Mussel Farming?

[calme1952]

thats different. Not sure I want to think about sitting on a pole, waiting for the tide to go out again . Strange it is in english, must be in a tourist area i guess.

Hello ,

In fact the poles are kind of smell platform above the higher level of the sea at high tide .
Sometimes , you see some photos with a car in the water with the driver on the platform

http://frmas.free.fr/no_2.htm

You prefer with a Mercedes ?

http://www.carphoto.ch/33mercedesbenz29 ... 90_023.jpg


http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/inde ... _notices=4



Gerard HENRY
http://www.paysdugois.net/gois.htm

There is also a race against the tide :

http://www.vendee.fr/vendee/dossiers/de ... sp?dss=116

[AndyA]

thats different. Not sure I want to think about sitting on a pole, waiting for the tide to go out again.

Unfortunately I have experience of this, though not waiting for the tide, just a rescue boat. The tidal section of the river Soar, conditions marginal for a narrow-boat but the other two boats had already set off so we elected to keep together. Fending off the front from a marker-pole, I elected to stay with the pole and watch my boat disappear into the distance. Our relatively inexperienced helm did the right thing and motored on.

Wearing a fitted vest, I considered swimming for it, but didn't. Those who know my size, stature and beard will now be thinking that all I really needed was a pointy hat and fishing rod to complete the picture.

The local dinghy club rescue boat came and got me about an hour later. Their platitudes about having done the right thing didn't make me feel less of an eejit, and I was buying drinks all evening until the landlord pointed out that a local had drowned that spring, deciding to swim for it and getting stuck against a weir. I have never, in all the years since, had comments made by even the most gung-ho of our group, about life vests and making sure that everyone knows what to do if something goes wrong.

regards
Andy A

[ian holmes]

Not Mussels or Hampshire, but thought the jetty details might be of interest


To put in context this is where it is from http://www.galenfrysinger.com/broome_australia.htm

Fed up with railways inside lunatic asylums I thought I'd explore this picture a bit. Broome Pearls, Western Australia. Apparently at one time the largest producer of pearls in the world. I had an image in my mind of a couple of wagons being worked by hand along that jetty. Looking at this picture
http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.pic-an23460694
I think hand working is out of the question. Thats one heck of a lot of pearl Oysters
Mayhap a pearl oyster railway will be more rewarding than a lunatic asylum.

Ian

[Steve Bennett]

Damn, I thought that one had got buried in the archives Not sure when I would have found the time to do anything with it, but was on the to play with list. Dont let that stop you though, it is a very inspiring subject, which could be located just about anywhere in the world.

[AndyA]

Having seen Steve's efforts with the textured PVA paint, I thought I'd comment on the mussels, and painting. Over Christmas (which feels like yesterday) I made some loads for the Avalon Line boxes. After intensively researching the sizes of local mussels I settled on pearl barley for the mussels themselves, cast in plaster, painted black, ink-washed purple and dry-brushed silver. For the smalts (hatchlings) I used alfalfa, again a plaster casting, painted pale brown, ink-washed black and dry-brushed white. After seeing George's picture, I'll pick out a few of the mussels in each load in shades of brown. When I've done I'll post a picture. I still haven't got round to painting Steve's boxes, though.

regards
Andy A

[Steve Bennett]

Dont take too long Andy, I would like to see your mussels (had to be careful with the spelling there ). I'm not so sure about including the brown ones though, not from our waters anyway. I think the picture that George posted was from the US.

You might find this of interest
http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/themeitems/2131

[AndyA]

I thought I'd resurrect the thread again. Overnight 21st-22nd December we went over to Hythe for a 'Solstice Party' and now it feels like Christmas. My annual trip on the ferry in the dark, this year made more eerie by the fact that there was an enormous box-boat moored up and in the fog it seemed to go on for ever, followed by a ride on the train (I forgot to take Widley, who hasn't ever ridden on it). I'm seriously htinking of having a go at hte rake of coaches, which are sort of Gn15 style in that one is just slightly different from the other two.

Yesterday morning, however, there was time to do somehting I'd never done before. Mine hostess and my wife were still suffering for their over-indulgence when it was time for mine host to take his daily post-physio walk, so we went into the village and sat in "Seashells", formerly the Seagull but now run by a woman called Michelle. This has a panoramic view of the pier that's not really available in comfort anywhere else. The repair from when the Donald Redford ran into it in broad daylight is obvious, but what you don't get from the pier itself or the Lord Nelson, which has a view straight along the pier, is the sense of how short the train is - this gallant tiny train shuttling along what i actually quite a long run.

