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The Lighter Side of Steampunk
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Recent posts
#1
Tactile / Re: My Steampunk Gameboy
Last post by Sorontar - Today at 10:14:27 AMThat looks great. Have your additions added much wight to it?
Sorontar
Sorontar
#2
Tactile / Re: That 'big project' I've be...
Last post by Sorontar - Today at 10:11:06 AMJames, why do you think the bricks are so fragile? Is it their quality or where they are positioned, or something else? Why haven't you seen a similar problem elsewhere on the walls?
Sorontar
Sorontar
#3
Tactile / Re: That 'big project' I've be...
Last post by The Bullet - Today at 08:35:45 AMWhile you are working in the attic I would like to give you one piece of advice:
Even if a "cold" attic is not a living room it is better to install at least two outlets (at the far ends) and efficient lights with the switch less than arm´s length from the entry.
Reason:
If you need to go there to inspect for leaks or damage it is mostly at night during a thunderstorm.
Then you need proper lights.
My house has three attic spaces. Main house and both extensions have separate ones. One extension attic is only accessible via the carport roof.
The sockets on my "outside" attic came in handy for an IR movement sensor and a huge 230C driven bell (something inbetween a school and tram bell considering the noise) to drive away a marten that wanted to move in when the weather turned cold.
Even if a "cold" attic is not a living room it is better to install at least two outlets (at the far ends) and efficient lights with the switch less than arm´s length from the entry.
Reason:
If you need to go there to inspect for leaks or damage it is mostly at night during a thunderstorm.
Then you need proper lights.
My house has three attic spaces. Main house and both extensions have separate ones. One extension attic is only accessible via the carport roof.
The sockets on my "outside" attic came in handy for an IR movement sensor and a huge 230C driven bell (something inbetween a school and tram bell considering the noise) to drive away a marten that wanted to move in when the weather turned cold.
#4
Off Topic / Re: YET *EVEN* MORE things tha...
Last post by The Bullet - Today at 08:29:56 AMWow Xenos,
you are really making progress.
Keep it up.
you are really making progress.
Keep it up.
#5
Trading / Re: Online suppliers of the st...
Last post by MonicaHSE - Today at 06:25:10 AM #6
Off Topic / Re: YET *EVEN* MORE things tha...
Last post by Xenos - Today at 03:48:30 AM27,618 words currently.
I'm now writing between 1,600, and 3,300 words a day.
I should be finished with the vomit draft Thursday, maybe sooner.
I'm now writing between 1,600, and 3,300 words a day.
I should be finished with the vomit draft Thursday, maybe sooner.
#7
Off Topic / Re: The Brassgoggles Model Mak...
Last post by James Harrison - Yesterday at 08:55:09 PMYes, I'd imagine that would be brilliant from a modelling potential perspective but crippling viewed every other way.
I've always viewed Rufford as being a 'pure' GCR line but that particular area of Nottinghamshire is rife with joint lines, or routes with running powers. Due to its proximity to the real-world LDEC I'm assuming that connecting curves would have been laid in after 1906, which opens up all sorts of possibilities for visiting stock from other companies - the Great Eastern I've already dealt with, the Midland and the Great Northern are the other two.
The whole raison d'etre of Rufford though is to present the GC's response to a Midland mainline heading north out of Nottingham to the River Trent, so I think I can safely say that any Midland traffic - would stick to 'The Sherwood Section'.
Meanwhile the Great Northern historically stopped at Shirebrook... but the engines they used were fantastic 0-4-2 and 0-4-4 tanks of antiquarian age, and one or two of those in model form would be real points of interest.
But I need to get the current project done before I can start thinking of more to do...
... speaking of which, has been sanded down, brushed down and then given a second coat of paint.
I've read repeatedly that gloss paint gives the better results when it comes to applying transfers, but the downside I can see with that is that it takes every minor surface imperfection and magnifies it tenfold. Now, in all honesty I'm fairly happy with how this looks right now and if it dries and stays like this I'll probably accept it and move on to painting the smokebox and running plate.
I've always viewed Rufford as being a 'pure' GCR line but that particular area of Nottinghamshire is rife with joint lines, or routes with running powers. Due to its proximity to the real-world LDEC I'm assuming that connecting curves would have been laid in after 1906, which opens up all sorts of possibilities for visiting stock from other companies - the Great Eastern I've already dealt with, the Midland and the Great Northern are the other two.
The whole raison d'etre of Rufford though is to present the GC's response to a Midland mainline heading north out of Nottingham to the River Trent, so I think I can safely say that any Midland traffic - would stick to 'The Sherwood Section'.
Meanwhile the Great Northern historically stopped at Shirebrook... but the engines they used were fantastic 0-4-2 and 0-4-4 tanks of antiquarian age, and one or two of those in model form would be real points of interest.
But I need to get the current project done before I can start thinking of more to do...
... speaking of which, has been sanded down, brushed down and then given a second coat of paint.
I've read repeatedly that gloss paint gives the better results when it comes to applying transfers, but the downside I can see with that is that it takes every minor surface imperfection and magnifies it tenfold. Now, in all honesty I'm fairly happy with how this looks right now and if it dries and stays like this I'll probably accept it and move on to painting the smokebox and running plate.
#8
Tactile / Re: That 'big project' I've be...
Last post by James Harrison - Yesterday at 01:00:36 PMAttic space is now insulated, crack on with the bedroom, right? Right?
Err... not quite.
