Foss Landing and the Shipyard at Foss landing: Xodar

[xodar]

This thread was started in March 2023

Xodar
March 2023 in HO Scale Builds
Greetings!

As this is my first post here, allow me to introduce my self - Jeff from Pensacola. Like Grant, I mostly do ships. Here’s a pic of my last ship - the English ship revenge.

I ordered both of the above kits several years ago and as no ship has struck my fancy, I decided to give these a go. It’s definitely different from what I’m used to. First chore was some supplies. I bought the recommended Rembrandt chalks, a variety of paints (I decided on Vallejo) and then spent some time on the internet matching the Foquil / poly scale colors to the Vallejo (VMA).

I plan to use both kits in one larger diorama so I will be completing as many of the structures from both kits before I try my hand out the layout. In this regard I have been following Grant’s shipyard build and will likely use it a lot for reference. Unfortunately no such log exists for Foss landing despite the kit being over 20 years old. Hopefully I don’t mess it up too much ;). I am also using some of the wonderful posts in the techniques section. Karl’s section on painting castings has been really helpful as has Dr grunge’s wood clinic. So with all of this in mind, let’s get started - Foss landing is first up

I won’t bother with what’s in the box and tools. If you are on this site you already know all the great stuff in the box.
First step is to prepare the castings - metal ones are supposed to be painted with earth however I used karl’s recommendation and painted anything that supposed to be metal flat black. The resin castings were to be painted a variety of Floquil colors and again, using Karl’s tutorial, I spray painted all the resin casting earth color. Since I was eager to see how I could do on the casting, I painted many of them almost to completion. here are a few examples.

These were all put aside for later. There certainly are a lot of barrels and oil drums to paint!

The first structure in the Foss Clam and Oyster Co building. Unlike the shipyard building where most of the structure is built with individual boards that can be detailed, this kits’ buildings have pre-made clapboard walls. Preliminary steps include painting of the shingle sheets, tar paper and window frames and adding texture to some of the stripwood. Most of the wood at this stage is for trim so other than some texture, not much else can be done as it is quite small.

The clapboard walls are prepared next. First is with the wire brush to add texture, then fine nail holes along the walls to simulate where the boards are nailed to the underlying studs. Additional details can be added to show a variety of decay - using an 11 blade: some boards can be loosened, split cracked, warped etc. I did not want to go overboard here as these structures would be in daily use and not dilapidated or abandoned.
All of the wall are then braced with 1/8" sq wood to prevent warping when painting.

Unlike the shipyard, there seems to more painting with this kit. I will probably use chalk to do some of the weathering rather that the paints. Floquil grime is called for the base layer on the walls - I used Vallejo antique white. I noticed that the wood is quite porous so I had to be very light with the brush. before I put on the next layer, after the paint had cured for 48 hours I used a light coat of satin polyurethane to act as a sealer (here is the ship modeler rearing its head). The next layer is Boxcar Red (50/50 mix of VMA 71.038, 71.105). once dry, a light sanding with very fine sandpaper was called for followed by wall streaking with more paints. This last part I will leave until the roof and windows are on to get a better idea of where I want the streaks to be (and I may used chalks). Here are the wall to this point…

It’s kind of hard to see some of the details (I even added in a few random knots) given the low resolution. After the walls were painted I grunged them up a bit with some grey chalk. I may use some black at the bottom when the structure is complete to represent more dirt and grime. If your wondering what’s up with the wall on the bottom right, the lower part beneath the angled line will be hidden so I used that for testing colors and grunge.

And finally, while waiting for the walls to dry, work was begun on the windows and the clam and oyster sign. Each window has multiple parts including the inside frame, outside frame, lower sash, and mylar windows. These can be seen in one of the earlier photos. first they were treated with white paint to simulate peeling. I tried the terrycloth method as described in the manual but was not really happy with it. So I went with a stiff bristle brush (I think I read about that on the shipyard build). The frames are supplied with a sticky backing. Once painted, the mylar “glass” (which comes cut to size) is is stuck to the upper part of the inside frame. The outside frame is then stuck on top of the inside frame, which then fits into the window openings in the walls. I made holes in some of the window, took one pane out completely and took out just one corner in another.
.
the clam and oyster sign was fairly straight forward - 3 pieces of strip wood were weathered (thanks Dr Grunge!) and painted white with the bristle brush. They are then glued together and some nail holes added at each end. The dry transfer decal is now placed on the wood. I had no idea how this would work given the age of the kit (at least 7 years since I bought it. Brett has great instructions on how to do this. Not all of the deal transferred however I think this add the the ages look. The decal was rubbed with the end of a paintbrush to burnish it into the wood (you can actually see the wood grain through some of the decal). The a few very light swipes with the steel brush and it was done.
Here is a pic of a few windows and the sign…

That’s about where I am at currently. I think Ill try to post step by step in the future to keep things shorter. Any comments or suggestions are always welcome.

Jeff

Comments

Karl.A
March 2023
After reading through all of your post, the first things I can say are…

Welcome to the forum, and, that sign looks perfect.

Karl.A
March 2023
Great work so far on everything Jeff, the walls are coming along great and your details came out superbly.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that this building also appears on the Shelby’s diorama, which Ken has so exquisitely just completed.

We all look forward to following along as you progress and its great to see another ship builder joining us. Some of us just cant resist the waterfront, whichever genre we model.

Have fun, ask questions, but most of all, enjoy !

gjdale
March 2023
Great start Jeff. I’ll enjoy following along as you go as I also have this one in my stash.

brownbr
March 2023
Off to a good start. The accumulated rust on top of the barrels is very convincing.

Karl.A
March 2023
brownbr said:
…The accumulated rust on top of the barrels is very convincing.

Especially for HO !

ALCO
March 2023
I’m in the process of dio assembly on Foss’ Landing as we speak so I may pop up here from time to time if I can help out. Your details look great but hey, if you can build that ship, I dare say you’ll have no problems here!

Jerry
March 2023
Welcome Jeff.

Your off to a fine start. Perfection on that sign.

What scale is that ship?? It’s beautiful!!

Jerry

Xodar
March 2023
Thanks for all the comments. I looked at Ken’s Shelby diorama - amazing. Another reference i’ve bookmarked. My biggest fear in doing the kit was the weathering as I have not done this with my ship models so this is completely new territory. However it has been a lot of fun so far. And it does not take up as much space as ship building does, and less sawdust!. Jerry, the ship above is at a scale of 1:64. If you look carefully there are some crew members scaling the ratlines. For anyone interested, the build log for that ship is on Model Ship World. I am doing a duplicate log of this build there as well. I tend to take a lot of time on these projects so there may be occasional long pauses from post to post - the Revenge was started in Nov 2017 and just complete a few weeks ago.

Jeff

TomMich
March 2023
Welcome Jeff! You have a great start to your build. Your details are very well done. An alternative to the terrycloth towel is a sponge with small cells. Use it similarly blot most of the paint from the sponge and dab it on to represent weathering. It saves on brushes. I ruined more brushes before trying this method.

mikemettelka
March 2023
Those castings look excellent!

kebmo
March 2023
you’ll feel right at home here.
that ship is awesome! i would never endeavor to build something like that. i would screw the rigging up so bad…

Xodar
March 2023
Greetings!

Work continues on the Oyster Co. After the windows come the doors. 4 are cast and one is constructed in layers like the windows. The 4 freight doors were done in layers with the white applied to he wood painted a variety of shades with a hint of red as this was the original color before weathering. Similar process for the wooden door. rust added at hinges and doorknobs.

Next several of the wal were trimmed, again using stippled white to simulate peeling paint. The bill of goods dry rub decal was placed at this stage. I did not know what to expect given the age of the decal however it turned out OK except for some missing letters at the top. Turns out dry rub decals don’t last for years, a problem that became more pronounced for some of the smaller decals. The bill of good sign was then covered with a light coat of satin polyurethane to keep the letters in place (hopefully) and then dulled down a bit with grey chalk. Photo below shows the lettering before the grey chalk was added.

Now the walls are completed by adding the windows with the lower panes and some signs to the back wall. One of the signs was the red coke button that required a Coca cola decal. Needless to say this did not work at the decal did not separate from the paper. I tried a few methods after doing some research but none seemed to work. So for the coke button, I found a similar sign on the internet and shrunk it to size and glued it over the button. Here is the result…

I think it looks passable. Next a few more signs were placed. The sign some on a paper sheet. The sheet was scuffed up a bit with fine sandpaper, cut out, glued and weathered with some chalk. Here are some photos. Note the installed windows: some propped open with a small wood board, others with wooden slats to cover holes and another with several boards through which a stovepipe will be placed. The boards were completed with some rusty nail holes at their ends.

The clapboard below several of the sign were weathered to simulate paint and rust coming off of them. Hopefully I did not over do it

And finally I think I may have found a way to use the old dry rub deals. Double sided Scotch tape was placed on a wood board and a single deal was cut out and stuck to the tape. The tape was then trimmed with #11 blade very close to the decal. When the decal paper was removed I ended up with this…

Although the tape is slightly visible in the photo, this is highly magnified and it is pretty much invisible and regular scale. I think this may allow me to salvage the rest of the decals in this kit although some have been ruined in my attempts to find a workable solution.

Jeff

admin
March 2023
Progress is wonderful! Love your weathering on the cast metal doors. They’re going to integrate perfectly on the finished structure. Very well done.

Yeah, the lack of longevity of the dry transfer decals has really pissed me off for years. They worked great for about 15 years then pftttt. Once I learned of this limitation I immediately abandoned the use of them and went to laser cut paper stencils where applicable and possible.

ALCO
March 2023 edited March 2023
Yes, everything is looking very detailed and realistic. Remember that the wall with the coke sign sits on the edge of a pier/wharf. I could never figure out what the “back story” was that explained how that sign got installed when it’s some feet above the water.

TomMich
March 2023
Your signs turned out great. I like how the coke sign turned out.

gjdale
March 2023
Your signs look great to me. Glad you found a solution to the decal issue - I may face the same thing when I get to this kit.

Karl.A
March 2023
Walls and signs all look very nicely done.
A little dusting on those decals and they’ll just bend in aged and beautifully.

KKarns
April 2023
Welcome Jeff, making wonderful progress.

Robert.G
April 2023
Welcome Jeff. Love your ship building. And you will love these excellent SW kits. So far so good. Nice walls..