I was sort of wondering on the way back, how one might get that sort of effect in Gn15?

regards
Andy A

[Gerry Bullock]

Hi Andy it looks as though you had a Merry Time from the spelling seriously it will be Gnice to see what develops from your ponderations

[Steve Bennett]

I was sort of wondering on the way back, how one might get that sort of effect in Gn15?

Think you might need a longer shelf than the one on top of your bookcase Andy

What you need is a long shelf, attached to the wall with a hinge at one end. When not in use, it goes flat against the wall, resting on some shelf brackets, then when you want to use it, you swing it out into the room with something to prop it up underneath. You could even paint the backscene on the wall , not sure how you would do the sea though . OK, thats a bit fanciful .

[KeithB]

How about modelling the shore-end and pier-head stations and putting some sort of scenic break (maybe just a blank fascia about 12 inches long by 4 or 5 inches tall, perhaps with a "Hythe Pier Railway" nameplate on it) to disguise the shortness of the run?

The train would start from the shore station, run along a section of pier, disappear behind the fascia, and then reappear for a short section of track before arriving at the pier head station.

[AndyA]

I can't find the details of how this:



...back in March 2006, became this:



..sometime I think in 2008.

Anyway, I'm going to stick last week's progress here, until I actually have something worth putting into "Modelling Matters".

It started when I found a copy of the "Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Cookbook", a rather nice pastiche apparently based on a column in "Southern Life". The boat reminded me of this topic and I went to find the relevant piece of MDF, sidelined after the flood. Widley looked it over and pronounced it not beyond rescue, so I washed off the water marks and had a closer look. Nothing that can't be cured by repainting the sea and adding a whole lot of the easy details people have posted since I started. Now, some folks here will remember that when Sue was last away, Jes's efforts with his Pizza encouraged me to take out Vais'kiri and start cleaning up the mess, with the aim of making some buildings. The last little bit was too difficult and I got disheartened again and put it away.

But Jes's hut hit a chord. I looked at the building frame and decided to go for it.



As you might expect with anything I've built, it's not totally square, but I must have been having a good day, because it's only a couple of mil out, nothing that a decent floor won't hide. So, first I did some nail-holes on the planks...



EDIT: having got the scanner working (printer needs more work but one out of two ai'nt bad). Over the weekend in the Forest of Dean I sketched a building, based on Jes's hut for his Gnine pizza.



Here are the bits...



Rather than make a mock-up, as I did with Vais'kiri, I decided to make the shell of the building. When I started I intended to clad the thing with a sleeve of .5mm card, just building the two separate sections so that I could detail the upper story later if I felt so inclined.

So I used brown gummed tape to fix the sections, and thanks again to Michael for that tip all those years ago.



But then, as I worked, I realised that the windows in the upper section would stop it pulling out anyway. I changed my mind, and decided to put clapperboard direct onto the card shell (I'm aiming for something like the net huts at Hastings, there are some pics of those somewhere on here as well...)



The tolerances are good enough that the join should be hidden well enough - pretty much a miracle by my standards. The roof will be separate as well, meaning that I'll need to put proper trusses at either end. Never mind...



It seems to fit. So next I need to make doors, windows and roof. All of these are small enough to be done on a work-tray downstairs, so hopefully I'll actually make some progress.

I really enjoyed re-reading the thread, even if it does show up my total lack of progress. Stevem, if you find this, the Hythe loco link isn't working for me - do you still have a 1:24 schematic somewhere? I have a trip over sometime soon and might measuer the coaches and do some drawings, if those haven't been done already...

More when I have more to report, or find the other pictures, or get the scanner working.

regards
Andy A

[Jes]

Wow, a lot of inspiration in one thread! Hadn't seen this before.

Andy, good luck with your little building, I like the look of it so far! Sorry to hear things didn't work for Vais'kiri. I hope this project will be more enjoyable, have fun!

[AndyA]

Wow, a lot of inspiration in one thread! Hadn't seen this before.

It was real fun re-reading it all.

Andy, good luck with your little building, I like the look of it so far! Sorry to hear things didn't work for Vais'kiri. I hope this project will be more enjoyable, have fun!

