One thing leads to another!

I recall a colleague at work relating the tale of his bathroom make over. His wife started by buying a new light pull handle as the old one had broken. That showed the cord up as being dirty which was replaced. The actual light switch was then deemed to look grubby and replaced. To cut a long story short by the time they finished the couple had replaced the entire bathroom all around a new light pull handle!

Having done the replacement work on the wardrobe in the spare room at WMD HQ it is obvious that something new in a room where the original paint on the walls was probably done some years ago makes everything else look well worn just like me! Hence, under Mrs. Woody's instruction one thing is leading to another for me and the room is now being painted, by me, which meant the wardrobe had to be emptied and moved to paint behind it. It is strange that the older you get the better you can foresee the finished project and basking in the joy of completing it but the actual work itself becomes more of a trial on an aching and worn body! Never mind it will get done but tomorrows job is a couple of visits to the recycling center to get rid of this lot.

I did have a few minutes to in my Man Cave to find the brother to my maroon Class 52 Western locomotive which is the blue BR version. Nice to have the pair of them and once I have time and if Mrs. woody doesn't decide to replace the bathroom light pull handle I may get round to adding name plates and head codes. Always nice to have something to look forward to!

A tiring day!

After yesterdays mega grass cutting session at the Rocks by Rail Museum it would have been nice to have a relaxing day. However Mrs. Woody had other plans!

Mrs. Woody came complete with a set of bedroom furniture when we married. The furniture was unexpected just in case anyone thinks that it was the furniture that drew me to her! It has remained with us for all those years moving from main to spare bedrooms but Mrs. W decided some months ago that it was time for some new furniture. I suppose better that then new husband! 

Today was the day it arrived so I was left this morning to clear all the stuff out of the old ones, dismantle them and then install the new ones. One of the problems of living somewhere for a long time is that stuff gets piled into rooms when really it should have gone to the tip or a new home a long time ago. I was surprised at what I pulled out and somewhat worried as the new furniture is slightly smaller overall. Anyway job nearly done although I ache and feel shattered with new furniture in place but I now need to sort out my valuable items and Mrs. W needs to sort out her junk! Whether she will actually then also want a new husband after that process or after she reads this is open to debate!

On the T34 tank front some progress with the hull now coming together. There are a lot of parts to this kit and whereas Italeri would have two parts for a fuel tank for example MiniArt have seven or eight parts. Still it makes it an interesting if not challenging build - just what I need after the last two days of work! 

One man went to mow!

Having a concert full of Bryan Adams songs going through my mind for the last day or so, those songs were replaced by one today - One Man Went to Mow! I spent the day at the Rocks by Rail Museum mowing grass and walked about 6 miles doing so! However it did look a lot tidier after and as this is what visitors first see driving into the site first impressions are important.

Whilst mowing that dump truck was passed by me on many occasions. It is a Euclid and is in running order but needs some TLC - a future project???? We will see! Maybe after mowing that meadow!

Rocks by Rail, Bryan Adams and 18 'til I die!

No, Bryan Adams has not become a volunteer at Rocks by Rail Museum or, as far as I know, visited it. However for me I had a day of volunteering on the Museum's open Sunday which saw a good attendance. The popular Driver 4 a Fiver event fulfilled many visitors long held desire to drive a railway locomotive and it was a delight to see so many smiles on faces.

In the evening Mrs. Woody, some good friends and me descended on a Bryan Adams concert. Been a fan of his ever sine Run to Me was released back in the mid 80's and have seen him in concert on many occasions. He is one of those stars who as far as I can make out never has a bad show and with nearly 40 years worth of material to draw on his concerts are always different. However the classic songs are always there and Summer of 69 had everyone standing. It was a late night but worth it although the £30 T shirts were not in my view so just great memories to record my attendance! Just got to get my hearing back!

He and I may go back a long time but we are both '18 'til I die!'

Retail therapy???

 In yesterdays post I described the brilliant Market Deeping Model railway Club Exhibition and how I went back in after lunch leaving Mrs. Woody and her book enjoying the sun. I had spotted a few items before lunch and this was the main one.

