Hooked!

Today continuing the building of the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier it was a matter of getting hooked or rather the lack of hooks. The towing hook for the trailer was broken off and missing and a hook was needed for the winch cable. It was a dive into the WMD HQ stocks of bras wire to find something suitable to bend to shape. They would not be scale but better than what I had or indeed not got. They were soon done and put into their respective places.

Other jobs done included fitting the folding windscreen and the cab doors. I just need to fit the Power Take Off equipment for the winch and the exhaust and then that will finally see the chassis finished. I will be glad when it is finished as it is fragile and not the prettiest thing to look at. Once the body parts are on it should gain significant strength. Top side there are a few parts left to fix including the machine gun and its carrier and some tools so it may get built before Christmas. As mentioned yesterday the builders doing my conservatory rebuild did not turn up yesterday and again were missing today. Apparently they are all down with flu. So, the question is will the builders be back before I finish this build? Given my progress on most matters Mrs. Woody would be backing the builders!

Hiding the evidence!

In case Mrs. Woody is reading this I will start off with the fact that I did some more in-depth cleaning today and then got out into the garden which is more like a muddy field as described yesterday. Today I cleared up the fallen leaves. I tend to leave the leaves on the flower beds. They give some cover and protection to plants and it is amazing what can survive over the Winter and re-emerge in the Spring. They also provide the wildlife with a source of bugs. What is on the grass - I won't call it lawn as it is far from pristine - gets swept up. With the recent wind there are a lot about.

Usually the bags I fill get taken off to the recycling center but with builders on site who did not turn up today and their skip on my drive the leaves got put in there - all five big  bags worth!

Now you may say, that's all well and good Woody but if the wind blows tonight they will all blow out again! Thought of that and with my philosophy of working smarter not harder as I get older I pushed some of the skips contents over to cover the leaves! Not only that but the evidence of my leaves was hidden! The perfect crime! Knowing my luck though, the bottom of the skip will fall out when it gets lifted revealing my activity!

Hopefully Mrs. W satisfied that I have been working hard will not read as far as this so I can say that with a feeling of wellbeing after my days work  I took a well deserved, to me anyway, hour off to work some more on the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier. The front bumpers needed reattaching and when they were broken off at some point before I bought the kit they took some of the chassis with them. The winch that was attached to them was also in pieces.

The missing chassis was replaced with two pieces of square section plastic strip which conveniently filled the gap and once the glue set it was filed to shape.

I also strengthened the chassis on both sides with some plastic strip which will be mostly hidden when the body is fitted. Either that or I can argue that it was a field repair following the activity of a reckless driver.

The winch was also rebuilt. Strangely enough the drum had no representation of a cable so a raid on Mrs. W's sewing kit (I really do hope she has not read this far) saw some black cotton liberated and wound round the drum. I just need to fashion a hook of some sorts to go on the end.

In my inevitable way I temporarily put the chassis, load bed and cab together to see what it looks like so here are some picture of that. 

It is coming on! Just wish my rebuild of the conservatory was! Hopefully the builders are back tomorrow unaware of the hidden evidence in the skip!

Hot? Well at least it is warmer!

At last the warmer weather arrived today after yesterdays disappointment. Yay! For the first time in twelve days I actually managed to get out on my bike. The strong wind and the lack of recent pedaling activity made the 14 miles feel more like 140. Just 44 more to do to get to that 6000 miles total target for the year. 

Back at WMD HQ, following recent works on digging foundations, the outside resembles a mud quarry after a particularly wet day with added additional mud added just for even greater muddiness. Nice! Much of this unfortunately has been traipsed into the house, mainly by me, which as can be imagined has not gone down well with certain others at WMD HQ! Today I did think it best to have a major clean of floors which has at least meant I no longer risk slipping up inside.

There was time to do a bit more on the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier and I needed to finish the cab in order to get it mounted to the chassis. There are several control levers in the cab including the gear shifter as well as others which I guess are related to the 4 wheel drive system and the winch which some trucks were fitted with at the front. On this part built kit there was the gear shifter and one other lever in the bag of bits so two levers were missing and the holes in the floor needed filling with replacements.

Some suitable plastic rod was cut to size.

With theses glued into place and set aside to dry I turned my attention to the hood and fenders ( I use the American terms as this is a truck from the USA) and fitted the lights. Fortunately these were still attached to the sprue but disappointingly the main headlights had big sink holes in the lenses. 

