Last year was a bad year for the train set

2015 turned out to be a year for wargaming. The fact that is was 200 years since The Battle of Waterloo enticed us to put on three ofthe four main battles that took place during the 100 days of the Waterloo campaign; Quatra Bra; Wavre; and the big one Waterloo. It took us most of the year to paint and collect enough figures for these games and especially for Waterloo but eventually we mustered well over 2,500 figures for game. More can be seen here.

2015 also saw us go though the procedure of gaining conservation planning consent for new windows along with planning further internal changes. With Waterloo out of the way it has been on with the internal building projects. This has entailed just about gutting our little house and putting it back together. We started by ripping out the existing stairs, kitchen, bathroom. Demolishing internal walls upstairs to create a new bathroom upstairs along with a slightly smaller single bedroom than making good with new starircase. We then carried on downstairs with solving some damp issues, a new kitchen and utility room, then installing pocket doors between dining and sitting area. Only two rooms have not been affected, both being bedrooms and both having to store, along with the "Man Cave", all our furniture and belongings. So again access to the layout has been severally restricted during this time. It has been interesting to say the least but hopefully we are in the final straight. All the plastering should be finished this week, a log stove will be installed at the end of the month in the sitting room area and then it's on with decorating and new flooring.

I'm so sorry that it's more excuses why this blog has become stagnated but I'm working towards mid May to get everything finished. Once finished the boss has promised I can spend as much time as I need in the 'Man Cave' getting the layout ready for the 2017 Lincoln show.

More posts will follow in May.

PS. To answer the question posed last April. I have managed to dyed some of the rope material and carefully coloured the rope on the first wagon that ropes were applied too and it looks good. So the answer is a resounding YES, ropes will be added to the other clay wagons. Photos to follow...

Are tarpaulin ropes worth the effort?

Will adding tarpaulin ropes to my clay wagons be worth the effort? Hmmm...

Last Thursday I entertained the members of the local Scalefour Group who thankfully gave my clay wagons the thumbs up. When I mentioned that I'd been debating whether to add ropes to the tarpaulins there was a couple of playful comments of 'Oh go on, give it a go', 'You've got to finish them'.

Next evening my first thought was where were the ropes tied off on the wagon. After spending a pleasant hour or two browsing though my library of books trying to find decent photos of clay wagons with tarpaulins, I eventually remembered Mr Russell's book on "GWR Freight wagons and loads..." and Bingo...

Many moons ago I'd purchased some scale rope from a wargaming show which I thought would be a good starting point for roping down loads. The question was how to represent the hooks? I thought they're too small to be created with wire especially after the rope is attached. So I've glued the rope to the approximate locations on the wagon and added a small knot of rope to represent some bulk around the hook.

Door End

Fixed End

I thought, 'so far so good' until I added the roped wagon to the rest of the wagons to see what the effect was. It then became a game of spot the wagon with the ropes...

Spot the wagon that has ropes...

So will I be adding rope to the other wagons? When applying the two foot rule, probably not, as it looks like the rope colour is lost against the background colour of these clay wagons. On darker backgrounds of wagon loads/containers or even bauxite coloured clay wagons I think they might look effective so I've not totally given up on the idea.

Getting back into the modelling chair

I've finally been able to spend some time on the toy train set. First task has been getting back to work on the first batch of clay wagons by finishing applying transfers, tentatively using an airbrush to finish dusting them with a thin coating of white, then trying to add a little more detail with a few brush strokes and playing around with creating a few more clay dusted tarpaulins. Results so far are below...

I've purposely left one wagon without a tarpaulin as I was beginning to like the way it looked without one. I'll have to fold one up and install inside the wagon if it's going to be left as an empty wagon.

Hopefully this last lengthy hiatus has passed and my mojo has returned which means I'll be able to make some serious progress over the coming months...

End of year report 2014

I recently received a gentle(!) nudge on the progress with Tredethy Wharf... so thought I'd create an end of year post as a round up of what little I've achieved this year.

To say the least it's been a dismal year for modelling and I'm starting to wonder how the guys who produce quality layouts in quick succession do it. With all that my wife and I have had around our necks this year; work, renovating the cottage next door, fostering, attempting to downsize (as we've decided to stay put and not move into a larger house) by clearing space in house and Man Cave, plus the normal life stuff, I've been seriously thinking of scrapping the whole project and waiting for retirement to make a fresh start. Many nights on the way home from work I've thought "Yep nothing much to do tonight so I'll crack on with a bit of modelling for once" only to get home and something gets in the way. All very frustrating.

