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| All of the bottoms needed painting. |
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| 2 urns would be a bit tight... |
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| The final technique to pack the straw (painted wire-wool) around the stoneware started to look better than we expected. |
Wednesday 13th May 2026
We had decided to have many of the stone items packed ready for transporting, and settled on a standard wooden crate. Real wood or 3D printed was debated and 3D won. Whilst Geoff went to draw the units, Stephen touched-up all of the bottoms that had not been fully painted as they were now going to be laid down. Geoff then printed 12 and experiments with packing materials ensued. Fine wire-wool was sprayed 'yellowish' and Stephen started experimenting packing some items.
Wednesday 6th May 2026
A tranquil and laid-back session this week. Geoff mixed stone coloured paint to match his previous batch and painted a new set of stoneware items. These could end up on the work benches or in the yard, for sale, delivery or collection.
New items comprised the pineapples for gate pier-tops. Apparently, these were often put on display by sea captains to announce their safe return from voyages of distance, and were to welcome visitors. They were also just used to display your wealth as pineapples were not cheap! The original design had leaves on the top, but we decided that they probably couldn't be chiselled and were cut off after printing.
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| Pineapples and urns. |
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| Lions! |
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| Hammers |
Having repaired and painted three figures that had reinforced pins in one leg, suitable locations were considered. The spot on the corner of the workshop building was given consideration and Stephen chose one having a peek down the road to the rear of the factory.
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| Ever feel you're being watched..... |
Wednesday 29th April 2025
Urns!
We had produced urns and now thought a few in the workshop would look good, but they were a little too large. Geoff, resized the drawing files and printed a few off. After draining excess resin, they were rinsed, then placed in the UV machine and finally painted.
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| Draining excess resin |
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| After rinsing |
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| UV light 'fixing' |
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| Painting |
We then discussed what else might be made in stone and we both remembered the pineapples that used to be placed on top of the piers at entrance gates. Geoff had a hunt around, found a file and printed one off.
Wednesday 22nd April 2025
Firstly, the benches were pried off the build plate, then the armatures were cut off and the remaining debris filed away. After mixing paint to emulate bench timbers, the benches were painted and dowsed with whiteish resin dust. They were perfect.
The benches were then tried out in the floorspaces and after long deliberation, 3 on each floor were agreed and glued down onto the floors, making sure the floor unit could still go in and out with minimal hassle.
A difference of opinion then raised its head. Geoff decided the internal partition would have an exit that went to a corridor. Stephen had always considered it to be a staircase and landing connecting the two buildings, with the workshop extending down the building. Geoff decided the matter by sticking a photo of a pair of doors on the main wall.
We will have to tidy the wiring up to reduce the chance of damaging it.
Wednesday 15th April 2026
No meeting last week, but an interesting session this week making 3D work benches.
A trip to Google came up with several workrooms with similar benches. The photos also showed what else was stored in the workrooms, which we will assess in due course.
A bench design sketch was developed and dimensions agreed. Geoff then drew the bench in his 3D package, which was duplicated and the units laid out to fit on the printer baseplate.
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Finally, the drawing is sent to the 3D printer. Once the liquid resin has fully drained off, the model will be thoroughly washed and dried before the benches are taken off the board and the supports removed.
Stephen thought the windows needed to be cleaned to allow views of the new interior and set-about it using a cotton bud. A couple of figures were temporarily placed inside to gauge the visibility through the windows.
Thoughts were also given to the small roller shutter into the same building and how the finished products could laid out on pallets outside.
Wednesday 1st April 2026
There was no meeting last week as Geoff had a last minute meeting to attend, but we picked up where we left off the previous week.
A polyboard panel was cut for the roof space together with holding in tabs to allow for later removal. The LED strings (1 x 4 and 1 x 5 lamps) were fitted to the polyboard ceilings using hot-gun glue. An extension wire was added to the upper floor and both feed wires fed through a hole in the baseboard, to a plug/socket.
Due to the different number of LED's on each floor, it was sensible to wire them in series. The small power supply unit was adjusted and 8v gave a reasonable light level. The windows are pretty-heavily soiled and might have to be addressed if the interior detailing warrants it.
We had another look at stone workshop photos online and decided that some 3D printed work benches would be nice, which Geoff will investigate.
Wednesday 18th March 2026
Simultaneous projects this week. Stephen worked on the small Edwards building, adding a 1st floor ceiling, to allow LED lighting to be fitted. Geoff worked on the baseboard, to ensure there was a power supply for the lights.
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| The current interior walls and first floor are removeable for just this occasion. |
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| L - Upper floor and R - ground floor. |
However, the new first floor ceiling board was below the window heads, so instead, we will fix a ceiling into the roof for the lights, which will require a separate power feed with plugs for dismantling.
Meanwhile, Geoff checked the baseboard for suitable power supplies. Looking for the 'General Use' 19v supply required some investigation, but eventually one was found. In the process, he labelled up all of the electrics and declared that it was 'as he had always imagined the boards should be labelled'. Obviously a future (next?) project.
Wednesday 11th March 2026
A mixed bag this week. Stephen grabbed the palette, paints and a brush, and carried on painting the checkrails in Edwards yard. Geoff decided to tackle an inexpensive radio-controlled Land Rover he'd bought online with a view to it becoming the motive power for a vehicle to collect and deliver wagons to and from the loading dock and the back yard. The car is designed as a 'sliding' street racer, but the drive didn't work. A mis-placed gear was to blame and was soon rectified. However, it was very fast and so thoughts changed to how it could be geared down. Different options were discussed and will be investigated. The secondary issue was disguising the mechanism and some existing die-cast models were reviewed. A small delivery van looked feasible, but a Commer van was the best option - big enough to take the printed circuit board intact while matching the axles/wheels width and length. Further investigations on increasing traction power to follow.
