Friday, May 31, 2013

'Twas the Night before T'ba

'Twas the night before Toowoomba when all through the shed,
not a creature was stirring, not even a Ted.
The tapes on the ground all aligned with care,
In the hope that the layouts would soon be there.

The modellers were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of diesels and steamers chuff along in their heads,
And Ted in his PJ's and Smithy in his,
settled down for a moment, Bill off in a tizz.

When out in the Showgrounds there arose such a clatter,
It was Geoffrey reversing again, and smashed into the ....


Bugger! I got so close, see you up there fella's, looking forward to a great weekend


Sunday, May 26, 2013

G1b Goods Shed

Well if there was an award for slow progress then I think they may as well inscribe my name on the trophy for a few years yet! I've been at work on the G1b goods shed, but I am pretty happy with the results. 

I decided to build the sliding  doors from two layers of strip wood to give the different sides of the doors as on the real Mcoys. I used Kappler timber, great stuff and I can get the scale size I need. They ended up only a couple of scale inches thick.  I've also messed about with the metal door hangers building them out of styrene sheet cut to shape, and paper as well just to see what looks better. As it has turned out after much procrastination (surprising really!) I think that you won't be able to see the tops of the doors anyway, will the detail police catch me out on this one I wonder?

 These two photos show the Goods Shed at Manilla, showing the inside and outside of the doors. They are a different design to the plan I have, but did help with the general arrangement of the door and the 'hanging' method used. This building has since been burnt down, glad I took heaps of photos!
The Canowindra Goods Shed, for the purpose of seeing the exterior view of the door and the colouring of the bumper rails on the building and wooden trim colour.
It is interesting to note the supports to the roof on the outside of the building. On the plan I used they are shown to be on every roof truss, however the two sheds above only have them on every second. What is it they say about a photograph?

So back to the model... here it is so far. I've wanted to model the interior as well after going to all the trouble of doing the wood framing. In this shot you can see the enamel wire I used to hook up the LED. 
Here the roof is going on, my only fear now is that something on the inside will come loose and it will become some sort of strange modellers baby rattle!
Once the roof was on it didn't take long to site the shed on the layout. Yep another light in this one, with some shed repairs in progress.
 Alright what's changed in these two shots? Yep, the stairs went on, nearly forgot. Things are starting to come together on this side of the layout.

Well just a quick update, have a great week, and we might see you in Toowoomba this weekend, That's the 1st and 2nd of June, we'll be the ones in the naughty corner! 
Oorroo,
Geoff.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Goods shed update

 Look Out! The detail police are here! He's 'bout ten feet tall and out of scale! 
 The Goods shed has made it's way onto the layout...finally. Out with all the bits to mess up the scene. I've made a start but there's a fair bit to go.
Afternoon sun just came through the wall of the shed, so I thought it worthy of a photo. It is a different look altogether. Just a quick post to get in before Craig!
Oorroo!
Geoff.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Post & wire fencing

At the Brisbane May Show this year I purchased some more of 'Modeller's Warehouse' Oingo boingo wire. It comes in a couple of different thicknesses and I thought ideal for a wire fence beside the station Masters home. 
I stained some timber, allowed it to dry then drilled some .4mm holes in it . To allow me to easily thread the 'wire' I drilled some holes in a piece of scrap timber to hold the fence posts in place while the fun part started. The needle I used was simply a piece of magnet wire that I folded back on itself to thread through the holes. Remember to attach the oingo boingo wire to the post so that you don't pull it completely through. Once it is all threaded up, then secure the other end.
Then plant your posts in some predrilled holes, beaut! Just gotta plant some grass around the post's then should be done.
Here's some photos, I like the look, really fine, and very elastic in case you catch the wire.
Have a good week, Oorroo!
Geoff.