Jane's attic, update XXI: an upgrade for mister Goergen's wheel chair - SPECIAL HALLOWEEN EDITION.

Celebrating Halloween 2018, here's a special, extra edition of my Rust & Steel blog. 

Earlier this month I posted some pictures of an awesome 1:12 scale miniature wheel chair and crutches, hand made by the talented Dutch miniaturist Han Goergen, and destined for Jane's attic. Today I'm sharing with you the changes I made to it, and hope you will like the end result!

The wheel chair and crutches after the 'make-over'.

Although the chair was perfect, I still wanted to make a few 'cosmetic' changes and additions of my own to it, not many, but still important to me! I mentioned my intentions to mister Goergen, who said he was looking forward to see what I'd do to the chair!

For starters, I wanted to work on the handles to push the chair along. These were rather basic, and their shape and color a bit 'at odds' with the chair..

One of the original handles.

So I replaced them with more elaborate wooden examples, which I weathered together with the metal rod to which they were attached for a more antique and robust look.

The new wooden handles, including a 'crack' to suggest heavy usage.

Then my attention went to the wheels and leg supports, which looked too 'factory fresh' to my taste, hence not 'in line' with the chair itself, for which mister Goergen had used old wood and beautiful, vintage olive drab vintage fabric, which is at least 60 years old! Below are some 'before and after' photo's to illustrate the changes.

This image: One of the wheels prior to the 'weathering'.

Wheels and rubber tires after 'weathering', looking much more antique. Note that a cap was positioned on top of the head of the screw to hide it from view.

The leg supports were also subjected to 'weathering' to remove their 'factory fresh', pitch black look, and make them look old and used.

The crutches and underside of the chair didn't escape my attention either, and looked more used and worn after I was done with them..

I also decided to add something extra; something of my own design, which wasn't part of the original chair and crutches set. The idea was to create an old oxygen bottle standing on a trolley. This would not only add an interesting feature to look at, but also an extra 'layer' or story line to the developing 'Jane of the Attic' story. 

The oxygen bottle and trolley were constructed using all sorts of parts, and were quite a challenge to do, specially the trolley. I studied several designs, past and present, but in the end I went for a design of my own, simply because none of the ones I came across came close to what I had in mind. And, actually, I'm glad I did, because, to be honest, I'm quite proud of the end result: A one-of-a-kind, bad ass and creepy looking old trolley, supporting an equally impressive oxygen bottle, all in 1:12 scale! By the way, the beautiful rust on the bottle's body is totally natural, and I chose it for that very reason. Only the valve on top of it was added and weathered by me. They do match, don't you think?

Finally, here are two pictures of the wheel chair and crutches, together with the oxygen bottle and trolley, plus a special 'Halloween card' with my best wishes to you!

Thanks for visiting, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Happy Halloween 2018!!

It's that special night of the year again, the night of the pumpkins and the ghosts, the witches and the black cats! 

Celebrating Halloween 2018 here's a picture of Jane of the Attic, wishing you a deliciously spooky night!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

Jane's attic, update XX: The rain gutter.

Last month I posted a few pictures here, showing some beautiful metal rain gutter parts, which I ordered for Jane's attic from Sussex Crafts in the UK. Now that the work on the gutter is completed, it's time to share the results with you! But before doing so, here's a picture to remind you of what the parts looked like upon arrival. 

This image: some of the original parts for the gutter.

When I saw the parts, and read the assembly instructions, I thought it would be a piece of cake to put it together. But, as is often the case with kits, they require some extra work and attention to make everything fit the way you want it to!

Cutting pieces of the guttering.

So I brought out my tools and started working on the pieces, measuring, cutting, drilling, gluing and sanding, until I got everything 'right'!

Smoothing the attachments of the re-positioned parts with a sanding device.

Widening the hole of the bend piece to allow a better fitting of the "T" piece and pipe joint.

The original plastic drainpipe was replaced with a metal pipe piece of the same diameter. I try to avoid using plastic in my work as much as possible.

When everything was done and stuck into place, the weathering began... The idea was to make a 'double piped' rain gutter which had not been dredged for a very long time, allowing sand and dirt to accumulate and silt it up. Below is a selection of photo's showing the end result. Therefore, without further ado, I invite you to browse through them, and see  you will like how it all turned out!

The rain gutter has two pipes, one on each corner of the front wall. The attic is seen here siting on top of an empty room box, for photographic purposes.

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

The Liverpool Rose comes alive

The 'Liverpool Rose' (assigned serial No. RS18-3003) is seen here awaking from her slumber as she's getting ready for a systems check. The old lady is clearly happy with the attention and TLC she's getting from the technicians in the workshop!

A quick inspection showed an engine malfunction because some of its cog-wheels are stuck. There is some movement there, but there is no transmission to the main wheels, hence 'The Rose' cannot run on her own power until the problem is fixed.

The 'Liverpool Rose' was featured in a previous R&S article. Click here to view it

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.

The arrival of a French lady

The Rust and Steel Train Maintenance Facilities welcomed two very special arrivals to their 'workshop' within the time frame of just one week: a pair of beautifully streamlined locomotives, belonging to the SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français), or French Railways. The first one to arrive  (shown in the below images) came from an owner in The Netherlands, while the other one, sporting a darker blue livery, made her journey from France.

'Plumes of white vapor escaped from the engine as it shut down. It's always impressive to see such a mighty beast, sitting on the main maintenance hall, still hot from her long voyage, making all kinds of creaking sounds as her metal body cools down,' a worker commented, as he stood next to the loc, looking up at her as if she was a film diva.

The 'Blue Lady' is part of a rapidly growing collection of vintage locomotives, wagons and coaches. New arrivals spend some time at the R&S 'workshop', before moving to temporary storage, where they await a decision on their future. But for now she will simply enjoy a well deserved rest, sitting side by side with her 'twin sister', and other vintage trains.  Sweet dreams, beautiful Blue Lady!

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

© José Pereira Torrejón. All rights reserved. No part of the content of this blog may be distributed, published or reproduced without prior authorization from the author.