GWR OO Gauge - 1930's rural Somerset - Winter 1937

Neat job Colin.   :thumbs

The internal works look very good and, in spite of not being able to see the detail from 2ft, must look way better than the original.  Were those holes for the weights moulded into the floor at the time of manufacture ?  If so, I woner why ………….

Hi Peter,

we could sure use some of the heat you presently have in France over here. Some obscure location in Tassie just recorded the lowest temperature ever for the Island State, -14.2C which apparently was even lower than at Casey station, Antarctica! It was 2C overnight here in Melbourne, barely scraping into double figures for a few seconds during the day, Brrrr, but Spring is not far away. Ever the optimist I sowed my tomato seed today.

Meanwhile on the Autocoach. those handy indentations are the opposite sides of the various molded seats, hollow beneath. 

Colin

The Heathfield Memorial

Recently revitalised by addition of a new fence, the previous was a wrought iron affair that was rather unceremoniously pulled out to help the WWI effort, we see the monument ready ahead of Armistice day. Late Autumnal sunshine catches the scene with a few locals taking it in.



The Monument has been rebuilt, this time using Air Drying Clay and comes up rather better than my early original effort.

Heathfield RAF Reconnaissance - the untold “story”


It’s a little-known story from the 1930s that RAF Westonzoyland, Somerset, one of Britain’s first RAF bases (1925) made its own contributions to the W-H story as well as in the untold history of WWII military reconnaissance. RAF W-Z for short, is only 17 Miles from Heathfield and 20 miles from Westown. Notionally a sleepy base, there was in fact an active R&D programme from 1936 based around the new Bristol Blenheim Light Bombers then just coming out of Filton's Factories barely 40 miles to the North. Very convenient proximity for Secure Ops.

It so happened that Flight Lieutenant Donald Parker, uncle to a certain Mr C “Parka” Parker of Heathfield was involved in these secret projects and was by chance flying back to RAF W-Z base the very same day as Heathfield unveiled its restored Monument. It is to him we owe thanks for this daring low swoop over the village and flyby shot of the setting,




now also carefully “colourised” to relive the moment.



Footnotes:

• Hat tip to Kevin Phare of Little Muddle fame for the original concept
• Any resemblance to actual events, other than the existence of RAF W-Z from 1925 and construction of Blenheims at Bristol Filton is unintended (and highly improbable!)
• Mrs A G ("Trudy") Parker, mother of C "Parka" Parker worked in the Filton Factories as part of the WWII effort (at least partly true) For all I know, possibly on Blemheims.
  

 

I like that Colin.  :thumbs :thumbs :thumbs :thumbs

A great scene and colourful back story - which I always like to read.  A bit of fiction to go with our fictional worlds!  The added chain fence is just the ticket too.
Michael

Some Projects using Air drying Clay

Delving back into my archives, I was introduced to using DAS air drying clay a few years ago by a modeller who specialises in building fell walls for his NW England railway setting. My initial goal was modest as I wanted some dry stone walls in my W-H setting, the type found all over the West of England (and elsewhere).

My first effort was to create the typical wall toppings of the region from DAS Clay, using printed papers for the much more demanding walls themselves. This was the result as applied around the many cottages of Heathfield and does a reasonable job.



The stone toppings are made from strips of Clay molded to thicknesses of 1.5 to 2.5mm by 5mm wide, dried and cut to random shapes. Then primed with dilute PVA and given washes of diluted acrylic paint. The stone paver footpath was made in similar manner. I'll move on to making the strips and blocks in a following post



 
 

Air Dried Clay - Moving into Production

With lessons learn from my first efforts, I built a dedicated adjustable template for my new DAS projects because I was going to need lots of blocks.

The base is a piece of laminated chipboard with a high quality relatively smooth finish. This is important because then the clay in the template mold doesn't stick and can be easily lifted out once cast but still wet.

The sides were made from strips of  plastic venetian blind slats, 3mm thick, probably PVC filled with calcium carbonate. These can be cut easily with a knife and planed square with a hand plane. As I was going to need different widths of clay strips, the second side was made easily moveable, held in place by two screws.



The wet clay is cut off the block in a thin strip and rolled into a "sausage" of about the width of the template slot. It is then pressed into the slot and either rolled flat (a dead AA battery will do) or just rubbed down into place with a wet finger. Either works fine. The upper part of the photo shows a 5mm strip just pressed into position. Make sure not to have the finished clay strip above the top surface of the edges.

