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.

The Garage (progress report)

I think I'd better come clean....Due to the impending Fostering panel meeting and the thought we may be approved, we drafted in help with this conversion. This has given the project a tremendous kick and we are now well on the way to finishing the room.

Since the last update...

Over a previous weekend we fixed plasterboard to one wall and ceiling leaving me to complete the insulation during weekday evenings.

Garage door end

Rear wall

During the following weekend, while we were away in Edinburgh for a belated break, helping hands plasterboarded the remaining walls and two end walls where skimmed leaving me to complete the roof hatches. During this last weekend the ceiling and two side walls have been skimmed.

Garage door end

A little 'snot' on the floor to clear up when dry

You could say job almost done, but we've been having thoughts about the floor...

Initially I was planning to using gym floor matting, as a covering for the concrete floor, but I've ended up with a couple of sheets of one inch Celotex insulation left over. Rather than discard them we've been thinking how to use them and the floor became a likely spot. Not to add an extra layer of insulation at floor level while the garage is empty would seem to me to be an opportunity missed. So next weekend, the plan is to, screw battens to the floor at 400mm centres with the insulation laid between them, finishing off with 18mm tongue and grooved chipboard floor boarding. Shame I'd not thought of this sooner as I could have laid cable for underfloor heating!

When the floor is in place the electrics can be finished; skirting board installed; architrave added around window, door frame and loft hatches;  the room will then be painted, and a workbench built. Once extra security is installed in the door and possibly some cheap carpet laid, I'll be able to move in and get back to working on Tredethy Wharf.

The Garage (Modelling Room) update

Thought I'd bore you all with what I've been up to in the garage during the last couple of weeks. Rather than trying to verbalise progress, a picture story board might be more interesting...


Stud panelling complete along one side wall


Starting on the other side wall


Tanking slurry finally finished on pillars and around window and door reveals


Late finish last Saturday evening. It's not a garage any more! (Though the side door and window stud wall panels need finishing). Extra noggins have been installed in the end wall to help with the fitting of a work bench.


After a tidy-up the following day, I moved the strip lights onto the end walls ready for fixing plasterboard to the ceiling. (Garage door end)


The garage has not been this empty since I moved in. (Rear wall end)


Wickes had their 100mm Celotex on offer so, a little earlier than planed, I have all the insulation for the walls in the garage. I can work around the inconvenience of the early purchase if it potentially saves me £150.00.


Two side wall stud panels insulated. Installing wall insulation has been brought forward in the project. I thought this was the best place for the Celotex rather that tripping over it while working on the ceiling.

Well that's the current state of play.

Due to the Wickes offer I've got a little ahead of myself as not all stud walls are complete. So the plan for this weekend is to: finish the window stud panel; fix the side door and window stud panels into position, and install the plasterboard ceiling. I'll then continue with insulating the walls during weekday evenings.

If I manage to finish the ceiling by Sunday evening it should start to feel more like a room rather than a garage...

Tarpaulins (Part 2)

After advice left on my original post I have been continuing with tarpaulin trials for my clay wagons. I must admit that I'd given kitchen foil a quick consideration for tarpaulins but had discounted it as it seemed very flimsy and easily torn. David Smith's comment that kitchen foil might allow planking detail to show though made me have a rethink. Gluing tissue paper to kitchen foil would give it extra stiffness, so I thought it might be worth a try. First attempt, which is on the left of the picture below, was good. I'd not sprayed the foil first so the result is very white, which might not be a bad result considering it's covering a clay wagon...

1st kitchen foil tarpaulins

The one on the right was treated the same as the take-away trays, being  sprayed grey before gluing the tissue paper to the foil. The combination of the thin kitchen foil and tissue paper does allow the tarpaulin to be moulded over and around the wagon stanchions quite well. I these are an improvement on the take-away trays. Many thanks David.

1st attempt at a weathered kitchen foil tarpaulin

The tarpaulin in the above picture was a second plain white (foil not spray painted before tissue paper applied) which I've attempted to weather a little. I've tried to give it a slight green tinge which I don't think has come out that well on the photo. This was to see if I could get away without spraying the foil first. I am reasonably pleased with it and it's a method that would bring more variations in colour for the tarpaulins on my fleet of clay wagons....

The other method that was mentioned was to glue layers of toilet paper together. I did trial this but found it to be too springy. It folded around the wagon reasonably well but the folds were not as sharp as the foil based tarpaulins. I could glued the tissue/toilet paper around a wagon, or even layer the paper on the wagon by wrapping some cling film around the wagon first. This would stop the glue from damaging the wagon, and also allowed the tarpaulin to be removed for painting. BUT I think I'd already been sold on the kitchen foil method as my thoughts were wandering further ahead...

There are many printed paper tarpaulins available, all are supplied with text/numbers printed white on black. In attempts to crumple these and apply to wagons I've never been overly satisfied with the result. Unlike some modellers my skills have not been adequate to hide the fact that they are crumpled paper. So while working on the tarpaulins for my clay wagons my thoughts had been drifting to how I might apply text to these foil based tarpaulins for use on general merchandise wagons.

1st attempted at a printed tarpaulin

A foil sheet, with tissue paper applied, was carefully tacked with sellotape to a sheet of A4 paper. A couple of the pre-printed tarpaulin sheets where scanned in to the computer then printed onto the foil tarpaulin sheet.  Unfortunately I'd decided not to pre-spray the foil before applying the tissue paper which showed as the finish has a slight shiny sheen. Next attempt was to spray the foil before gluing on the tissue paper.

