baevans
October 2023 edited October 2023 in HO Scale Builds
Long time ship modeler who has run out of room to display any more ships.
Saw a build log for this kit on the “Non-ship Builds” section of my go-to ship modeling site, I’ve always been fascinated by detailed dioramas (just for the own sake; not a model railroad guy) and showed it to the boss, who sail “You definitely need to get that.” So I did.
Returned from our summer place (also out of room for ship displays) and began to accumulate the materials needed and whatever helpful tools I did not already have in my shipyard. A few weeks ago finally dove in and started.
The detailed and exhaustive build logs for this project on this site (in addition to Brett’s wonderful manual) have been guides for me. I won’t duplicate them, but will post when significant progress has occurred or when I screw up and/or need help.
At any rate, finished the walls for the main structure and its dormers today, so getting ready to take on the windows and doors next.
Here’s a picture of the finished walls. I think I’m ready for the next step. If I have missed anything feel free to set me straight.
Glad to be here.
Comments
baevans
October 2023 edited October 2023
Oops. Screwed up right at the start. Posted in the wrong section.
Brett, can you move this to HO scale builds? Or should I cut and paste?
TomMich
October 2023
Great start! Looking forward to your progress.
Mountaingoat
October 2023
Love what I see. Welcome to dioramas. Your background over qualifies you for these wonderful kits…Rick
baevans
October 2023
Thanks for the comments. I’ve always most enjoyed the mini-carpentry on my ship builds, but nothing at this small scale (1/64 is my smallest scale build).
But when it finally comes to the landscaping, I’m gonna need some help and advice for sure.
KKarns
October 2023
Great that you’re diving into this great kit with a wonderful nautical feel to it. Should compliment your ship work nicely. Off to a great start!
mikemettelka
October 2023
Waiting for more!
admin
October 2023
Great start, walls look wonderful!
baevans
October 2023
Sitting down today to try and figure how all the window bits work before weathering them.
Robert.G
October 2023
One great build coming up !!! 
Joel
October 2023
Off to a wonderful start and hopefully a rewarding modelling experience.
Jerry
October 2023
Looks like a fine start to me.
Jerry
baevans
October 2023
Finished the dormers today. Freight doors and large windows are not installed but simply placed to evaluate visual.
Ready to start in on finishing the walls tomorrow!
Jim M
October 2023
You’ve been busy. This is going to look great. Nice job.
Jerry
October 2023 72.88.167.44
Always great to see a new update. I like the weathering nice job.
Jerry
baevans
October 2023
Well I’m always happier when I have a construction project going and have been in withdrawal since finishing my (almost certainly) last ship.
I put in 2-3 hours a day so a project like this is perfect as I can work on bits in that fashion.
brownbr
October 2023
Off to a good start
Xodar
October 2023
Great job so far. I will be following closely as this one is next up for me.
Jeff
baevans
October 2023
A small update.
I have finished the two end walls. I continue to be impressed by the design and production values of this kit allowing for the creation of an incredibly detailed model. I hope my skills are up to it!
On to the next wall.
randyp
October 2023
From what I can see so far your skills are more than up to the job. Randy
mikemettelka
October 2023
looking great so far!
admin
October 2023
Excellent, looks great. Can’t wait to see it come together. Love that main building.
ALCO
October 2023
Looking great! I’m a couple of weeks behind you in building my shipyard so it’s neat to see what’s coming.
EmeryJ
October 2023
Keep the pictures coming. This is sure fun to see come together. You are doing a wonderful job.
baevans
October 2023
Thanks all. Having a fun time with this.
KKarns
October 2023
Excellent progress and work here Bruce! Love this kit and look forward to following your continued work on this project.
baevans
November 2023
Put the walls together after adding what is called for in the instructions. Added the brace cards and the view blocker, capped off with the ridge pole.
Overall Ok. a couple of the edges are not as crisp and flush as I would like - some creep after gluing. One day perhaps I’ll make a perfect model.