What's not helped recently is my wife having fractured her knee cap and damaged cartilage after a fall. This has added another job to my list, that is me being her "man slave" as she's been on crutches for the last couple of months. Thankfully she's on the mend, down to one crutch and starting to weight bear. She's going to be off work until mid January but hopefully I'll get some free time for modelling soon... Well, we've heard that one before but I can but hope...

I've felt what little I have achieved this year has not been worth mentioning in individual postings on this blog. There have been a few little projects started but non completed and little progress on Tredethy Wharf, however, as an end of year round up here goes...

• Converted a few Bachmann wagons to P4 (a very easy task), still need to weather and renumber some of them and/or add detail to them.
  
• Laid down a few more lengths of Cornish Hedge on Tredethy Wharf but not applied any paint or foliage.
• Tested a couple of methods for the hard standing area around Tredethy Wharf sidings, but not decided on the best method or the paint/texture finish.
• Applied transfers to the first eight clay wagons and tentatively used an airbrush for the first time (with a spray can as propellant) dusting them with a thin coating of white acrylic to represent clay deposits/dust.
• Started cutting out the sides for the Farm Cottage that is required for a scenic break at one end of Tredethy Wharf.
  
• After the purchase of a lathe at Scalefour North... (a bit of an impulse buy to say the least)... In the last couple of months I've managed to receive one tutorial off a local S4 member but still trying to find time to do the 'set' exercise of turning a few washers.
• One of the S4 guys has kindly lent me a spare compressor for use with my old airbrush. Though all connections fit and it's ready to use I've not, as yet, found time to fully get to grips with it. 

Apart from the above it's been a very lean year for my hobbies, especially as on the wargaming front I've only had a couple of games. Oh... I've managad to paint one battalion of a German WWII Luftwaffe Field Division but still need to finish off the bases on those...

Headmaster's Report
Ian must try harder in 2015 and stop coming up with so many lame excuses.

Calmer times ahead

Well it's been a while...but hopefully over the coming months I'll be able to get back to working on Tredethy Wharf and finishing the first batch of clay wagons.

We both had no idea how much time turning next door into a holiday cottage would take up. But, at last, Spireview Cottage is finished and we have had resaonable success over the last couple of months with lettings. It's been a surprise how many enquires we have had considering, at the moment, we're only on one web site. Being new to this holiday letting malarky we weve been caught out with the amount of time involved in taking bookings also cleaning the cottage after guests have departed. As the weeks have passed we're gradually becoming more organised. There are still tasks to start and/or complete with marketing but we are both starting to allow ourselves some hobby time. Yipeee...

If anyone is curious about the cottage, more information can be found on the Owners Direct website. We have also created a Facebook page. If anyone would be willing to spread the word via likes and/or shares... we would be very grateful.

April 14 - Scalefour group meeeting

Last Thursday saw my wife and I hosting the monthly Scalefour Area Group meeting. We had six members in attendance. Gordon brought his latest interesting project along. He is investigating how to convert a Hornby Class 08 to P4 by building a continuous springy beam compensated chassis. Graeme brought along his latest casting project, a Gresley V2 body which is a big improvement on the Bachmann model.

I'm thinking, only thinking mind, of building a chassis for a Beattie Well Tank. Clive brought along an outside cylinder 0-4-0T loco to demonstrate how the cylinders could be tackled and point out some pit falls. Since the meeting I've had it confirmed  that Beattie Well Tank 30585 will be performing at Lincolnshire Wolds Railway over Easter... a photo opportunity that I cannot miss.

Finally all were introduced to the 'Man Cave'

Clive test ran the 0-4-0T on Tredethy Wharf which again proved to be a smooth running loco.

Overall an informative meeting hopefully enjoyed by all.

The 'Man Cave'

Well, the garage conversion is not completely finished. I've still got some alterations to do on the door, lay cork tiles and build a work bench at the door end of the room. But... on Christmas Eve enough carpet tiles were laid for me to start moving stuff into my new hobby room. (or 'Man Cave' as it has become known).

First in was Tredethy Wharf...

What a Christmas present...

When all the Christmas gatherings are over, I'll start transferring everything else into the room, which, after a little decoration, will free up my current hobby room for the start of the new arrival (foster child) in late January.

Happy festive season and best wishes for an enjoyable modelling 2014 to you all.