Xodar
April 2023
Greetings!

Thanks for all the kind comments. I was a little apprehensive when I started these kits as the weathering process is all new to me. However, with some of the great tutorial posts here and Brett’s wonderful instructions it has been easier than I thought.

Once the windows and walls are complete it’s time for some window treatments - shades and curtains. Shades are simply black paper glued to the inside of the window. One window has curtains with part of it hanging out the open window. Much of this is unseen (though will stand out better if i decide to add some light to the structures. Next, the second story door and first floor wharf door are added. The previously prepared clam and oyster sign is glued and finally the walls are glued together. Much of this can be seen in some of the following photos.

A simple L square was used to keep things squared up.

The left wall awning over the freight doors is now installed. This was painted earlier. Instructions called for some testors Dull Coat and then bush with some rubbing alcohol to fade it. However, I did not want to buy any more supplies at this time so I decided to try what i had on hand - matte finish polyurethane. I then painted some alcohol on it after the polyurethane had dried and this was the result…

Before:

After:

I think it is acceptable. The awning is made by cutting strips and gluing them onto a thick template with some overhang on all sides. I left a bit more on the back side as this would be against the structure.

The awning was weathered with a variety of chalks (grey, black, white, rust) then glued at an angle against the building. Two wires are added to simulate support. I mixed some black grey paint with glue and put it around the areas the wire contacts the building and awning to simulated caulk or tar that might be found at the ends and some black chalk to stain the canvas below the points of attachment.

Before starting on the stairway and landing to second floor, I added some supports to in inside tall wall that will give more support to the roof when attached (red arrow). The other red arrows at the corners of the first floor of the building demonstrate where I added wood the side walls so that they would have more surface for glue when attaching them to the front and middle wall.

Now for the landing and stairway. Construction was straightforward. All the wood used was to be treated with white paint to simulate peeling however I left the landing floor and steps in the natural faded wood condition. I figured one would not paint the steps and landing as they may end up slick. Templates are provided to allow one to make the construction pretty full proof. Here is the landing:

However, one caveat: The landing has 2 supports. A template gives the dimensions and angles to cut however the if you follow them template the supports, which should attach to the building just above the window, will end up a good distance below. See next photo:

In this photo, A should equal B but B was at ~3.5 mm longer. I was an easy fix and here is the final staircase and landing.

I added some nail holes and rust to the landing boards but not the steps. That whole structure is much too delicate and I did not want to mess things up for a relatively minor addition. I also used some black / grey chalk on the stairs and landing to simulate use where steps would be taken.

Next up is the roof

jeff

Karl.A
April 2023
Looking great Jeff, the finish on the siding is really nice especially with those great signs.
The staircase is very nicely done and the peeled white everywhere matches the age of the structure.

One suggestion I would have is to pull out one of those black window shades you have, they will just disappear when the roof is on.
Pull one out and replace it with a light grey, stipple on some chalk to give it a random grimey look.
Put a piece of paper over the structure as a false roof to block the downward light and see if you like the grey better.
It’s an easy quick test to do now before you get the real roof on.

Everything is looking good.

gjdale
April 2023
That’s all looking really great Jeff.

Xodar
April 2023
Thanks for the comments

Karl: I tried to pull off one of the shades but the paper started to rip. Rather than mess something up or try to use some sort of solvent to dissolve the glue, I think I will try your suggestion on the other main building in this kit.

Jeff

kebmo
April 2023
if it’s white glue you can loosen it with a bit of water.

ALCO
April 2023
Alcohol loosens white glue also.

Xodar
April 2023
Hi all,

I am using non water soluble gorilla glue. Not sure what would loosen this but so far I like how this glue sets - does not take as long as white glue or what I’ve used on my last few ship models, Weld Bond. With ships models, you ofter have to debond glue to fix stuff like beams and planks. Water is not good as the wood will swell. Weld Bond loosens up with alcohol which does not change the wood. For this project, I don’t think changing the shades to a lighter color is that important so for now Ill leave them as is and try Karl’s advice on the other buildings. Thanks for all the helpful advive though.

Jeff

brownbr
April 2023
Is it the gorilla wood glue? That’s what I use also. Alcohol will work.

Xodar
April 2023
Greetings!

Onto the roof. The simulated tiles / shingles were painted earlier and now are repainted with black and grey to produce a variety of shades. Here is one example:

Next, the edges of the template and some of the bottom was painted green. The individual rows of shingles are cut from the sheet and applied to the thick cardboard template. Lines are drawn on the template to keep the rows lines up. Here are a few rows already glued…

And here is one roof complete except for the cap shingles:

The hole is for the chimney. Rather than just glue the chimney to the angled rood, I drilled a 1 mm hole in the chimney (metal was fairly soft) and stuck a 1 mm brass wire in it. on the opposite site of the roof, I glued a small 1.5 mm plank to give more purchase for the brass wire…

The capping shingles are made from the unused perimeter of the shingle sheet. Instructions said to use one large sheet but I cut them down to size and applied them in an overlapping fashion. Here are a few pics of the 2 finished roofs. Also added are the stove pipe coming out of the window and the chimney. The chimney was first painted with VMA aged white ( 71.132)and then dry brushed in several layers to paint the bricks using VMA 71.105 (this is listed as brown but look more like brick red) . Support wires were added to both.

Some soot was added around the chimney and streaks added to roof. The “tar” around the base of the chimney is glue mixed with some VMA black green (71.021) and black. I also used some aged white to add some bird dropping to the roof. hard to see in the photos however. After hanging the 4 freight doors this structure will be done.

Jeff

Karl.A
April 2023 edited April 2023
A wonderful job of colouring and applying those shingles and cap Jef, that really looks great, a natural blending and difference between the shingles.
They ‘almost’ look like individual shingles, very nicely done.
The brick chimney is a masterpiece and came out extremely well.

The whole structure looks great. Very well done.

gjdale
April 2023
Great job on the shingles and the chimney Jeff.

brownbr
April 2023
Shingles turned out nice.

admin
April 2023
Shingles look fantastic!

TomMich
April 2023
Roof turned out great. The shingle coloring is very good. The individual roof cap pieces really add to the detail.

MuddyCreekRR
April 2023
Came out really nice…like the colors and tones of the shingles…

Robert.G
April 2023
I will echo the above !!

Joel
April 2023
Really like the colouring of the shingles. Nice work so far

Xodar
May 2023
Greetings!

Constructions resumes after a 2-week trip to Japan. After the Clam and Oyster Co building is complete, the basic wharf deck it sits on is constructed. The wharf is a single piece that is laser cut to simulate planks. two different sized planks are used to trim the edges (wire brushed and stained first). A template is provided to locate the center lines of the future pilings and the wharf braces. Once the braces are glued, the underside is painted green and the topside is weathered. Instructions called for Floquil concrete - i used a variety of chalks and some AI. Here is a photo of the Clam and Oyster Co on the dock.

Next is the diorama base. As I am combining 2 kits this will be left for later as I plan to complete all the buildings and other structures first.

So onto the Foss Launch Co. First up is some advance prep such as was described with the previous building. No need to repeat that. The siding on this building is vertical vs horizontal as on the Oyster Co. These were detailed in a similar fashion. One interesting note is that no internal bracing was described for these walls so I decided to make some with leftover strip wood from prior ship models. These must be carefully placed so the wall will go together seamlessly when the trim is added to the edges of several of the walls. Here’s the final result of the bracing:

The walls are then weathered and I added some random knots. Again, rather than using paint, I used a variety of chalks and AI followed by a very light amount of white to simulate old white paint mostly weathered away to get to this:

Some trim can be seen lining the freight doors. After the walls are trimmed, the signing is done more dry rub decals. I was worried about this given the age of the decals and difficulty with some of them on the Oyster Co. After doing some research, I decided to give Elmer’s spray adhesive a try as I was not entirely satisfied with the double-sided tape described earlier. I think with larger signs the tape would be quite visible. I first tried this on a small “posted Keep Out” decal. These small decals from the Oyster Co building did not work with a variety of methods I tried earlier and there are plenty more of these small decals. Here’s the result:

Pretty good so far. Time to try it on a bigger sign: The “Foss Launch Co” and the “Tugs & Barges” sign. Each required several pieces of strip wood to be glued together then some stippled white. The area where the spray adhesive was to be applied was taped off.

A light coat of the adhesive is all that is needed. The decal was then burnished onto the wood and …

A slight amount of yellowing on the Launch Co. sign, I believe, is from the decal paper. I was able to tone it down with a light brushing and some chalk. So how does this method work if the signs are to be placed directly on the building? The “fast boats for hire” sign goes to the left of the freight door. the entire wall was taped off except for the amount needed for the sign.

And the result:

Wish I had this figured out before I ruined the Coke and Pepsi signs (sigh). One other sign goes on this wall, placed onto several boards glued together. Here is the completed left wall of the Launch Co:

Two more decal are placed directly on the walls. These can be seen on the photos below. The windows have also been placed. Construction is similar to the Oyster Co building. Some holes and cracks were placed and the windows dirtied up a bit.

Next up were the doors - one regular door and six freight doors. The regular door has 2 pieces that come on the same sheet as the window. After prep, they are stuck together. I drilled a small hole and used a tiny nail to simulate a doorknob. It’s still a bit bright so I need to weather it a bit. The freight doors had a base tan color and then finished with a variety of chalks - raw umber, grey, black, brown, rust. Curiously, all the right doors were missing the lower hinge. This was easily rectified with a small bit of wire.

The doors were glued in place with 2 life preservers and the walls were then glued together, squaring them up as described before. Although not called for in the instructions, I decided to add some blinds to the windows. As suggested by Karl, rather than black I decided to go with a lighter color - the end result was a slightly dirty, streaky tan. Here are all 4 sides of the Foss launch Co. I think it turned out OK. One issue is the subtle shading on the white Boat-House sign that is a remnant of the spray adhesive. More noticeable in the photos than real life. I am not quite sure how to tone that down without causing damage to the sign or even it it needs it. Any comments / suggestions are, as always, appreciated.

PS - you can see how some of the really small decals look using the spray adhesive on the photo above - note the no trespassing sign.