I do like how this looks so far.
Next, the roof, the last dormer fitting, and shingling.
mikemettelka
November 2023
you are powering through this!
baevans
November 2023
Roof on, dormers in place with rafters underneath, fascia applied to the roof edges.
Tomorrow, I get to work preparing and weathering all those shingle strips!
TomMich
November 2023
Coming along nicely
EmeryJ
November 2023
A lot of great work here. Excellent job on the peeling paint in particular.
Jerry
November 2023
Very nice!
Jerry
Karl.A
November 2023
This is coming together great. Another wonderful build of this kit, the wall tones and peeling paint are nicely done and fit together very well.
Always great to follow and enjoy someone building this kit.
baevans
November 2023
Prepared 3 sheets of shingles - a bit of a pain or I would have done more.
Here’s the progress thru what is hopefully the most difficult shingling. I’m not satisfied with the exposure of the flashing which is not as clean as I would like.
Nevertheless, looks pretty cool.
Now I’ll prepare enough shingles to finish the roof while building and installing the cupola.
KKarns
November 2023
Looking terrific, great roof work and all around construction.
Karl.A
November 2023 edited November 2023
Looks fantastic, great variation and colouring on the shingles.
It might have taken a little while to work around those dormas with the shingles but it was definitely time well spent. The result is superb. Beautifully done and great result.
EmeryJ
November 2023
Outstanding. This is moving along nicely.
baevans
November 2023
Thanks all. I’ll probably spend today staining shingle strips.
Xodar
November 2023
great job so far. Another good reference for when I start mine.
Jeff
ALCO
November 2023
One heckuva lot of shingles! They look pretty well staggered!
baevans
November 2023
Ready to head off on a bit of vacation. Finished the main cupola base and shingled to the top today. Will start on the other side when I return.
baevans
November 2023
Progress to date:
admin
November 2023
Outstanding! Looks great.
Jerry
November 2023
Glad I didn’t have to nail all those down!! Wonderful work!!
Jerry
randyp
November 2023
Good looking flashing around the cupola. Nice straight lines of shingles. I always have trouble keeping mine from either sagging or rising up. Good work. Randy
KKarns
November 2023
Well done!
EmeryJ
November 2023
That is a lot of good looking shingle work. Excellent transitions at the valleys.
Karl.A
November 2023
Wonderful work, beautiful roof, so well done.
Dont forget the half length shingles on the dorma peaks before the caps go on to keep the reveal consistent. I know you’ve got this covered but just wanted to make it blatent.
Great job so far.
baevans
November 2023
I’m seeing shingles with my eyes closed.
Just finished the shingling including the cupola of the main building. Actually, shingling the cupola roof was the hardest thing.
In retrospect I should have made the single cap shingles shorter, but I’ll put that thought away for the future.
Next is rafters, then another building!
mikemettelka
November 2023
Wow!
Kevin L
November 2023
Looks great.
EmeryJ
November 2023
That is a whole lotta shingles sir.
ALCO
November 2023
Great job. I’m reading the instructions for the shingles and spent an entire afternoon trying to figure it all out. Hope to do as well as you.
baevans
November 2023
Thanks all.
Finished the rafters and putting the main building aside for now. Will begin the warehouse after the holiday. Houseful of guests for Turkey tomorrow, so lots of meal prep.
Really having fun with this build. The detail in this is amazing.
Robert.G
November 2023
Wow !! even in HO and at this stage it is already impressive !! Great job. To bad it isn’t there in O scale..
KKarns
November 2023
Time well spent! Looks great.
baevans
November 2023
Added the warehouse.
Karl.A
November 2023
Looks so beautiful sitting on that clean glass surface.
Beautiful job all around.
baevans
November 2023 edited November 2023
Away for another week. Before I left, I did one wall of the yardmaster’s office. The clapboard system is really neat and looks really cool. Next week I’ll finish the office and start all the bits that go on the roofs including the tar tank and all the vents. It is really fulfilling to see the main building coming together like this.
