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...

Buckets

A while ago I'd read a post on the Albion Yard blog about buckets so went ahead and purchased some etches thinking they would come in very useful. For some reason this evening, after a good day working in the garage, I thought I needed a little challenge and set about soldering one of the buckets together. Jumping in at the deep end I ignored the straight sided bucket and went for the, potentially more difficult, slope-sided example.

Surprisingly it was not too difficult. The handle was the hardest part but after summoning a bucket full of 'patience' I eventually had something that would 'hold water'!

For my first attempt at soldering something so small I'm well pleased... I've just started painting the 1/76 scale chap in the picture but thought including him might help with getting the comparative scale of the 1/72 bucket. The etch is in the background.

For more information go to Brengun where, on page four of their 1/72 accessories section, you should find the buckets along with a good looking tool set. On page three, of this section of their e-shop, there is also a very nice looking bike etch.

I have no connection with Brengun apart from being a very satisfied customer.

Scaleforum 2013

Not another posting on a model railway show, it's about time this chap got some modelling done, I hear you say.... BUT what a great weekend last weekend was.

A new venue for this show and having never ventured down to Railex this was my first visit to the Aylesbury sports hall. Luckily I travelled with someone who had, so finding the venue and car parking was no issue. A new venue does bring with it a level of trepidation, a break with familiarity, which was all unfounded. No doubt there were some niggles that will always occur when putting on a show at a new venue but none affected my enjoyment of the weekend.

With all traders and exhibits in one hall, plenty of space to mingle it made the two days far less tiring than when it was at Leatherhead. With a good mix of layouts and demonstrations (again with plenty of room around the demos, unlike Leatherhead) with members willing to give advice on many aspects of the hobby I probably found this to be the best of the five Scaleforums that I've been able to attend.

Stage left

Stage right

There were eleven fine layouts on show, all inspirational with much to take in. Blackgill, Halifax King Cross and Alt-y-Graban Road were the three that gained my main attention.

Blackgill

Blackgill

Blackgill

Halifax King Cross

Halifax King Cross

Halifax King Cross

Allt-y-Graban Road

Allt-y-Graban Road

A few photos of some of the other exhibits..

Dubbieside

Nottingham Goods

Simington

Simington

Stoke-by-Nayland

The guest layout was Obbekaer, an essay in P87 of a fictitious location in Denmark. I found this to be a very attractive layout.

Obbekaer

Obbekaer

Obbekaer

Did I spend any money? Well I didn't purchase all that was on my shopping list. As I walked around the show I kept thinking I must start some serious modelling, finish some kits and crack on with Tredethy Wharf. I have plenty of projects in stock without adding to them. So enough was purchased to keep me going through the winter. Roll on Scalefour North...Oh along with Gordon Gravett's new publication on grassland and landscape modelling.

Above all what I enjoy about all Scalefour Society shows is the exhibitors willingness to chat and discuss elements of their models, as well as inspire and encourage. This gives every show a friendly atmosphere which I feel the Society achieved more than ever this year. So may I take this opportunity to thank all those involved, with organizing, demonstrating, exhibiting and trading.

Would I go again?..Definitely, in fact my room is already booked for next year...

Model Rail Live 2013

Just playing catch up...rolling back time by about 10 days.

Winterschalf Bob suggested we went to this show but I was not sure what to expect. At first I was not overly bothered about going as it was the week before Scaleforum. Once I'd seen that Albion Yard, Diesels in the Duchy, and Chris Nevard's Polbrook Gurney Colliery were there and it was only down the road at Newark, I thought I might as well tag along. I've been following these three layouts via blogs and RMweb postings for some time but not seen any of them in the flesh.

Of the three layouts Polbrook Gurney Colliery was the first of the three to be seen. 'Beautiful' is all I can say. Didn't see much running but then it was well presented with an excellent tone of colour and, for such a small model, plenty to take in just standing and looking.

Polbrock Gurney Colliery

Polbrock Gurney Colliery

Polbrock Gurney Colliery

Polbrock Gurney Colliery

Polbrock Gurney Colliery

Second of the three to be seen was Diesels in the Duchy. I must admit that while I was impressed with the standard of the modelling I still came away a little disappointed. Was this because I've seen many excellent photos and comments on-line that had built up my expectation too high or was it just my bad luck that each time I when back to view the layout it just so happened that there were running problems? Must have caught them at the wrong moments which is a shame as this was one layout I was really looking forward to seeing and watching. With all that said it as a fine piece of modelling so I'll have to try and get to see it again sometime.

Diesels in the Duchy

Diesels in the Duchy

I had no preconceived ideas about Albion Yard and I was really impressed. I liked the concept of a very high layout with a part scenic hidden sidings giving an impression of more layout beyond. There was movement on the layout each time I ventured back to it with good conversations with the operator. Shame I'll not be able to see this layout again as it is being retired.

Albion Yard (looking towards the hidden sidings)

Albion Yard (hidden sidings)

Albion Yard

To name a couple of other layouts that I've seen before but really enjoyed seeing again were:

Dewsbury Midland

Dewsbury Midland

Dewsbury Midland

and

Harton Gill

Harton Gill

Harton Gill

In the small demonstration area I managed to have a good chat with David Wright who has help me a little with my negativity towards scratch building buildings. I was also able to watch over the shoulders of the many who were crowded around Gordon Gravett's demo of landscape modelling.

As this was the week before Scaleforum purchases were kept to a bare minimum, I only bought a few items for wagon loads from Langley Miniatures.

