The White Rabbit

You'll feel more at home once you get closer to them.

Evening all, A day of thisnthat. It's been rather windy and wet, so not much incentive to go far. As a few of you know, I have been experimenting a little with AI images lately. I'm still having some issues with it not listening to me all the time - if it could speak, then I'd expect to hear, "Yes dear" quite a lot... but some progress has been made. Of the more successful pictures, I ended up with a couple from sailing - though AI's knowledge of sailing is rather awful! I tried '...square rigged three masted Royal Navy eighteenth century sloop of war ... with only topsails and jib set...' and ended up with some contraption with four masts and all 'plain sail' except courses set. And sails more suited to a tea clipper than an earlier vessel, with very rectangular shapes and six or seven yards on each mast. Trying again, I got a cross between a barque rigged as a Padewakang or Paraw! So only the close-ups kept and even those are a bit dubious: And then Rabbit looking a tad piratical... ...despite the absence of the cutlass and flintlock pistols I asked for. I tried impersonating some historical figures, this was the closest I could get to Napoleon in that famous picture of him crossing the Alps with the Army of Italy: Doesn't really work, eh? Though I thought this one made me look a bit like Arthur Wellesley: Less dramatically, I'm happy with the one generated of me in a kitchen, though I shudder to think what might be in the pot: And I didn't think this one was too bad:

I'm not familiar with the Tomy model but I have bought an ERTL example for my (4mm scale) quayside layout. I haven't got very far with it ('Life' has interrupted modelling...) but for me it's a reasonable hull shape and can be kitbashed into something suitable. Perhaps a bit slender for some barges but I've seen similar shaped craft in photos. However, if you're planning on loading/unloading (whether children or adults) then I suspect the ERTL model might be too small - the cargo hatch doesn't have much space for working crane scoops. Is it worth considering other models (maybe a Clyde Puffer?) and 'Thomas-ising' them?

Evening all, Notalot done today. Though I did make a liddle more progress on the Great Email Review (delete or save) Sort Out.... Some really aren't suitable for RMW but there's one to share with you - there is a certain employment agency in Germany which advertises their services using 3D posters on various machines throughout the country. IMHO, good advertising...

Back in the days when we were going to some northern shows and inviting people to buy accessories, we sold a lot of animals, whether for people's unmentionables or other modelling projects. I once sold half a dozen packs of Preiser dogs to a modern artist for one of her creations. Not too many left now (thankfully!) and I'm afraid we've sold out of bears, elk, monkeys, seals and penguins... likewise: https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/preiser-20373-circus-hippopotamus-figure-set.html but you could ask a trader for a pack, it'd make a change from the usual Modelscene cows. 😉 When it comes to armour, I reckon this guy has it right:

Afternoon all, I have a couple of items pending too, I suspect one may be an item of mutual interest, loosely described as a 'buffet car'. Plus one for grey and dull, mid Wharfedale is not looking at its best today. Cold, wet and 'orrible outside. I won't be going far. Of certain recent AI pictures, two principal thoughts occur - Skippy looks a bit ... err ... 'nonplussed' at just what Bruce is up to, unless the 'photographer is a particularly attractive Sheila, I reckon he's going to be legging it to the hills in about 1.4 seconds time... And - why is that APC ploughing through industrial quantities of icing sugar?

View Advert Assorted N Gauge wagons, figures + accessories An assortment of N Gauge, dating from a dalliance with 2mm scale some years ago. It's now time for a rationalisation... The two wagons have Trix engraved into their bases. Their wheels turn freely and the couplings work. The grey has been given a rough weathering and has minor white residue (I suspect filler or modelling clay) on the crevices of the wheels. The brown is in better condition, no faults seen. There's four Preiser packs (79110 and 79147) - standing workers/dockers and shunters/railway yard workers, (79077 and 79159) - fishermen and resting hikers. These are 1:160 scale, pre-painted. Still in the original packing with manufacturer's tape on, effectively as new shop stock. Two lorries, one lady cyclist, telephone box and 12 brewery casks. The flatbed and telephone box are whitemetal, the cyclist is a plastic moulding. These are painted though there are some signs of wear/areas for improvement. The lorry has no cab roof - sorry, I have no idea what happened to this but you could make another from plasticard. The van and casks are unpainted but pre-coloured plastic. Three waterline models of motorboats, painted in different finishes, 'RTP'. I'm happy to combine postage with any other items, whether RMW classified/free to good home or any railway or non-railway items (see blog lists). Postage would depend on method and location but based on Royal Mail recorded, is likely to be £6 P&P within the UK. Collection from near Ilkley (West Yorkshire) would also be OK if that suits a purchaser. Payment can be made via PayPal, cash (if collecting) or bank transfer. Any questions, please ask (PM). Advertiser The White Rabbit Date 03/11/23 Price £50 Category N / 2mm scale  

[Dear Shirley], Isn't that Whack a Mole?

