Progress Shots

[sailormatlac]

jwb, Mike's work is a real mine of inspiration, just sad his WIP on Whistle Post vanished... What are your thoughts about water putty? Drying time, workability, texture? I'll have to build a few roads soon and am looking for technic to try. I feel water putty is good for rugged and/or deteriored roads.

Are you planning to work on your pier scene soon? It looks promising so far.

Matt

[jwb]

I think water putty is a very good choice. I have an early Fine Scale Miniatures kit, and Sellios recommended it in those instructions, too. It's cheap, workable for several hours, and dries very hard. Sticks well to other scenery materials like Celluclay and plaster cloth, has a harder and finer surface than Celluclay.

I'm psychically recovering from painting the #%$$^&$%!!! car float, but will get back to that soon!

[jwb]

Regarding the pier area, I should go back to the idea that the whole area pulls out like a drawer for necessary access to the water heater and HVAC. The pier building will always be removable from the base, while the car float will need to be permanently attached to it. So my thinking here will be to glue it on with silicone glue, make the final adjustments so it will match the track on the float bridge, and then screw it on from the bottom once the glue is dried. Here are the screws I will use:

   

Next step will be to glue the clearance holes for the screws and then fit the float in its final position.

[Ralph]

I think the drawer idea is a good one. Access made easy!

[jwb]

Well, Matt gave me the nudge, so I guess I recovered from that business of painting thr @!#E^*@@#$!! car float! Clearance holes drilled:

   

Glue applied:

   

Barge set in place and aligned with rails on float bridge:

   

Next step will be final assembly of the float bridge.

[faraway]

I am watching closely how you build a harbor in a very small spot. May be I will pickup the idea on a future layout.

[jwb]

A good source of inspiration is Fos Scale Models, which has a lot of waerfront-style structures. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.foslimited.com/">http://www.foslimited.com/</a><!-- m --> These are oriented more toward smaller harbor areas.

I have another Fos structure under way:

   


Here's a shot of Monterey, CA -- but you can find these kinds of structures everywhere.

   

[jwb]

The Pier 27 building is about 95% complete. I think I'm going to use water putty to level the mole surface.

   

[faraway]

A good source of inspiration is .....

Well, there is the usual problem with harbors. They are either small and cute or represent seaports and have huge dimensions.
Your approach is different. It occupies affordable space but has a remarkable large building and an industrial atmosphere with a quay wall and a car float.

[jwb]

There are middle options, though, especially in the US southeast. I had a summer job that sometimes took me to Morehead City, NC, which had a Southern small-town atmosphere, but seagoing ships did call there. I believe Wilmington, NC, while larger, is similar. There are also small to medium ports along the Gulf coast. My own approach has been to pick some of the features that remind me of places I knew, but there are lots of options among smaller-but-somewhat-industrial ports. Here's Seward, AK

   

The major water features, including ships, can be on the backdrop, while in the foreground all you need to include would be stacks of containers and some grounded smaller boats.

[jwb]

Here's another option, the Esplanade Ave Wharf in New Orleans:

   

This is parallel to the river. It is the same as the building on the right in this picture:

   

You can run it parallel to a wall, in fact right up against a wall, and include ships on the backdrop behind the flat.

   

[sailormatlac]

Thanks jwb... Interesting, I think I'll tried that stuff someday. It's on my list.

Well, the barge turned out quite nice for us who doesn't know the pain behind it!!!

@Reinhard, in Vancouver Island, there's a lot of barge operations, modern but not too big. Worth the time to take a look.

Matt

[jwb]

I fastened the side piers for the float bridge down and matched their position to the gantry. However, I've found that things that stand up in front of the layout are very likely to get knocked. I'm not going to attach the gantry pieces permanently at least until I've finished the Pier 27 scene, including the mole surface and any paving and other scenery there. I may in fact just put the gantry assembly on the piers only for photos.

   

[Twist]

Hi there.....

looking good so far.....I think you will add some type of backdrop there....

Cheers,Chris