What happened at your workbench today?

Can't remember if I've posted on this yet, anyway, I'm building a model of Peel goods shed, which I have now discovered is quite a size! I have no plans, so I am having to use photos (not many good ones, surprisingly :rolleyes:) to scale up, the only plus is, it is still standing but built into The House of Manannan! However, with the help of Google maps street view and a photo my mate took, you can see the rear wall and one of the 2 loading doors.
Also on the IOM 15mm scale group website, Ed More has done a scale plan of Castletown goods shed, which is smaller, but I assume has similar dimensions for doors etc.
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It works out to be approximately 50 x 33 feet, as a model nearly 20" x 30"
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Now I've tried it in place and happy with the size, I am drawing on the details to see if it looks right, once I'm happy with that, I will order the foam board, 10 mm I think and make a start, I also have to bare in mind that it's going to Stoneleigh so needs to be " flat packable" to get in the car!!
Anyway, one end done, today I need to work out the 5 windows
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I've been doing odd bits and pieces on MER No.23, and have got to the stage of applying paint...
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Although it ('she' doesn't seem quite the right word) was turned out in a fancy livery early and late in its life, for much of its time it was battleship grey and that's the era I've opted for.
 
A bit more drawing and rubbing out to redraw, also to get a better idea, a bit of colouring in (only 3 colours so didn't need any numbers to follow) to give a bit of depth. I have now drawn the back, not quite sure of the doorway sizes, but will see what it's like with a bit of colour as well.20251227_150116.jpg20251227_171735.jpg20251227_171809.jpg20251228_204316.jpg
 
A few of you will notice that I have been mentioning a bit of modelling over the hols. So back in 2024 I bought a Boot Lane Works "Nancy" in 32mm gauge to go on my Christmas layout, however due to my own error in not reading the spec, it will not run round tight bends. So what to do, initially I thought I would buy a 45mm chassis, and run it around the outside railway, however, BLW do not sell the chassis separately, so (a little late) I bought a whole kit in 45mm. My inital thoughts were just to build the chassis and swap bodies - dilemma, what to do with the 32mm chassis and unbuilt body.
Anyway decided that i will buld the whole loco, transfer the electronics, and have the 32mm as a static display item.
Progress - slow, but the chassis does run well:

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The General Electric controller arrived for No.23 today: there are two in the pack, but only one was fitted to the prototype. As delivered, they have a bit of flash on them,
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but the castings are of a good quality with no porosity, and a dry run shows that they fit together snugly.
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With the parts assembled, low melting point solder was applied, and heated gently until the solder flowed.
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Once the cabinet was assembled, the holes for the driver's key and handle were opened out to fit
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The handles were then fitted
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and a coat of primer was applied.
 
AlanL said:
The diners now have menus, sauce bottles and coffee cups.
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Somehow there is still something missing: the Fonz?
 
A happy late afternoon/early evening was spent painting the cab interior, fettling and fitting hinges and roughing out the ply rectangles which will have mineral loads attached to them. Batteries have been ordered from Strikalite, too...
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As mentioned earlier in the thread I am building a Boot Lane Works "Nancy" in 45 mm gauge, no "blow by blow" as I am building just like the 32 mm I have already built, with one slight exception, I built the cab off the footplate (though used the footplate as a template to ensure the correct fit), this allowed me to clean up the cab, and "roughen" the acrylic ready for painting, then added it to the footplate. Details to be added, but progressing well, the switch and charging point have been taken off the 32 mm model and fitted, the electronics will be added after painting, though I have confirmed they will fit:

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I finally found the time to create what I’ve been wanting to make for the past three years. Life got in the way, some events really shouldn’t be underestimated.WhatsApp Image 2026-01-09 at 18.24.26 (1).jpegWhatsApp Image 2026-01-09 at 18.24.26.jpeg
One end is for cutting the ties/sleepers, and the other end is for setting the blade to the correct depth.(the red thingy is a filler for this!)

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So now I can finally make those ties/sleepers perfectly, without needing my jigsaw or reciprocating saw.
It saves a lot of time!

I can now build one of these in about 8 hours:
- 0.5 hour to design (not even!)
- 1 hour to print and apply double sided tape, including cutting the ties/sleepers
- 0.25 hour to remove the paper and tape.
- 1.5 hours to cut the extras????tomorrow, that is...???

I hope I can finish the rest tomorrow, including the final touches.

But I’ve made some great time saving progress without sacrificing any quality!
 

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Chris Vernell said:
Probably better than if she calls you dinner :eek:
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We’re past that age now, thankfully… I was getting rather tired of climbing up there to put the roof tiles back on yet again.
At this point I think the tiles should start paying rent.....:cool::D:D
 
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