Viessmann 6081 HO Scale Street Lamps

Despite electing to go for the economy postage rate of "Free", (there were two more expensive options), my Viessmann street lamps arrived today - only a couple of days after ordering them.

They will stand outside the church.

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Currently listening to:

Leftism

Leftfield

Played this 1995 CD all the way through in the car today.

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Last night's dinner:

Chicken in Butter curry from supermarket.

Curry excellent - book rubbish.

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Currently reading:

Struck lucky with another book - so soon after "Patient".

This time it is the autobiography of Richard Holloway.

Richard Holloway

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Miscellany:

Our local Park - yesterday.

10,000 hours

Painted on to the table cloths of the Preiser cafe tables some light blue spots with either orange or green centres - to simulate the dishes being consumed.

Used acrylic paints.

Verdict: a bit more touching up required PLUS some 3D stand-up objects to simulate jugs and bottles of wine.

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Currently listening to:

Daniel Barenboim playing Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 12

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Last night's dinner:

Fish, carrot and shallot stew.

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Currently reading:

Just finished in quadruple quick time a really fantastic book

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Miscellany:

No, I haven't just taken up the guitar.

It's the cover of this month's "Psychologist" (the Journal of the British Psychological Society), a journal I have subscribed to for 38 years without ever having read one article - usually I chuck it straight in the bin without taking it out of its wrapper.

But, this month's cover story intrigued me and there was an article inside about the best methods for learning to play musical instruments as an adult.

The conclusion: 10,000 hours practice.

I found this encouraging because that is the only method that will ever help me to learn to play the drums and I'm willing to make the necessary effort.

HO scale crowd scenes

No time for railway today, so here are a few photographs of  HO scale figures arranged in natural looking crowd formations.

When I come to populate certain parts of the diorama, I will want any groups of figures to convey that sense of a naturally occurring crowd: not simply an unstructured morass.

Some of my collection of HO scale plastic figures

Some photos of HO scale crowd scenes from the internet - using plastic figures made by Preiser.

That's what I'll be aiming at.

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Currently listening to:

Leisure Muffin

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Last night's dinner:

Beef Stroganoff

Purchased from "Cook".

Brilliant value at £8 for 2 large servings.

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Currently reading:

Still hugely enjoying.

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Miscellany 1:

Frank Skinner was very funny last night at Kings Theatre, Glasgow. Total sell out and with only a minimalist stage presence he exuded great charisma.

Miscellany 2:

Big cycle run through South Lanarkshire today.

Red road surfaces

Not always as straight and flat as this.

Preiser HO scale figures continued.

I left things yesterday waiting for the thick coating of glue to turn transparent.

Fortunately, it did.

Next step will be to create the appearance of there being crockery etc on  the tables.

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Currently listening to:

Dissolving Dancefloor

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Last night's dinner:

Home made ratatouille

Squid

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Currently reading:

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Miscellany:

Frank Skinner, tonight in Glasgow

Installing Preiser HO scale cafe tables and diners - on a plinth.

The little Preiser cafe tables and diners will be located in the church square. But the idea of gluing them directly to the baseboard with all of the stretching over platforms and buildings that that would involve meant I had to come up with another solution.

The church square

I decided to stick the tables and chairs to a piece of card coloured to blend in with the surface of the square.

This should enable me to transfer the prefabricated seating area into position fairly easily.

Even gluing them to the piece of card was a bit of a nightmare. In the photos below you will see what looks like fallen snow or a blanket of foam beneath the tables. That's a thick coat of PVA type glue that I hope will a) be thick enough for the table and chair legs to embed themselves in, and b) dry transparent!

Garcon!

As I say, I'm counting on the glue drying transparent.

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Currently listening to:

Auntie Flo.

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Last night's dinner:

Baked potatoes, cheese and chutney.

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Currently reading:

Tried out two of the books from yesterday's haul from the Mitchell Library.

The "Cone Gatherers" was a lot of cliched, sentimental crap that I abandoned without completing the first page.

But, wonderfully, Ben Watt's account of his serious illness is one of the best written books I've come across since reading that of his wife's, (Tracey Thorne), a few months ago.

Ben Watt and Tracey Thorne were "Everything But The Girl".

Ben Watt became seriously ill some 20 years ago and this book recounts his frightening experience of being in hospital and having a series of enormously destructive operations.

What a book.

He's OK now and he and Tracey Thorne have an almost grown up family.

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Miscellany:

Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow

In a few weeks time, my Samba drumming band will be playing on the steps of this building. We are a very small troupe so there will be no hiding place.