Castle Aching

[Compound2632]

38 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

In addition to my lack of skill and aptitude, one thing that does not help is the rate at which my once 20:20 vision has gone down hill. Threading a needle is now impossible and fitting fishplates is like threading needles!

 

Sympathy. My eyesight has never been 20:20 but I'm increasingly finding my nose nearly glued to the model. Time to move up to Gauge 3?

[Caley Jim]

Apart from the fact that I have required glasses for most of my life, due to an astigmatism, and now wear varifocals, I have had to use magnification for my modelling for many years.  Failing vision is an unfortunate consequence of ageing  maturity, but it's not the end of the world!

 

Jim

[ChrisN]

Not only am I short sighted, and long sighted and have astigmatism I have had a blood clot behind my right eye which was the good one, which means that if I close my left eye all the straight lines are wavy.  Added to which I have floaters the size of Zeppelins.  However, with my reading glasses and a modelling lamp/ magnifying glass I can see all I need to.

 

My wife, who does not have astigmatism, buys the cheap reading glasses you can get and can read with no problem.

[ian]

A few years back when my eyesight was still IMO reasonable a friend showed me an Optivisor that he had purchased to help with N gauge models. It was a 'road to Damascus' moment - I had always poo-poo'ed such things but now I wouldn't be without mine. You can even wear them with your glases should you need to. They also lift up out of the way for when you need normal vision - with careful positioning you can use them as a sort of vari-focal by looking through or below the lenses.

 

Worth every penny: https://uk.farnell.com/donegan-optical/da-4/magnification/dp/2833413

 

 

Or a cheaper version from Expo: https://www.expotools.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=headband&PN=Headband%2dMagnifier%2dwith%2d3%2dlenses%2d73840%2ehtml#SID=68

 

 

[Nearholmer]

I can empathise with Chris, being a long-time wearer of hefty vat of ovals (varifocals actually, but isn’t that a nice autocorrect?), and just over a year ago having had a torn retina. The giant cogwheel-shaped ‘floater’ that occurred was jolly scary and took a long time to disperse, but it has mostly now, leaving me with a few small ones and a sort of background graininess of tiny ones.

 

Good job I’d already gravitated to coarse-scale really!

 

The weird thing about blood in the eyeball is that it doesn’t affect visual acuity, but it genuinely is like things floating past, between you and what you are looking at, so you sometimes just have to wait for bits to float out of the way, like passing clouds.

[rocor]

5 hours ago, Edwardian said:

In addition to my lack of skill and aptitude, one thing that does not help is the rate at which my once 20:20 vision has gone down hill. Threading a needle is now impossible and fitting fishplates is like threading needles!

 

So, believe it or not, as we are in Tier 4 and in lock-down in all but name, today, to test my eyes I'm going to drive to Barnard Castle

 

 

Looking at what you have shown to have modelled, it certainly does not show a lack skill or aptitude. A small problem with track laying should do no more than cause a short hiatus in the project while you consider a solution to this problem.

[Edwardian]

Thanks, all.

 

Well, as I suspected, I need a much stronger prescription for close work. My left eye has struck out on its own to be permanently drunk.  So much so that if I covered my right I doubt I'd be able to walk in a straight line, speak without slurring or pass a breathalyser  test.  The right eye is clinging on manfully to focus.  

 

Unlike others who take the trip I did this morning, at least my ability to see right from wrong seems largely unimpaired. 

 

Barney very quiet today, with all the "non-essentials" closed. 

 

Still, the shop that sells Vallejo paints for painting hobbits and penny washers for basing them is still open, so if the new glasses don't stop the fuzzy fishplates jumping around, I'll know what to do!

 

I think I will invest in those Sinister Goggles; a recommendation such as that is usually worth taking.  I hope it will make modelling easier, but if not, I will at least be able to view nuclear bomb tests safely.

 

I am also toying with the idea of a second day-light lamp for my desk, one to each side.  Better for photographing models, too. 

 

EDIT: PS: I forgot to mention, it was the point over the weekend when I failed to distinguish between a rail joint and my left index finger (thus soldering the latter) when I was obliged to concede that I really did need new glasses!

Edited January 4, 2021 by Edwardian

[ian]

9 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

PS: I forgot to mention, it was the point over the weekend when I failed to distinguish between a rail joint and my left index finger (thus soldering the latter) when I was obliged to concede that I really did need new glasses!

 

That is par for the course in modelling. You would think that people using a saw could tell the difference between metal and fingers, when using a scalpel between card and fingers and when using a soldering iron between solderable materials and fingers but sadly it is not the case. It isn't proper modelling unless you have at some point attached yourself to part of it or daubed it in blood.