The ground between the rails needed painting as well as the checkrails. Fortunately, when being installed, these had been set slightly lower to avoid paint being rubbed off when track cleaning. A 'dusty' rust colour was chosen.
We still await the development of a shunting vehicle with interest...
Wednesday 4th March 2026
With the failure of the metal blackening last week, we moved on to painting the check rails with spirit based paints assuming that acrylic paints would not adhere satisfactorily and would be easily rubbed off. We started with a base of dark brown and mixed different orange/red colours to achieve a decent rust colour. With various colours on the palette, Stephen found a dark brown base colour with a splash of 'rust' worked-in could be cajoled into something realistic. We also experimented with rust powders mixed with matt varnish (to keep materials 'non-water based'). However, it was difficult to keep track of the variations, but it was looking good.
As Geoff followed up with the new track cleaner, it was evident that it was a bit too wide and so minor adjustments were made that produced an acceptable effect. We don't think this will be too much of a nuisance when cleaning the trackwork and hope it improves the overall appearance.
Wednesday 25th February 2026
Housekeeping:
Stephen also went over the general layout foliage with more yellow paint splodges to brighten-up the extensive gorse bush flowers (As trialled the previous week).
The bridge board was set up and Stephen gave it a close vacuuming. Geoff laid a line of Modge Podge to the outer edges of the bridge roadway and then used shortish electrostatic grass strands to add more texture. Stephen followed using clumps of long grass fibres, hand-trimmed, and placed into patches of glue along the edges.
A discussion took place about whether the check rails should be painted and the answer was - yes. Geoff found some 'Brass blackener' and tried it out on a point, but it was a bit watery. After lunch, another coat was added, but after it had fully dried, it was easily removed using the track cleaning tool.
The uncleaned checkrails had looked good, so it was decided to try paint, which was easier and quicker to apply. However, this time, Geoff decided to make a specific tool for cleaning the point rails, just the areas where the wheels would run. A strip of thick brass with a flange milled along one edge was made and a strip of emery paper was applied to the recess using double-sided tape. Some adjustment might be required, but the effect was brilliant.
Finally, Stephen finally got around to painting the timbers at the bottom of the retaining wall where they sit rotting in water, a job that was finally ticked off the list.
18th February 2026
This week we tackled one of Geoff's 'annoyances', an unrealistic section of track.
We decided to leave the sleepers in place and unsolder the rails. The short rails were removed together with the adjacent rails up to more suitable positions at both ends.
The only issue we had was finding suitable replacement rail. John had used some unusual rail so both the rail height and the rail head width had to be matched as best we could.
The stone in the foreground is a marker indicating the centre of the uncoupling magnet under the siding along the front.
We also tackled another of Geoff's bugbears - the foliage across the hill behind the workshop. It has become very tatty, but Stephen did a trial make-over with some yellow paint, touching-up the faded flowers which worked quite well. We'll look into it next week.
11th February 2026
It was decided to check over the area of recent work and have a nice running session as well. Just the original 3-board setup this time, with the fiddleyard attached to the bridge board.
It was a very worthwhile exercise as more gremlins than we'd anticipated had crept into the layout. Even being busy all afternoon, we still ended up with a small list of 'Things To Do'. One plus was that the new switch worked well when operating the crossover area.
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It took a few seconds to realise the Edwards middle track didn't exist in this configuration!
4th February 2026
The first job was to spray paint the plugs white - primer and top coat. After lunch they were dry, and could be 'hot-glued' in place. Later still, the coloured lines were added. It was tricky to match the colours and apply the paint, but it turned out well.
The rest of the day was spent working on the two station boards, as the areas of 'water' were looking a bit dull and dusty. Firstly, an acrylic varnish was tested on the base of the water tower, over painting or adding to the spillages. The seepage at the base of the retaining wall was next and rather than the acrylic, a tin of old varnish was used. It was a bit brown/grubby, but it looked perfect.
Wednesday 28th January 2026
Geoff had 3D printed the plugs to fill the old switch holes in the control panel and they were painted white. When dry, they were popped into place. Saw cuts were made in the switch to extend the indicator lines and the slots painted white. We'll decide if any cosmetic mods to the panel/diagram are worthwhile in due course.
The main business of the day was to review the board joint running through the crossover. Initial thoughts were to paint the slot sides green to camouflage the gap, but Geoff suggested the idea of highlighting the edge of the timber walkway with white warning stripes, to take the eye away from the gaps. It was worth a try and so Stephen applied a pale grey line to the timber walkway ends. We were so pleased with the white lines that they were also were added to the rest of the timber crossovers.
Meanwhile, Geoff worked on adding mixed foliage further along the joint, and then some gravel material to extend the walkway to the point lever area (to justify the walkway existence!).
Stephen was pleased with the content and operation of the 'Viewing notes' on the blog and had created a small poster to advertise them, complete with a QR code for easy access.
Geoff had bought a radio-controlled forklift truck on-line, as an experiment. Described as 1/64, he hoped it was not exactly to scale, but at £13 it was worth a try.
The quality was very good and with 8 channels, there were lots of things to play with. However, it was too big, but as it ran so well, thoughts turned to a 'conversion'. Without the forklift and the cab something must be possible - maybe a delivery van? Altering the wheels/tyres looks like the hardest task.
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