I nominate Tony for ER punner of the week... At the risk of stating the obvious, Yorkshire's a big county with lots of different weather. But to make a sweeping generalisation, for November, I'd recommend waterproof hats, coats and footwear as the priority. With some warm shirts/tops and fleeces/jumpers. Dressing for the Arctic would probably be simpler - less options to cover off! Morning all - sun and blue sky here this morning. The fields and gardens are still very waterlogged, it's certainly 'wellie weather' and dogwalkers would do well to put an old towel or two in their pockets/car boots. One new nut feeder installed yesterday, at least one bluetit has accepted it this morning, saw it pecking away an hour ago.

ION - today has definitely been one worthy of a black pebble. One matter which I was assured the solicitors were fixing for me - hasn't been and is now at risk of failing. Earache received from another firm who refuse to accept the sole reason for not being able to get on with things as they think I ought to be doing is due to others not delivering on what they should have done - something I made very clear at the start... Several minor and petty IT failures, in themselves nothing to sulk over but several in one day, particularly with other things. I wouldn't mind but I've not broken any mirrors and I wasn't planning on buying any lottery tickets. And finally, the bird feeder has been destroyed. One squirrel firmly in the frame. I don't mind them helping themselves to a few nuts now and then but this one chewed through the handle holding it to the tree, then a couple of other fittings to get at about half a load of nuts once the whole thing was on the ground. The bluetits are looking confused. And the vandal has dug a dozen or so holes in the garden to either bury the surplus or hunt for bulbs. I'm off now, I have a 'little accident' to arrange...

Yorkshire's closer! Same offer 😉. And some of our leaves are even the 'right' colour. Anyone remember the Rupert Bear stories where the Imps of Spring made gold from autumn leaves? Usually with fruits, smaller sizes are due to unsuitable weather earlier in the year. Smaller quantities can be the same reason or it can be certain birds (like sparrows and bullfinches) scoffed all the flowers or buds that year. I'm unsure about crab apples but apple apples do need some sun and rain at the 'right' time to help them develop.

I've seen some films of this and seen just how skillful it must be but loose and fly shunting was explicitly banned on the heritage lines I've volunteered on, so have never tried it myself. Probably just as well! I have wondered myself about recreating it in 4mm scale, never got there (yet?) but I spent some hours thinking about practicalities and rolling a dozen wagons about by hand. If you're just using one (or two?) wagons then it's probably reasonably straightforward. Personally, I thought if I was going to try model loose shunting I'd want to have at least a dozen wagons with proper three link couplings and operate prototypically and probably with DCC sound. As well as the various comments already made, I would suggest that unless anyone's planning on using DCC and motorised wagons, the most important element would be to have similarly running wagons - otherwise the whole thing becomes very complex. Not so much differentiating between say an unloaded conflat and a 'loaded' van in terms of the amount of 'shove' given, but if you have to remember the rolling resistance of the brown van with a dirty roof is twice that of the brown van with the grey roof and half that of the grey van with a white roof ... I think I'd pass. (If you do try - good luck).

Which sites/AI versions would people recommend for artwork? AI images are something I've dabbled in this month but with disappointing results so far, whether we're talking trains, landscapes, ships or 'sillies'. Mainly as the systems have been rather selective as to which of my written instructions it's taken any notice of. I appreciate I'm potentially at the bottom of a learning curve and it's still a developing technology anyway but I have seen other images posted which I've thought have been good.

I can hear the coughing and spluttering from Switzerland from here! Plus one for both of these choices. As a variation on these, you could grate (cooked) potato to form your own rosti. Some recipes suggest uncooked but this can make cooking more involved, firstly as you have to extract some excess water from the mixture (using a clean tea-towel is usually advised in recipes) and secondly as you need to cook for longer and pay attention to turning frequently. The easy option (IMHO) is to use cooked spuds and add finely chopped (cooked) bacon, onion, herbs and any meat juices to taste, bind it together with a beaten egg and cook - whether fried or baked, flat patties or balls. I like having these with white fish dishes and gammon roasts.