Jerry
November 2023
Looks terrific! Wonderful job!!
Jerry
KKarns
November 2023
Tah dah…looks splendid!
brownbr
December 2023
Looking great.
baevans
December 2023 edited December 2023
Back at it. Finished the yardmaster office and added it to the building. Made it a bit darker for contrast with the different clapboard siding. When I finished I had two complete strips of shingles and a bunch of scraps left. Close call.
Next up: roof stuff.
After looking at the picture I noticed the left wall of the office was not flush with the warehouse due to a bit of bowing of the warehouse wall. That is now fixed.
admin
December 2023
Superbly done, looks great!
Jerry
December 2023
Very nice indeed!!
Jerry
TomMich
December 2023
Nice work!
baevans
December 2023 edited December 2023
Final push for the main building today. The discoloration on the yardmaster’s office roof is temporary - from spritz of CA accelerator to hold the wires supporting the stack in place. That has faded away as expected.
I also fixed the rafter that can be seen fallen in the third picture - clumsy finger when moving was to blame.
Happy with the overall look.
I think I’ll take a few days off before starting the platforms; I’ve gotten so into this build I’m neglecting some of my other pressing activities (actually, nothing is pressing as a retired person, I just do either what I want or what my dear wife asks of me).
sdrees
December 2023
great job, building looking nice
Karl.A
December 2023
Fantastic work and great progress, everything looks so good.
A little break is time well spent admiring what you have done so far.
brownbr
December 2023
An impressive structure
ALCO
December 2023
I’m working on the main roof of this kit. Any tips or pointers?
CarlLaskey
December 2023
This is not a easy kit to build you have done a great job with it. …Carl…
KKarns
December 2023
What a brilliant design! So many possibilities to detail this and the accompanied structures and features. Look forward to seeing the progress, nice work.
baevans
December 2023
The only tip I have involves the gluing of the stacks to the roof. I had planned to simply use the five minute epoxy with black paint, but it was really hard to make them stick in place even holding them for several minutes. So I ended up putting a drop of CA glue on the slanted surface of the stack and a bit of the black stained epoxy around the edges. That way the CA got a firm hold within 20 to 30 seconds. And the problem with these things sliding down, the roof was avoided.
CarlLaskey
December 2023
Tip drill a small hole in the casting and one in the roof cut the head off a small nail and insert it in the casting with CA then place it on the roof with some epoxy …Carl…
Jim M
December 2023
We all do things a bit differently with good result. I use Carl’s method, but I use a piece of guitar string instead of a small nail. I don’t use the CA, instead I use the 5-minute epoxy, scrape a bit of black chalk into it, mix it up and let it set up till it gets a little tacky. Then apply and set it in place.
Karl.A
December 2023 edited December 2023
I just drill a hole in the casting for a toothpick to hold the stack while painting and weathering as usual with the castings.
Then snip it off leaving 1/2" of the toothpick remaining in the casting, drill a 1/8" hole in the roof and use the tooth pick to secure it in place.
A drop of black paint mixed in the white glue gives a nice effect of a tar seal around the stack when it oozes out a little during placement, which can be manipulated depending on the look you want.
baevans
December 2023
All excellent ideas!
baevans
December 2023
Working on docks now - 3 done. Next is office porch, then main dock/foundation.
baevans
December 2023
Finally finished all of the Docks and the office porch, with the main dock taking most of the time.
We brought a new puppy into the house, so less time for modelling for a bit. Housebreaking takes priority.
I can work when she’s crated. After some cleanup of my work area, will start on the various sheds.
and the culprit:
CarlLaskey
December 2023
Good looking Pup.
Karl.A
December 2023 edited December 2023
Nice looking Cobra, 1/18?
