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War Department First World War Narrow Gauge Layout O-16.5 WDLR

Entries in this blog

Couplings and another 'Grand Day Out'!

I realise that I am now opening myself for getting told off again for staying up too late by logging at this time but seem to have just lost a couple of hours in a Dr Who type time vortex while researching my next little plan. Anyway....   Here at last is a Simplex with couplings, couplings which will have to be taken off again while I spray it - why do I bother!     Tomorrow should see it sprayed but have to admit to there still being no pick ups so hasn't actually run yet.   Now, just
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Why I hate fitting couplings.

There should have been a picture of the Simplex all finished and sprayed in primer at least tonight but instead you have two cats looking very comfortable together on the other chair. The reason for this (apart from the heating having gone off two hours ago!), is that I have spent most of tonight fitting couplings and still not finished. In truth I am not that far away now but when I came to take a pic the various spring loaded bits shot off somewhere into the mess that is my current modelling t
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Simplex Express!

Am absolutely cracking on with the little Simplex. Played it with a bit when I should have been concentrating on getting some lunch and soldered up the bonnet. I seem to remember having terrible trouble and lots of burned fingers when I did the last one but must have got a lot better at soldering as this went together really easily. There were a couple of gaps but filled these with low melt solder and filled back so this little loco is still a filler free zone.     Had another go this eveni
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Back to work on a Simplex

Back home now from Wales. Stopped off at Aberystwyth on way home and could almost use a pic of the scene of destruction on the seafront for my layout! New shed for the VoR looks impressive and there was a little diesel shunter working in the yard but couldn't stop to investigate. Anyway, having got bored of what I was meant to be doing I made a start on the Nigel Lawton 20hp Simplex that arrived the other day. This is a very well packaged and presented kit with some really interesting design fea
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On leave!

Just to justify the sudden lack of posts and progress I must point out that am off on a spell of leave in very wet and even windier Pembrokeshire. Currently locked down for the day with two wood burners, plenty of food and drink and the new book on the Sand Hutton Railway.   Other distraction is a rather nice chapel up for sale which seems to have been abandoned in mid restoration - now that would be a good project!   Have not been completely idle though as have organised the layouts second
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Fencing Lessons

No I have not taken up a new hobby but have learned a lesson today (two actually and it is only 11 o'clock). Both of these are lessons are on the perils of internet shopping. First lesson (and the one most appropriate to this site), is not to trust the pictures on the Scale Link site. The fencing arrived very promptly, which is good but my excitement didn't last long as soon found that the etch contained four different types of fence panel - a fact not obvious from the tiny picture on the site.
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My Big Building!

Thanks for all the amusing comments on the last post and am glad so many people enjoyed my Christmas dinner! Now, back to more ordinary stuff (beans on toast!), or my second building which has now become my BIG BUILDING!. I guess it was the same size when I started it but with the addition of end walls and the garden it has got an awful lot chunkier and pretty impressive really.       Here is one of the balcony of which I am really pleased. I just drew out an idea on a piece of card, stu
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Todays Project

Today I have been working on quite a big thing that has taken several weeks of planning and many shopping trips (luckily not undertaken by me!), to present to visitors.   Some of the stock was RTR But most was scratch built. There were some instructions but in the best of traditions these were completely ignored until the point things were going wrong and was too late anyway!   Care had to be taken as there were some very nasty and toxic components to deal with   There was also a micro l
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Another building

Managed to get a lot more than i anticipated done today. Finished of the drawings;     Drawings! Blimey that is organised of me! But oh, if I had a laser cutter now! To do these I scanned a sheet of embossed plasticard and used as the background. Then, by drawing a grid of guide lines and snapping to these I got perfectly horizontal and vertical lines. used a couple more tricks - just drew one window then copied it and just drew one half of the building then copied it and flipped it horizo
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Todays Project.

I am afraid that today i have been required to use my skills to a rather different end!     Was actually good fun and kept eight year old nicely occupied!   I do fear that there will not be a great deal of real progress over the next few days, especially with the list of chores compiled by my lovely wife (it is much better when she is at work!). I have decided on a building to base my next structure on, of which I have managed to fine two different pictures. Is a bit grander than the prev
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Cobalts Sorted!

After a great deal of fiddling and annoyance I have finally managed to get the Cobalt point motors working off the DCC controller. It turns out that while still in programing mode and giving them a number you had to press '1' to actually switch them on - not in the instructions this one! So now I have no excuse but to get down to it an build the control panels. Hang on - wasn't the reason for getting the DCC versions that I wouldn't need a panel? Well, yes it was but I do want route selection L
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Milling machine repairs

I have just spent the last two days in cellar - actually that is not quite correct - the cellar and the tip! Having finally realised that leaving it eight years to unpack boxes after moving is a bit long I got down to it. Well, as I was in the cellar (which along with the junk houses my little workshop), I also got around to (hopefully!), fixing my little milling machine. As I have only had the part two months this is pretty good going. Problem with it was the chucks (two different ones), just w
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Tenshodo Trouble

My little running (and I use the term loosely!), session yesterday certainly proved one thing - I need to start working on some reliable stock! The only DCC fitted loco I could muster was the sound fitted protected Simplex ' running' on a Tenshodo SPUD. This was one of the first locos I built, probably four years ago now but until now, having only a bit of Hornby set track to run on on the living room floor in true train set style. I t came as a bit of a disappointment then when I found that the
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All Together!

