AyJay

Hello Ralf, I hope that I can add something helpful here. My Father was a cabinet maker and he was always doing carpentry things about the house, so it’s in my blood and doesn’t scare me. But it must be daunting for someone who (sorry, don’t mean to sound harsh) doesn’t know where to start. Before attempting any project, you need to develop basic skills, such as measure, cut, plane, chisel, make a joint. I would leave power saws well alone for now.

Do stick with it and you will develop the confidence to achieve something you can be proud of.

How difficult can it be to try and sell something!!!

Continuing on from what I posted earlier.  I got an invitation from my Son to join the fb games group that meets local to him.  I posted my offer with a description and a photograph. One person requested a list, another requested more photos. So I posted several photos of the lot; as for a list, they are just 122 Orcs with assorted guns. No response from that site.

Then I found two groups that meet in the next town. One did not reply to my request to join them. For the other, someone replied that they have a separate marketplace for this sort of thing, please install the app from this link. I replied that I would not be installing something on my phone if I did not know what it was.

Honestly, how difficult can it get!!!

I have never sold on eBay, sounds a lot of fuss and risky. I have tried fb marketplace and all I got was timewasters and a few that wanted to cheat me.

Think I’ll just put them back in the loft and forget them. 
Now throughly fed up and grumpy!

This is the result of five hours effort yesterday. Work on the bay window has started.

There's an Ad that I have heard on the radio for an insurance company well known for the agriculture market, who are offering motor insurance.  They are making a big thing of not "quibbling" if you are hit by an uninsured driver.  Then, when we get to the end of the ad and you hear their terms (those are the words said at a very fast rate, so that you don't catch them), I hear it said that uninsured driver cover is dependant upon you obtaining details of the other driver/car.

If I was driving an uninsured car and I hit another car, the last thing I would do would be to stop and hand over my contact details.  With the prospect of a criminal conviction for driving an uninsured vehicle, I would probably floor the throttle and hightail it out of there before the other driver recovered from the shock of what happened.

Sorry. My next task is to make the ticket office. This is not Bake-off 🤭

Here’s an update on my progress. Inspired by what I read in the book ‘Cottage Modelling for Pendon, by Chris Pilton, I decided to copy the technique for making windows for the sash windows that I needed. Having carved one group out of thin card, I decided to make the second group, displayed, out of 0.25mm plasticard for a neater cut. Having fitted the sash windows, I then turned my attention to the booking hall interior. Information here was limited, but in a book I bought on Arlen Station, I did find one black & white photograph of the interior view of one end of the hall. Fabricating the interior took all day and it was fortunate that I had already bought a stock of station posters. My next task is to bake the ticket office, which is next door. I will also need to fit lights inside.

Well that’s odd, I can attach from my phone, but not from my laptop.

I am concerned that my head may be turned by a 'bit on the side' and I don't think that I can cope with two mistresses.

OK, that's a little dramatic.  Perhaps I had better explain myself...

My No. 1 hobby is model railways, has been for years and always will be.

About 20 years ago, when my Son was in secondary school, he joined the school games club, they were all into Warhammer 40k and suddenly there I was painting these blue space marines for him.

Advance a couple of years, his Mother and I parted; wanting to build a greater bond with my Son and have something in common, I purchased some Warhammer Orcs.  I had a lot of fun painting them up and at work made friends with a gamer who introduced me to the basics of how to play.

Well the games never took off, probably squeezed out of the way by the demands of life common to us all and so my Orc army disappeared int the loft for years.

Now fast forward to the current time, new wife, new home with a big house makeover prompting a serious declutter, I made the decision to sell the lot. I browse ebay searching for a feel for what they might be worth, yet just become thoroughly confused. What is too cheap? What is too expensive?  I first thought £100, yet with about 140 figures, I think they are worth a lot more than 71 pence each.  When I look on the Games Workshop website, it seems that a group of six figures can easily put you back £30+. So at £5 a figure, that makes the collection worth £700, nobody is going to pay that much! 

Now as I gaze at these lovely figures and think of how much of myself I put into them, I begin to wonder if I should try again to pick it up?  But no, there is just not room for two distractions.  I'm looking at the websites for two local games clubs, but not sure if it is the 'done thing' for a stranger to just pop up offering a sale. I also just cannot hack the effort of learning how to sell on ebay. 

So, has anyone any thoughts on what a complete 1400 point Orc army might be worth? and how to go about approaching a club?

I have tried to copy in a photograph, but my iPhone takes photo's in a format called ODF, which this website will not accept and my laptop wont allow me to 'copy as' pdf.

