Sunday 15 July 2012

Maggie M. A new project


Two Saturdays ago my Dad and I took a trip over to Barnsley to pick up a model kit of a fishing trawler. He had very kindly ordered and paid for it as a present to me. We picked it up the manufacturer, Model Slipway which is a small husband and wife cottage industry. 

The kits are made in a series of large sheds, portakabins and a garage in the back garden. It is composed of a fibre glass hull, several large sheets of flat plastic with parts either printed or engraved on, and hundreds of tiny metal castings. Also included are a set of full size engineering drawings and a thick instruction manual.

 

Their porakabins are full of racks containing thousands of little hand cast fittings that they cast themselves. The kits are hand made up of all the required parts to order. When you consider how labour intensive the manufacture and putting together of each kit is you realise that they are not overly priced. Click on one of the two pictures above and look at the detail.

I made a start with the first item on the list.. A stand, this isn't included but is made by marking out a supplied paper template on a piece of plywood. You need the stand to have somewhere to sit the hull !


Next up.. have a good read of the instruction manual to learn how the rudder and propeller shaft fit. This is always a tense moment as it involves drilling holes in the bottom of the hull. Every hole is a potential leak !


Not good at reading technical drawings, this is probably not the hobby for you ! What you see above ends up looking like this below.


Inside the boat the propeller shaft and rudder can be seen below and then in the second picture a wooden block has been stuck in to mount the electric motor on.

 

With the 6v motor screwed in place, we have a form of propulsion


It will probably take several months to construct as its not quite as simple as an Airfix kit. Don't hit the un-follow button as I don't plan on posting daily updates, perhaps just weekly so you can watch it grow. When finished it should look like this....



The kit is a scale model of a real Shelter Deck sea trawler, that can be seen operating out of Scarborough harbour. She was built in 1990 by Cambeltown Shipbuilders. In the picture below she can be seen acting a s a Guard boat for an oil rig. This is a common activity for trawlers to supplement fishing income.





Saturday 7 July 2012

Welcome Freddy


Please say a big hello to my new nephew Freddrick John Pooley AKA Freddy, he was born this week to my little sister(-in-law) and her husband. He looks a lot like his dad and is a fit and healthy young man. 


I got to be the photographer at the wedding of Freddy's mum and dad a few years ago when they were young students. Since then they have become "pillars of the community"  Lizzy is medical Dr.Pooley and John is High School language teacher Mr. Pooley.


Below he is getting a cuddle from Aunty Jo (Mrs RJR)


Freddy only lives a 5 minute walk away, so we have seen him a few times this week, I think my girls want to bring him home to keep. But we might leave that one till he sleeps through the night ;)




Wednesday 4 July 2012

Independence





We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. source

As an English man, I have been pondering a post for the 4th of July. It's not something we celebrate in the UK, for the simple reason that in order for the United States to have won a war of  Independence, someone had to have lost !
Once upon a time it was said that the Sun never set on the British Empire. Those days are gone and we could discuss their pros and cons for hours. In many ways the need to rule such a large Empire brought out the best, for example Victorian engineering survives today in the form of our rail network and GMT came into existence to harmonise an expanding and New World.. But on the other hand as the Deceleration of Independence goes on to say, there have been things in our Empirical rule, that are not wonderful.

Perhaps as a Mormon Brit, I have a different perspective than most of my countrymen for two reasons.
  • I have got to know a lot of US citizens so understand some of your culture a little better
  • I am grateful that America gained the religious freedom it did, which allowed the church I belong too the chance of flourishing. Something that could not have happened here in my own country.
So although the 4th of July will come and go, mostly without incident or mark here in the UK, I for one, wish all the best for my friends in the US of A and hope you continue to use your Independence and Freedom wisely. We can all learn lessons from failing to use such gifts from the pages of our collective histories.

Happy 4th of July !



(originally posted on RJRDaydreamer 04/07/11)


Monday 2 July 2012

Passenger Trains

Its been a manic weekend with very little respite between operating as a kids Taxi Service. Taking to Saturday jobs, sports, dances and picking up from airports all had to fit in. But I did get 20 mins to chillax in the garden, watching the "train take the strain"


 

This first little engine is a Playmobil bargain from Ebay, pretty much as it would be sold as a kiddies toy. All I have done is add a couple of finer details and given it a new paint job.


The videos were compiled while the Euro 2012 finals were on in the background.



 

This BIG blue coach doesn't get to see the light of day very often. Like most of my stock it is scratch built from plastic sheets, each time I look at it I am reminded that it has dozens of windows that I still need to glaze. Hence the pictures of just the first 6 windows. The last picture of the set of three is the inside of the smaller green and cream train which is in the next video.