With (hopefully!), the last of the last minute rush sessions over and and with various interested visitors due over Christmas I have turned the studio over to the railway for a bit. I have managed to get four of the five boards in there on very temporary supports (various chairs), I should just be able to get the final board in but will require a bit of junk moving that I was not keen on this morning.     And what's more, I managed to run some trains. Well one actually as this seems to be t
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DCC Fun!

Here it is - my 100th entry - and a very frustrated one it is too! Partly because I have been run off my feet (see previous rant about people not knowing when Christmas is!), so not having time to get down to any thing much and then it not working when I do!   I finally got around to installing three of the new DCC enabled Cobalt point motors to replace the non DCC ones (soon to be on Ebay!). Fitting them was no problem but programming them ......   Number 1 worked fine, Number 2 did once I
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Just Get On With It Man!

After completing last nights post where I practically convinced myself that I wasn't going to bother with this advert business I realised that would just not do so gave myself a couple of bracing slaps and just got on with it! Didn't actually take me that long as had got further than I thought with the Dubonnet ad. This was the inspiration   I opened it in PhotoShop then transformed it to remove the perspective then on separate layers, traced the outline of the letters. I then dragged this ov
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More Poster Inspiration

Still on a bit of a go slow on the building but how about this for some inspiration ;     There isn't a huge amount of information about it but it is pre WW1 Paris. The colours are far too bright to be one of the early autochrome colour pics so guess it must be hand tinted so colour accuracy can't be guaranteed but all I can say is that if one of my buildings were to turn out looking like that I would not be at all displeased!   I found this while trying to find a copy of the Fer-Kina ad
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The Fer-Kina Mystery

I am afraid not much has happened in the last few days in a material sense but lots of research and musings have. Now one of these (and this is a thinly disguised appeal for help!) concerns an advert in a picture for a product called Fer-Kina. As is so often the case, the answer to at least some of my inspiration problems lay rather closer to hand than I expected. As part of my continual, and usually failing, battle to keep the place tidy I decided I had to make some space on the book shelf in t
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Roof tiles have arrived.

Well not actually tiles but a big box of white 'Art Straws'. Plan is to colour them. split down the middle and snip to size then scatter liberally in and around the building. OK first problem - how to colour them. After a couple of experiments the Colron wood dye worked the best to soak them but the one I have is far too brown. Have actually just had a moment of inspiration - years ago I bought three tins of bright coloured wood dye fom a wooden toy that never got used. I remember seeing two of
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Now for the hard bit!

Thanks again to everyone for all the kind comments on the last post - I particularly liked the 'stoke of genius' bit - not often that is applied to me! But now to the hard bit - keeping up enough interest to finish this bit off before moving on to the next thing. Although structurally complete (or should that be incomplete!), there is still a lot of work to do to get it to the standard I want - some best done before it is 'planted' and some after. The rather tedious and frustrating bit now is ge
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Make or Break?

After a mammoth late night session last night (I promise to go to bed earlier tonight!), the roof was finished. It needed a few bits re staining this afternoon but was soon looking like this;     And then before I could get too attached to it;       Actually it took quite a long time carefully damage it as did not want to destroy it completely and then a few dabs of glue to secure some of the flapy bits. Still much work to do in getting the weathering and the brick colour right as
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More House

Progress has been a bit slow. Big reason was my 8 year old had her first sleep over last night which gave my wife and I our first free time in well -8 years! My poor wife does put up with a lot but but spending this night modeling would have been a step too far! Roll on tonight and as predicted we have an over tired 8 year old who is making for an uncomfortable evening!   Anyway managed some more plastering and wall papering;     And a bit more on the outside but still not completely happ
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Houses and DCC

No I haven't worked out a way of wiring up my new house to DCC but have made significant moves in the DCC direction. I am going to talk about DCC partly because there has only been a little bit of progress with the house which is largely due to being sent a very good link (thank you Emma!), with loads of WW1 pics which evaporated a couple of hours. Anyway, six brand new Cobalt DCC point motors arrived this morning to go with the Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance I picked up second hand earlier in the
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More house building

I learned several things today; 1) I really should have painted under the laths before fitting them. 2) Colron wood dye does melt foam board. And 3) Colron wood dye is really expensive! £10 in Home base and a mere £8 in B+Q and what is worse, I know I have a tine somewhere.   Anyway, spent the evening on the building.     Here it is with some more floors, window and door frames.     Here I am icing it with DAS rolled between cling film in a scene more akin to the Great British Bakeo
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A Start on the Buildings

I couldn't put it off any longer and have made a start on a building. I am treating this as a bit of a test bed so I might not actually use it in the end but we shall see. There are going to be an awful lot of new techniques to experiment on here and I mustn't overlook the fact that I haven't made any buildings (except a couple of real ones!), in over 30 years. Here is the picture that I am using as a guide. I have found a higher res one somewhere but is not to had at the moment.   So here
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