Next up, the roof

Jeff

Mountaingoat
May 2023
Your Foss Launch sign background suggest it was painted white before the lettering was applied. I think it adds that touch of variance that adds to the story…Rick

Karl.A
May 2023 edited May 2023
Signs came out fantastic !
Thanks so much for sharing your method and the solution for 20year+ signs and how to make them work and look great.
As for the slight shadow around the “Boat House” sign in the last pic I really wouldn’t worry about it, it looks natural and although slightly noticeable it does look as though it should be that way, as if the sign at one point had a darker background under the lettering.
Some people (like me) would work for hours to get that effect… ha
If it does still bother you then a ‘slight’ vertical swiping of the same coloured chalk you used for your wall base colour will blend it down some, this will also dull down the white of the lettering and age it slightly to match the peeled paint walls.
I really dont think it’s necessary but it’s an option if it bothers you.
Also, it’s an easy option you can leave until later when you are much further along and things are together, you could revisit it and evaluate it then.

Wonderful work so far.

TomMich
May 2023
Great tutorial on salvaging embossed signs. Thanks for sharing. It is something I will have to remember.

Xodar
May 2023
Greetings!

Time to do the roof for the Launch Co. The shingles are similar to those of the Oyster Co thought they are given a green base and black, grey, off white are used to give the variation. The roof comes in 2 parts: the main section has the peak running the length of the building and is glued to the middle and right walls; there are 2 “wings” that are glued to the front and back walls.

The process of laying the shingles down is the same as the Oyster Co except there are areas on the main roof that are left bare as they will be covered by the wings. Here is the roof with all sections shingled and glued on.

Next, the shingles need to be placed on the valleys. Instructions call for a single long strip that comes from the sheet the shingles were on. I chose to cut small :shingles and apply individually. I think it gives a better look.

The peaks were done in the same fashion. Final result:

The flat roof comes next. This will be covered in tarpaper. A problem I noted was the width was too short.

This was an easy fix - 1.5 mm wood plank was glued to each side to make up the difference. The “tarpaper” is applied much like the canvas awning on the Oyster Co. I went with a more tradition tarred roof that has been significantly faded by the sun. I also added a few patches to cover “leaks.” Once the roof is glued on, a small stove pipe is added to the rear low wall and a finial is added to the peak of the green roof. A few more finishing touches of dirt and grime were added to the roof as well as some rundown from the stovepipe and finial to complete the structure. A few white blotches of “bird poop” were added to the green roof as well.

The large dock for the Launch Co is next.

Jeff

Karl.A
May 2023
You did a fantastic job of finishing those roofs, colouration and weathering is beautiful.

I love shingled roofs, both looking at them and doing them.

Yours looks amazing.

gjdale
May 2023
Great work Jeff - really looking good!

Robert.G
May 2023
Nice work !!

MuddyCreekRR
May 2023
Your shingled roof really does look amazing…the tones and textures…and the shadow lines…and that flat roof ain’t t=shabby either…Nice…

TomMich
May 2023
Turned out great!

Xodar
June 2023
Greetings!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments. This has been an enjoyable kit thus far.
Now onto the large dock. This is similar to the dock that the Oyster Co. sits on thought it is much bigger and comes in 2 parts. The 2 sections were glued together and then square stripwood was glued along the perimeter and the same was used for the cross beams. After I applied some chalk followed by AI, (similar to what I did with the other dock, this one developed some serious warping. I used gorilla glue and instructions called for epoxy. Maybe the problem came about if the alcohol leached through the dock and loosened the glue on the beams. This was the result:

I thought there was no point in trying to salvage that, so, time to make a dock. Using leftover wood from prior ship models, the underside of the dock was made with 3x2 mm walnut. The template was a big help. The boards are made from 1/16 x 3/32 basswood and weathered following the Dr Grunge advance wood clinic (thanks Ken). Here is a photo of work in progress:

The boards are not yet completely finished with the weathering process. This will be done when all are in place. If I like the result, I may do the Oyster Co dock in a similar fashion. Here’s what that look like now.

Concurrent with building the dock, I have been working on the rowboat shed. I’ll post those pictures in my next update.

Comment / suggestions always appreciated.

Jeff

admin
June 2023
Great recovery on using the wrong glue. Using the epoxy and allowing it to fully cure would have prevented the warp - but ultimately all that matters is the outcome and the docks going to look fantastic!

gjdale
June 2023
Great recovery Jeff. We shipbuilders often some “leftover” stock that comes in handy for the inevitable re-dos. I’m sure the train guys are the same!

Xodar
June 2023
I’m not sure about the good recovery as I have to make a new deck however it is coming along nicely. As I mostly build model ships, I rarely use epoxy for wood on wood as you never know when you have to de-bond something. Lesson learned and good to know that the wrong glue was the culprit.
Grant - your log is great and will be an wonderful reference when I get to the Shipyard

jeff

Karl.A
June 2023 edited June 2023
So glad to see you have been able to resolve the situation with the dock, it is looking so good with the colours you chose and your construction looks perfect.

One thing I have learned after many years of building Brett’s kits, and also being privileged enough to see a couple of them being developed is that, everything is specified for a reason.
It has all been well researched and is used specifically in specific areas because it is the best solution for that situation.

To be honest (and this isn’t aimed at you Jeff) … the only time I’ve ever seen anyone have a real problem with a SierraWest kit is when they deviated.

I’ve said it at least 1000 times, and I’ll say it again, "Follow the instructions and you’ll end up with what is shown on the box.

Karl.A
June 2023
gjdale said:
Great recovery Jeff. We shipbuilders often some “leftover” stock that comes in handy for the inevitable re-dos. I’m sure the train guys are the same!

Always with Brett’s kits Grant, there is always quite a few strips of wood left over, and usually some details too…

Jerry
June 2023
Great looking shingles. I liked the idea of the wire for the chimney well done.

Jerry

Joel
June 2023
I love the work you did on the roofs. Nice colouring and finish.

Xodar
June 2023
Greetings!

As I complete the new dock, here is work on the rowboat shed. It is a rather delicate structure. The templates supplied with the kit were essential in construction. First photo shows a start with the 3 roof trusses and the walls. Scrap wood used to keep the wall studs lined up.

A little further along the side boards for the walls have been aged and applied. The front wall was to only have the rowboat brace, but I added a few boards at the bottom. Spacers used for ladder to keep distance between the side rails constant.

The floorboards were then weathered and glued together. Small slots were cut to accommodate the wall studs and 2 cross braces were added to connect the walls. The trusses at each end sit on these braces with the third one midway. This photo shows most of that.

Here is a close up of the rear wall:

Beams to support the tarpaper roof are added next. I used a slightly wider beam for the lower and upper most beams.

The tarpaper is prepared as described for the roof of the Launch Co. A few hooks are fashioned from the small brass rod supplied and glued to the studs. Some scrap boards are glued to the end trusses for support. Final result:

Jeff

gjdale
June 2023
Nicely done Jeff!

Robert.G
June 2023
Looks great. Nice color on the boards !!

TomMich
June 2023
Weathering and color of the wood is great!

JenS
June 2023
Jeff,
As Roberts and Tom mentioned before: great wood colour.
I still love the colour of the main building!!

Joel
June 2023
Love the weathering on the wood. really nailed the faded grey.

EmeryJ
June 2023
Excellent job on the wood. Weathering looks great.

admin
June 2023
Rowboat Shed looks fantastic!

Karl.A
June 2023
Great weathering and colouring on that wood structure, very nice.

Xodar
June 2023
Greetings!

Thanks for the kind comments. The new docks are complete. I decided to make a new Oyster Co dock so it would be a closer match the re-done Launch Co dock. The templates were used for both. Here is the Launch Co dock, re-done and kit supplied.

And here are a few photos of the docks and their respective buildings.

Next up is the fishing boat. This comes in 2 parts that have to be glued together. The deck is slightly larger than the lower hull. I decided to glue a small board here to simulate trim after the painting of the boat - below the waterline is red, above is stippled white. The trim was then painted red. I plan to use some chalk to tone down the bright red, maybe add some barnacles as well.

The boat cabin and roof are made using template (I love the templates supplied with the kit - makes construction pretty much foolproof). The wood is glued onto the template to give the cabin a firm backing.

The cabin sections were cut out with a new blade (very important to use a new one as the instructions state). The sections above the cabin windows were pretty flimsy even with the paper backing.

Once the cabin was glued in place, a 0.5 x 2 mm board was glued to the upper edge of the cabin (arrows in photo below)

The cabin roof was modified somewhat by adding planking. Rather than using the original template sheet for the roof, I made a copy and used that, just in case I did not like the finished roof. Once it was finished, I did a test fit and found out my copy was not exactly 1:1 - the roof was too small by 1-2 mm. Rather than fiddle with my copier, I just used the template supplied. The spare roof was used to make the counter in the cabin as can be seen in the photos below.

A few “benches” were added to the cabin walls. As this boat is undergoing a refit and refinishing, loose wires were added to the cabin counter as of course any electronics were pulled prior to the refit. A few support beams were added to the structure and this is where I am currently.

One interesting note. The instructions call for a mast to be placed in a hole located between the cabin and the hatch. As you can see in the photos above, there is no opening for the mast. It would be simple enough to drill one but not sure if I want to.

The ladder and sawhorses will be made next. I may then start on the 2 boats that complement the kit, Jewel and Addison.

Jeff

ALCO
June 2023
I like your story behind the cabin; you’ve taken things in a nice direction. May I suggest putting in the mast? You never know what other new ideas await.

gjdale
June 2023
Nice work on the boat Jeff. I look forward to seeing what you do with the Jewel and the Addison.

brownbr
June 2023
I like the boat very much. Looks like you are making it RC with the wires.

KKarns
July 2023
Wonderful work here. Structures look great and look forward to seeing things planted in the diorama…

Xodar
July 2023
Greeting!

Thanks for all the kind words. Karl, it is going to be some before I start the diorama. I plan to combine Foss Landing and the Shipyard into one, so I plan to build all of the structures I start the layout. And with that in mind, here are some photos of the last structures of Foss landing, the boat and its accompanying items, the saw horse(s) and ladder. These were constructed using the templates supplied. The plans call for one sawhorse but I had enough planks to build 2. They are quite delicate so spare wood was used to provide support.