Well, firstly the building is clearly inspired by yours, so thanks. You're also doing a good job in showing me how I should have tackled the ground cover on Vais'kiri. I still intend to finish the trackwork and make a start on the buildings, but in slow time. Then I'll do some foliage - looking forward to seeing your ferns, for example.

regards
Andy A

[Steve Bennett]

Certainly this thread brings back memories

Like the new version of the jetty Andy, very similar to one I have had in my head for ages for a small fishermans jetty, never got as far as starting it though
I like the building at the end too, might have to steal that idea if I ever get around to building it

Keep the momentum going and dont get distracted (like you usually do )

[michael]

It is one of the great attraction of this forum, work just keeps on truckin' along. Great to see that last picture of the jetty again. Super to see that you have not abandoned the layout Andy. I keep hoping that I will get back to Macton one of these fine days.

[AndyA]

Great to see that last picture of the jetty again. Super to see that you have not abandoned the layout Andy. I keep hoping that I will get back to Macton one of these fine days.

So do I, Michael, and I'm sure many others here.

Like the new version of the jetty Andy, very similar to one I have had in my head for ages for a small fishermans jetty, never got as far as starting it though
I like the building at the end too, might have to steal that idea if I ever get around to building it

Keep the momentum going and dont get distracted (like you usually do )

It wasn't distraction with Vais'kiri, more frustration. But, I do intend to finish the work off, just... more slowly. This building is getting more complex as I go along, but I'm taking care to make sure that everything will be within my capabilities - or at least not stretch them too far.

So, it only took me three goes to cut a roof that fits - fortunately the scrap card is free and the failures go into the recycling where they would have gone anyway, so the cost is the effort and thinking involved.



That should have been it, but of course it wasn't. I'd already decided to make the upper story at least so that I could add detail, which means making the roof removeable, and the only way to fix it as a push fit will be to add some framing. I was hoping to avoid this, but I'm committed now. We went for a walk on Sunday, and saw there buildings...





I've gone for sliding doors, but at least there are some ideas there



This was enough to persuade me that (a) the framing would determine where the windows go, and (b) a couple of skylights wouldn't look amiss.

So last night I sketched out some framing for the ends, and then divided the roof into four bays, allowing two skylights to be offset so that you can't see straight through.



I marked the framing onto the shell and pasted on two windows.



I'll leave them for a while, until I work out how to do that next bit. The doors, and the shiplap on the lower part of the building, I know I can do. If I still like the windows when I finish that...

regards
ANdy A

[AndyA]

I took a couple of pictures first thing, of the botton part of the building by the track, and decided that the side door as in the original sketch didn't make sense.





So I sketched out a rear door, and decided that it works.



Following the idea of temporarily pasting the windows on yesterday, I did a pair of door openings, 6'6" high, the rear (pedestrian) entrance 30" wide, the 'front', which will hide the loading machine if I ever build one, 40" wide. The two sliding doors are 10" wider and higher, to give an overlap.





Doors and frames I know I can do, and the two lower ends and upper sides can be clad with 6" shiplap (black) at 4" intervals, just for light relief.

So, a couple of evenings' work before I have anything more worth posting. Don't worry, I'm on the case.

regards
Andy A

[AndyA]

We can do doorframes. Well, I can cheat, at least. I started by cutting two uprights to slightly over length, and two horizontals the width of the door, plus the width of two uprights and a bit overlength. I taped the pairs together and sanded them square and of equal lengths, finally sanding the uprights to the finished length. Anyone who can cut straight can of course just do so, but hopefully this will give encouragement to anyone who can't: if I can make this work, I suspect that anyone can.

I clamped up one right angle, using the offcuts of box section I scavenged when working at the hovercraft place. I have promised myself to take these and the sharpening stone on the boat and lap them square, which will make them more useful - it's only been two years, after all.



Then I repeated the process for the second right angle, then glued the two together. I sanded off the excess on the horizontals, giving, against all the odds, a square frame the size I wanted. I cut two more uprights, the whole length, plus the excess for the horizontals, plus a bit.



I glued these in place under weight. Then I cut two horizontals, just slightly overlength, and sanded them until they fitted nicely...



...then glued them in place.



Finally I sanded the verticals off to length...



...and painted them. You'll notice that there are still slight gaps, but the second coat of acrylic will fix that.



Of course the real craftsmen here don't need to do this, but hopefully they'll get a bit of a laugh to start the day. I'm hoping to encourage others like myself to have a go.

Just to prove I can do it a second time, here's another one...



...and a mysterious bit of black-painted card. I've also painted the interior of the lower section of the building, all will be revealed next time. Once again it's the result of making it up as I go along.

regards
Andy A

[Steve Bennett]

You'll notice that there are still slight gaps, but the second coat of acrylic will fix that.