No. Different - definitely. Unconventional - undoubtedly. But I wouldn't class it as 'weird'. Unless of course the new pots etc. were extra toppings? And I think even then any doubts would be culinary rather than based on your ... ah ... friend's ... choices.

It's been a good year for onions and alliums. Our carrots have been OK, no nibbling from mice or blight from fly but they just haven't developed much. Probably due to the weather. We've had some meals out of them but definitely not a bumper crop. Some sort of motto invoking 'swings and roundabouts' should go above the greenhouse door of most gardeners!

The most recent catalogue from one of the main 'names' in gardens had some 'natural' solutions to those pesky* pests. First time I've seen them advertised. It's been a challenging year here (in Yorkshire), first drought and excessive sun (again) then flood and unseasonal cold. Despite that, there have been some nice surprises. The antirrihinums (snapdragons) have been something of a success story, both grown from seed and a couple of examples from a (good) local garden centre. It's the first year I've grown them and they have provided plenty of colour for most of the summer and a few blooms are still clinging on now. The erysimums are also doing well. Inefficiency in a flower is much appreciated by gardeners... The chrysanthemums are in full bloom at the moment and providing a nice splash of colour. The Welsh Poppies did well earlier, some are now in their second blooming. We're definitely into autumn, I'm seeing quite a few mushrooms (or toadstools?) when on the patrols round the estate. Plenty of berries on the hollies and others, that used to be an old wives tale about showing we are in for a harsh winter. For personal reasons, I hope that's not so. But they do make a pretty picture. The pyracantha has done well this year, all the examples of various sizes we have, have enlarged considerably and also have a bumper crop of berries on. The local sparrows have been gorging themselves on these lately as a change from the all peanut diet. I've managed to grow some new Cowslips from seed to partner the existing clump, they may not last long but I do like their colour and form while they do bloom in spring. Two new clumps planted out under a beech tree. Various new seeds and plenty of old favourites sown for next year. Some are showing already, others are (hopefully!) biding their time. * Other words are available...

Afternoon awl, Some G-word stuff was done, lunch had, etc. etc. ... Three Men in a Boat listened to. A few more old emails reviewed ... as it's Sunday, perhaps time for some nostalgia? The sub-text for this post could perhaps be 'thinking fast'. An elderly man in Louisiana had owned a large farm for several years. He had a large pond in the back. It was properly shaped for swimming, so he fixed it up nice with picnic tables, horseshoe courts, and some apple and peach trees. One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a large bucket to bring back some fruit. As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer, he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond. He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end. One of the women shouted to him, "We're not coming out until you leave!" The old man frowned, "I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked". Holding the bucket up he said, "I'm here to feed the alligator..." Some old men can still think fast. And this time, perhaps not 'well', but fast... The other night I was invited out for a night with 'the girls.' I told my husband that I would be home by midnight, "I promise!" Well, the hours passed and the margaritas went down way too easily. Around 3 a..m., a bit loaded, I headed for home. Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hallway started up and cuckooed three times. Quickly, realizing my husband would probably wake up, I cuckooed another nine times. I was really proud of myself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution, in order to escape a possible conflict with him. (Even when totally smashed.... three cuckoos plus nine cuckoos totals = 12 cuckoos therefore, MIDNIGHT!) The next morning my husband asked me what time I got in, I told him 'MIDNIGHT'... he didn't seem p*ssed off in the least. Whew, I got away with that one! Then he said 'We need a new cuckoo clock.' When I asked him why, he said, "Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said 'oh sh*t.' Cuckooed four more times, cleared its throat, cuckooed another three times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then tripped over the coffee table and f*rted. Oops... (In deference to RMW's rules, I've not included the pictures which originally accompanied these... ).

When you're retired, you never get a day off. You're still making better progress than I would be though ...