[Edwardian]

5 minutes ago, ian said:

 

That is par for the course in modelling. You would think that people using a saw could tell the difference between metal and fingers, when using a scalpel between card and fingers and when using a soldering iron between solderable materials and fingers but sadly it is not the case. It isn't proper modelling unless you have at some point attached yourself to part of it or daubed it in blood.

 

Oh, I carve my figures merrily with a scalpel every time I set to with one, but I'm used to that.  The soldering iron came as an unpleasant surprise! 

 

That Farnell contraption I'm still thinking about, because the price suddenly jumped up when I ordered it, with an announcement they'd ship it from their US warehouse. May still be a cost I have to bear.

[Donw]

7 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Sympathy. My eyesight has never been 20:20 but I'm increasingly finding my nose nearly glued to the model. Time to move up to Gauge 3?

No time to get some magnification. The trouble with gauge three is you can see finer details so boltheads are hexagonal, rivets are round so you need to be working with better vision that when just looking or running trains. That way any errors look less obvious in normal vision.

 

 

[Donw]

When learning to do Lead wipe joints you get into a rythym of apply heat from the blowtorch move lowtorch and wipe across remove hand and apply more heat.  It it somewhat surprising to find your arms getting confused and apply heat while the other hand is still wiping.  However that pales into insignificance compared to wiping the wrong way so your thumbnail scrapes some molten lead off the joint which collects under said nail. Extremely virulent tut-tuting ensues.

 

Don

[ian]

33 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

That Farnell contraption I'm still thinking about, because the price suddenly jumped up when I ordered it, with an announcement they'd ship it from their US warehouse. May still be a cost I have to bear.

 

Search elsewhere for Optivisor - there are other retailers, Farnell was the first that cropped up on a google search.

[James Harrison]

1 hour ago, ian said:

It isn't proper modelling unless you have at some point attached yourself to part of it or daubed it in blood.

 

I always just view it as the necessary blood sacrifice for a decent model. 

[simonmcp]

Having had an amount of time elapse since I last did any close up modelling and now having to wear variofocals I was dismayed at the detail I couldn't see. That was until I got enough light on the scene and now I have no difficulty. I was lucky to purchase a multi LED daylight colour balanced magnifying glass of a well known (but sadly forgotten) make at half price from n art supplies shop.

[Annie]

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

That Farnell contraption I'm still thinking about, because the price suddenly jumped up when I ordered it, with an announcement they'd ship it from their US warehouse. May still be a cost I have to bear.

I do a lot of on-line ordering due to not being able to get out much and i've found recently there seems to be a lot of this problem here in NZ.  Suppliers claiming to be able to supply goods, but failing to mention, - or else only mentioning it in tiny print at the bottom of their webpage, - that the goods will be shipped from their warehouse in China/US/Uk/Mesopotamia/Alpha Centauri and they will only take a short 3 months to arrive.  Whether this is a post-Covid-19 phenomenon or not I can't say, but I have noticed that the better type of suppliers are now stating that the goods they sell are warehoused here in New Zealand. 

[simonmcp]

Happens a lot on that well known auction site. They claim that the goods are in the same country as you, but as you say the three month delivery is a bit of a giveaway.

[Andy Hayter]

On the eyesight front the aging process can also work against you in the opposite way.

 

Having been short sighted from the age of 13 or so, the advantage of this was that for fine work, I could take my glasses off and work with the object just a few centimetres from my nose.

 

Then along came cataracts and the kind surgeon inserted lenses that essentially cured the short-sightedness so  now I have to use powerful reading glasses to do the fine work.

[brianusa]

7 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The giant cogwheel-shaped ‘floater’ that occurred was jolly scary and took a long time to disperse,

Its called an ocular migraine, at least over here.  I get them occasionally, the first one was frightening; now they last about five minutes, then normal service is resumed.  Had cataracts fixed a while back, latest problem is double vision, corrected with a prism which has left me with 20/20 so the eye doctor says.  I'll take it!

     Brian.

[Nearholmer]

Ah, well, my first thought was that it was some sort of migraine too Brian, having had that happen once, many, many years ago, but it wasn't accompanied by a headache, nausea, or any other symptoms, which was odd, so I read-up on it when I got home (using one eye), and it fitted the symptoms of a torn retina, so I went to hospital and that was what it proved to be. The "cogwheel" was a load of blood that had squirted itself from the tear, into the jelly inside the eyeball. The tear was sealed using laser-stitching, but the blood took, is still taking fifteen months on, ages to disperse and get reabsorbed ....... perfectly normal course of events apparently.

