Hi Mark,

I just read through your recent update. Wow, amazing work to do and much progress already completed. You will have a nice layout when everything is finished. Good for you.

Rich

Mark,

You have had quite the adventure what with recovering from an earthquake, selling and buying a house, and now renovating. I wish you all the best. Finding insulation bats BEFORE buying new ones...awesome. Things are looking up. Can't wait to see what you do here.

Cheers,

Dave

Mark. Looking forward to flying over and spending a few days just chilling

Hi guys.

Thanks for the responses Mario, Rich, Carl and Dave - as always they are much appreciated. It took a few days to be able to load these pictures - for some reason the site didn't want to log me in.

Thanks Carl - after all the poo cleanup I'm really enjoying the rest of the work! Seems fun in comparison!

Thanks Rich. I have a pretty good selection of structure kits to build and populate it with! Although I think the scratch-built Wellington inspired area is what I am most looking forward to.

Dave - the 22nd of February was the 7th anniversary of our devastating earthquake. It blows me away that it took more than 6 years to deal with the insurance on our house! We were SO over it! But - suddenly we have a fantastic new home with a huge garden, peace and tranquility - and all within 1/2 hours travel to my wife's work place. And of course the new modelling space - soon!

Thanks Mario. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with you again and sharing our new home.

Photo looking towards the glass slider which is the main entrance to the room. I'll look at getting this door double glazed, some nice thermal curtains and an insect (and bird!!!) screen installed so I can let a breeze in.



Looking in from the door. The room will have 6 double power points - 4 in this half and 2 next door.



More soon, cheers, Mark.

That's a pretty appalling length of time for an insurance claim! But glad you're over that crap, and fully engaged with the new house and modeling space.

dave

Hi guys.

Thanks Dave - very pleased to be rolling up my sleeves and getting into things again.

Well - a couple of days of rain gave me some inside time, so I hired out a plasterboard lifter and got into lining the walls. The ceiling is almost 12' high, so was time consuming to do on my own, and a bit tricky - bit I got there. I also found that I couldn't do the usual trick on the walls of lifting the boards hard up against the ceiling with a spade - as being so tall they kept wanting to fall away from the wall at the top. Never mind. There is a saying in the industry that I have heard a lot more than once "she's a big hole plaster won't fill!" I'm hoping to get onto the plastering soon. Below are a couple of shots of progress.





more soon, cheers, Mark.

Wow, impressive single handed work!

Mark, your new layout room looks like it is shaping up quite nicely.

I wish I had one. :erm:

Greg Shinnie

Hi all.

Thanks Greg and Bill. Yes - its nice to have a room specially for the models - even two!

I carried on single-handedly with the plasterboard stopping. It's 12 years since I stopped a room, but it all went pretty well. There is certainly a knack, but when we bought our first home I had a friend who was a painter and paper hanger and so had done quite a bit of stopping. He gave me a hand on our first room and showed me all the tricks. I'm a 3rd of the speed, and 3 times as messy, but I can get the job done! I hadn't seemed to have forgotten much. I read the instructions on the second(!!!) bag of plaster I opened and discovered I had been doing everything to the letter! I decided to put battens on the plywood joins on the wall between the rooms and I'm pleased I did. I only put the vertical reveal (painted white) on the opening between the rooms as I'm not quite sure how wide to make the opening. I want to get the first room set up and then make some decisions. I have decided to leave the double roller door in place and build a dummy wall inside along with a bulkhead around the roller unit, and this will all come into the decision making on the width of the opening. I'm still contemplating adding carpet. There is a lot of reverberation in the room, and I'm a bit concerned about how much noise the trains will make. Opinions?

Mario (big 'M') is flying across the ditch tomorrow for a few relaxing days here with us, and I'm trying to get the new room cleaned out for his arrival. Maybe he can help me move some models in! I have a trip to Timaru planned for Saturday to see some fantastic modelling - I've told Mario to bring his camera!



More soon, cheers, Mark.

This room has really taken shape. You have done a superb job! Cameras really don't show great work and I believe it is really nice in person.

I would like to visit as well, but if I was there when big "M" was, at the same time, I would probably trip over him, as he's kinda short! LOL

Can't wait to see how you do the layout

Rich

Mark,

You’re finishing your room nicely; it looks very functional yet comfortable. I carpeted my train room above our garage and I like the result very much, even though I need to use care when doing scenery. I have my spray booth in the garage, where I also do major sawdust-creating jobs such as cutting benchwork boards to length. There is the matter of sawdust and chips created when drilling holes but my little vacuum picks it right up. The room is where I like to sit and read or do some fingerpicking on my guitar comfortably.

I enjoyed seeing your update.

Mike

Well done Mark. Now quit stopping and get to work.

Relaxing in the bedroom at Mark's place. Just had an amazing 2 days... meeting modellers. Yep took a couple of photo's. Web site to be updated when i return back to Australia tomorrow...

I,ve got some great video footage on my facebook page....

https://www.facebook.com/modvid.mariorapinett

.

https://www.facebook.com/modvid.mari...1344746613854/

.

https://www.facebook.com/modvid.mari...2393113175684/

Hi guys.

Thanks Rich, Mike and Frank.

I've been looking into carpet and I think some garage carpet will be the way to go - reasonably cheap, but also forgiving of wet feet. I also was reading that you can use double sided carpet tape to install - so I can do it myself and save some $$$. Amazed there was only one joke about stopping! Greg must have missed my post???

Well - after 5 hours of visiting my good friend Neil and seeing his layouts, Mario was pooped and needed a three hour nap! And so I spent the remainder of the afternoon lugging around my layout chunks, moving large pieces of furniture and mocking up the new shape of Tellynott. I wanted to get a feel for the paper plan to see if it felt OK - clearances, operating space, viewing space and so forth - and to check out how the different views I had envisaged would work. The photos below were taken from the top of my ladder - an eagle's eye view of the city-scape. The peninsular will not have a backdrop and so views will be available across the peninsula with the borrowed scenery behind. All the clearances felt good and I should be able to get some nice long views and make the scene appear very deep.





Mario - great catching up. The only thing we didn't put on for you now that we live in the country was a nice night sky. You'll be pleased to know that on my return from dropping you off at the airport one was waiting for me!

More soon, cheers, Mark.

Mark

I got home ( Australia ) at 1:00 am ( 3:00 am NZ )....had good sleep and now ready for next trip ....

Glad I had that nap at your place.( my Travel experience )

Thanks to you Michelle for an excellent stay over...much seen and plenty of chat.....

I think everyone got motivated to get on with our projects...

Tons of photos i need to sort out when time permits...

see ya again one day soon

"M"

PS..Hope Michelle liked the potted flowers............