Should I do crochet making rather then model making especially with point motor problems?

Given the problems I usually come across building models and at present the point motor installation on my 00 gauge layout I was set wondering if I should take up crochet making as I wondered down this road. 

I have been here before back in May when these bollards had crochet coronation themed tops and there was a blog post about it available here.. Today there were just various different items but all looked good and what could go wrong if I took up crocheting?

Well all sorts of unexpected problems would probably inflict my attempts at this creative art and as I have no bollards to cover the whole thing could be pointless anyway! So back to my point problems!

Yesterday I outlined that the point motor actuation pin required an extension and I had bought some ready made but expensive extension pins to make life easy! Wrong! The brass collar to join the point motor pin to the extension pin was too small to fit over the PECO pin! I tried heating it to expand it, drilling it out but no! However not to be put off I went into the depths of WMD HQ stores to find the brass tube I had used years ago to make my own extension pin collars. Ten minutes later I found it which was something I expected to take days to achieve! Anyway, with it found I cut suitable lengths off and used the bought in extension pins and some superglue to fit all the parts together.

Next problem was that the slot through which the pin goes in the PECO mounting plate was too narrow to allow the brass collar through. Out came a file and the slot was widened to allow the collar to go through without touching. With that sorted the point motor was mounted to the plate and the tags on the motor body bent over to secure it to the plate.

With that done I could begin mounting the motors to the underside of the baseboard. First job is to get the pin through the appropriate hole in the point operating arm - not the easiest job to do when you can only see one side of the board. Once done and the point motor maneuvered so that the point switched smoothly holes were drilled and the plate fastened to the baseboard.

I had to do some work with the track wiring to allow the point motor to be fitted. Basically with the wiring connector mounted to the baseboard edge there was insufficient flex in some of the wiring to clear the point motor. In the end I had to move the connector and it will be mounted to the baseboard as in the photo below.

I am sure crocheting does not have problems like the above but giving it more thought I should stick to what I know and I like model making!

Point time!

Well it is back to some model making activity. This time back with my 00 gauge Last Great Project Layout. It is point time and I need to fit point motors to the four points on the removable baseboard section. Unfortunately due to me not getting the planning of the baseboard quite right when I built it there was a cross member under one of the points making fitting an underboard motor impossible. Luckily I tend to use screws to fasten things together so it was reasonably easy to move it although I had to undo a lot of screws to take the profile boards off first!

Original wrong position!

New right position!

Point motors themselves will be the Peco solenoid type. Old fashioned these day s but so am I! You can bend the tags on the motor to create a fastening point to screw to the baseboard but I prefer a proper mounting plate.

I used to use these aluminum plates as shown below but unfortunately I cannot find a supply of these anymore.

An alternative is produced by PECO in plastic. Even I should be able to follow those instructions on the packaging!

Because the PECO point motor is designed to fasten directly to the bottom of the point, the activation pin to operate the point needs to be extended if you are going to mount the motor under the baseboard. I usually end up using some brass tube and steel wire to make an extension if the point itself is not one of the longer pin types but I decided to try these DCC Cocept ready made extensions for ease and speed.

These are what you get which I must admit is not a lot for nearly £10 but I will see how good they are in the next day or so.

With the hot weather having turned the Man Cave into a sauna I have abandoned it until it is a bit cooler to be in!

All about sheds!

As they use to say on TV after an unscheduled interruption - normal service is resumed! That is what it felt like today after my extended birthday weekend! Rocks By Rail Museum was graced with my presence and as you will see it was a shed day! However firstly my skills with the mower were tested with grass that still thinks it is Spring. Interestingly John had asked me to see if I could do something about inside the roofless shed that we started constructing last year. I did not quite know what he meant until I opened the door and found that it was almost jungle like!

A careful scout round with the mower at least lets you into the place but I do wonder how many sheds have a mown floor?

Having butchered as much as I was in the 30C heat I ventured into the relative cool of the Exhibition Center. strange how you you walk through a place following a certain path all the time even though there are other options. Today I remembered that there were other options and I surprised my self in that I had  forgotten about some of the exhibits in there including these very nice models.

Then there is this very nice original poster for the Rapier company front loading shovel.

Having walked through the coolness of the Exhibition Center I then headed for the coolness of the Restoration Shed where John and Derek where working on Ketton No1 which apparently has started. They are now working on the air system which as it includes the brakes is a must do project if the loco is to ever get back on the track!

John has that expression of now I am in here will I ever get out?

Harriot the JCB is looking.... well more like a JCB as the bright yellow paint slowly covers the grey primer.

Out of the Restoration Shed and onto the Weighbridge shed! That is four sheds all in all!

Inside will be a weigh head that was used as part of the weighing system for wagons on the railway. 

It will need illumination so Steve is wiring up a suitable light. Unfortunately this shed was not as cool as the last two as Steve can testify!

Well that is four sheds and by tonight it may be five that I have visited if I get out to my Man Cave if Mrs. Woody has something she wants to watch on TV! It certainly is all about the sheds!

A day at the seaside and that is a strange looking tool!