 

Model railways anyone?

[brianusa]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Model railways anyone?

 

As long as alls well, then let us begin!   A bad start as there were no railway related presents this year. Acquisitions have been a little slow what with holidays and such so the railway has been a bit like its proto counterparts with model rust forming on the tinplate track.  For a while now I've been looking for GW Suburban carriages bogie or 4 wheelers and all that I've come across are rather beaten up examples, priced too high.  My criteria for carriages is that there should be enough window area without rust, for want of a better word, to begin with.  On that subject, does the 'rust' increase over time? 

 There has been little of interest for sale recently of items suitable for the layout so wondering about Southern stock which would go with my GW trains, as seen while at North Road station in my trainspotting days.  Schools have come down a bit as have Southern carriages so perhaps now that is a possibility, the L1 is still elusive though. 

  But do I have enough already?

           Brian.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by brianusa

[Annie]

18 minutes ago, brianusa said:

But do I have enough already?

      

No you don't.

[Donw]

The eye thing sounds like PVD Posterior Vitreous Detachment. The vireous gel changes somewhat and shrinks  and you can get floaters. The membrane detaches from the retina well it does mostly but if a bit doesn't it can tear the retina.

Marion has high pressure in the eyes for which she has drops for and gets checked regularly. She also had laser treatment to make some holes to relive the pressure as there was some damage to the optic nerve. The specialist monitoring her eyes noticed the floaters in one eye and was able to check no damage had occured. He also exlained it all and that flashing lights follolwed by floaters is a common indication. When the same thing occurred to the other eye she visited her normal optician who was able to check that no damage was occurring to the other eye. 

If you think you have the symptoms visit your optician. These days the hospital do not deal with initial cases and you will be seen much quicker. Specsavers can do this for you and will be paid by the NHS.

Apologies for the off topic but it is better to get your eyes checked if PVD is occurring to see there is no damage to the retina.

 

Don 

[Nearholmer]

36 minutes ago, Donw said:

The eye thing sounds like PVD Posterior Vitreous Detachment.

 

That was exactly what started it, yes. I went to A&E, they confirmed my suspicion, shot me upstairs to opthalmology, where the specialist looked at it, told me to go and get a sandwich while she ate her's, then, after sandwiches, she zapped it with the laser and sent me home. 0800-1400, which I thought was pretty swift service.

 

I did have slight continuing bleed, so went back a few weeks later, and a second round of zapping to seal things fully, again done on the day.

 

The NHS doesn't always involve waiting lists!

 

PS: flashing lights are indeed the other sign, they are caused by the gradual detachment exciting the optic nerve. I still get those, or rather still notice those when its pitch dark, round the periphery of my vision. Apparently, on their own they aren't too much to worry about, because they don't imply that anything is tearing - its the sudden 'floaters' that are a bad sign.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Nearholmer

[CF MRC]

One does take good eyesight for granted. I had an eye op eighteen months ago for an epi-retinal membrane: it was fascinating watching the operation. I had, and have had until relatively recently, quite a significant vertical distortion in my left eye: no real problem for making things but very tricky for lining out. I have used loupes for over 30 years. The ones I currently have are top of the range.  However, my students have used these loupes:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BoNew-Surgical-Binocular-Distance-Aluminum/dp/B07CCLW8QC/ref=pd_sbs_229_5/261-3726855-9371917?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07CCLW8QC&pd_rd_r=490cb265-3b19-451f-be22-539291a5f5d4&pd_rd_w=MEQaM&pd_rd_wg=mZPFU&pf_rd_p=2304238d-df78-4b25-a9a0-b27dc7bd722e&pf_rd_r=WQXY9A0GEACX467NYQ0F&psc=1&refRID=WQXY9A0GEACX467NYQ0F
They are excellent value and could be re-engineered on to conventional spectacle frames. 
 

Tim

 

[SteamAle]

Slightly off current topic but thought you wouldn't mind me dropping in with the following announcement: -

The Cumbrian Raiways Association offered to pay to have the original Maryport & Carlisle Railway Rolling Stock plans, held by Carlisle Library in thier Jackson collection, scanned.

With all the problems of lockdown etc. we did not think it would happen but it has! They were taken to Carlisle Archive Centre to be scanned, at nil cost to the CRA in the end! The CRA now has some very large TIFF files with them in.

The Library have now loaded the images into the Cumbria Image Bank and the tinyurl will take you there!

I do believe that these are some of the earliest drawings in existence for this type of stock. Please enjoy and feel free to share far and wide.

https://tinyurl.com/y4vzbt43

Philip

CRA Chairman