TGIF!

It has been a busy week so TGIF - Thank Goodness Its Friday! 

The week started with five pillars on the conservatory rebuild and ended with the plastering inside being finished!

Just the floor and final electrics to be done plus a few bits outside and then it is up to me, under direction of Mrs. Woody of course, to paint inside and return the Somme like mud bath that was the garden to something that does indeed resemble a garden!

At the end of last week, whilst still viewing the five pillars, I did get my RC Tiger tank up and running at a total cost of £2.49 for the batteries for the transmitter. I did also highlight that I also had a Panzer iii. Well following a visit to the shops the checkout had 8 suitable batteries in a pack for a mere £1.79. Even more of an bargain! Once installed in the transmitter it switched on and with the tank battery charged it moved under its own power for the first time in about 8 years. It has not got all the bells and whistles that the Tiger has but it drives and the turret rotates. I have the various details that need adding in the original box which is in the loft along with the box and details for the Tiger. I will need to add these at some stage but in the meantime I am just pleased that these two models still live!

 

Electric cookers and model making!

In my inevitable butterfly manner of working today saw the four pieces of track for the Italeri SU-100 assault gun joined together. No glue required! The method of joining entails two pins at one end of the track and two corresponding holes at the other end. in each. The pins at one end go through the holes in the other track piece and then using a suitably heated instrument of some sort, the pin is melted to form a sort of rivet to keep the two parts together.

With the inevitability of getting into trouble with Mrs. Woody, a ring on the electric cooker was used to heat the tip of a screw driver. This was then used to melt the pins.

This rather poor photo just about shows one pin melted and the other awaiting melting.

Having melted 8 pins I ended up with two finished tracks. I am not sure how strong the joints will be but I will find out when I eventually put them on the tank.

In the meantime I better make sure that screw driver is put away and then there will be no evidence of the use of the cooker - apart from this blog!

I've been framed!

 

Yes I have been framed with the rebuilt conservatory now has window frames and indeed even windows! It even has the first fit electrics! Things are moving on with the plasterer coming tomorrow!

Back on the model front, progress with the Tamiya Sd.Kfz 234/2 Puma has, as predicted, slowed down with the fitting of the smaller parts. This photo of the main parts left perhaps illustrates this better then I can describe.

However they are slowly being fitted like the lights, bumper and strap down points.

Thats a nicely framed photo!

Are they wings?

Some small progress with the Tamiya Sd.Kfz 234/2 Puma which now has the, for want of a better term (and because I don't actually know what they are called), wings mounted to the body. Joining the upper and lower hull together was fairly straightforward with just a touch of filler needed in a couple of places. This allowed the wings to be mounted and now I am beginning to mount the various small details to the upper hull which is a slow process but needs to be done with care. It is now looking good - well in my view anyway!

Being a particularly cold day today much of my time has been spent as Tea Boy creating warming drinks for the builders doing the conservatory rebuild. I am hoping that it is either warmer tomorrow or they bring their own flasksof hot drinks therefore freeing up my time! Neither of those is likely to happen but whatever comes my way I will just wing it!

A variety of things!

Yesterdays bike ride saw me in a small local village. As I approached the center I could see the rear of a truck that was parked up. That was unusual in itself for the village. However as I rode round it I  recognised the distinctive and unusual purple and yellow livery of the cab. It was, or rather had been as it had been stripped of the company name, an Edwin Shirley Trucking truck. 

To some that may mean something but if not let me explain. EST as it was also known was a firm started in the mid 1970's as a music transport company moving the equipment of most of the major big bands to and from concert venues. I can well remember seeing their trucks parked up near music venues in my mis-spent youth. At the time and well before todays vinyl wrap liveries, most trucks were plain traditional blues greens and browns. EST trucks really did stand out - you could not miss them even if you had a few beers. I can recall reading an article on them around that time and the transport manager stated that the livery was designed just so no matter how much beer you had you would indeed remember their trucks. 

The other distinctive thing about the trucks was the company logo that was always under the windscreen - You rock, we roll! 

Given that this truck still had that I knew it had really been an EST truck. I really do like that livery even after all these years and if I had the skills I would paint one of my truck kits up in these colours. Another one for my list of 'like to do' things.

What it was doing in that village is anyone's guess but I am unaware of any major names in music playing a concert in the local village hall!

Back at WND HQ the conservatory rebuild has progressed with a roof now in place!

Progress indeed! Mrs. Woody is looking forward to its completion for me it means I then have to paint it inside and sort the garden mud pit which has formed as a result of the work.

Yesterdays post detailed that the Heng Long Tiger tank was brought back to life. What I did not say at the time is that it has a smaller brother! This is a lesser spec Panzer III. Again not operated for about 8 years so I will have to see if the battery will still hold a charge and probably invest another £2.49 in some batteries for the transmitter.

I really need a Sherman tank now to have a battle - mind you if Mrs. W thought that I was really getting a Sherman I can see me having a battle of my own where the odds are very much against me!

More of the Tiger.

The Tiger tank got a decent charge to its battery today for a bit more of a play test. Given that it is clean and has not benefitted from the current muddiness of the WMD HQ garden I feel confident and indeed brave enough to test it discreetly inside the HQ. I have however refrained from firing the BB pellets from the main gun and the exhaust smoke is something that will have to await an outside run. As long as Mrs. Woody doesn't start enquiring as to what those strange tank like noises are and why there are track marks across the carpet I think I will get away with it!

Under test it certainly does all the things I remember it doing. It is not the greatest radio controlled tank in the World and has its faults. The engine sounds are a little gimmicky, the overall control of motion, despite it being proportional (i.e. you can control the speed it runs at through the joystick), is a bit jerky and the machine gun and main gun are a bit crude. However for the price, and I believe these now cost about £150, you get a lot of kit for the money and a first step into the RC tank World. After that you can pay £6K and upwards if you want the ultimate in RC tanks! 

