aardvark

In that case, I'll be carrying an umbrella.

Tsk tsk. Now, what have I told you about posting selfies?

Has anyone tried cutting without a mat? I had hopes of doing so to cut the 317mm side of my loco shed from 1.5mm screenboard, which is longer than the standard 12" mat permits. Alas, it would seem that matless cutting only works with the autoblade, although I have yet to find anywhere that explicitly makes that statement.

... or in your front garden ...

Ok, like wow 😲. You might recall that I'm using a simple rectangle as a test cut, drawn from four separate lines, with horizontal lines coloured differently from vertical lines. I've just discovered that the so-called Smart Cuts are different, both in number and location, depending on whether I rotate and/or flip my design. So if you don't like where SS is placing the Smart Cuts, just try rotating your design! So totally unexpected. This software never ceases to amaze, and I don't mean that in a good way. Edit: My best guess at the moment is that rotating and flipping changes the direction in which lines are cut in No Sort mode. By default, without sorting, lines are cut left-to-right and top-to-bottom. If you rotate 90° clockwise, then was-horizontal but now-vertical lines are still cut top-to-bottom, but was-vertical but now horizontal lines are cut right-to-left!

A day of Goldilocks* weather gave me the opportunity to make small progress, which I post here to encourage myself tomorrow. Previously, it was suggested that since I used a Silhouette cutter to make the engine shed windows, I could also use it to cut the walls. It was probably a throw-away line, possibly in jest, but it sent me off on yet another tangent. Initially, I'd planned to use 3mm Tamiya foamboard for the walls, but the foamboard wasn't coated, as I expected, and while easy to cut, it was hard to mark without damaging the soft surface. The Silhouette, despite being claimed to take 3mm media, just chewed the foamboard up. Plan B is Ace Screenboard**, used for architectural model making. I had previously used it for the walls of the cottage, and it marks and cuts well. So today, I managed to convince the Silhouette to reliably and accurately cut window openings, adjusting the opening size to accept the previously constructed windows surrounded with printed quoins. * Not too fine that it would encourage gardening, nor too bad that it would encourage State Emergency Service (SES) "emergencies" to attend. ** I hope to use twin layers of 1.5mm screenboard to make the 3mm walls. The Silhouette should make cutting two matching pieces a cinch. Ace also make 1, 2, and 2.9mm versions, but I've yet to find a source of single sheets of the latter.

I was just musing how good Kevin's modelling is. The cottages are low relief but not half relief, and so much more convincing for that. I just wish I could have cottages like that on my layout. The cottages of Scotstown (Banff) have less of the back garden about them, and more of the domestic dumping ground. Oh well, each atmospheric in their own way.

Don't think that there will be too many Sunday Roasts in the UK at the present. Could be because it's only Thursday ... 🤔

I think that's the sign of decent hobby - one that you get carried away by. I can't wait to get carried away by mine, but so far it's only been men in white coats.

That's one seriously impressive building.

Nice - what did you use for the big red pipes?

Agree - the train itself is obscured in #1, but otherwise, they're just different, rather than better or worserer.

My previous attempt was but a mere shadow of my wife's cousin's poetic genius in describing our visit of December 2015. (from my wife's archive)

So typically Little Muddle. "A large solitary cloud passes" whilst the porter with the barrow hardly moves a muscle. I guess that's what you get with high-speed film, although I doubt you could buy it at LM.

We were married 4 days after the royal wedding in 1981. We offered a double wedding, but they were in a hurry and wouldn't wait. Marry in haste, ...

Kathy Millatt has an approach, which may or may not work for you (or me): https://www.kathymillatt.co.uk/2016/09/08/how-to-paint-realistic-concrete/

I gave this a "funny" even though it is quite close to what there is of my life. Mrs Aardvark is a digital gardener who maintains the gardening index. She stands on the balcony, points, and says "... and over there, I want ...".

From my reading, I believe this to be a common difficulty.

Many might be, but not all are.

I represent that remark.

They're resting.

Unloading. Next week doesn't just come by itself, you know. But being next week and this being Little Muddle, it mightn't come until the week after.

Mr Wolf, you're a more advanced modeller than I, so the following probably falls in the egg sucking category. Your couplings appear to have paint on them. Have you considered gun blackening?

A post on Mr Wolf's Aston on Clun thread has broken the log-jam of procrastination, avoidance and Things That Must Be Done. I took a rare day off gardening to lay the foundations for the loco shed. IRL, I cut a rectangle of 6mm foamboard, and gouged out some of the under-track foam so that the shed will sit flat to the baseboard, one day. Not very exciting, but it's a start, and without a start, there'll be no end. The foam has a bit of a bend in it, and is under weight ATM. The addition of walls should (hopefully) straighten it out. The spare bit at the back, 35mm in width, will go between the other two to ensure the spacing remains correct during the build.

Tease 🙃