The past few days have been a bit of an extended birthday holiday for me with quite a few trips out with Mrs. Woody but little time for model making. Things return to the more hum drum tomorrow but we did have a great day out today at the seaside at Skegness or as it is sometimes known Skeg Vegas!

Whilst it may not be Las Vagas it was certainly hot and sunny today and this is September in the UK!

Hot weather calls for ice-cream which was enjoyed by both Mrs. W and me but I have never seen dog ice-cream before now!

Before heading back to WMD HQ we came across this small classic car show. A real mixture with an old Austin and a more modern Porsche at either end of the spectrum! Nice to see though although I think Mrs. W thought I had spent too much time looking!

I did have time to have venture out to the Man Cave and unpack this rather strange looking tool which was a birthday present to myself

The description on the packaging gives it away but this is something I have been meaning to buy for some while now. For anyone reading my posts on building military vehicles they will have gathered I have a love hate relationship with etched parts for these kits. On the one hand they can look very fine and detailed but in the other they are incredibly difficult to bend to the right shapes. This tool should make that easier.

The light grey part is held to the darker coloured base by the black knob. The light grey part has various cut outs and shaped 'fingers' that allow the etched brass parts to be held firm at the point where they are to be bent once inserted between the light grey part and the base - the black knob tightens the two together. The white coloured parts are thin plastic shims that slip under the fastened etch part and enable the part to be levered up so that it bends. 

Probably not the best description of how it is used so when I use it for real, rather then just posing some etched parts at the side of it, I will photo the process. 

The photo below just shows that the top part of the tool can be rotated four ways making it very versatile. 

There are some etched parts on the Panzer Ferry that will need bending so this tool may well be seeing action soon!

Over for another year!

Yes, Woody is a year older today! That is the bad news but the good news is that wont happen for another twelve months!

Anyway, Mrs. Woody got me some lovely things which speak for themselves especially this one!

A really nice bike tool which wil come in handy.

No birthday would be complete without a train or two! Thank you Mrs. Woody - you are the greatest!

Right, I am off for some cake or I wont get anymore until next year!

Making tracks!

Apart from making tracks for the Panzer Ferry where I have started the other side....

I have been taking Mrs. Woody and making tracks for some interesting places.

First off The Priests House at Easton on the Hill. A National Trust Property where you have to go to a local house to pick up the key! 

There is not a great deal to it but a museum on the upper floor is one of the most eclectic collections of things I have ever seen including the history of Colleyweston slate, the tail plane off a WW2 bomb...

..and for those of a certain age the dispised IZAL toilet paper that was more like tracing paper then toilet tissue!

Second place was Rockingham Castle set near to the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire boarder. 

It may not look like the traditional castle but it dates back to the tenth century built by William the Conquer and altered over the years. You can understand why the site was choosen when you look over the countryside - views to die for - and many did over the castles long history! Wish I could build model countryside that good!

Nowadays things are much more tranquil with wonderful gardens to wander through.

Last off has been Bede House at Lyddington. 

Dating from the 1300s it is full of history and character but nothing prepares you for the attic!

It is big! It is impressive! It would make a great model railway room! Somehow I don't think that is going to happen!

Anyway making tracks back to WMD HQ!

The ideal number is 'X plus one'!

Been a busy few days so lets start off with something that has been done during the less busy times - the Panzer Ferry. Yesterdays post showed one side of the tracks in place with pieces of card in place to make sure the sags between the idlers were in the right place. Having removed the card I am pleased to report it looks good!

Talking of yesterday this joined the WMD loco fleet.

It is the Hornby D16 LNER 4-4-0 and if you are interested in the history there is a detailed one on a third party website available by clicking here.. A second hand model bought at a very reasonable price and being 'DCC ready' according to the box (it has an 8pin socket already fitted in the tender) it was a fairly easy job to fit an appropriate DCC chip. Once fitted it ran well and I like it! Even though most of the locos operating on my 00 gauge layout are diesels I do have a collection of LNER steamers so this expands that! 

As I have explained to a puzzled Mrs. Woody on several occasions the ideal number of anything that I collect is 'X plus one' where 'X' is the existing number of whatever I am collecting! Not sure why Mrs. W finds that simple mathematics hard to follow or maybe she is just rolling her eyes out of frustration!

In order to cure her eye rolling I did take Mrs. W back to Easton Walled Gardens again. What struck me as we walked around was the neatness of the hedges grass - unlike my vegetational butchery at the Rocks By Rail Museum! 

I don't think my horticultural skills will be called upon by the walled gardens!

Lets track it!

Much as Mrs. Woody enjoys tracking the progress to delivery of her latest purchase the tracking I am talking about relates to Panzer Ferry. As the build of this kit progresses it has got to the time to build the tracks. I had already started a small section some time ago but now I needed to add to it to get the right hand side finished. The links are individual parts and altogether there are 105 to make each track. I also had to build them around the wheels to get the right bends and sags. 

The way I have achieved that is by using Tamiya cement to assemble the track links. The glue dries enough to keep the links together but is still flexible enough to bend and sag them to the right shape. Some packing ensures the sag stays in place until the cement hardens.

Just the other side to do now although I have then to do it all over again on the sister vehicle to this!