Morning all, Not a bad night's sleep at awl, only one trip to the bathroom required. Otherwise, 9-10 hours sleep had, which must be some sort of record in the last couple of years. Our central heating clock reset yesterday morning rather than a few hours ago when it's supposed to happen. And the radio controlled clock has reset but the display has gone very faint, almost illegible. Other timepieces have relied on my finger pressing various buttons. Glad to hear positive (no, I meant the other way...) news from Neil. Sorry to hear Dave H's news. This autumn does seem to have been very wet. I tried a wander yesterday and had to turn back after a bit, it was too slippy underfoot and if I take a tumble, it could be nasty. The trees were trying their best but the larger ground cover plants were looking very sorry for themselves and more than usual were doing a good impression of being ex-plants. One canine regular seen and greeted, she was a very soggy doggy indeed... Thoughts with Baz this weekend as it's traditionally a weekend I associate with gatherings at the Grammar School, though that's not happening this year. In previous years when I used to go and either sell things or ramble on to random passers-by about scenery, the 'commute' in was relatively picturesque as we'd take a route through the lanes and B roads north of Leeds rather than take the A roads. And with the trees in full colour and sometimes early morning mist, it was one I used to enjoy. Maybe try a little G-word stuff shortly, if only to clear the drains of dead leaves. Probably chicken for lunch - I don't fancy lettuce, organic or otherwise. New or roast potatoes sound good. I had a day of using up oddments in the fridge yesterday, which included a tea of a small bacon and goats cheese sandwich and a small individual treacle tart baked to finish up some pastry and the batch of golden syrup. Nice but a bit indulgent, so I'll aim to have some more fresh veg today.

'Harling' is a type of wall coating. Crudely, a sort of cross between render and pebble dashing. IIRC, you have to use lime mortar, cement stuff can be very stiff, doesn't 'breathe' and lumps can break off if you just give it a dirty look, which I'd speculate could be one reason why TB's having trouble? I've used lime mortar a bit when building garden walls and I prefer it to 'normal' mortar but it is harder to handle/use.

If you can afford the apartment's price tag, you can afford a stylish fire escape - might I suggest a modern version of: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/colditz-cock.html

Ah, the perils of the designer taking his brief too literally when the boss said, "I want this car to set the world on fire"... Perhaps I should make it a pair of wagons, one as a water tanker/fire truck and one as a lowmac with a car load? Thanks to those who've replied so far. It's a 'slow burn' project, so any further thoughts and pointers welcome. That RMW thread re Cleminsons was the sort of thing I was looking for earlier but didn't find. Probably using the wrong search terms. Thankyou @Mike Bellamy. I have a W&L RTR brakevan and a couple of old kits/scratchbuilt open wagons already to give me a sense of scale. One of the latter is 'sprung' as I think @polybear has in mind, using long vertical axle bearing slots and what looks like a DIY springing arrangement using piano wire. I think it's going to be build a tuning fork track on an offcut of timber board and then do some experimenting to see what works best. I'm not worried about keeping to any particular style, just getting something which doesn't derail on curves/points. Plenty of ideas from @Happy Hippo to try, thanks. I reckon at least one of those should work for me.

Afternoon all, Could I pick your respective brains: has anyone got any ideas about building six wheel wagon chassis? To narrow this down a bit, I'm thinking about scratchbuilding a six wheel milk (or other liquids...) tanker in 32mm gauge (SM32 rather than coarse standard O Gauge but I presume similar principles might apply) and am wondering about how to arrange the axles. I know we have a garden railway section on here but by posting there, I might miss the wisdom of O Gaugers. And I have a suspicion this is probably a more general engineering question than a scale/gauge specific one. I've had a look around here and more generally online but can't see much, there's a blog post by the swansea railway modellers group which includes a photo of an old Hornby chassis but it's not clear enough for me to work out the arrangements for the centre axle and the vehicle's a bit longer than I was thinking of anyway. I don't know if I need swivelling axles or ones which can travel laterally as well/instead - or whether I can get away with allowing some slack in the fit of fixed axles. The minimum radius, if possible, would be 965mm so it can negotiate Peco's small radius points - I'm sure the mediums (1524mm) would be preferable but I'm not sure if there would be space in the 'fiddle yard' even if there was out in the scenic bit. Any pointers?

Afternoon awl, A damp and soggy one in these 'ere parts. The weather's a definite incitement to stay in and reduce the firewood pile. Best wishes to Neil. And fervent wishes to everyone that if you do feel like watching TV, you can find something better than Grand Designs. At the moment it's a case of hurry up and wait. Some things could be done - but could well tempt Fate and she's not well disposed to me right now. A few more old emails worked through. And some minor bits round the house. The forum seemed to be having some moody moments earlier, it didn't like me being on the last page at all, multiple jumps up and down and quite a few refusals to rate it. Not doing it now though. We have had some power cuts over the last few days, though I don't see how that might affect that side of the IT some hours later. The lightbulb exploding (sort of - more of a jump out of the socket) was more obvious, very artistic, with a shower of sparks. Not good for the nerves though, heart rate went up a bit. Time to treat myself and think about something less dramatic and more entertaining. Though on another channel, as I would prefer neither end of the awl to be applied to any of my various apertures...