2nd attempt at a printed tarpaulin

Well, it came out sort of OK... the white lettering is looking dirty with the fine lettering very faded. I am a little unsure of the result as it was not quite what I was expecting. It might look better in the morning. I may go back to the previous printed tarpaulin and try lightly weathering it. A mix of grey-green-black paint dry brushed over the tarpaulin might help to hide the slight shiny sheen. Then I can compare the two.

Overall I'm feeling these tarpaulins are a reasonable success. No doubt a few more trials and rejects to come but the basics are there...I must now get back to building more clay wagons along with getting one of my 08s converted to bring a little authenticity to the layout.

The Garage (The Modelling Room)

As mentioned in a previous post I've been trying to spend time working on converting my garage into a comfortable modelling room. When I discussed my proposal with a builder friend he suggested that I consider using foam (SilverSill Foam) to glue the insulation to the walls and the same foam to glue plasterboard to the insulation. This seemed a very foreign method and, while I was installing extra roofing joists and wiring for new light and ring main, questions that kept running though my head were:

1. What if, in the future, I wanting to hang shelves on the walls? 
2. How strong would the bond be to the wall? 
3. Would damp coming through the walls affect the adhesion of the foam?
4. I was thinking of using 100mm thick insulation for the walls but, because of pillars in the garage, would like to have an air gap between the insulation and wall of about 40mm. Would using foam as glue have a negative affect on this air gap?

All these questions kept haunting me. Irrespective of the follow up conversations and a practical demonstration (in which the foam did glue plasterboard to a mucky piece of timber like 'shit to a blanket') I was never convinced that it was the correct method for me to use. In consulting a different builder friend, while he did not dismiss the method as being outlandish nor incorrect, he thought that a traditional method for lining the walls would be more suitable. So a 100mm x 47mm timber stud frame was discussed as the way forward. Now I can get my head around that...

Part of the garage is beneath ground level. Even though the garage does seem very dry, I've applied Tanking Slurry to these walls to stop water penetration.

Tanking Slurry applied

As I didn't know what I was buying nor how it needed to be applied I only purchased a 20kg bag, which covered about half the the wall area I needed to treat. The best way to describe the solution is as a cement slurry, mixed so that a 4" brush will stand upright in the bucket and applied as thick as possible to the walls. Easy peasy...another bag has been ordered...

First timber frame

While waiting for the extra bag of Tanking Slurry to arrive, I knocked together the first frame. This will have a damp course membrane between the floor and timber floor plate, as well as a vapour barrier stapled to the back between the outside wall and the frame. Installing 100mm Celotex insulation within the frame, should make it a warm, dry room...

Tarpaulins

Just like buses, you wait for ages then three arrive together....but at last a little bit of modelling…

I've been experimenting with a few different materials to create tarpaulins for my clay wagons. 

One attempt was using some black cloth which still looked like black cloth when wrapped around the wagon. Even after weathering the cloth weave was too large and it just looked wrong.

I do remember, from way back, that people used to use toothpaste tubes for tarpaulin covers. As toothpaste tubes are now plastic my thoughts turned to using aluminium takeaway trays. A couple were acquired, contents used (very tasty)... the trays were then washed and flattened. I've collected a few photographs of the early WR/BR clay wagons with tarpaulin covers and started to attempt to replicate them. A few trial shapes were cut out of the trays and wrapped around a wagon. Once happy with the shape a template was cut and more produced.  A couple were then folded around a wagon, removed and sprayed black. Unfortunately I was not totally happy with the result. The paint easily rubbed off which was a worry. Even after a little weathering being applied they still looked, to me anyway, as aluminium sprayed black with a little weathering.

At an area group meeting tarpaulins were discussed and toothpaste tubes also mentioned. Then at the next meeting I was kindly presented with a tomato puree tube. In the mean time I'd also spied a part used Mushroom Pate tube in our fridge which was quickly finished. These were both cut open, cleaned and sprayed, one black and one grey. These are made from a thicker material than the takeaway trays and being printed they took paint better. But I was disappointed in the thickness of the material, making it difficult to fashion around a wagon and they really just looked too thick when on the wagon. I was starting to get a little disappointed with my efforts so the project had been put on one side for a couple of weeks. 

While wandering around Scaleforum I came across issue 70 of the  DEMU Update magazine being offered for free.  I picked a copy up and shoved it in my bag, thinking I'd have a look at it later. In the car on the way home the magazine was quickly thumbed through. I was surprised to find an article on creating tarpaulins for the Bachmann clay hoods by Jon Baulch in which he describes using masking tape for the tarpaulin. This prompted a conversation on the journey home and we got around to discussing applying tissue paper to van roofs to allow the roof boarding to show through. Cue 'blinding flash of light'... I thought what about applying tissue paper to my takeaway tray tarpaulins…would this give me the texture I was after...?

Tarpaulins on the GWR Dia 013 clay wagons

The above photo shows one takeaway tray tarpaulin sprayed grey the other black. Both had thin tissue paper glued on to them using a wash of PVA glue. When dry they where refolded around the wagons. As yet no additional paint or weathering has been applied. To my eyes the result is starting to look good…

A little more playing around, possibly with adding some ropes Might also try a little dry brushing with an off white greyish colour. Anyway I'm feeling progress is being made, could be nearly there...