I dabbed some filler into the offending holes and then fitted them and the other light units onto the fenders. The photo below shows both the lights and cab located levers fitted.

Just to make sure the lights were correctly positioned I temporarily put the grill into place. It looked OK. In fact it takes on a whole new look - very beefy.

I did have company today with young Monty actually not being his usual inquisitive destructive self but just lying there watching me - most unusual! Then he needed a scratch just as I took the photo! He must have been getting hot in this warm weather.

So, where is this warmer weather?

Waking up this morning I was anticipating a day of steadily increasing temperatures bringing an end to this particular cold spell. Although technically the temperature rose it was not much and it felt colder this afternoon then for the previous week and a half. Probably down to the cold wind and rain. This sort of weather is not exactly enticing to do much other than try to keep warm and watch a few films. Todays choice was a rerun of the two Sherlock Homes films - I may have seen both many times but they still entertain! To bring about that feeling of warmth the WMD HQ fire was lit. It is not a big fire place but just enough to generate some heat and give that cosy feeling on a cold, wet Winters day!

They say animals are frightened of fire but the steady stream of the WMD HQ feline fleet to warm themselves in front of the fire perhaps shows something strange with my cats!

Despite the delights of a good film, a warming fire and a comfy sofa I did manage to get the canvas cover fully mounted over the cargo bed. It was a bit of a struggle and there was almost a contribution to the swear jar but with some super glue it all went together reasonably well.

I will need to finish the cab and then get that, the hood and the cargo bed mounted on the chassis which will see most of this kit finished as fas as building goes. Painting it will be entertaining no doubt but I need some warmer weather before I can consider that. Now where is that weather forecast....

A day of nothing much!

Every now and again you get one of those days where you don't feel like doing anything and nothing gets done! Today was one of those days with most of it spent watching TV or on the tablet. Even feeding ourselves Mrs. Woody and me went for the unhealthy option of a visit to a nearby Fish and Chip shop because it was quick and easy. She had chips with fish whilst I went for the more meat focused option of chips and pork pie! Tasty!. Not too bad as we only do these things rarely.

Back at WMD HQ it was a case of looking at what was on TV and I noticed a rerun of the 1970s comedy series Fawlty Towers staring John Cleese. Loved the two series that were made and still love the reruns. One of the early episodes has Basil Fawlty driving his car which keeps breaking down. Eventually he threatens it with 'a damn good thrashing' if it doesn't start. Obviously it doesn't so he does give it a thrashing. You can see that clip on YouTube by clicking here. 

It did remind me that in my odd ball collection of models I do actually have a Corgi recreation of that scene. Bought second hand at a model railway show for a modest price it is something to look at, get nostalgic and reminded about some good laughs and generally feel better about the World and life in general. In fact it is a bit of a tonic! 

Hopefully tomorrow will be slightly more productive - but I did enjoy the chips as did Mrs. W!

WMD HQ gets a moat!

As the old saying goes, every Englishman's home is his castle. Well despite Mrs. Woody and the cats probably having a greater call on the house then me I never the less think of it as my castle. And now, it has a moat! Well not a full blown moat but the foundation dig out is complete and the ground water is beginning to fill the trench so it does look like a moat!

The concrete was supposed to be poured today to provide the footings but apparently the -6C overnight froze the concrete plant so nothing was coming out of it. It is now scheduled for Tuesday ay which point the UK will be basking in 10C to 15C so it will be almost like a heat wave - I hope!

With everything going on at the moment there has not been much time to do any model making but I did grab a few moments to start dealing with the canvas cover to the cargo bed of the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier. The kit has several parts that provide the uprights to support the canopy above the caro bad but looking at these some where warped and all looked a little fragile..

 I took the decision to replace them with some sturdy brass wire so the ten required were cut to length.

These were superglued to the canopy and it now awaits fitting to the cargo bed.

I am hoping to get some more done over the weekend unless of course the weather improves so much that I need to mow what is left of my lawn!

Digging a deep hole!

Mrs. Woody often says that I dig a big hole for myself! However in this case someone else is digging a big hole at WMD HQ as the foundations are dug for the conservatory replacement. They are certainly doing a better job than I could!

Apparently building regulations require the foundations match the original house foundations. Being built on clay I knew they would be relatively deep perhaps 3 foot or so but I wasn't expecting this!

5 foot deep! There is going to be a lot of concrete going into that foundation but hopefully I can rest assured that there will be no subsidence issues in the future. 