I decided to take ALCO’s advice and install the mast however I took things a bit further and added a gaff and associated rigging. Normally these would likely lead to a cleat on the mast. not having any of the correct scale, I used a small eye bolt fashioned into a hook and coiled the rope onto the hook. A stay was added leading from the mast to the bow, secured to an eye bolt on the deck. A 3mm double block was used for the gaff lift. A single sheaved block was used for the line on the underside of the gaff, secured to the deck with a hook, again fashioned from an eye bolt. I was able to work out this simplified rigging from some photos of similar boats found on the internet. I also added red and green running lights to the roof. I may add some more details such as a smoke stack (as seen on Alco’s wonderful diorama) and weathering, but for now, this is enough. Here’s a few photos:

And finally, Foss Landing, “on the shelf.”

Next up, the Jewel. I plan to modify the rigging for this boat too, using real blocks and rope.

Jeff

Karl.A
July 2023 edited July 2023
The boat looks great with the mast and the rigging, definitely worth it.
It is all looking so good so far.

gjdale
July 2023
Great job on the boat Jeff.

Robert.G
July 2023
Overall great work I dare to say..

ALCO
July 2023
WOW! Nice upgrades to the mast!

TomMich
July 2023
Very nice! Can’t wait to see what you do combining the 2 kits into one diorama.

KKarns
July 2023
Wonderful details, nicely done!

Xodar
July 2023
Thanks for the kind words. It has been a fun project so far, made much easier with the great kit instructions and the tutorials here on forum (especially detailing casting by Karl and Advanced wood clinic by “Dr Grunge”). Grant’s log of the Shipyard will be a lot of help when I tackle that kit next. This forum has been a great resource for the many tips and tricks to help in this project (which are typically not used in model ship building).

Jeff

Karl.A
July 2023
Glad to read my posts helped along the way, thank you.

Now I want to upgrade my boats, all because of you!!

Xodar
August 2023
Greetings!

On to the Jewel. When I bought Foss landing, there was an option to purchase 2 waterline boats to go with the Foss diorama, the Jewel and the Addison. Up first is the Jewel. The waterline molded boat is pretty good with regard to detail. I first used a white primer for the base layer. Below the lower wale was painted red, above left white. The decks were painted off white. here is a photo at this stage:

The deckhouse is built using a template with the boards weathered and painted as described previously, then glued directly onto the paper template. This next photo shows the process with the portholes supplied. They were a variety of colors with a gloss finish. 3 are in their original state, 3 have been “roughed up” and painted grimy black.

This next one is the aft wall before painting, and the portholes with “rust.”

Portholes now installed. I painted the roof a speckled white like the walls and then realized that it should have been black. Easy enough to fix and it can be seen on later photos.

The walls were then glued to the appropriate place on the boat. Rather than try to glue the whole thing at once, I first glued just the forward wall with epoxy. When that set, I bent the walls around the former on the deck to achieve the final structure. Because the walls are pretty flimsy, some wood was added to the perimeter at the top to give more gluing area for the roof. The front window is installed around this step too. Instructions call for the plastic to be fogged using DioSol, however, I decided to go with a clearer window as I could not imaging running a boat with windows that were too foggy.

The rear wall is then glued on when complete. I though the deckhouse looked too empty, especially with the cleared “glass” in place. So, prior to putting the roof on, I decided to try to make a ships wheel using some spare ship modelling parts.

The rings are small mast hoops; wood strips cut from 0.5 x 5 mm strip to 0.5 x 1 mm.
The central hub is a rough 3 mm circle of styrene.

Here is the result. Looks ok, considering it will be inside the deckhouse. I made one for the Addison as well.

And here’s what it looks like inside the deckhouse.

Once the roof is installed, the horn, some sort of ?smokestack and ?vent are installed. Weathering and rust applied to ship and then onto the rigging. The hardware for the rigging has been installed as well. This includes several eyebolts, 4 cleats and door / hatch handles. Unfortunately, I somehow lost the cleats that came with the kit. Luckily, I had some spares from a prior model that were close enough in size, so I used 2 of these that were slightly larger aft, and 2 from the Addison will be used forward. I also used smaller eyebolts as I felt the ones in the kit were a bit too large for the HO scale (full size would translate to a 10-inch eyebolt). And finally, the name was changed to “Golden Jewel.” When researching ships of this size, the name is often on some sort of wooden or metal plaque attached to the hull. I reduced and printed a very small name and glued it to a thin wood strip, then glued this to the hull.

Next post will be the rigging.

Jeff

EmeryJ
August 2023
That is an amazing job. I am now dreaming of crab legs!!

Mountaingoat
August 2023
Your background in boats is definitely a plus here. Looking super cool…Rick

Jim M
August 2023
Beautiful job.

KKarns
August 2023
Just catching up here…beautiful work! This is proving to be an amazing build and look forward to seeing it come together.

gjdale
August 2023
Fantastic job on the boat Jeff. I too look forward to seeing this come together.

Xodar
August 2023
Thanks all!

This has been a lot of fun so far. One more ship to go with this kit then onto The Shipyard. Once all the buildings are complete, I will start the layout and scenery - that’s where I will need a lot of advice as it will be unlike anything I’ve done before. however the great build logs here will give me a good start. And I plan on adding some extras from Brett’s 3-D printed details.

jeff

TomMich
August 2023
Nice work! Weathering is well done!

admin
August 2023
looks awesome!

Jerry
August 2023
Beautiful work on those boats!!

Jerry

Robert.G
August 2023
Beautiful work here !!!

Xodar
August 2023
Greetings!

Here are some photos of my rigging for the Jewel. While the basic layout is similar to the plans, I used ropes from my ship modelling rather than those supplied. I did not want to tie the ropes directly to the eyebolts (exception here is the rope leading from the mast to the bow. Rather, I wanted to use turnbuckles. In researching similar such ships, I found that this was a reasonable way to attach the ropes. I tried making them from a small wooden dowel but was not feasible given the small scale. Luckily, I found a place online to get them.

A small eyebolt was threaded through the central opening to give the final result. The kit supplied eyebolts can also be seen in the above photo. The kit had a unique way to simulate blocks, but as in the ship under repair (see a few posts earlier), I decided to use real blocks and rigging that seemed to make sense after looking at fishing vessel online. Final touch included a bunched-up fishing net at the stern (this was hammock netting leftover from a prior ship model).

And to finish it off, a small bird can be seen landing on the mast.

And one final item. I found an online Canadian company that has many unique HO scale mini kits. Some were pretty cool and I could not resist. Here is one example, an old- time cigarette machine, placed under the steps of the Clam and Oyster building.

I’ll show some of the other items as I complete them. Next up is the Addison.

Jeff

KKarns
August 2023
Wonderful work Jeff! The rigging just finishes it off beautifully. Nice paint peel!

EmeryJ
August 2023
Ok, that is a whole new level of coolness. Such detail! Outstanding.

Karl.A
August 2023
Wonderful work Jeff, your experience shows, a beautiful rendition.

ALCO
August 2023
Very nice job on the rigging!

Robert.G
August 2023
That boat is really awesome. And great work on the building as well !!!

Jerry
August 2023
Beautiful rigging!!

Jerry

TomMich
August 2023
That boat turned out GREAT!

Xodar
November 2023
Greetings!

It has been a while since my last post but work proceeds on Foss Landing. I have completed the Addison and here are a few photos. Construction is quite similar to the Jewel so there is no need to repeat. As with the Jewel, I chose to rig with scale blocks and rope, using turnbuckles for the standing rigging.

I will probably add some more details like netting, spare rope and barrels at a later time.
This completes the structures of Foss Landing. Here are some photos of them all laid out like in the diorama.

And here is a photo of some HO scale add-ons that can be seen in the photos above.

Next up: finishing the barrels, oil drums and trash cans, then onto the Shipyard.

Jeff

KKarns
November 2023
Most excellent work here and great progress. Look forward to the diorama work.

Jerry
November 2023
Beautiful work all around. Like Ken said can’t wait to see the diorama.

Jerry

ALCO
November 2023
Nicely done!

TomMich
November 2023
Very nice!

EmeryJ
November 2023
These are incredible. I have yet to figure out how ya’ll get the rigging so tight with no sags. It looks perfect all around!

Karl.A
November 2023
Beautiful work all around Jeff, the weathering and construction on everything is so well done.

Sag: One way Emery is to pull the thread through your fingers with white glue (or similar) on them to coat the thread, when it dries it will stiffen the thread and prevent the sag.
I’m not sure if this is what Jeff did or not though.

Xodar
November 2023

Thanks for all of the kind comments.

Emery: getting the rigging “tight” is a skill learned over many years of ship modeling. It is fairly simple to do on small scale boats like this and is quite easy to do on running rigging (these are the lines that go through the blocks and will move). The line typically starts on a block that has a small round “strop” to tie the line to (first photo, red arrow). it then goes through a series of blocks and ends up being tied to something like a cleat or a belaying pin located on the mast or deck. The line can be pulled taut, wrapped around the cleat with a little glue to keep it in place, then add a coil to simulate the extra line (second photo, orange arrow).

Standing rigging (support ropes that are not meant to move) can be a bit trickier to get taut. On this boat, the rope starts at an eyebolt attached the mast. The rope is run through the eyebolt and the secured with a seizing (basically a much smaller rope wound around the main rope). photo below, red arrow, shows a few seizings.

The rope then has to be seized to something on the deck, in this case a turnbuckle that will be attached to a ringbolt on the deck (photo below, red arrow). The rope is lead through the ringbolt that makes up part of the turnbuckle orange arrow), which is then attached to the deck. A seizing in then placed on the rope (blue arrow). The end of the rope that will be cut is then pulled while moving the seizing closer to the turnbuckle (yellow arrow). This will tighten the rope. The excess rope has already been trimmed in the photo below. Care must be taken not to overly tighten, or this may pull the mast out of alignment.

Karl: There are a few instances I put glue in the ropes. One is to secure the area that has been seized. The other is when doing ratlines on a shroud to keep them tight and they are only secured with a clove hitch knot. Glue could be used to stiffen the line, but I would be concerned about potential residue and spoiling the look of the rope.

This may be more info that you need but hopefully someone finds it useful when rigging small boats.

Jeff

ALCO
November 2023
Now you tell me! LOL

admin
November 2023
What an awesome tutorial, thank you!

randyp
November 2023
Jeff, a good job of explaining how to get the ropes tight. Randy

Xodar
November 2023
Thanks…least I could do given all the help this forum has been for me.

