Tuesday 17 August 2021

Finnish Meccano

I was having vivid dreams about the expected delivery and woke up shortly before the alarm went off. Then after a shower the phone rang and it was a delivery driver with a large flatbed truck and huge crane, blocking the road outside. There was insufficient room for him to park the truck next to the kerb, but he got on with his task without fuss. I'm almost tempted to say 'he handled his equipment with aplomb' as he negotiated the overhead telephone lines, but you rightly don't expect innuendo from me.

In case you haven't twigged, my eagerly awaited 1/1 scale terrain piece had arrived on schedule. The unloading was complete by 8:00 and fortunately only 3 other drivers had to turn around and use an alternative route. There were no audible signs of annoyance on their part. In the unlikely event that they are reading, I apologise profusely. (Aside: why are apologies 'profuse'?). By about 9:30 the installation team had arrived and began laying out the kit in the back garden.  They built the base and anchored it in place using posts made out of some type of plastic, sunk into the ground. By 15:00 they had finished building up the walls to around waist-height ready for the electrician to do the first fix the following day.

Here is day one progress in pictures.

You can just about see the telephone lines here. Those 'cranes' are remarkable pieces of engineering.



The 1/1 kit laid out. Not a tube of superglue in sight. The modellers are assembling the base. Why don't they put the roof up first so they can keep dry?

The position at close of play. Main room on the right, bike shed on the left. I should point out that (unusually) the neighbour is responsible for the fence on the right. Not me guv, honest.

View through the side window.

Close-up showing the tongue and groove method of fitting the 'logs' together. We specified double thickness so we could have cavity insulation. 2 x 45mm thick wood plus 30mm of insulation. The floor will be insulated too.

My bike shed, though it does scream "sauna" at me.

There's nothing to give any sense of scale here as my 1/1 scale Modern Period Finnish Assault Gardener was reluctant to pose. The main room looks *%$@ing massive. Or as the F.A.G. put it more eloquently, "It's a proper room."

Still lots to go. In amongst that lot is some 'decking' for a verandah. The Mem and I will be able to retire there for a G&T while we watch the sun go down over the neighbour's palm tree and listen to the parakeets.

More 'Finnish Meccano'



View from the Observer Post. Apologies for the angle but I was leaning out of a window trying not to get the frame in shot.

Ah, yes, the 'bike shed' door and its frame, erm 'cassette'. Is that the right word? I think I've just spotted a design flaw.

Here's hoping there are no hiccups like Bob Cordery has faced recently with the co-ordination between different trades. I'm not betting on it though. This is still Britain.

18 comments:

  1. Hello old chap,

    That is coming along very nicely! On a more serious note you need to start planning for your inaugural game….:-) Oh, and the G and Ts on the veranda….(parakeets notwithstanding).

    All the best,

    DC

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    1. Good point about the inaugural game David! I’ll give that some thought. We’ve got to paint it and furnish it first.

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  2. That looks rather good already and hope to see an update with the basic construction finished soon:). I keep wondering whether I could convert part of our garage into a game room, but there is too much stuff in there already for that to be a feasible plan. I'll just have to wait for the kids to fly the nest I suppose...

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    1. Fingers-crossed it won’t be long!

      We were quite ruthless with the stuff we had in the shed before I demolished it. All that is left to rehouse are 3 bikes and a toolbox! We had a major clear out just over 3 years ago when the lift was done. It’s amazing what you can get rid of when you have a target.

      We got rid of an old IKEA storage unit from the shed that was bought 23 years ago when my oldest was a baby. Put it on the drive with a sign and it went (plenty of young families passing as we have 3 primary schools within 1/2 mile!

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  3. Exciting times ahead. I do like the green flock/scatter grass you use beneath the Meccano parts, very realistic. I await the next battle report with interest.

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    1. Yes, it’s quite realistic looking with an effect that looks like there isn’t just one grass type, and I’ve managed to avoid that flat tabletop appearance too! If I ever had a 54mm garden game there would be plenty of dead ground.

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  4. I’m expecting great things…minimum of two games per week on the blog hereinafter. You’ve got to make the darned thing pay for itself after all.

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    1. Ah, I forgot to do the cost-benefit appraisal. This is why we need accountants to keep us in check.

      I expect it will allow more table time as I can leave things set-up overnight (yoga/hangout bookings permitting). So yeah, gaming activity will increase.

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  5. wow that's a big one... fnarr, fnarr!
    Did you have to get planning permission?
    Looks splendid, anyway, hope it goes well!

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    1. I’m glad you said that. Because I nearly titled the post “I got wood this morning”.

      Planning permission not necessary as it’s below the threshold height. I hope. Please don’t tell me you’re a Planning Officer.

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  6. You can almost taste the game 😀

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  7. This is a nifty construction kit and the result will be impressive. Bike Shed? Luxury. Looking at the pieces, I had a big bag of wooden pieces very similar to this as a kid for building model houses.

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    1. Were you able to make different things with the wooden pieces (like with Lego bricks, which I think was wooden originally) or did they fit together to form a pre-set design?

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    2. You could build anything you wanted. There were no pre-set designs. It was really a construction kit very similar to your kit only much smaller. The tenon joinery is what immediately triggered my childhood memory.

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  8. Good idea with the floor. One of the Mem’s chums has an outdoor office without and she says her feet freeze on cold mornings. Otherwise, I’m quite jealous!
    PS Forget the bikes - that’s terrain storage…

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    Replies
    1. It’s the obvious thing to do with the floor, money permitting.
      PS that’s a big terrain store. 1.5x4m!

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