally finished with the ridges now all in place. 

Just a few bits on the front and that project will be done. It may not look pretty but it does the job!

More goo Woody?

The landscaping work on My Last Great Project 00gauge layout is progressing with the latest sub-base of scenery completely covered with two layers of plaster impregnated bandage and I have now been able to comence the process of adding some texture. This has involved mixing more of the 'goo' type filler and paint mix and applying with a stiff brush to get a rock effect on the cutting part of the scenery.

Hopefully the top part can be textured in the next day or so and then it is onto that big piece of sub-base in the upper right of the picture. That will require a lot more goo Woody!

Leaf it out!

A day of small but satisfying jobs today. The type that take a n hour or so to complete but you can see a big difference after finishing them. Well that is what I thought as I raked, swept and bagged the leaves that have fallen onto the front garden thinking Mrs. Woody will be impressed by this major clean up which has resulted in six large sacks of sweepings that need to go to the recycling centre.

Not so! Mrs. W, when informed of my hard work and the resultant vast visual improvement, announced she could see no difference whilst looking at the back garden! Leaf it out please! Even when turned 180 degrees I don't think the improvement was noted by her despite the six sacks being in her view.

Back in the sanity of my leaf and Mrs. W free Man Cave, work continues on the scenery with more plaster impregnated bandage having been applied to the currently worked on sub-base. Hopefully that part of the work may het finished tomorrow if I don't have any more leaves to sweep up! Leaf it out!