We look forward to you getting back to the shipyard build and will all be here waiting for your next update on the structure.
baevans
December 2023
The Cobra is a 1/8 model by agora. Amazing detail.
baevans
December 2023
With bits of time available, I put together the Derrick Dock Shed. Put a rope (some good scale rope from my ship-building stash) and some scrap wood on it as per the manual. I substituted a small box from the resin detail bag for the suggested chain links.
I’ll start to work on the other shed next, but I kept looking at the expanse of track on the main dock. I don’t do trains - this build is meant for a diorama rather then scenery for a train layout. But, I thought an open car (gondola) with a load of wood for the saw shed might be a good look. I ordered such a car, and will see if I can weather it appropriately to the look of the project. If so I’ll incorporate it, so when it comes I’ll divert a bit to try it out.
baevans
January 2024
Finished the upper yard shed. All pretty straightforward. Somehow I managed to lose or fail to find both the resin mailbox and the cast rope coil, so I improvised.
Will begin the saw shed next.
baevans
January 2024
And just for grins, here’s my flatcar delivering a supply of squared off logs bound for the saw shed:
baevans
January 2024 edited January 2024
Was sorting all the metal bits into a compartment box and sure enough found the rope coil. I’ll finish it and add it to the upper shed, different wall, to complement the larger diameter rope I put up before.
baevans
January 2024
Making progress on the saw shed. This is quite a fiddly construction as others have commented. I’m pretty happy with it. Still have some chalk to apply here and there, and I think there will be a bit of sawdust thrown from the blower.
My etchant finally came today, so tomorrow I’ll try my hand at etching the roof sheets which I have cut up. This is Minnesota in the winter, so working in the garage with the door open will be cold which I expect will slow the reaction.
baevans
January 2024
Finished the Saw Shed sans the roof - didn’t feel like working in the cold garage with the door open to etch the roof pieced today.
Did the rest of the framing of the shed, chalked some of the metal bits, and added some sawdust in front of the blower. Also made the cupola. So now will have to deal with the roof pieces to finish up. Snowstorm tomorrow but I will do that.
Jerry
January 2024
Great modeling! And a very cute puppy good luck!
Jerry
Xodar
January 2024
Great job on the saw shed. Although I still have a lot to do before I get to this part, I have a question regarding the etching with ferric chloride. How much (volume) is required to etch all the panels. A brief search shows I can get amounts as little as 4 oz. I’d like to get enough to do the job but not have a large quantity left over as I am not likely to be using it again.
Jeff
EmeryJ
January 2024
Excellent progress on this. Great job.
baevans
January 2024 edited January 2024
Well, let’s just say in the battle between the etching solution and the Minnesota winter in the garage with the door open for ventilation, winter wins. As the solution cooled the reaction slowed and finally essentially stopped.
I should have paused, brought the solution inside to warm, go back out and etch a few pieces, and repeat. But I didn’t, and retrospect is always correct, and I was really cold and my hands began to shake, making it hard to manipulate the pieces in the solution - lost a couple at the onset to complete digestion. I was close to calling Brett for a couple more aluminum sheets and ordering another 4 oz. of ferric chloride in order to try again.
Instead I treated the insufficiently etched pieces with a combination of roughing, black primer cured overnight, and chalk, and then glued all the strips and the cap pieces on.
Touch-up next, and some final chalking, as well as the filler around the base of the cupola, which I will do once the glue is firmly set.
Picture once that is done.
baevans
January 2024
The saw shed is now complete.
It’s time to start on the base. I need to review the instructions going forward, research contour creation and landscaping, and lay in the necessary supplies. I’ve not done anything like this before so it’s all unfamiliar ground (pun intended).
baevans
January 2024
A milestone reached: All the buildings, docks, etc. are done. I may take a short break before beginning work on the base after reviewing and ordering necessary supplies.
randyp
January 2024
No matter what your trials and tribulations your roof turned out great. keep experimenting with different techniques. Good work. Randy
ALCO
January 2024
Necessity is the mother of invention. Your roof turned out very nicely.
baevans
January 2024
Thanks all for the views and feedback!
