As expected the week that was had a hectic schedule in the evenings. As such anything major didn't get done. However one night I had a spare 30 minutes so I was able to slap the small amount of paint I needed to do on the made up signal. Doesn't look to bad! I had intentions of installing this signal to control the engine stabling siding however I ran out of time over the weekend.
From a modelling perspective Saturday afternoon I made up Lachlan's church for his layout. He helped with placing the stained glass stickers over the windows. It was looking pretty bland so as per the picture on the box we decided to paint the roof, spire and steps a gray colour to offset the white of the rest of the church. I was able to put the first coat of paint on the model on Saturday night as I watched the Brisbane Lions get defeated once more! I will attempt to put the second coat of paint on during the week if time permits. There is always next Saturday night once again watching the Lions more than likely get defeated!
The only other thing I did was to place the rest of the service station items (bowsers, fridge, sign, etc) on Lachlan's layout and start some static grassing. Sorry no photos this week.
I have just cruised past the Scalescenes site and they have a new model of a dockside ship. If you were modelling a dock scene probably just the ticket.
http://www.scalescenes.com/products/T030-Cargo-Ship plus
http://www.scalescenes.com/products/T016-Dock-Edge
Maybe something for the Club's HO layout plans?
Last week's hope of getting at least the made signal painted didn't eventuate due to time restraints. However I did get to the shed on Sunday to take a couple of photos of the Kensington Hill Control Panel under power.
I placed an order with Scale Rails in the UK for a couple of junction two aspect signals for the KH side of the layout. Hopefully these will arrive before my birthday in early July so that the boys can give me these as their presents to me. I also placed an order for another Digitrax DS64 and MRC 4-output decoder with my mate PK. These purchases should complete the main electricals for the KH side.
Sunday morning it was a tad cold so I stayed inside but took the opportunity to spend some quality time with my sons. For son number 2 (Matthew) I put on Thomas and the Great Discovery. At the same time son number 1 (Lachlan) helped me make one of his kits for his layout. This was the service station. In the afternoon we were out in the shed to do some more work on his layout. Go over to Beaver Springs to have a look at some recent photos.
Unfortunately nothing was done on Illavearf this week. Lets see what this week brings!
James at Eastmoor brought this blog to the attention of his readers. Might be useful for tips on scratchbuilding.
http://o9modeller.blogspot.com/
I have added it to my Blog List
The week started when I dug out one of the four Eckon two aspect (red/green) signal kits I had purchased about two years ago to try my hand at putting it together. Easy peasy. I also went foraging in my Hornby mag collection for an article about these very kits and how to paint them prototypically. After reading the article I checked the paints and I had the necessary colours. Now just to find some time to paint the signal.
Saturday was Club day and I left the clubhouse with some homework to do. I suggested at the meeting the idea of having a number of layout coordinators for the new HO layout which would act as quality controllers for specific areas of the layout. This idea was received well but I now have to come up with the Roles and Responsibilities for these coordinators for presentation at the July meeting.
Sunday mid afternoon saw me out in the Shed with Lachlan to spend some more time on his layout. We just had time to put down some more ballasting.
Today (Monday) was a great day. The missus took the boys to a playdate and I had a couple of hours to work on the electricals on Illavearf. I finally managed to wire up the control panel, point motors and feedback microswitches the way it should have been. Once done I checked the current draw on the Powercab and it was averaging 40mA for the LEDs being powered. Now I just have to wire up the street/platform lights, station light and signal box light (once I have made up the signal box kit!). Later in the afternoon Lachlan and I continued with more ballasting. Hopefully I will get some photos up on his blog soon.
I am thinking of doing up a website that will link these blogs as well as provide some additional information. I am tinkering with the site at the moment and it is still a way off. One thing will be a To Do list which should be quite extensive!
Another thing I have been spending time on thinking about is the subject of a power booster, namely the NCE SB3a. It is within the budget and size requirements of Illavearf at the moment. My birthday is coming up so I may ask for money from the family so that I can put it towards the cost of the SB3a. I still have to purchase two Digitrax DS64s and at least another two or three MRC 4-output accessory decoders, hence why I need some more grunt for the layout's power.
This week I am hoping to have another signal or three done so that I can paint the lot in one or two sessions so that I can install them on the layout and connected up to the accessory decoder.
Time will tell!
This week I was able to spend two evenings rewiring the control panel for Kensington Hill based on my recent findings and decisions. I removed the SPDT switches and associated LEDs that were going to control the signals and lights as these functions are now going to be controlled in other ways. I also removed the original resistors that I had soldered to the remaining LEDs that are indicating the direction of the turnouts. These were replaced with 300 ohm versions as the originals were too high and not letting the LEDs light. On Saturday I reinstalled the control panel onto the layout and connected up three of the five turnout feedback microswitches to the control panel. I was hoping to get to the other two microswitches on Sunday but ran out of time due to other family commitments. Maybe sometime this week. I am also hoping to glue up one of the Eckon two aspect signals I have to provide me with an idea of how these will be placed on the Kensington Hill side of the layout.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to get to the Toowoomba Show this year due to the family commitments I had on Sunday. Hopefully I will hear more about the Show at the Club's monthly meeting this Saturday.
