Wednesday 15th August

Worklist:
Coal
Cows
Crane

Just Stephen and Geoff this week.

Geoff had finished making the coal sacks for hand-loading into bunkers in the loco cabs. Filled with coal and fixed on the coal staging with a club hammer, they added nicely to the scene.

Stephen hoovered-up the loose coal in the new staithes (with a stocking separator), then fresh coal was applied where necessary. He then brought out three cows that his friend Ian had 3D-printed for him. The drawing file, of a scanned cow, had been downloaded from a free website. Through trials, the cow was scaled to 1:43 using a set of measurements found on the web and two, slightly different sized cows printed. One was also 'mirrored', to look the other way. Due to the way the printer makes allowances for supporting the cooling plastic, the cows were printed, on their backs and sides to assess the effect. All options produced excess 'blemishes', which took some cleaning off, but all produced animals that would be suitable for the task of creating a herd disappearing up the bridge path.

The cows were given a couple of coats of plastic primer which took away some detail, but filled-in some of the ridges. We haven't decided on breed yet, so the white would be a base coat for Frisians or undercoat for Herefords - TBA.

This inspired Geoff to solder-up two whitemetal cow kits which had far better detail and 'character', mooing loudly - apparently. They will form the rear-guard of the herd.

Geoff had been looking at the crane and the steam engine in particular. He noted that a lot of piping and detail was missing, which would be laborious to rectify. It was agreed to make the crane a 'work-in-progress' project and to use a tarpaulin to hide the anomalies. He experimented with fabric and paint to produce the sheet. Damage to the corners of the brick base were noted and the addition of steel angle corner protectors were agreed, which Stephen worked on, giving the whole structure a repaint to reflect engineering brickwork.

The metal parts of the crane were first painted and then treated with weathering and rust powders, before the tarpaulin was 'tied down' with painted thread.

A figure was then found in the 'bits box' which seemed perfect for the scene, but he'll need a repaint first. (note the gloss black paint added to represent grease)

Geoff finished off the new footpath area, adding the shrubs and his signpost.

Geoff had been assembling and painting a Belfast sink, plumbing and a tap which, he said, would be essential for working the engine. These were now fitted on the adjacent garage wall.

Finally, Geoff got his 'Rust It' pack out and, after reading the instructions, treated a few metal parts i.e. knife sharpener, corrugated iron sheets etc.