There's an amount of rubbish in the attic that needs to be bagged and binned, and I don't want that making a mess of the bedroom works. I also have plans for the gable end wall, which means having at least one plug socket on the long back wall moved. So much as I'd like to immediately be pressing on with sizing that wall and putting down lining paper, I can't do that quite yet.
Meantime then I'm looking at one of my other goals for the year, removing the cement render from the gable wall itself. I've got to be careful with this because my email and 'phone line are pinned to the render and I don't want to accidentally put myself back in the Middle Ages.
First step was to remove some redundant cabling from the wall.
That's a bit more of Jodrell bank decommissioned and discarded, then.
Then I was able to gently tap at the render with a hammer and a pry bar, and start getting the render off. It appears to have been laid down in multiple stages, as the top 6mm or so just peels off like the skin off an orange, leaving a harder substrate below. Harder isn't quite the right word, it turns to dust when scraped but seems almost impervious to hammerblow.
When it does come off it reveals the brick underneath.
Now that might look acceptable but I am a bit concerned how beat up it is. The fireskin is gone so there's no real robustness to the brick anymore and it's going to be weathered by things like wind and rain. Spalling due to freeze/thaw cycle is also going to be a problem. Depending how long removal of the render takes, I think I need to be looking into getting these courses renewed. That would probably be a Summer task with reclaimed bricks and lime mortar. It could be something that gets done in a year or two, if it has to be deferred, but I'd be wary about leaving it longer. It's something that needs to be monitored, basically.
Going through the stuff that's broken loose, you can see that there's a smear of brick (and it really is just a paper-thin smear) that's come off with the cement. Yeah, it's not my breaking the cement off that's removing the fireskin, that has long since gone and it's probably the case that the wall was rendered specifically because the bricks were starting to spall.
Err... not quite.
There's an amount of rubbish in the attic that needs to be bagged and binned, and I don't want that making a mess of the bedroom works. I also have plans for the gable end wall, which means having at least one plug socket on the long back wall moved. So much as I'd like to immediately be pressing on with sizing that wall and putting down lining paper, I can't do that quite yet.
Meantime then I'm looking at one of my other goals for the year, removing the cement render from the gable wall itself. I've got to be careful with this because my email and 'phone line are pinned to the render and I don't want to accidentally put myself back in the Middle Ages.
First step was to remove some redundant cabling from the wall.
That's a bit more of Jodrell bank decommissioned and discarded, then.
Then I was able to gently tap at the render with a hammer and a pry bar, and start getting the render off. It appears to have been laid down in multiple stages, as the top 6mm or so just peels off like the skin off an orange, leaving a harder substrate below. Harder isn't quite the right word, it turns to dust when scraped but seems almost impervious to hammerblow.
When it does come off it reveals the brick underneath.
Now that might look acceptable but I am a bit concerned how beat up it is. The fireskin is gone so there's no real robustness to the brick anymore and it's going to be weathered by things like wind and rain. Spalling due to freeze/thaw cycle is also going to be a problem. Depending how long removal of the render takes, I think I need to be looking into getting these courses renewed. That would probably be a Summer task with reclaimed bricks and lime mortar. It could be something that gets done in a year or two, if it has to be deferred, but I'd be wary about leaving it longer. It's something that needs to be monitored, basically.
Going through the stuff that's broken loose, you can see that there's a smear of brick (and it really is just a paper-thin smear) that's come off with the cement. Yeah, it's not my breaking the cement off that's removing the fireskin, that has long since gone and it's probably the case that the wall was rendered specifically because the bricks were starting to spall.
#9
Off Topic / Re: The Brassgoggles Model Mak...
Last post by Madasasteamfish - Yesterday at 11:12:03 AMQuote from: James Harrison on Yesterday at 11:02:09 AMQuote from: Madasasteamfish on Yesterday at 10:43:34 AMAs to the L&YR specifically, I went with them (rather than the tempting MR crimson lake set) as the L&YR had running rights along the GCR into Sheffield from Penistone and given its' absorption into the LNWR in 1922 and my 1925ish onwards timeframe I feel that the 'We haven't got round to them yet Guv!' excuse for their anachronistic livery is fitting for stock stranded in "foreign" climes.
That's how it started for me. "There's a picture here of a loco in GC livery in 1926, let's model that" "Oh heck. It looks really nice."
Well, as handsome as some of the pre-grouping liveries are....given the prototype I'd be looking to emulate would be the South Yorkshire Joint Railway (although primarily a freight line it involved 5 major companies (the GCR, MR, L&YR, GNR and GER), not to mention a couple of smaller ones (such as the Hull and Barnsley) lurking in the background) I suspect that way madness lies.....
#10
Off Topic / Re: The Brassgoggles Model Mak...
Last post by James Harrison - Yesterday at 11:02:09 AMQuote from: Madasasteamfish on Yesterday at 10:43:34 AMAs to the L&YR specifically, I went with them (rather than the tempting MR crimson lake set) as the L&YR had running rights along the GCR into Sheffield from Penistone and given its' absorption into the LNWR in 1922 and my 1925ish onwards timeframe I feel that the 'We haven't got round to them yet Guv!' excuse for their anachronistic livery is fitting for stock stranded in "foreign" climes.
That's how it started for me. "There's a picture here of a loco in GC livery in 1926, let's model that" "Oh heck. It looks really nice."
Well, time to start putting some of that really nice livery onto my current project.
Frames are Humbrol #20 gloss crimson and boilers, splashers and cab are Humbrol #3 gloss brunswick green. There's a process to go through in smoothing down and then recoating, but it's looking promising.