Karl.A
January 2024
Great construction and result on all of the components, well done.
The metal wood shed roof is weathered just enough, aged and worn but no serious issues, as I think it should be.
TomMich
January 2024
Nice work!
baevans
January 2024
I put the base together. Hot glued a 1" insulation board onto a 1/4" MDF board to form the base. Cut out the elevation board from another 1" insulation sheet and hot glued that to the base.
Laid out the structures just to get the general idea:
I’ll do the rough contour next, then move on.
Jerry
January 2024
Looks great!!
Jerry
Karl.A
January 2024
Looking good and coming together well.
baevans
January 2024
Delayed a while waiting for supplies to come.
Rough painting of the base, mainly to outline where the water will meet the land. Applied the stone wall and the brick wall, and laid the rail ties.
Every thing seems lined up, so I’ll put this aside to work on the ship, following the instruction sequence.
Can’t seem to get pictures to load - will try later
baevans
January 2024
Here are the pictures of the current status of the base:
and the rocks; a couple of large ones will abut the edge below the attachment of the main dock. I made a few others to place here and there possibly.
baevans
February 2024
Working on the ship now. Just the scaffold supports to add.
Then put aside for now, and work on final fitting of the main dock. I’m going to need to place my rocks and figure out how many pilings to add.
I’ll have to gather my base coverings in preparation for final placement, and experiment a bit with the plaster which I have never used.
EmeryJ
February 2024
I have never done a boat before, so I am very interested in watching this as it progresses.
TomMich
February 2024
Every time I see this ship it reminds me of a Viking ship. You did a very nice job on it.
CarlLaskey
February 2024
Very nice and neat work great job. …
Karl.A
February 2024
Great work on everything shown here Bruce. very nicely done, wonderful boatwork, this is going to be magnificent.
admin
February 2024
I always love seeing that boat come to life, great job so far!
baevans
February 2024
Just checking the layout, prior to beginning the plaster work:
Karl.A
February 2024
Always loved the design and layout of this kit.
Youre doing a great job with it.
Joel
February 2024
The various pieces of the puzzle are coming together nicely. Can’t wait for the scenery and detailing.
baevans
February 2024
Finished the pit, except for adding the bits and pieces of trash and scraps.
I ended up making it harder than it needed to be, mainly due to my inexperience working with the sculptamold - I didn’t mix enough, I made it too thick, and it hardened too quickly. The end result is that I did not get a nice smooth slope from the back to the front, but I’ll have to live with that.
Here it is:
TomMich
February 2024
Looks good to me. You did a nice job.
CarlLaskey
February 2024
Very nice well done.
baevans
February 2024
Thanks for the comments.
I’ve added some lumber trash and piles, so the pit is done:
Next up: the crane
EmeryJ
February 2024
That looks great!! A whole lot of very intricate work getting this looking that good.
Jerry
February 2024
Wonderful job on that boat!!
Jerry
Karl.A
February 2024
Always loved the design and layout of this kit.
Youre doing a great job with it.
I’ve always loved the boat, it makes the whole diorama alive, yours looks great and reminds me, I’ve got to build it in O one day.
Xodar
February 2024
I’ve enjoyed following your progress. I often refer to these build logs when working on my Shipyard.
Jeff
baevans
February 2024
Finished the derrick crane, except for the crank handle which I broke - replacement requested and thankfully awaited due to Brett’s exemplary customer service!
This was quite the fiddly construction, due to the fragility of some of the metal parts such as the shackles, which have to be drilled/reamed to accept the 1/32 wire. I destroyed a couple. Though my Optivisor magnifier my fingers really look fat and clumsy!
I won’t glue this in place for now, given my propensity to knock into protruding things when working on something else.
EmeryJ
February 2024
Great job on the crane.
TomMich
February 2024
Crane really turned out nice. The cables are nice and taught. That’s not easy to accomplish
baevans
February 2024
Thanks.
