Down the hatch

After a number of years clambering up and down a shaky old aluminium ladder, I decided to treat the loft to a new enlarged hatch and folding ladder constructed from larch.

Before	After

The new ladder is rock solid with wider and deeper treads, so much safer as slot car racers approach their advancing years.  The hatch is now much bigger at 700x1100mm but is pretty discrete once painted up.

Inside the loft I installed another handle to match the first one, which by a happy coincidence is the same colour as the rails on the ladder.

Wish I'd done this years ago...

Racing Seats

Racing standing up takes a toll after an hour or two, so from now on we'll be racing in comfort - following the purchase of a pair of padded height-adjustable bar stools.  Seat belts not included.

50 Years of Bondage

I've just bought another painting from Solly at SM Artworks who predominantly paints TV and film subjects.  Since it's fifty years since the first Bond film (and next year, it'll be sixty years since the first Bond novel), this painting is called "Legacy" and depicts three of Bond's Aston Martins - the DB5 from "Goldfinger" (and later films), the V8 Vantage Volante from "The Living Daylights", and the DBS V12 from "Casino Royale" (and trashed at the beginning of "Quantum of Solace").

And here it is in the slot room, pushing Starsky & Hutch round the corner of the chimney breast so that it can pair up with "Super Pursuit" (bought two years ago and featuring KITT, Airwolf and the A-Team van) on the other side of the race monitor.

And speaking of Starsky & Hutch, I managed to track down some flashing LED units for Starsky's Ford Gran Torino, and fitted one into the Plymouth Road Runner police car that I had previously wired in a Maplin flashing LED (which worked when static but stayed on when driving round the track).  The official Scalextric part does the trick.

Finished!

The lower rafters of the loft are now insulated as well.  I've fitted blinds to the Velux windows.  And the track is back!

Here's how this all started...

 And then after building the proper track...

And now with the "loft conversion" complete...

And when I get back from holiday, I can finally play with it!

A long weekend's work

Roof space almost there now.  I've attached high-tech foil insulation...

 
...added battens to create another airgap...

...and fixed plasterboard.

Next job is to insulate the lower rafters of the loft and then I can finally start re-assembling the track.

Painting the wall

Before...

...and after...

Awkward to paint since the bricks were never pointed, so there are gaps between some bricks and mortar sticking out of others.  But the pale grey wall now looks more uniform and makes the room lighter still.

Goodbye Loft, Hello Attic Room

The windows were fitted today and they have transformed the loft space.  Loads of light - and fresh air - means the space now feels like a proper room.  Next task is to paint the wall.

Plus I finally get to use my window sticker!

Ugly Duckling

This was hard to do... I've taken the track apart in preparation for some work in the loft.  I'm having a couple of Velux windows fitted to improve the light and ventilation, and I also intend to paint the exposed brick of the party wall.  So the table is currently looking pretty bare...

...and here's all the scenery in the spare room...

Hopefully, there will be some photos of the transformation in a couple of weeks.