Tuesday, October 27, 2020

The great Selly Oak canal near-disaster

 

In model form, the Selly Oak canal is filled with Woodland Scenics "Deep Pour" resin. It's excellent stuff, but you really do need to keep it in the canal. 

I did my best. The ends were dammed with plastic and gaffer tape. The baseboard joint had a thin strip of plastic stuck in it. I'd filled all the gaps underneath. 

But the stupid stuff still seeped out. I spotted a small puddle but it was too late. The layout has stuck itself to the MDF worktop. And, I realised, the boards had stuck together. 

I did not sleep well that night. 

In the morning, it was time for drastic measures. A couple of wallpaper scrapers were sharpened and slid under the board. This helped a bit, but the boards still didn't move. 

Desperate times demand desperate measures. Out came a chisel which was hammers under the boards. Eventually, they moved. Phew. 

Next, the chisel was "gently" hammers in between the two boards. Three goes later, these also came apart. 

As you can see, the results aren't pretty, but it proves these White Rose baseboards are tough. 

At least the canal looks fantastic.

3 comments:

Woody said...

Hello Phil, I do admire you for not only showcasing the brilliant results of your work with fantastic models but you also show when it goes wrong and how you deal with it. It seems that there is a tendency in the modelling world to sweep the odd disaster under the carpet but actually we all probably learn more from seeing what can go wrong and ways to put it right! Thanks as always for an excellent blog and for writing about so many different aspects of modelling - worts and all! Woody.

Colin said...

I wonder if you can brush the resin like paint at first so you create a seal where you need it, then, once it's dried, pouring the rest.

James H said...

The result though, the canal surface, looks very promising!