On 21/05/2024 at 19:05, Sidecar Racer said:

 

 

Clearly, this discerning chap has decided that a change of staff is called for.  May your employment contract last a long time.

On 16/05/2024 at 11:08, Matt37268 said:

How’s about English Electric Type 1’s/Class 20’s? That’s where he gets his name from 😀

Perhaps he growls and belches black smoke every morning 😁

On the occasions that I have had to take the top off a chassis, I’m looking at you Hornby, it’s a tense moment at the actual separation bit. Which way do I pull? Is it a pivot? A slide? Or a lift? Whatever way I wriggle, the model is telling me that it doesn’t want to and it feels like something is going to snap.

And yes, I do feel the pain of anyone facing a concealed screw; you can only attack it offset , or is that ‘off-line’, with the screwdriver which guarantees that it will slip coming out and cross thread going back in  😡

When it comes to fitting decoders, I think Dapol’s idea of going through the smoke box door is better; although I have also found that to be fiddly.

P.S. What’s the best colour primer to use, when I want another colour finish, such as green or brown? I note that there’s also a black primer too.

Hi Steve, it sounds obvious now that you say it. I didn’t know at the time. Is there a way to safely and easily remove the paint, or should I just carve myself another set of sash windows?

Johnster, the acrylic I used was purchased from WH Smith, from their artists material stand and I used it straight out of the tube. Should I have thinned it first? I do have a bottle of acrylic thinner somewhere.

I have just painted a number of window frames and am left feeling that I didn't do a very good job!

I came at this because I made one batch using thin card painted with watercolour paint. The finish was good, except that carving out thin frames left them very delicate and easy to damage; I also couldn't do much about the tendency to give 'hairy edges'.   So I did my second batch using 0.25mm white plasticard sheet.

This made for stronger and better looking frames, but because they were too white, I sprayed them in grey car primer (from Halfords) for painting.

However, I then found that I could not get an acceptable finish in a single coat of white (with a hint of yellow ocre to give an off-white colour), because the grey was showing through and so a second coat was required.

Now I have got frames that just do not look tidy, their shape is defined by the acrylic paint.

Most of my sash windows and frames are supposed to be white, but a few are meant to be green or brown.

Has anyone else had this problem? 

I have noticed that Screwfix/Toolstation both do an aerosol white primer, but they are rather pricey.

Any thoughts?   Thanks.

Yes you can use a shed.  As have I.

However, not a basic single layer job that you can buy from any garden centre.  Go for a bespoke 'outdoor room/studio' building.

It will need to be of double layer construction, insulated, and the windows must be double glazed.  Also check that there is plenty of insulation in the roof.  My place gets very warm when the Sun is shining.

Don't skimp on the foundation, go for a concrete base. and make sure that the suppliers are aware that you need a floor that will not 'bounce'.

For internal flooring, go for something like laminate flooring with the dense fibre sheeting underneath. It'll help keep the place warm and be easy to keep clean/tidy.

You will need ventilation, so fit vents and opening windows. Try to upgrade the door lock(s) if you can, including hingebolts.

Lighting:  I went for LED lighting tracks down each side of the space. Fit 'Cold' lights, not 'warm' lights; that's colour temperature.  LED's should not get thermally hot.

Power sockets; you can never have too many power sockets. Budget for an electrician to fit an armoured cable spur.

Can the shed windows be viewed from any public area?  If so, you will need to fit something that gives you privacy from prying eyes.  If I had enough room, I would have gone for vertical blinds, as it was, I ended up with 'modesty film' on the glass and roller blinds.  Blinds will be doubly important if the Sun can shine inside, your track will get hot!

If your access is across a grassy lawn, fit something solid, like a path or stepping stones. The place will become a mud bath.

Other considerations: Remote door bell. Telephone/intercom to house. Will there be enough storage underneath for tools, materials etc.

Remember that sheds are easy pickings for burglars, so think carefully about leaving high value items unattended in there.  When I heard that 'travellers' had camped nearby and residents immediately reported break-ins, I dashed back from work and moved all my stock & tools back into the house.

No need for an answer now.

I discovered that concrete lintels do work with red brick, so that’s the way I have been moving.

Can anyone please help me with this one?

I am trying to paint brick window lintels in red brick style and I just can't get it right!

In this picture, is a sheet of embossed lintels that I obtained somewhere, don't know where; also a sample of the red brick sheet that I am using (Howard Scenics Victorian Red Brick) in OO gauge.

I need a number of the straight lintels and have been trying to paint some in watercolour, with very unsatisfactory result.