After staining the line I hung it with a weight on the end to dry. That helped the look.
baevans
February 2024 edited February 2024
While awaiting additional strip wood to do the fence and some HO scale tires to do the pilings, I constructed the steam box and the boiler.
CarlLaskey
February 2024
Nice work.
EmeryJ
February 2024
Another excellent job on details. This is going to be such a great model when you get done. Be proud!
MuddyCreekRR
February 2024
That came out great
TomMich
February 2024
Nicely done!
Jerry
February 2024
Very nice!!
Jerry
randyp
February 2024 edited February 2024
Very nice weathering on all parts. I like the coloring on the wood parts. Randy
Karl.A
February 2024
Very well done, that looks great.
Joel
March 2024
Nicely done.
baevans
March 2024
I’ve added the pilings to the ends of the docks, so now (except for the water) the waterfront is essentially complete. I will probable add a few touches with some small rocks and so on.
Here is the current view:
I still have to complete the beat up fence, and then tackle finishing all the detail bits in the metal and 3d printed piles.
baevans
March 2024
I haven’t decided how to deal with the bit of exposed base on the left due to the fact that the stone wall doesn’t go all the way to the edge.
Karl.A
March 2024
Looking good so far.
Just put a couple of wood pilings there to hide it. Paint it black first.
baevans
March 2024
Good idea!
baevans
March 2024
Finished the fence. Now onto all the details, which will keep me busy for a while.
Meantime, I placed all the structures on the base to check out how it all looks:
Karl.A
March 2024
Looking good, love the design and layout of this kit. The piles seem to have worked out for you, once scenicked they’ll blend perfectly.
TomMich
March 2024
Turning out very nice!
Jerry
March 2024
Very nice!!
Jerry
CarlLaskey
March 2024
One of the Best…
baevans
March 2024 edited March 2024
I’ve finished painting/blackening/weathering all of the metal castings and the 3d printed details. Next will assemble the collection “scenes” as laid out in the manual.
Meanwhile, however, I figured this was a good time to dig out the Ford TT truck I picked up a while ago. I am truly impressed by the detail that Brett is able to get into these HO scale models - in the cab the wheel, gearshift, pedals, and brake are clearly visible. Here she be:
This truck has some age on her! I’ll be putting something in the bed - lots of stuff to pick from. I’ll need to decide where my gravel road will go to place this, which also will depend on the placement of light poles and power lines
Karl.A
March 2024
Excellent job on that truck… well used but not overly abused. As you say it has amazing detail and a beautiful piece.
Cant wait to see your updates as the scenes come together.
baevans
March 2024
Here are all my bits ready for use. I picked up the cigarette machine after seeing it on another build on the forum and running down the place from which it came .
Time to start putting together some aggregates, the oil drum rack, and the canvas rack.
admin
March 2024
Coming together great! Enjoying the build very much.
baevans
March 2024 edited March 2024
Finished up some detail aggregates. I did add the drop of clear epoxy to the headlights of my truck as suggested by Karl in his build of the truck. It’s a great touch!
Now it’s time to begin on the terrain. Never done anything like this so a bit nervous about it.
I’ll start with the tracks on either side after a bit of experimentation on some leftover insulation board and see how that goes.
baevans
April 2024
Applied a base terrain layer using grout powder. I brushed on a fair amount of cement and as I hoped - but may not show up well in the picture - the ground is somewhat uneven and does not resemble a brown rug. Afterwards I cemented down the track rails.
Now the fun stuff starts!
I did order a few figures from the suggested source to liven up the scene.
Karl.A
April 2024
Those details are looking great, glad to hear the epoxy headlights worked out for you.
The base is coming along well, the subtle tonal variations will give you a good base starting point, track looks good.