For me I just love the play value of the thing! Told you all I was a big kid! Having got it out of hibernation it will see some use and so far all I have invested is in getting it rolling again is £2.49 for the transmitter batteries. Bargain! Although no matter how I would explain it to Mrs. W, she would not see it as a bargain but you can't win every argument.

As today was very much about seeing the tank move and doing its actions, it makes sense to do away with the static pictures and have a short (about 1 minute) video of it performing.

The Tiger lives!

Searching my memory and believe me that is not a great place to look for anything, I was trying to recall the last time my radio controlled Tiger tank actually was used. I am thinking at least 8 years ago. Given that length of time I thought that it was unlikely that the Ni-cad battery pack would take a charge. The transmitter on the other hand works on 8 AA batteries. Depending on the brand you buy that can be quite a costly exercise which if the Ni-cad battery didn't work would at this stage be a bit of a waste. 

Whilst pondering on this dilemma I transported Mrs. Woody to the delights of Aldi to pick up a few bits and whilst queuing at the checkout wondering why we had a trolley full when we only came in for some soup I noticed a pack of 10 AA batteries for £2.49. Now that is my sort of pricing! They went on the checkout belt lost in amongst Mrs. W's 'we could do with these' items.

Back at WMD HQ the batteries were fitted to the transmitter and I was pleased that the power light came on when switched on.

Getting into the tank itself was a mystery. I just could not remember but after a bit of poking, prodding and pulling access was gained. The original plastic chassis was replaced with an aftermarket metal one by me when the plastic cracked around the rear wheels. The tank itself has a number of features. The main gun fires 6mm BB pellets, it has engine and gun sounds and with the right oil the exhausts give out smoke. All this for a price of about £69 back in about 2008 (I think) which was great value at the time. 

With access to the insides I disconnected the battery from the tanks wiring and connected it to the charger. I left it for about 15 minutes then reconnected it in the vain hope that some life may be in it. Switch on transmitter, move joysticks and nothing. Then I remembered there is a on/off switch on the tank itself. Slid that across and suddenly the lights on the tank came on and moving the joysticks it moved with engine noises. Brilliant! I did manage to get the hull top back on and had a play test for about 5 minutes before the battery went flat. Hopefully with a full charge I should get about half an hour out of it. All in all a great result and something else to now waste time on according to Mrs. W!

A small amount of progress on the Tamiya Sd.Kfz 234/2 Puma with the interior seat bases painted a brown to simulate leather and the steering wheels painted black.

I was going to weather the interior but given that it will be all but invisible once the upper hull and turret are in place I am just going to leave as it is. Viewing through the open turret hatches will at least reveal a painted interior.

Bricking it and another Tiger at WMD HQ!

Not that I am worried about Mrs. Woody's reaction to one of my ill conceived actions but more moving bricks. There are about 200 bricks left over from the brick work of the conservatory rebuild and I have a number of projects - some known and approved by Mrs. W and others...well lets just say I am sure she will like them when they are finished - that they will be used for. Only thing is that they needed to come out of the way so it was up to me to move them to the side of the house where bricks and other 'useful someday' items are stored.

Almost neat stacking!

After that I had a bit more of a tidy up to assist and things actually are less muddy and building site like. However my back is paying the price!

On the model making front nothing has happened but following on from Mr. Beechams Tiger tank that I featured yesterday I did unearth my 1/16th scale Heng Long Radio Controlled Tiger. You can tell by the dust on it that it has been resting for some while but given the current building site conditions at WMD HQ I am tempted to see if the battry will still charge and give it a run! Untilk then here are a few photos.

I will go into more detail about it in another post but it does fire BB pellets!

The Tamiya Tiger Tank - A beast of a model!

Whilst it was a busy day here at WMD HQ as I sorted through junk which has been made homeless as a result of the conservatory rebuild, unfortunately no time for model making activities. Therefore I am grateful that my friend, Mr. Beecham, sent through some pictures of his recently completed Tamiya 1/35th scale Tiger tank. I did see this when he popped round just before Christmas and it is, if you excuse the pun, a real beast of a model. 

He has modelled it on the the famous 007 numbered Tiger that was commanded by Michael Wittman in WW2. If you want to find out more about him then Wikipedia has some information which is available by clicking here. In the meantime here are some pictures of Mr. B's masterpiece set in a diorama.

A brilliant touch is the crew looking at a map trying to make sense of where they are.

I do like that lamp post - very period and adds some further interest to the scene.

That famous 007 used way before James Bond.

The anti magnetic mine coating of zimmerit was added my Mr. B to the kit by covering the relevant parts of the hull in plastic putty and then using a scriber to produce the texture - superb!

Getting bogged down!

Whilst the rebuild of the conservatory is now making progress the bad weather and the scale of the work means that Woody HQ is looking a bit like a recreation of the Somme back in WW1! There is mud everywhere and being in a clay area it clings and gets everywhere so literally I am bogged down as I move around especially getting to my Man Cave. Over the last two days the drainage for the roof of the conservatory has been put in which meant digging a trench down my so called lawn and digging a large soak away. This has added even more to the recreation of the battlefields of WW1!

Being so bogged down means model making activities have taken a hit so I was pleased to be able to negotiate the mud and trenches to grab an hour in the Man Cave. This allowed me to give the interior of the Tamiya Sd.Kfz 234/2 Puma got another coat of white as the first coat was a bit patchy and the Italeri SU-100 assault gun got its first coat of Russian Green. 

Trudging back inside I now have the job of cleaning up the mud that I managed to bring into the house or Mrs. Woody will not be pleased! Bogged down in more cleaning - great!