There were plenty of other good layouts on show, so overall it was an enjoyable day. Was it worth the £10.00 entrance fee for one day? Hmmm possibly only just...more importantly would I go next year... not sure... depends on what's there.

What's been happening?

Evening all...I must apologise for the lack of posts during the last few months. I've not been near any blogs or forums for some time so have some catching up to do. I seem to have been very busy but not on the modelling front. Along with trying to earn the daily crust and everyday domestics, we have a couple of projects on the go that are taking a lot of our spare time, more of which later.

A small amount of progress, however, has been made on a few clay wagons. I've also started to look at building some Ratio clay wagon kits by converting them to original 'as built' condition (not with roller bearings as supplied in the kit) as well as doing trials with different materials for tarpaulins for the clay wagons.  I've dropped-in some P4 wheel sets into a number of Bachmann goods wagons, all which was a lot easier than I expected. With the addition of three link couplings I can see that this is a quick way of building a small fleet of reasonably acceptable P4 wagons. In an attempt to improve one of these wagons I've started to repaint and weather a Bachmann LNER 13T steel open wagon that has wooden doors. I'm still trying to gain the skill of representing worn wood. There is a lot more work to be done on this wagon but I feel it's starting to look an improvement on its all over dark grey pristine commercial finish...

LNER 13t steel sided open wagon

A few of the niggles with Tredethy Wharf that came to light during the Cleethorpes show have also been sorted. By using his lathe, Clive has kindly solved the wobbly pony wheels on my 45xx and also milled my storage cassettes to matching pairs. Unfortunately there has been no further progress with the scenics on the little layout.

The two projects that have been eating into our spare time are:
 1) The purchase of the 'run down' house next door with the aim to turn it into a holiday cottage, which has opened up a 'can of worms' dealing with planning and conservation. We are currently still going through the process of developing a business plan to enable us to apply for any grants that might be available. We have also been on numerous free courses on business development. I've not been in a position to write a business plan before so this is a whole new experience.
2) We are going through the motions of becoming respite foster carers, this has been going on for months with many interviews (interrogations) and attending courses. If successful this project is going to have (I hope) a positive affect on the space I will have for my hobbies... as we will need a spare bedroom...

It just so happens that the spare bedroom we have decided to free up is my current study/modelling den. This brings us to the garage... the plan is to turn the garage into a space I can use all year round for my hobbies... with possibly a small area under the stairs in the house where I can keep small projects to be worked on in the evenings without having to be continually 'banished' to the garage.

Empty-ish garage

After a few weeks of sorting the garage (several trips to the tip and charity shops) and moving remaining stuff temporarily into next door it is now just about empty. Over the next few evenings and weekends more ceiling joists will be installed along with cable runs for a ring main and more lighting before fixing the plasterboard ceiling into place, laying insulation between joists and topping off with loft boards for storage. Then it will be onto the walls. It's been a long time since I've done any serious DIY, so progress will be steady but when finished should be an excellent space. I think it's a fair swop, a 23' x 8'10" garage for 7' x 8' bedroom!

Cleethorpes 2013

After all my pre-show nerves last weekend passed too quickly. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do justice to the whole show, only managing to get a quick half hour on Sunday afternoon to have a look around. There were some excellent layouts on show. I was especially impressed by Melton Mowbray North. It is a very large N gauge layout with superb buildings and scenic detail. It was a shame I couldn't spend more time appreciating the layout.

Melton Mowbray North

Melton Mowbray North

Melton Mowbray North

Another layout I really liked was Rowntrees Sidings. I'm not really a DEMU modeller (well not yet anyway) but can fully appreciate the skill at depicting the current scene that we are all still living in rather than one that we can only depict from photographs. The guys behind the layout were also a very friendly bunch.

Rowntrees Sidings

Rowntrees Sidings

Other layouts that I've seen before but still worth a mention are Barrowfleet (with its mix of 009 and 00),

Barrowfleet

along with Peakdale (a rather nice depiction of a mainline through the Peak District in N gauge).

Peakdale

In the same room as Tredethy Wharf was Gordon's P4 Fish Dock Road, which attracted a lot of local interest.

Fish Dock Road

Along with the layouts, there was a demonstration stand where a lady making trees was very helpful in answering my questions.

My apologies for not getting photos of the other layouts on show, but as I said, this was only a frustratingly quick half hour around the show. I probably missed some worth a mention and certainly did not spend enough time appreciating what I did catch glimpses of.

Overall an excellent weekend. Tredethy Wharf performed reasonably well for its first outing, though I've come away with a 'to do list'.

Tredethy Wharf

Just a final indulgence, and as a thank you to Clive for loaning a substantial amount of stock, above is a view of his little Hunslet (which ran as sweet as a nut all weekend) about to enter the woods (stage left). Also, to all who took the time to drop by and take a look at Tredethy Wharf, and pass comments, thank you.

Why I Started a Small School

Not me but my wife...

This is the big distraction that is taking up a lot of my wife's time at the moment. She has written a book about her struggle with the schooling system 20 years ago and the circumstances that led her down the path to start a small school. The book is being published tomorrow (27th March) as an ebook. For one day only on the publication date it is being offered at the give-away price of £1.99, thereafter it will be £5.99. If it sells well a printed version will be available later this year
 
More information can be found on the following links.

http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=2191

https://www.facebook.com/rosalyn.spencer.5

http://www.amazon.co.uk

http://rosalynspencer.co.uk/

Her next book will be 'The Small School Years'. Hopefully there will be more days of distraction where I can take over the kitchen....