Jeff

EmeryJ
November 2023
Thank you for sharing your experience on this. Very helpful info!!

BenPopper
November 2023
I also appreciate the rigging tutorial, it is always a tricky task

brownbr
November 2023
Rigging looks great. Worth the extra effort.

Robert.G
November 2023
I had no idea about the roping, now I do ( a bit ) Wonderfull detailing as well .

Xodar
November 2023
Greetings,

Here we are at the last part of Foss Landing, the barrels and oil drums and rowboats.

Below is the small scale. I found a photo of a scale face and shrunk it down (a lot!) and glued it to the front of the scale.

This completes the structures and castings of Foss Landing. Constructions will soon start on The Shipyard at Foss Landing. Looking forward to this - a larger, more detailed building. Thanks again for the great tutorials on this forum.

Jeff

TomMich
December 2023
Jeff. nice work on the castings!

Karl.A
December 2023
details look fantastic, well done.

KKarns
December 2023
The scale face turned out great!

Xodar
December 2023
Greetings!

Thanks for the comments. Starting on the prep for The Shipyard. I won’t go into much detail here as gjdale cover this quite nicely in his log. One comment though - so many wood strips to prepare! I’ll put some photos up when I’ve finished a batch.

Jeff

Jerry
December 2023
Very nice details.

Jerry

Xodar
December 2023
Greetings!

here’s a photo of some of the main building wood strips. Chalk (408.3) and alcohol applied after some texture. I think they look OK for now but all comments welcome. I plan do do some of the more advanced wood work as described by KKarns in his tutorial (edge sanding, bottom of boards, knots, etc) as I place the boards on the walls. This will also keep things from getting too repetitive.

jeff

KKarns
December 2023
Nice Jeff, wood has a really nice variation in color tones with the dark fading to light. Look forward to seeing the board detailing and application!

ALCO
December 2023
Can’t go wrong following Dr. Grunge!

Karl.A
December 2023
Nice colour and variations, I look forward to your next steps.

Robert.G
December 2023
A good start for sure !!

Xodar
December 2023
Greetings!

With the initial wood chalked, it’s time to start the walls of the main building. Quite a difference in construction compared to Foss Landing. First a little background on how I laid the boards. First consideration - how long should each plank be? A single plank across the full face of the left or right walls would be are 156 mm across, equivalent to 44 ft at full scale - much too long for a single board. With a little research, I found that typical lengths for wood housing planks are 12 ft (HO 42 mm). Longer lengths offered would be 16 ft (56 mm), 20 ft (70 mm), 25 ft (87 mm). Not sure if this would translate to a building such as this but I decided to go with it. I felt that 42 mm was a bit small so the longer lengths were used. Any space on the wall that was at scale 10-12 ft or less would not have any butt joints. With this in mind, here is the left wall with the planks laid out but not glued. Per my previous post, full length planks were initially treated with chalk. Once cut to size, they were finished in a manner described by Dr Grunge though damage to boards such as splits, cracks, etc. were kept to a minimum. To quote Brett, “this is a working shipyard and repairs would be made quickly…”

Notice the solitary plank sitting on the scribed area. It has a visible grain that does not take chalk or AI stain very well. Several of the full-length boards have areas such as this so one has to be vigilant that none find their way onto the wall. It was interesting to note that the visibility depends on the orientation of the board as well.

So once the boards are laid out, each was marked on the reverse side with a sharpie. The number on dots indicate which row it goes to.

For the second floor boards, using my rule from above, no butt joints were added as the length was 38 mm (full scale 10.8 ft). I also added some chips and gouges to a few of these boards, figuring they would end up a bit more weathered than the first floor, but nothing too severe.

Final result:

There are a few butted board on the rear wall, none on the front.

Dormers are next.

Jeff

randyp
January 2024
Nice explanation on your reasoning on your board lengths. Good coloring on the boards too. Randy

KKarns
January 2024
Nice work! Great board detailing and color.

Karl.A
January 2024
Nice colouring and variation on your boards, different but similar, great job.

Xodar
January 2024
Greetings!

Again thanks for the kind comments. Brett’s instructions (and this forum) makes it look easy, especially for someone like me who is doing this type of model for the first time. Now onward.

Construction of the dormers was pretty straight forward. As I’ve stated before, I won’t go into all the details as the log by grant covers this quite well. I did add some beams across the back to add some rigidity to the structure.

The flashing on the right wall dormer sides is to be removed, painted then glued back, flush with the back of the wall. To give this delicate piece a larger surface for the glue, I first glued a piece of paper to the back of the side wall then glued the flashing into its space.

I also noticed that when the dormers are placed onto the left and rear walls, the lower part of the scribed inner wall is visible.

I did not like this look so it was covered with the same planks used for the walls.

I think this looks better. BTW, the white of the window frames still looks a bit stark as I have not yet toned them down with some grey chalk.

Completing the doors and windows that go on the walls was a breeze thanks to the kit’s construction methods. Here is a photo of the freight doors.

And before applying the “SHIPYARD” stencil, I did a practice run on some scrap wood. here is the result.

And finally, my thoughts on adding nail holes. I’ve read many of the comments on the forum and decided to only place small “holes” where 2 boards butt. In researching what kind of nails are used on wood siding, I came up with a nail size of 8d. This has a nail head size of 9/32 inch. At HO scale, converting to metric, this is ~ 0.08 mm, which is the approximate diameter of a human hair. The smallest nail indent I could make, even with the finest sewing needle, is 0.2-0.3 mm. I did some nail holes on the Foss landing building and looking at them now, they are barely visible after the building has been finished, and only from very close up. And if we are looking at the model at a distance of 1 foot, this would translate to 87 feet - how visible would nail holes be at that distance. So with all this in mind, I decided to forgo the nail hole rows.

So far this has been a great kit to build, and I am only on page 20!

Jeff

KKarns
January 2024
Looking great and your thoughts on the nail holes is sound wisdom. HO scale nails holes, at scale, would be virtually invisible. A few subtile ones at board ends is good and I actually like to put my fine pointed scribe where a nail would be at the board end and just rake it towards the end creating a split line rather than a stark round hole.

Stencil looks spot on…nice work thus far!

EmeryJ
January 2024
Moving along nicely Jeff. Always wise to run a test if you are unsure of the result.
Keep up the pictures. It is fun watching what you are doing with this kit.

Xodar
January 2024
Greetings!

Rear wall construction now complete. No significant issues encountered. As noted in Grant’s log, the rafters were a bit long when cut out using the template. It was easy enough to fix though. Regarding the signs, the instructions mention that several copies are supplied on a single sheet. I had just one copy on a template sheet. I made a few copies before working on them. Glad I did as the first try was not acceptable. The awnings were a bit delicate - too much bending of the side pieces or the scalloped edges and they would come off. Each one was stiffened with a light coating of white glue after they were bent in place. First photo shows the larger awning placed using 2 wood spacers to ensure it was centered in the correct position (sharp eyes will see that one spacer was turned the wrong way when I took the photo). Next 2 show the finished rear wall.

The left wall was much easier as only the dormer, landing and sawdust collector had to be fixed to the wall. Having the pre-drilled holes to locate the correct position of the dormers made this quite easy.

One question about the sawdust collector. what exactly does this do? If it is a vacuum that collects sawdust from the shop, wouldn’t there be a hose or tube at the open end (see red circle below photo) that would lead to a barrel or container to collect the sawdust? Otherwise, sawdust would spray all over the place. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any similar contraption on the internet. I am thinking of making some sort of tube that would lead down to an oversized barrel. Thoughts?

Next post I will show the stenciled wall and right wall.

Jeff

Jim M
January 2024
That’s an industrial cyclone dust collector. Air (with sawdust) is sucked into the cyclone and then vented to atmosphere. The heavy objects will drop to the bottom of the cyclone into a hopper. I suppose you could model a pile of sawdust on the ground under the cyclone. Either that or say it drops back into a bin inside the building. I hope that makes some sense.

Karl.A
January 2024
Great looking build so far.
Good information Jim, thanks for sharing.

Xodar
January 2024
Thanks for the info Jim. Problem for me was not knowing the actual name of this device. Easy enough to find on the internet now. For those interested: the sawdust comes into the collector from the tube on the left and, using centrifugal force, ends up at the bottom and then into a receptacle ( pipe at the bottom I suppose). The open tube at the top is where the clean, dust free air exits the unit. so, no hose on the exit tube.

Jeff

Xodar
January 2024
Greetings!

Right wall and front stenciled wall now complete. I was not entirely happy with the cardboard awning, so I decided to replace it with a wooden one using boards from prior ship models. I used the cardboard template to mark the tar paper lines on the new awning (pencil lines can be seen on the top photo). Marking for the supports and the middle were also marked. One side was stained, the other will be tarped.

Final wall:

Here is the front wall with the Shipyard stencil.

Gluing the walls together is next. The rear and side wall were glued together first, using a metal right angle to keep things lined up. I then glued on the front wall, using graph paper to line up the walls as well as the supplied internal cardboard supports and several square beams (each beam was the same length measured to .01 mm). This makes the structure quite solid. Note in the second photo the missing awning on the rear wall, knocked off during the gluing process. It was easy enough to repair but illustrates how delicate some areas are.

I have decided to add some lighting to the diorama. I plan to put some LEDs in all the main buildings of both Foss Landing and the Shipyard, pendant LEDs in the saw shed, goose neck lights over some of the doors and hopefully some streetlights. I even found some small LEDs to simulate a fire in an open oil drum! So, while waiting for the LEDs to arrive for the main building, I decided to build a billboard for the flat roof of the Foss Landing Launch Co. not sure what sign I will put on the billboard but here’s what I came up with using some ideas I found online.

Jeff

EmeryJ
January 2024
I love what you have done with this! The old worn paint job is incredible.

KKarns
January 2024
Terrific work and progress! Love the green tinted boat house roof.

Xodar
February 2024
Greetings!

It’s time for the roof and shingles. A long beam is first glued between the end walls to give the cardboard base some support. I decided to add some vertical beams for additional support.

You might be wondering what the painter’s tape is for. That is covering the wires of the LEDs that have been placed hanging down from the cardboard roof.