Some (the ones in the middle) I just washed all over in colour.

Then (on the right) I tried making very light strokes with the thinnest tipped brush I could find.

The best I managed (on the middle left) was lightly dry brushing.

I also tried using the back of my scalpel blade to deepen the embossed lines in the card.

If it was arches that I needed, it would not be a problem; I would just cut a strip of brick paper and put cuts down one edge so as to curve the paper, but painting the straight ones has me beat!

I have also looked on the websites for ScaleModelScenery, Howard Scenics, Freestone and Metcalfe. Nobody seems to do these pre-printed.

Does anyone know how I can produce these please?

Thank you.

Well that's the outer shell of my new station complete.

The next step is to make the windows and doors. Once the windows and doors are in, I can then add the internal detailing.

After that, I can close off the ceilings, add interior lighting, close off the floors, make the bay window, add chimneys, roofing, guttering, window sills and external detailing.

Looking closely at google earth, I realised that attached to the Stationmasters house on the other side, is a small garden.  I won't be able to model this, because I am placing the station in a townscent and it faces a busy entranceway, so a quiet garden would look out of place.

I also realised that passenger entrance from the road is not through the booking hall. Passengers walk round the end of the station and enter the booking hall from the platform side. Nice to know.

This was by far the most creative ‘April fool’ that I saw. It’s worth taking a look at the Hornby posting on LinkedIn, I thought that Airfix kits producing a paper plane was hilarious. 🤣 

Don’t get me started about Facebook!

Too late….

I’d like to know what madness lies behind their ‘people you may know’ suggestions???

A friend of a friend, someone who lives near me, worked at the same place as me, or some other point of connection, I get that.

But to see long lists of people in countries that I have never been to, living lifestyles that don’t interest me, and those of different socio-what’s it demographics to myself?  
At first I did delete/decline and object to them, now I just don’t waste my time.  In their write-up, Facebook does say that these are based on information about me, but that sometimes they get it wrong. Nah! I think they are just shooting in the dark with a shotgun in the hope of getting a hit.

“And other metrics” I accept and that answers a lot, such as why I keep getting advertising about funeral plans.  But ladies fashion? Come on now, I identify as male. I’m not getting a single advert for power tools ☹️

Problem sorted!  I found a second finescale electrofrog.  So I'm going to buy two.  Thanks for the suggestions all.   I might one day make something with all the code 100's that I have.

Well I had another look at what I have.  A good enough quantity of the correct geometry Code 100 points that I need, and all in good condition.  But,  only one of them is electro-frog, all the rest are insul-frog. My layout is entirely electro-frog points; combined with Cobalt digital point motors to give me the polarity switching that I need.

Also, offering up a vernier gauge, I see that the code 100 stands about 0.5mm higher; so I will have to shave something off the cork underlay where the points are to go, to ensure correct vertical alignment (is that do-able?).  I also see that the wheel clearance inside the frog is larger.  Could this cause any running problems?

It would certainly be worth making up a length of test track, joining finescale track to a point to test all my locomotives, as a couple of them stall on my layout where there is a small dip.  Dagworth, I particularly like your suggestion and I can give this a try.

By far the biggest cost here will be four more Cobalt point motors, which is why I'd like to try and save some cost where I can.  I'm only glad that I have two spare ports on my encoders and two spare Cobalt levers (the entrance and exit points on my fiddle yard are addressed in pairs).  

If I can overcome the practical challenges, then I'll continue with this idea.  If not, then I'll abandon it and just dig deeper into the pocket.

All this, just to store twelve trains on my track, instead of ten.  Good thing I don't smoke or follow football !

“Want to meet Lady with interest in model railways for serious relationship. Please send picture….. of model railway!”

Seriously now, mine has no interest whatsoever and regularly asks “how many exhibitions do you want to go to / how many locomotives do you want?”

To which I reply “I don’t smoke and I’m not interested in football. Goodness knows what a premier season ticket / packet of20 cost?”  Can anyone tell?

As an aside, I sat next to a young lady on the train yesterday and noticed she was reading a book about historical buildings and architecture. She seemed most interested when I told her about Pendon; “Come and visit, you’ll like it” I said.  Oh if I was 40 years younger ☹️

I want to add two more lines to my fiddle yard and am struggling to justify the additional cost of what’s needed. (Points and Cobalt motors)
Then I discovered that I have some code 100 points (Peco) spare from a previous project. However, I now discover that the available ‘transition track’ is expensive. 
Can anyone suggest how I can join code 100 points to finescale track without using these pricy connectors?

Thanks