Wouldn't worry too much Andy, when was the last time you saw a timber shed with perfect joints

[AndyA]

You'll notice that there are still slight gaps, but the second coat of acrylic will fix that.

Wouldn't worry too much Andy, when was the last time you saw a timber shed with perfect joints

Quite true, but I wanted to get it as good as I could...

...and this next bit is like full-sized bodging as well, then. My sister kind of inherited the approach to DIY prevalent in the area where she worked in an aid hospital. She wanted to fit bookcases into the two alcoves either side of the fireplace when she moved back to the UK. Finish to a few mil oversize, use a lump of scrap pallet to stop damaging the woodwork too badly, and gently nudge into place with a small sledge. They'll need cutting into small pieces to get them out when someone buys the place, but it saves trying to get rawlplugs into dodgy masonry.

In which vein...

Here's a door, and my rough marking-out of where it will fit through the wall...



Note that if I'd had a plan I'd have cut the openings out before assembling the building.



Fortunately the upper section fits in to support the card whilst I cut the top. This doesn't bode well for the end windows, though, so I'll cut a card box to support the ends while I cut those.



I got it to about one mil undersize, and then resorted to alternately pushing the frame into the hole and sanding (yep, it does work, even on corrugated) until it was a slight interference fit.



Then I repeated the process on the other side. Hey, two square things that actually fit into square holes. Things are looking up. But sadly, also looking through. With the door on the 'front' rather than the side, it's obvious what's inside - or not inside, right now.



Now, if I ever build the loader/unloader, I'll want to hide stuff in here. Remember the bit of black card...?



I'm going to take a leaf out of Gerry B's book and disguise the lack of depth with some hanging stuff and a very white ladder leading to the upper level...



I'm going to do the doors next, so I can mount the sliding rails and start cladding the lower section. But I'll probably make a start on the windows and skylights, which will be the same structure, but epoxied around some acrylic I've got left over from fixing that bit of glass in the fridge. Which reminds me - the bits of butter-dish are soaking. I'll post the results, good or bad, on the 'ungluing' thread.

regards
Andy A

[AndyA]

Just as well this is in Blether rather than 'modelling matters', given the rate of progress, and Bell Lane, Dickensville and Maker's Mark. But I made the rails for the sliding doors and painted them...



...then glued the door-frames and rails in place...



...here's how I secured them.



It's too dark to photograph the finished item while it's drying, but it's ready for cladding.

Then, I decided that in order to make the windows, I needed to get the roof framing in place, so that I could work out how wide the skylights will be...



...because I'll make the end windows the same width. I need seven trusses - five for the inside to make four bays, two for the outside ends.



So above is a template, clad in paper so that it doesn't fall apart.



I'm using it to get the angles right for the other trusses.



Making seven that match is stretching my ability, but that's what it's all about.

Of course, all this would have been easier if I'd started with the two shells fitting over the floors, so that the roof could have been assembled in situ, but hey. Actually, I have an idea for a second building, a shellfish shop, so I'll do that one the other way around. One thing I do have a good feel for now is the way these things are framed, so if I still like the concept after doing a second one...

regards
Andy A

[AndyA]

I have done some more work, not all of it productive except in terms of "don't try it this way...".

I shaped some trusses. I made a couple of extra ones so that I could throw the absolute worst ones away.



Then there were two that were falling apart, but those fitted on to make the eaves...



...with enough glue even my edge joints work.



Then I reinforced the two strongest trusses, which will be at the ends, with paper on the side that will be hidden.



While everything was drying I attached the bit of card that will stop people seeing through the building...



...and photographed it on the foundation to check that I still liked it.



Of course, almost four weeks into a project for a wet Sunday, it would have been a bit late, but in fact I still think it looks okay.



The paper reinforcing wraps onto the bottom of the truss as well, and can be cut to size when dry.



Then I cut the notches so that the trusses will fit inside the walls.



...but I might have a friend somewhere who might accidentally have broken one of them whilst trimming it. Fortunately, it's just a matter of forcing glue into the cracks and letting the paper take the strain.

The next bit will be to attach the end roof trusses, hoping that they'll hold the roof shape while I work out the sizes for the skylights.

But whilst I was doing all this I was kind of thinking. I was going to make a shellfish and pie shop version (built so that walls fit round floors, saving the complete chaos of making the roof), and I got out another board to see how three or four would look as a beach diorama. I decided that instead three of them, made 12' by 8', would mean that each bay in the framing would be 36" by 32", making a shopfront more believable. So I'll do some sketches later, and I might even bump the description of the next build into "modelling".

regards
Andy A

[AndyA]

I taped the two finished trusses reinforced with paper onto the ends of the upper floor, high enough up to clear the roof-line, but low enough that the alignment would be as good as I could get...