Once the roof is glued in place and some strips are added to roof ends, it time to begin with the shingles. But first, the dormers are glued in place. As the first 11 rows are broken up by the dormers, it was important to correctly place the shingles between the dormers so that when full length strips are placed beginning row 12, the offset from row to row will be consistent. I first placed 3 rows on the left, then placed a full length on row 5. Rows 1,3,5 will have full width shingles on the end. The pencil line (blue circle) marks the edge of a shingle that was used to line up row one. The same process was used to line up row one on right side of the roof.

I may have been overthinking this but last thing I wanted was to get to full length strips and have the shingles misaligned. After row 3, the dormer roofs are added, then flashing added to dormer - main roof interface and then more shingles. Grant’s log has some nice photos of this process so I won’t repeat here. Here are some photos of the progress.

A small triangle has to be cut out of the shingle strip on row 12 to accommodate the peak of the dormer roof. This took a few tries to get it right (one loose strip can be seen in the photo above. After row 12, it was pretty straight forward up to the cupola. As 2 strips were a bit too short to cover the length of the roof, filler pieces had to be used. To keep the offset consistent, on occasion a very slight amount had to be removed from an end shingle here and there. Once up to the cupola, shingling was paused to construct the cupola. The walls are lined with strip-wood, window frames painted and placed, and the wall glued together. Trim is added to the base to accommodate the black paper flashing. The instructions called for the trim at the base to be a 0.02 in strip (0.5 mm). I felt this was a bit small to run the flashing onto this trim so I doubled it for a trim of 1mm. The cupola is then glued to the roof and shingling completed. The same process was used for the other side. Here is the completed roof of on the side with the dormers.

Once the roof is complete, rafters are added - full length at the ends of the main and dormer roofs, extensions elsewhere. Here is the roof complete.

I decided to paint and place the chimney at this stage as I was eager to see how it looked. I may do some weathering of the roof below the chimney to represent soot.

Also, the capping shingles used were cut from the paper border of the shingle sheet, ~4.4 mm in width. Instructions called for using single shingles for this process but I though they looked too small. Here’s a photo with both for comparison.

And lastly, before the roof was placed, LEDs were placed, one each in the large dormers, 2 in the main building and a swan neck over one of the freight doors. The dirty windows and shades limit views of the inside.

Next up is the warehouse. But first I have to go through my scraps to find enough wood to line the walls.

Jeff

KKarns
February 2024
Excellent work!

TomMich
February 2024
Turned out very nice. Like the shingle color.

randyp
February 2024
Great and neet work on this model. Love the lights they add so much to the overall affect of the model. Randy

Karl.A
February 2024
Fantastic work and beautiful colouring.

MuddyCreekRR
February 2024
Nice…I like the lighting effects

admin
February 2024
Looks great! Lighting is such a great addition.

Xodar
February 2024
Thanks for the kind comments. I am adding lights to Foss landing as well. And I have some really small LEDs that light up the Coke and cigarette vending machines. Haven’t yet figured out how I am going to snake the wires through the landscape but that’s for a later time.

Jeff

revans15e
February 2024

This is my first post and my first time building one of Brett’s outstanding kits! His instruction booklets are absolutely amazing and every time I’ve called him with questions, he has been extremely helpful. But, mainly, I want to thank those of you that have posted your builds on this forum. They have been extraordinarily helpful! You might notice my roofs look different. I destroyed Brett’s paper shingles in the painting process and had to substitute. I also used the paper signs instead of the dry transfers, which had become unusable. This has been a fun build and I’ve learned tons along the way. Thanks again for the great posts and suggestions!

TomMich
February 2024
Turned out very nice!

MuddyCreekRR
February 2024
Looking really good…the contrast of the 2 different roofing is very well done and realistic…

Xodar
February 2024
Hi Revans

Both roofs look great. And I know what you mean with the rub on decals. I found a method to get them to work, if you have any left. Details can be found on an earlier page.

Jeff

revans15e
February 2024
Thanks, Jeff. I found your dry transfer method on a previous page. I’m going to give it a try. Thanks for the help! Rob

randyp
February 2024
The open windows are a nice touch. I like the roofs. Randy

Xodar
February 2024
Greetings!

Work continues on the main building. The attached warehouse is complete. Not much extra to add from the instructions though I did add some beams behind the metal doors for some support. See photo below, upper right. Like Grant, I had to salvage some scraps from the wood pile to complete the walls.

Here is the competed wall and doors.

The roof goes on much like the awnings on the main building. Here are some photos of the warehouse attached to the main structure. One LED was added to the interior of this section.

Excuse the simulated bird poop on the warehouse roof!

The Yardmaster office is next. The clapboard siding was fun to build and if you look closely, there are boards that are split, chipped and a few that have part of the board missing.

Roof is almost complete in these photos.

The office will have one gooseneck light on the gabled side and one LED inside. Once glued to the main structure, it’s onto the items located on the roof.

Jeff

EmeryJ
February 2024
Looks great Jeff. No need to be sorry about the bird poo. That is an excellent addition. It caught my eye right off. I personally think it is a great idea. Dont get me wrong, I dont walk around examining bird droppings, but it looks about right

KKarns
February 2024
Nice work! Turning out to be a top shelf build my friend…

randyp
February 2024
Jeff I knew just what you were trying show with that white splotch. It looks just right to me. Great job. Randy

TomMich
February 2024
Making great progress. The walls on the office turned out great! Just the right amount of distress and weathering.

Xodar
March 2024
Greetings!

The office has been attached to the main building and the pitch and pine tar tank and platform were completed and glued to the warehouse roof. A small hole was drilled in the roof top accommodate the pipe.

Here is the structure thus far. First, a few close ups of the tank and platform…

…and the main building.

Several stacks are being prepared to glue onto the roofs. Then onward.

Jeff

KKarns
March 2024
looking great Jeff! Wonderful build.

TomMich
March 2024
Very nice!

Xodar
March 2024
Greetings!

Work continues with the docks.
Template C has the right, left and derrick docks and the sales porch, all done simultaneously. Here is some early progress.

The completed docks below. Instructions are very clear cut so no need to repeat. One variation - I decided to paint the skirting speckled white. I found that on many porches, this part was white. I’ll probable make the railing white to match. This will be similar to the stairs and railing of Foss Landing.

Note that on the derrick dock, I made the height of the “barnacles” less as the dock went inland as the water level would be lower.

Now onto the main dock. Here is some preliminary work.

I have a question for the RR enthusiasts - for the rails that are on the dock, where should I terminate the deck planing - at the blue line or red one? I can’t seem to find many photos of this online and the pic in other build logs are too low resolution.

Also, I bought one 36 inch length of track. For the side with the dock, instructions say to have only a few inches come off the end. What’s the best method to join the track assuming I have to cut a 17 inch length into one that is, say 7 inches for the dock and 10 inches for the terrain?

As always, thanks for the kind comments and thanks in advance for any help on my questions.

Karl.A
March 2024
Fantastic Jeff, you are showing this kit and your work off beautifully,
amazing on all levels.
Thanks for sharing your progress with us, keep it up.

ALCO
March 2024
To figure out the decking question, the best approach is to acquire a set of “trucks”, ie the wheels of a train car. The decking needs to allow the wheel flanges to roll freely without obstruction from the decking. That is the acid test. But there probably would be no harm in using your blue line as a guide.

ALCO
March 2024
To join two pieces of track, I can think of 2 possibilities: rail joiners and faking it. Rail joiners are small metal pieces that slip onto the ends of the two pieces to be joined together. Faking it (if you’re never going to apply electricity to run trains) means to just square the ends of the rails to be “joined” and place them as closely together as humanly possible. Then you can glue onto the side of the rails at the gap prototypical rail joiners. I’m not sure what the technical term is off-hand but I’ve done this before and it gives a nice additional and realistic result. Hope these answers are helpful.

Xodar
March 2024
Thanks for the info. The tracks won’t have current so I will likely “fake it.” I’ll post some in progress photos as I get to that step. Currently working on 40-ton flat car to go on one of the rails.

Jeff

ALCO
March 2024
In my 2nd post about “connecting” rails, I was referring to “tie plates”. That’s the technical term if you’re looking for them.

Xodar
April 2024
Greetings!

Work continues on the main dock.

The knots in the boards were randomly placed after the boards were glued to the beams. When all the boards are down they will be given a wash with A/E to darken the knots. I decided to lay the planks to the red line. I put together a scale 40 foot flat car and the trucks run quite smoothly over the tacks with the wood placed so. I also like the look of the track “buried” in the deck. Here are a few photos.

And finally, the main building on the foundation beams and the deck. Some wood scraps were used beneath the foundation and the various platforms to get them all at the correct height.

I need to straighten the rod at the top of the cupola as it seems to be off in one axis. Also, I glued the stack with the round top to the roof on the opposite side of the roof as compared to the instructions (I noticed this after the glue was set).

jeff

CarlLaskey
April 2024
Very nice good job. …

Karl.A
April 2024
Great work on the decking and tying it in with the structure. The railcar has a detail level befitting the structure and diorama, it is wonderfully done.

Karl.A
April 2024 edited April 2024
ALCO said:
In my 2nd post about “connecting” rails, I was referring to “tie plates”. That’s the technical term if you’re looking for them.

Actually, tie plates are what is used to hold the rails down to the ties.
Fishplates (or ‘joint bars’ in the US) are what actually hold two pieces of rail together.
Ken Karns has done this the best that I have seen on a couple of his HO dioramas, perhaps he could share a pic here of his HO track to show it, or a link to his thread.

Mountaingoat
April 2024

Here is a shot of my track from one of my dioramas showing the joint bar between two pieces of rail. In my case I also used tie plates under the rail. To keep things simple I use a jewelers saw to cut a notch in the rail rather than cutting clear through. It keeps the rail in alignment. The joint bar or sometimes called rail bars I use are from detail associates. They are styrene and too thick. I run the joint bar over sandpaper with my finger (removes your finger prints with it) to thin down the back side to be more to scale.

Hope this helps. Rick

ALCO
April 2024
Thanks for straightening that out!

Xodar
May 2024
Greetings!

The derrick dock shed and the upper yard storage shed have been completed. Not much to add as the instructions and construction is very straightforward. Here’s the derrick dock shed…

…and the upper yard shed below (the first photo shows the “strip wood trap” where just a mm or 2 of the first plank is glued to the underlying template, thus creating a space where the side walls will be glued)…

a few of the battens were broken off the walls…

note the crow resting on the roof.