I have a weakness for EWS liveried locos and this was something special. A limited edition of 1000, three wagons included all weathered by TMC - The Model Centre - and fitted with a DCC sound decoder. It ticked a lot of boxes for me and so with no Mrs. Woody to act as monetary advisor money exchanged hands and it became mine. I also had an interesting conversation with the traders about all sorts of matters and that is what these shows are about - conversation. 

Getting it home the loco is superb with a really good Loksound DCC decoder and it sounds awesome. I do have some more of the wagons in my collection so hopefully the train will be a bit longer when I find them but in the meantime a few photos of this stunning model.

Market Deeping Model Railway Club Exhibition May 2022

I last went to this exhibition in 2018. In 2019 I was on holiday so I would have been unable to go. The reality was that no one was able to go as the exhibition was severely vandalised the night before opening. The media coverage was national in nature and the club received much support including from Rod Stewart who is a keen model railway enthusiast. However as was highlighted by many no amount of money could buy back the time taken to build many of the models. For some modellers the simple truth was and is that they will never have the life span to rebuild! That is a sobering thought. However, despite Covid, the club have come through and today opened their first exhibition since 2018 and wow! It was a great one.

The layouts were superb with the massive tail chaser from Hornby Magazine based on the West Coast Line attracting a lot of attention.

Some great modelling including the speed camera on the road bridge.

Something not often pictured is the fiddle yard on most model railway layouts. The Hornby layout had a massive and well stocked one complete with one of the new Accurascale Deltics with sound - Nice!!!! Possibly now on my list if Mrs. Woody isn't reading this!

Another crowd plaeser was this n gauge layout - The Spirit of Swindon. Superb presentation looking as though you were viewing a picture or a stage and with a massive control center at each end including monitor screens showing what was happening in the fiddle yards.

There were many other layouts and here are some photos. Apologies for those that are not included but they were all high quality and entertaining.

The skill of the modeller is really shown here with the way in which the flat background sheet just looks like the model carries on into it.

Mrs. Woody seemed to enjoy the show but after a couple of hours she was ready for lunch so back to the car for a sandwich. Then, whilst she sat in the sun reading another murder mystery (I should really be worried) I went back in for another look and some retail investment! More on that another time!

The club should be proud of what they have produced and its so good to see that they have come back so strong from the disaster of 2019.

Do you want to see my etchings?

Not some crude line from a 1970s comedy TV show but in this case the MiniArt Egyptian T34/85 tank has some parts made up from etched brass contained in a sheet of etchings.

I am now working on the front panel of the tank body and two of the parts are brackets that are made up of an etched frame and plastic swivel part. The size of what I am dealing with is perhaps best shown in a photograph.

This then needed folding into a U shape and the plastic part inserted. Good test of your eyesight and finger dexterity!

Two of these joined some other parts on the front panel. This is not going to be a quick build as this bit of modelling took an hour and a half!

Swan song!

Well not quiet my swan song but whilst out this morning on the bike I came across this.

Looks a bit strange but getting closer it was a young swan having a kip! It looked up at me as I took the photos and stretched before going back to sleep. An hour later as I headed home it had moved a bit further down the road but was enjoying the morning sun.

Back at WMD HQ it was time for some green house work and I spent a pleasant few hours pricking out seedlings into pots. I will be in good books with Mrs. Woody - I hope anyway! Still more to do but it is nice to see nature at work.

I even had time for a bit of model making. The two T34 Egyptian tank kits have been sitting in my Man Cave shouting out to be made and I have given into one of them! So in my usual grass hopper way of jumping from projects another now joins the list.

There are a lot of parts in the kit which is worrying.

So far I have managed about 30 or so of these parts which has got me a basic chassis so far.

|Having built the Italeri kit of the Russian version of this tank a couple of years ago this one is light years ahead of it in detail. However more detail can mean a harder and more likely to go wrong build so I will see how I go. I just hope this kit is not my Swan Song!