In the meantime the cats are missing their cat conservatory. Here is Holly looking out in bemusement or maybe she is on guard in case I drop in the hole!

Whilst all this was going on Mr Beecham visited me complete with his latest model a Tiger tank> a fantastic model which I forgot to photograph so I will need to get him to send a photo. He also brought some model railway locos. It turns out his Dad had an n gauge layout which is stored in Mr. B's garage. We talked about the relative merits of n gauge which I had mentioned in a post a few days ago. The biggest is size and just to give an illustration the difference here are two photos showing this clearly. Firstly are two class 33 locos.

Secondly are two Class 08s. This photo clearly shows the detail that digital photography allows as you can see all the gathered dust. Must get the duster out! Model railways need dusting? Never seen that on Mrs W's chore list and probably never will!

The main thing to me that these phots show is that although the 00 gauge models will have much finer detail the n gauge locos do have a relative level of detail for their size. Pity the dust doesn't scale out! Obviously other modellers can have different views and you can soon get involved in deep arguments on the merits of both scales depending on the preference of those doing the arguing. For me I just like both scales but saying that can see me digging a hole for myself in certain circles so I will stop there which would surprise Mrs. W!

Destruction and construction.

A day of mixed things today. The destruction was the continued work on demolishing the remains of the conservatory.  

Small machines but they do otherwise back breaking work!

The strange thing about the old conservatory was that I knew it was a prefabricated structure with sectional concrete walls and wooden window panels on top. However what I and the professionals did not know was that the base was also prefabricated with 4 sectional floor slabs. How they were moved into the back of the house is beyond me as they weigh about a ton each. What was even more surprising is what was in the middle under the four slabs.

That is a manhole cover! 

Thoughts of all sorts of problems went through everyone's mind. However, once fully uncovered it was just a handy slab that the erectors of the original conservatory used to lay the four corners of the precast floor slabs on. Sighs of relief and everyone went back to calm breathing!

Hopefully tomorrow sees the end of destruction with the foundations being dug and Friday concrete poured.

Back inside WMD HQ work on the construction of the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier carried on with the trailer. A fairly simple build and looks good - to me anyway!

I was lucky in that this part of the kit had not already been started so I was not destructing and correcting other peoples bodges - just creating my own!

All change at WMD HQ!

My World at WMD HQ is somewhat different today! Yesterday saw the commencement of Mrs. Woody's biggest item on her chore list. The old and somewhat decrepit conservatory that I called the cat conservatory as it became the go to place for the WMD HQ fleet of felines and has been standing since I understand 1972 is no more!

Being sensible I know my limits and although 20 years ago I would have done the whole job myself  this time I have called in the professionals! Being smarter and keeping my body relatively healthy and injury free in my old age! In addition having someone else do the job means there is a good chance it actually gets finished!

After a few hours it was no more! Not only that but the small but the back breaking saving machines have arrived. They are going to make quick work of digging the new foundations! They left me the keys too! 

I never thought that these machines would fit down the narrow path at the side of the house but.....

The guys are coming back at the end of the week. Apparently their current job is causing them problems with frozen sand and gravel. Allk the more reason why I have let them do the job!

Meanwhile the house is in a bit of a mess with stuff having to be moved although part of the feline fleet seem happy with their new vista and lounging arrangements.

Despite spending much time trying to get some semblance of order back in the house I did get a few minutes on the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier kit. I made up the front wheels so I could get all six wheels on the chassis to see if I could solve the issues I talked about yesterday with one of the rear wheels standing in the air. I have managed to slice the rear spring from the chassis so I should be able to get all the wheels on the ground with some manipulation. 

Initial posing looks promising. It will be interesting to see if I finish this build before the building work is complete!

Warp factor!

This is not a post about Star Trek and reaching Warp Factor speeds in a quest to go to places no one has gone before. This is a post about dealing with a warped chassis in a quest to build a model that most others would probably bin!

On the positive side the cargo body is coming along as are some of the other parts.

Despite showing progress, putting some wheels on the rear two axles illustrates a significant factor - the chassis and/or axles are warped with three of the wheels touching the ground and one up in the air! 

What I do about it is something I am thinking about. With the chassis having been broken and repaired it is not the strongest structure to start twisting to cure the warp if it is in this part of the kit. Like wise trying to straighten axles is going to cause possible damage. I could just shape the ground of a diorama base to suit the wheels! What is certain is that like most of my projects it is highly unlikely to be conducted at warp factor speeds!