Onto the saw shed. The frame has been completed. It is quite delicate at this stage.

Jeff

Robert.G
May 2024
lovely color on the shed and the crow is a fine detail !!

Xodar
May 2024
Greetings!

Work continues on the saw shed. The floor was next. Instructions were a bit contradictory as the floor boards are the same length as the crossbeams however you are instructed to cut a notch in the boards to accommodate the vertical beams. This notch would not be needed if the boards are as long as the crossbeam so I did not do this. The 4 trusses were easy to construct using the template.

IMG_1108

IMG_1109

The trusses were then glued to the upper crossbeams. That takes us to constructions of the saw table. Construction was straightforward using the supplied plans as a template.

IMG_1127

Some logs show 3 boards used to cover the table sides however I just used 2, similar to what is shown on the plans. 3 were used on the side where the end plate will be placed.
Next up is the hardware. I have several questions I hope someone on the forum can answer.

1. The motor that sits above the table has a drive shaft that is connected to a pulley / belt. The belt connects with the drive shaft wheel on the end-plate of the saw table. There is another drive shaft under the table connected to this lower wheel (pink circle in photo below). What would this shaft be connected to? In other words, what does the motor run, the saw or the blower? If it is the saw, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to line up the end-plate with the center hole of the saw (yellow circle)? I guess it could be offset with another set of pulleys and a belt to drive the saw

2. Given the layout of the saw table rollers, I assume the path of the wood along the table would be the pink arrow in the photo below. The yellow line represent the saw blade.

If this were the case, would there not be a mechanism to move the blade up and down to accommodate movement of the wood? Either the blade would have to move downward to allow the wood to roll past, or upward like the illustration below. If the blade moves downward, then I suppose the gear to do this would be under the table and therefore not seen on the model.

My assumptions at this point are the drive shaft runs the blade and there is another set of pulleys and a belt under the table. As such, the blade would have to move downward to allow for the planks to roll past and be crosscut.

I am probably over thinking this but I would like to hear some opinions before i start to glue the gear on

thanks

Jeff

Karl.A
May 2024 edited May 2024
Great colouring of the wood timbers and flooring.
The saw blade is on a swing arm, it swings front to back, not up and down.
If you look at the fittings at the top of the saw you will see how this works, and how it swings. Google will also provide some images.

As for the belt and shaft…
The motor drives the saw and the blower. the top shaft drives the saw, which pivots because it is a swing arm saw.
The shaft then continues above to a belt which drops down and drives the lower shaft which runs the blower.

So, basically, as far as remember it was designed…

The motor drives the top shaft which runs the swing saw and the belt.
The belt then transfers the power to the lower shaft.
The lower shaft drives the blower.

It’s been a long time but I hope this helps.

There is no need for any extra pullys or belts, everything was designed to operate correctly and everything needed is included in the kit.

ALCO
May 2024
Maybe the wood piece to be cut is hand-carried to the table, and the cut line is aligned with the saw. The rollers are used to move the 2 cut pieces, one to the left and one to the right of the blade? The blade is fixed; the wood is moved forward/backward to cut. I’m no expert but this hypothesis works for me! The folks who visit my house and see my dios spend maybe 2 minutes oohing and aahing and then go away. HAHA

Xodar
June 2024
Greetings:

Having finally decided how I want to deal with the saw, here’s what I came up with. A pendulum saw would be appropriate for the type of roller table featured in the saw shed. Here is an example:

With this in mind, it was time to go to the scrap box to see what I could come up with:

The wood plank sits nicely on the rollers with just a bare minimum of clearance of the 2 wooden beams on either side of the saw. The saw machine is double hinged allowing it to be pulled across the table to saw the plank.

The remaining features of the saw shed (upper level, motor, drive shaft and belt) were next completed. These are all very well described in Grant’s log so I won’t repeat. There was no variation from the instructions. The final steps were construction of the cupola and the rusted aluminum roof. Here’s a photo of some of the rood pieces after etching and some rust applied.

Roofing in progress with cupola installed:

Prior to placing the roof supports and roof, I added 3 LED hanging lights. The wires are so small i just glued them to the overhead supports and vertical beams so the wires end up under the floor. These can be seen in some of the photos below of the completed saw shed.

And here are some photos with the lights on (with a worker wiping his brow):

Next up is the base which will begin the process of combining Foss landing and the Shipyard at Foss Landing.

jeff

TomMich
June 2024
Turned out very nice!

Karl.A
June 2024 edited June 2024
As I said,
the saw in the kit is 100% accurate for a swing arm saw and needs no adaption, everything is included in the kit.

Your version of a chop saw looks quite good.

Xodar
June 2024
Greetings!

2 possible layouts - The Shipyard on the right or the left?

I think the setup works better with The Shipyard on the left. The shoreline flows better then then the other way around, mainly because the long loading dock of the Shipyard is on land and the Oyster Co building dock is mostly over water.

One question for some of the regulars…Foss landing instructions call for plaster to build up a “cement wall” along the interface of the uppermost insulation cutout (far upper right piece in photo 2. Can this be done with sculptamold (which is required for The Shipyard) of should I get some plaster?

As always, thanks for your comments.

Jeff

Robert.G
June 2024
Another fine aspect of our hobby, putting it all together, nice work btw…

admin
June 2024
Agreed, love the Shipyard on the left. Try angling the small fishing boat on the shore and I think you’re all set.

Can def use sculptamold.

Karl.A
June 2024
I definitely like the second version better,
it feels more organic and a natural situation,
it also allows the optimum viewing angles for all of the structures and scenes

I’m 100% on the second arrangement.

Karl.A
June 2024
I’m not familiar with the layout of the FosLanding kit, but if I am reading it right and you are just trying to smooth the elevation transition in the top right corner then yes, sculptamold will be fine for that.
I would suggest slightly rounding the sharp edges of the upper foam to make an easier blend, whichever material you use.
Hope this helps.

Joel
June 2024
I agree with Karl. The second has much more interest with levels and angles. This is one of my favourite parts of diorama building. I find taking many pictures from different angles and even adding a few trees helps with visualizing the final layout and all the mini scenes that can be created.

MuddyCreekRR
June 2024
I find for myself…that placing a structure on a diorama has to meld with it’s position it will live in on my layout eventually. I am building on the 1" foam insulation because the top layout of my “sea level” will be the 1" foam attached to the 2" foam that is my base layer. This way I can essentially build a “lift out” diorama for the layout. So my orientation is important for me. If I do build a stand alone diorama…I usually build on an angle to the edges…just a visual thing for me…

Xodar
August 2024
Greetings !

A few weeks have passed since my last post but progress continues. I’ve gone with the layout on the left as described above. The foam board has been glued to the MDF base (this measures ~ 36 in x 18 in). Some sheet-rock compound was used along the sides and the seams and to cover the upper level of the Foss landing side (right). Pilings and mussels were added to the 2 docks of Foss landing and the one for the Shipyard. After a coat of spray paint, the RR ties were laid down on the left. Rather than tape them to a template and glue them all at once, they were laid by hand using a long piece of wood for the boundary on the left and wood spacers to keep the distance between ties the same distance. Here is the work in progress:

Before proceeding with the ties on the right of the shipyard, a bit of compound was used to build up the base so the ties would fit snugly under the rails. The “ship in progress” was also completed. As in Grant’s log, the wood was left unstained to simulate newer, non weathered wood.

Other things to think about is how to run the wiring from each structure through the base to the batteries. More on that later. Here are some photos of progress so far. I’ve been taking it slow as I have to go between the 2 instruction manuals so I don’t get too far ahead on on side or the other.

One modification of the Foss landing kit - a cement wall is called for that starts behind the launch Co building and goes to the side of that building and then forms a cement wall under the Clam and Oyster building below the dock. The Shipyard kit has 2 walls, one of brick and one with larger stones. To tie the 2 kits together, I’ve decided to replace the cement wall with bricks at the back and side of the launch co and larger stones for the wall under the Oyster Co dock. Here’s a sample of the bricks and one stone:

And lastly, would like some opinions on 2 items:

1. The Shipyard kit has a metal casting to simulate a light which would go on a pole. I would like to use a pole with a light that works. I think I’ve found something similar to what would be constructed with the kit and it comes in a 3 pack. One light goes near the shed by the RR tracks (blue circle in photo below). Where do you think would be a good spot for the other 2?

2. I would like to add some telephone power poles with “wires” going to the buildings. Foss Landing includes a casting for one pole but I think more would be required. I thought spacing them out along the back of the diorama would be most appropriate (blue x es in photo below). Or do you think this would make things too busy.

Thanks again for your comments.

jeff

Xodar
November 2024
Greetings!

Work continues with the shipyard. After all the RR ties are placed, the base was painted where the water will eventually go.

There are wires poking through the MDF and insulation base. These will be spliced to the various buildings and pole lights. Here are 2 photos of the underside of the base. MDF is perfect for gouging out small trenches for the wires which will then come out the back and eventually get spliced into 2 on/off switches. Each hole is marked to identify the structure associated with the wire.

Next up was the brick wall that replaces the concrete one on Foss Landing. The wall below the Clam and Oyster building was made up of larger blocks, much like the wall near the RR tracks on the Shipyard kit.

The RR track was next glued to the ties after they were weathered. The flex track I purchased came with plastic ties so, before the plastic ties were removed, the track was centered and marked on the weathered ties. One rail was glued first then spacers were used to keep the second track even with the first.

When all was done it was tested with the RR car previously constructed - perfect fit.

I wanted to add the rail spikes for extra security. However, what is commercially available looked out of scale. I ended up using standard paper staples - still a bit out of scale but closer, I think. He is a photo. It was a lot of drill holes and spikes!

The rails were then weathered and a sanding stick was run across the top.

Next up is the sculptamold for the Foss Landing buildings, followed by the Shipyard pit.

Jeff

Robert.G
November 2024
SUPER work on the track !!!

admin
November 2024
Fantastic, your trackwork is excellent.

KKarns
November 2024
Hey Jeff, Fantastic work and progress! I model telephone poles and wires often on my projects and feel they add a great deal to the visual interest in addition to being prototypical…so no, they won’t make things appear “too busy” in my opinion. However, make sure you do them towards the end of the project or you’ll be sorry! lol.

Joel
November 2024
Love the trackwork.

TomMich
November 2024
Track looks fantastic! Lot’s of patience to add all those spikes, but worth it!

