Backscene.
Fencing.
Lorry painting.
Stephen and Laurence clamped the assembled backscene panels to check the corner alignment, which was perfect.
Stephen and Geoff then drilled and fitted three 6mm Tee nuts for the end panel and secured it with flat-head screws and large, repair washers. It was very solid and the additional, slightly higher screws appeared to be unnecessary.
Moving on to the back panel, fixing holes were marked out, together with cut-outs for the building light switches and the control panel hanger. The latter raised an unconsidered issue. Should the hanger be packed out by 6mm or should the packer be on the control panel hanger? The control box fixing has to work with and without the backscene, but we struggled to 'picture' the pros and cons, so we cut out the smallest hole to allow the back to be fitted, and fitted it.
The wide back panel was cut to length and clamped in place. To our great relief, it fitted perfectly. S & G then walked up and down searching for the optimum sweeping profile to join the high and low levels. Finally, our resident artist Geoffrey Van Dyke, stepped forward to put pencil to board and it all came alive. We'll check that we still like it next week, then cut it, together with the various holes in the back, then fix it in place.
As previously discussed, we will also have a look to see if there are any benefits to gluing a strip a wood along the top edge, but considering the curved top, this doesn't seem feasible now. Once finished, all of the panels will be painted white.
Stephen, had finished painting the last of the cows and assembled the herd at the top of the hill. They looked really good.
Laurence had returned to repainting a proprietary lorry, which he'd disassembled and stripped off its original paint job. After cleaning all of the metal parts with isopropyl alcohol, he gave them a spay coat of grey primer.
Stephen continued with the new fencing along the track and made a timber gate for one of the openings.
Lots to do next week!