...then last night after cooking at about ten-thirty, I glued the roof into place, holding the top of the trusses in place with pegs.



...after it was all set properly (this morning ) I glued the 'verticals' in place.



Thos of you who know my abilities in this area will also know that no-one was more surprised than I was to find that it actually fitted - a nice push fit, not tight enough to destroy the thing, but tight enough not to slop around.



Not tempting providence, I took it off and prepared to place the centre truss. Anyone who has built a boat out of those thing beech strips will recognise this bit as when you strip the hull off the mould and start to add the framing inside. So a trip out to photograph some more timber buildings is required to get my strength up...

regards
ANdy A

[AndyA]

I have actually been working on the building a bit, just not making much progress until yesterday. I bet Steve, at least, expected never to see it again.

(Emrys, I don't seem to have FTP access today so I've camped these pics on my.gn15 - I'll move them and edit the links when I can get back in to my own site. Sorry)

Since I got back from the boat trip, firstly I couldn't find the red paint, a suitable excuse for putting off doing the windows, then went and bought some artist's acrylic in the same shade (available locally, rather than four miles away. I've since had three goes at making the windows and skylights, with little success.





I even in desperation tried simply wrapping red card round the edges of the acetate, like passe-partout binding for framing pictures. Natch, that didn't work either.



But I had to have the skylights done before I could add the roof framing, and I'm determined to finish this building before moving on to do three similar ones in 1:35, as a token start on the Jaywich and St Osyth project. So, whilst resting between spots on Saturday I decided that when I got home I'd the best effort of the windows, slap a load of the thick artist's paint on to fill the gaps ( I knew there was a reason that I lost the thing acrylic. I've found it now) and sand them down. Having it less than perfect is better than not finishing at all.





I fitted the central roof truss, then cut holes for the skylights. Fitted the other two trusses, painted the roof interior white and glued the skylights on the outside.



Last night I took the pegs and masking tape off and the skylights didn't fall off.



So flushed with success I got up early this morning to work on the end windows. I cut the holes the same way as for the doors about two centuries ago, cut slightly undersize and then sand until I had a push-fit.

The next step is to paint the interior white (why didn't I do that when I did the roof yesterday afternoon), and glue the windows in place. Now, the whole idea was to be able to see the detailing inside, but if you get close enough you can see the epoxy on the edges of the acrylic, so I'll need to use Steve's trick for filthy windows (since these don't open, there's a reasonable excuse). The detail will then not be so obvious (although I might fit a lamp) but that's probably no bad thing because my first attempts at furniture are likely to be as bad as the windows.

When the cladding and doors are done, I will start on the three 1:35 models (tentatively 'Beach Row'), as a diorama for displaying the stock I haven't built yet. Amongst other things, I will:

decide the window and door locations in advance and cut them out before assembly;
attach the roof to the upper story (may even do another one for this building some day);
use the same thickness of card for all elements (recycling is one thing, masochism something else);

The buildings will be a smokery - wholesale and retail, an eel-and-pie shop, and Jaywick Bait and Tackle, which also sells bottled beer, an important part of the tackle for sea-fishing. This and the fact that I now know where the interior framing would go should at least make the first of my 'I will' list simpler.

Hopefully even I can't make the rest of this building more difficult than it already has been.

regards
Andy A

[AndyA]

Well, almost two months since my last post here, but yesterday was my last gig for a while (six places in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire) so I celebrated by crashing last night and getting up early this morning to do a bit of modelling. Good job I left this in Blether, though, because there are build logs for whole layouts in Modelling that have gone quicker than my roof.

I'd already glued the remaining roof trusses in position:



so all that remained was to put the 'tar paper' on the roof. Natch, I made a mistake by cutting them square, should have made them longer so that they looked more square when in place. At the back of the picture you can see my cunning template: three bits of masking tape on the cutting board.



The remainder gave me something to do whilst watching Ferrari blatantly break the rules once again this afternoon.



...and the final shot shows that you can (just) see the ribs through the windows. Was it worth all that effort - errm, no. I can't find the special sharp scissors for cutting the edges, so that's it for now. All that remains is to cut shiplap strips for the two sets of walls, and make two doors, which even I can do. Then I can fill the upper floor with junk and work out how to make the loader function.

I do have some other stuff I'm working on, but I won't jinx it by putting it up yet.

regards
Andy A