As soon as in place, one pair of screws are undone and the Clay strip carefully lifted out. It should come away easily and then be laid out to dry. Any rough edges can be pressed back in (or left to trim off later)



The second photo shows a batch of 5mm and 7mm strips after lifting. When dried on a good flat surface to avoid warping, the drying tends to be uneven between the sides. This is overcome by turning and pressing the still damp clay back to flat every now and then. Then end result is good even flat strips which can be cut before fully hard.

Air Dried Clay -  A Bridge and a Monument

My initial new projects were to replace poor early W-H models of the railway bridge over the Heathfield River and the village monument made from card. The new DAS Monument made its then unfinished debut a few posts ago but now both it the Bridge are complete.

Using mostly 7mm wide DAS blocks the bulk of bridge sides and span were assembled from the top down, mainly because I wanted to add the arch last into a square upper section rather than vice versa. This photo shows the main span with the first two courses of stones assembled. (PVA Glue)



 The stone courses are quite a snug fit, too snug it turns out because the priming and painting with acrylics tends to fill up the gaps so much they almost disappear. I ended up having to cut the groves out to get the desired effect.

Then finally the finished products




 

Autumn in the Quantocks

Some late afternoon light gave this opportunity to catch a sleepy Heathfield setting.

A Minor Derailment

They say bad luck comes in threes, but I'm not sure who the apocryphal "They" are.

 Well my minor derailment was the culmination of at least three, maybe four events.
1) COVID
2) sloppy management of 1) leading to our 2nd lockdown
3) a massive storm causing two systems to fail in our water treatment services then potential contamination

which caused me to alert my elderly neighbours of the risk, one of whom

4) had an uneven down-sloping driveway with a nasty 2cm sideways drop between slabs not visible when wearing the mask due to 1) / 2)

End result was what I thought was a sprained foot but instead turned out to need a Moon Boot / crutches / no weight on foot for 6-12wks. Arrgh!

5) My railway room is downstairs and until my arms are strong enough I won't be trying to go down a step at a time seated. I have to get back up. Likewise wine cellar but kind son-in-law is attending to that and other around the house needs.

In a silver-lining twist, pre-COVID I'd been considering getting an NBA pass for the 2020 finals but our April/ May O/S trip ruled it out. Then COVID struck so no trip/ no NBA, then 1-4 above and now I've a pass just in time for the business end of the restructured playoffs and all the time in the world to watch. Likewise for the delayed TDF and the vast wealth of "on demand" International movies and series we have here through SBS. I'm just past half way through the epic "Le Bureau des Légendes" French espionage series (50 episodes). Gripping current era stuff if you can see it.

Most probably, W-H updates from now will be any kit builds I get to, at least those are upstairs. I'm well into finishing my first wagon for WC&PR, reports over on that topic.

Colin

 

Oh no! Hope you are back downstairs again soon!!

Sorry to hear your news Colin……hope your recovery is at least at the lower end of the time scale. I guess there will be a lot of new rolling stock, buildings and people appearing on the layout……eventually.
Best wishes

John

Likewise, very sorry to hear your news, Colin, although good to read that you have somehow managed to find a silver lining to it all.  And at least you will have some fun making the kits and then there will be a surge of activity on the layout when you are fully fit again.
Regards

Michael

Colin, you can work on those timetables now....

Hi Colin and so sorry to hear of your turn of luck, but hopefully you'll keep positive and enjoy the extra modelling time and the care and attention of your loved ones.

Time to attack the kit mountain then and get those shed doors on!

Bon courage and keep modelling!

Best,

Bill

Bad news Colin.

6 weeks is only the end of October and if time is moving as fast in Oz as it seems to be here, the end of October will be with us in no time!

Much as we don't like it, following the Doc's advice re the ankle is always the best course so I agree with everybody else; comfy seat + modelling tools + kit + glass of wine = enjoyment.

Barry

Sorry to hear this Colin - I thought you were going to tell us it was as a result of rushing up the Quantocks looking for bilberries !!

Is this a convenient time to do some static modelling or is it really bad luck ?  Hopefully, you'll be up and about soon - as others have said - take the medical officer's advice - afterall, look how well they're doing with Covid !!

Thanks everyone for all your kind thoughts and best wishes.

I'm trying to keep a positive mindset as the prospect of an immobilised 6-12 weeks is daunting; it's a fractured metatarsal so foot not ankle, and my fracture takes a long time to heal, 12 wks is realistic, 6 optimistic.

I just need to keep Eric Idle's song in mind. "Always look on the Bright side of Life"

Colin

And Bernard Breslaw - "You Need Feet".

A 20th Century classic!!