Wednesday 22nd March

Worklist:
Crane
Water tank path and ladder
Shrubs

A full house this week.

Laurence worked on the crane again. It's getting very close to being finished now and he has started thinking about how the whole thing is going to be mounted 'into' the hillside. Stephen said that he had dug out some old scale bunting and was planning the opening ceremony.

Stephen rubbed down and painted the path laid last week around the back of the water tank. Geoff added a modicum of shrubbery to the rear edge. Stephen and Geoff were both taken by the way the plaster had broken up along the edge of the path. An 'accidental technique' that could come in handy again, some time.

Stephen had made a ladder at home that morning, and once painted and tested in-place, decided that instead of cutting it down, another would be made as they were so nice to make. He even mooted going into production - "a railway can't have too many ladders.....".

Geoff spent his time adding more shrubbery and sea-foam trees. Note the one at the end of the platform as well.

Wilkinson's hair spray has become the 'adhesive of choice' for shrubs and trees. It holds well and leaves no residue.

Post-lunch, Laurence got some stock out and had a brief running session, Geoff added a few more shrubs and Stephen started painting some sheep. A very laid-back and enjoyable day.

Wednesday 15th March

Worklist:
Gas holder
Trees and shrubs
Water tank path

Laurence was celebrating something, by having some surgery with a chain saw. We hope to see him next week....

Stephen presented a tree he'd made using leftover power cable, copious amounts of solder, paint and plaster filler. It followed the Gordon Gravetts process and produced a decent trunk. However, the 'postiche' foliage material was proving elusive, so some fleece/wool sprayed black, had been used as a trial. In the workshop, flock sprinkled onto a coating of hair spray was applied.

Wire armature, wool and fine flock

Geoff also had arboricultural leanings as he had purchased a box of Noch 'Sea Foam' - dried foliage - together with some leaf flock.

Again, hairspray and leaves were applied directly onto the 'raw' frameworks.  The effect was coarser than Stephen's, but far more suitable for the 7mm layout. Against the newer trees, Stephen's looked more 4mm scale.

'Sea Foam' structure and leaf mix.

Stephen fell back to fitting the gas holder components. A hole in the baseboard and a bolt through the base held the gas holder firmly in place. The frame fixings adapted the previous week were assembled. The chain and counter weights were repaired and glued onto the frame. All was now firmly in place. The gasifier was repainted a shade darker and washers to represent a flanged joint with the flue sourced.

The hose and tap fitted last week.

At the same time, Geoff was busy filling in areas around the workshop and gas holder with gorse/shrubbery. He'd bought some more foliage matting used elsewhere, but was surprised to find it wasn't the same. It transpired that Heki matting was used originally, but he'd bought Noch matting second time. Although almost identical in the packet, once stretched out, the Heki formed a much more realistic foliage texture. It will all get used on one layout or other, but sourcing some more Heki might be more difficult.

Experiments with the Sea Foam trees showed how important height is on the layout, which prompted Geoff to add some more trees along the trackside and up to the bridge. The latter, extending above the parapet was very nice effect.

Stephen's final task was to create a path from the side of the water tank around to where the ladder will be positioned to reach the tank access panel.

Another snap from last weeks work, weeds growing in the water seepage from the mine/retaining wall.

Geoff and hair spray - who'd have thought it!!!

Wednesday 8th March

Worklist:
More shrubs and grass
Hose pipe and tap
Gas fitting reinstatement
Crane details

No prizes for guessing who did what. We were obviously very engrossed in our work as there were only a couple of photos.

It must be spring as the foliage on the layout is growing at a great rate. Rubberised horsehair, proprietary mixes, long and short grass, were all applied with copious PVA. The 3D effect is gaining an appreciable and pleasing depth. Even an embryonic tree made from leftover stranded wire placed in the shrubbery enhanced the area to the extent next week might be tree-week, for someone.

A lost-wax brass tap with 'wire' hose were fixed to the water supply casing - a nice little detail. The 'lost' components for the gas holder were found, which enabled the structure to be fixed down finally.

The gasifier components were also assembled to assess their final fixing requirements. The main gas take-off pipe had been cut in two, to enable fitting into the building, but changes to the building meant that this was no longer required. Flanges and sleeves were discussed to make the pipe whole again.

The gas holder and gas fittings had all been painted in red oxide. Over the decades, these have acquired a nice patina, and a lot of dust. A wash of white spirit spruced them up a bit, but not too much. It was decided that the gasifier chamber itself will be repainted a darker reddy-brown to reflect the effects of the constant burning process.

The crane rotation mechanism.

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Stephen brought his 'ex'-military railcar which now has a proper roof with vents and gutters, a slightly different colour scheme, windows, glazing and WD identification panels. He'd also purchased a Model Power Plymouth diesel (eBay) similar to one seen running on an On30 layout at the Tolworth show that had impressed with its smooth running. The unit has an oversized bonnet which makes it ideal for NG conversion. However, although it ran 'reasonably' well, it's only 2-wheel drive, so experimentation is required to see what use it can be put to on WC!

Wednesday 1st March

Worklist:
Water supply casing
Crane detailing
Foliage
Test runs

A full compliment and a lovely day.

Stephen progressed the water supply pipe casing. Angle iron was fabricated from plasticard strips and a framework was fitted mid-span. Rusty brown paint completed the installation.

Laurence progressed the crane detailing, with a mid-session design meeting with Geoff.

Geoff fitted a variety of hedging and foliage along the new fence using a combination of re-used horsehair, proprietary rubber/foam and matting. On the shrubs above the workshop, he experimented with pre-flocked matting teased out thinly over the horsehair, which worked really well. The aim, in all areas is to create a varied effect without looking like a an advert for materials. It's an interesting problem that is worth the practice.

After winding up the various jobs after lunch, all three had a piece of stock to run. Laurence had repaired his 0-6-0 loco - a Bachmann chassis and scratch NICKEL SILVER body.

Stephen had painted the shell of the railvan brought the previous week. The Humbrol spray acrylic used was 'olive' - a little darker than the 'drab olive' Geoff had an old tin of. Investigation required. Various other issues were discussed such as roof finishes, water diversion strips, door details, army markings.

That lunchtime, Geoff had received a Bachmann bogie diesel in the post - an eBay purchase. It is DCC ready and was not ideally suited to our controller, but it ran nicely. This will become the motive-power on Geoffs OO layout, driving the three-stage cleaning unit. More anon?

A couple of photos of the layout turned out quite nice ...