Xodar
February 2025
Greetings!

Meanwhile, back at the Shipyard…
Prior to the sculptamold, I laid down the ballast for both tracks. The rails were already down on the left track, not so on the right. I don’t really have an opinion as to which way is better although on the right, the ballast had to be glued then cleared from the ties before laying down the rails. Some color was then added to the ballast to tone down the rather bright grey. Some random oil stains were added as well. Here are some photos.

Foss landing sculptamold was placed first. In preparation, the bumper pilings were made so that they could be placed before the mold hardened. I mixed the mold with some brownish paint and then placed the 2 landings in the soft mold, puling the wires through small holes in the decks. A mix of ground cover to simulate a slightly rock shoreline was then added. Tires were added to the pilings and here is the result.

Next up was the mold for the Shipyard pit and beneath the dock. I ended up doing this in 2 stages as there is just too much going on with the ship and the surrounding supports and decks to try to get it all done at one time. Before mixing the mold, all of the details that have to be stuck in the mold were completed - scaffolding, supports for the ship base etc. The mold was then placed and the ship base placed onto to it. all the supports were placed, using the work decks to check placement. Additional ground cover was placed as well as discarded wood. The ground cover was glued and then it was all left to dry. The main dock was placed but not secured to ensure correct alignment of the ship.

The dock at the left side of the pit was also placed at this time. Remember to push a rod through the hold into the mild for the barge derrick. Here is a shot of the wall at the end of the rail on the left showing a bit of collapse where there were no reinforcing stones.

The mold beneath the dock was then placed followed by the dock. Pilings were then placed as were the tires. On another forum where I am posting this build, a suggestion was made to add a bull rail to the shipyard deck to keep stuff from rolling off the dock. seemed like a good idea so after doing some research on what this would look like it was added.

Next, I constructed a bumper stop for the left rail based on some internet photos I found.

Here how things look now. The 2 docks on the side of the shipyard building have been glued. Here is a shot of where things stand so far.

And finally, the derrick was constructed. From what I could find on the internet, the shipyard derrick is a “guy” derrick. With this type of derrick, the load is moved by either rotating the mast (not likely with this construction) or the boom. With boom rotation, there is an additional lashing between the boom and the mast for support. Derrick construction was straightforward given the excellent instructions and metal parts. I decided to add a few bundles of wood to the flatcar and one being lifted by the boom.

At this time the mast has not been fixed in place. The one support rope leading from the ring at the mast top will be added later.

Jeff

KKarns
February 2025
Track work looks great Jeff. That is one of the better looking bump stop designs I have seen, and well executed. Love the flat car load and the derrick work is really nice. Shaping up beautifully.

TomMich
February 2025
Track looks fantastic! Lot’s of patience to add all those spikes, but worth it!

Kevin L
February 2025
Wow great modelling.

Robert.G
February 2025
Fantastic work Jeff !!!

Karl.A
February 2025
Fantastic work.

Joel
March 2025
Great modelling Jeff.

MuddyCreekRR
March 2025
I really like the looks of that jib hoist…

Xodar
March 2025
thanks for the kind words. more to come soon

Jeff

glandesjr
March 2025
Hi Jeff:
This is really looking great and I looove the shingled roof. You really nailed that one. The weathering is superb. This is going to be a show stopper when you get it done. Thanks for sharing.

Robert.G
March 2025
What I really like is that there is actual tension on the ropes. Well seen !!!

Stevepass
March 2025
Very nice scene and well done. You have captured some great realism.

admin
March 2025
Wonderfully done!

geoawelch
March 2025
Outstanding modeling.

Joel
April 2025
Just great Jeff. I love the derrick

Xodar
May 2025
Greetings!

It’s been a while since my last update but construction continues. After the sculptamold and docks were placed, I decided to make some of the mini-kits included in the kit, including the wooden fences (both foss landing and the shipyard), the steam box and boiler, canvas rack and the oil drum rack. For the simulated canvas, I used some leftover silkspan from my sail-making for the Revenge (see page 1 of this log). The silkspan was first painted with an off white / light tan paint (leftover from some room in the house).
Here is a photo of the white silkspan and the painted final product.

Construction of the canvas rack was a bit fiddly given the very fine wood beams. The “canvas” was then rolled into a variety of sizes and placed in the rack.

Also pictured above is the oil drum rack. The hose is a 1 mm brass wire which was annealed to soften it up so I could bend it to the shape seen.

The steam box and boiler were fun to build. For the box doors, I used some leftover door hinges rather than the paper as suggested in the instructions. 2 mm solder was used for the boiler hose. The piping leading from a barrel to the boiler valve was interesting to fit and get right. One suggestion for any future builders - attach the valve at the very end of construction as it is quite fine and will break off at the slightest pressure.

The fences were straightforward however for the Foss Landing retaining wall fence, rather than several sections that step down, I made one longer section that will follow the slope of the brick wall. Note that several posts are longer so that they can be driven into the base, much like the boundary fence for the shipyard.

The Shipyard fence is a bit different construction with vertical boards glued to horizontal stringers. This fence is heavily weathered with cracked and missing boards. I decided to use some of the Foss Landing paper advertising signs for the fence. Below are 2 photos, one with flash which highlights some features of the fence such as the darker bottom where the wood touches the ground.

And lastly, I am starting to think about some of the landscaping around the buildings, fences and bare areas. I was thinking of using a product called static grass to give an effect of somewhat overgrown grass near the fence. The grass comes in different sizes and hues. I’m still experimenting but my thoughts are to have a bit of grass and shrubs near the Foss landing buildings, less so for the shipyard. Anyway, here is a photo of the Foss landing fence with some taller grass at the fence base. Shorter static grass can be seen in the foreground.

As always, any comments are welcome as mini landscaping is all new to me.

Next up will be some thoughts on the boat which is undergoing repair at Foss landing and some photos of the first buildings placed on the base

Jeff

Robert.G
May 2025
This all looks very well done Jeff !!!

Joel
May 2025
Jeff, great work. Love the steam box and the sail rack.

TomMich
May 2025
Great work! I really like how the canvas rack turned out. The way the canvas rolls bend over the side is very realistic. The static grass turned out well also, but it is too uniform. In real situations there would be many colors, heights, and textures, that form in groups of similar types of vegetation. The steam box & boiler are also well done.

KKarns
May 2025
Superb detail work Jeff! Coming along great and look forward to more.

Xodar
July 2025
Greetings!

Back at it again. Time to start putting it all together. Before getting to the boat, I decided to glue the Oyster Co building to the dock and place the rowboat shed. Some items were placed on the dock (barrels, trash cans etc.). As this kit did not come with the decals for the oyster crates or the bait boxes, I printed some up and reduced them in size, a lot. There is also a fisherman on his back that will be eventually placed by the broken fence to the right of the building. As I envisioned the Oyster Co being a place to gather socially, there is also a group of figures at the front of the dock, 2 of whom are playing checkers.

And now at night:

A few photos of the rowboat shed:

Some calendars from the paper decal sheet were placed on the wall by the work bench.
The saw and utility sheds were also glued to the base.

Overall look thus far:

I also decided to wire up a spotlight for the billboard that will go on the roof of the Launch Co.

On to my thoughts on the boat undergoing repairs. First question is how did it get up there? It would obviously be pretty heavy so I figured it would have to be pulled up somehow. Looking though some build logs here I came across Shelby’s Marine. Here a boat is pulled up on trailer on tracks by a winch. Since I wanted this to an informal repair area, I decided to use some spare RR ties and make a wooden launch ramp and build a trailer for the boat. Here’s a photo of the trailer and boat resting on it. green felt was added to the contact points of the boat to simulate protective bolsters.

Wheels were added and we now have a boat trailer. But what to pull it up with? I was able to find a winch kit and so, after it was painted and assembled, a housing was built for it. A tarpaper roof will be added to complete the housing.

And finally, a few pics of the SW Ford Model T truck. Amazing detail for HO scale!

Scenery around the rowboat shed and along the brick wall is next. I would like the grounds around the Oyster and Launch Co to have some grass and bushes vs the Shipyard area which will be a bit more sparse. So, we will see how that turns out. I’ll also have some photos on the wooden launch ramp.

Jeff

Robert.G
July 2025
Fantastic work !!!

ALCO
July 2025
Your weathering of the structures is spot on. And your personalization of the dio by the details you’ve added really gives the viewer lots to look at and like. Very nice!

TomMich
July 2025
Turned out very nice. Lots of interesting added touches.

Kevin L
July 2025
Great modeling.

[xodar]

It’s been awhile since my last update but I’ve not been idle. Starting from the last photo of the entire diorama, a wooden ramp was added to allow the boat to be hauled out of the water on the trailer.

A bit out of focus but I think this conveys the idea. Next is an overhead shot of with the boat on the wooden ramp. Some of the scenery around the buildings has also been added. The look I was going for was areas of grass with auto tracks and dirt footpaths.

Another view with the Launch Co installed. I also made some “concrete” steps to allow access to the water down the steep hill.

Some scenery under construction…

A bit more complete…

I added a few gas pumps to the scene to fuel not only the delivery trucks but the outboard motors. A few SW gas cans are scattered about.

On the side of the Oyster Co, a man is fishing over a slightly damaged fence. It can’t be seen in this photo but there is actually a line attached to the rod made of a fine surgical suture called 6-0 prolene. I added some ivy working its way up the wall. A gas meter can be seen in the ivy at the base of the Oyster Co.

launch Co with details added. The coke machine has a small LED to light the display.

An overhead view of the entire scene.

The look I as going for was slightly overgrown grassy areas on the side of the Launch Co and Oyster Co, with some grass, maybe not as healthy and more sparse, bleeding over the RR track to the front of the Shipyard building.

To populate the diorama, some ModelEU figures.

Jeff

[Curt]

Excellent modeling Jeff. I really like how you modeled where the sand meets the water.

[tommich]

Scenery is coming along nicely Jeff. Like all the details on the dock of Foss

[ALCO]

Great eye candy! Excellent craftsmanship and creative detailing!

[admin]

Fantastic, love the feel of your diorama. The ModelEU figures are the best hands down. They take the time to create and refine them and masterfully print them, unlike the Generative AI figures flooding the market. Good for you for supporting creative artists!

[KKarns]

Wonderfully detailed diorama Jeff! Nicely done.