I also love the variation in your wooden construction, meaning the newer looking shade on the new boat wood and the more aged colour of the dock wood.
baevans
April 2024 edited April 2024
I’ve finished layering color/texture on the scenery base. Some detail work yet to do, such as where the gravel road crosses the tracks, some highlighting of the ruts in the gravel road, and addition of a bit of green alone the fence line to the edge. As you can see, I’ve gone with a darker palette so as not to have too much contrast with the pit. The saw shed i glued in place; the steam box, boiler, and upper shed are placed only.
Will be working on the saw shed area next.
I tested my power lines running from the edge behind the main building to the saw shed (which I thought deserved an explicit line due to the electric saw motor which must be a bit of a monster), with branch lines running to the mail building as well. Looks good, but all power posts removed until nearly done, as I have a propensity to knock over things that stick up.
I got some 1/4 inch plywood for construction of the surround.
baevans
April 2024 edited April 2024
Branch power line to MAIN building (not “mail”)
Karl.A
April 2024 edited April 2024
baevans said:
… I have a propensity to knock over things that stick up.
Ha ha, don’t most of us, a wise move indeed.
It’s coming along great and the overall picture is coming together so well.
Keep it up, we are all watching, and enjoying…
baevans
April 2024
Coming along now. The main building and dock to detail, add staircase, steps, office rail, and all the detail bits. It is so cool the have all the buildings finally glued in place.
Awaiting delivery of my people to finish the look, along with placing the power lines, model TT truck, and flatcar delivering wood.
This has really been fun!
Beginning to think about the constructing the enclosure and the addition of the water.
CarlLaskey
April 2024
Very nice work keep it up …
ALCO
April 2024
I should have asked some questions earlier but if you have the time, would you mind sharing your experience now? (I’ll be working on the ship and scenery soon)
First, should the ship be level in the pit or would a real pit slope downward toward the water?
Second, did you use any sort of “jig” to make sure the ribs were not cock-eyed but level? Eyeballing 21 ribs just gave me 21 different angles!
Third, as I read the instructions for “the scenery base” and “complete the ship”, I’m leaning toward reversing those 2 steps somewhat. In other words, before any sculptamold goes down, do as much of the “complete the ship” as possible by adding keel bracing before the ship is placed in the plaster (and the ship is accessible), making the 7 scaffolding segments in advance, and cutting scaffolding brace supports to length in advance. In other words, once the sculptamold is in place, there is no more “construction” to be done (which takes time), only “assembly” (which is quicker). Your thoughts? These are the most critical parts of this project and I trying to “measure twice, cut once”. I appreciate your time.
baevans
April 2024
I put the cross pieces on each rib first. I put the first and last in place first with wood glue which takes several minutes to set. As it starts to take hold the adjusted level be eye with two long pieces of scrap wood resting on top to assist this. Then proceeded with tow at a time one in back and one in front until done using the scrap wood pieces to adjust.
With regard to your other questions while I am a very competent miniature carpenter I am a complete terrain / sculptamod neophyte and really screwed up that process in the pit. I suggest careful review of the build logs, the manual, and then give Brett a call to discuss your questions.
Good luck.
ALCO
April 2024
Thanks for your insights!
baevans
April 2024
I’ve basically finished the detailing, so the diorama itself is essentially done, pending enclosure and water.
I do still have to hunt down and dull a number of shiny glue spots, and drop my leftover tools in appropriate places. And my people have not yet arrived.
Here are the views as of now:
admin
April 2024
OUTSTANDING job. You created an excellent diorama and should be very proud!
baevans
April 2024 edited April 2024
Thank you, sir. Means a lot to me coming from you!
I love the whole design and quality of this kit. At some point I’ll build the Foss Landing kit I have, but that’s a project for next winter.
But meanwhile I have to get the enclosure and water done before we leave for the summer.
CarlLaskey
April 2024
One of the Best out here wonderful job. …
Robert.G
April 2024
Even with no water, it already looks fantastic. A great diorama !!! Bravo !!
Kevin L
April 2024
Great build.
Jim M
April 2024
There sure is a lot going on in that dio, and you did a fantastic job with it. Congratulations, you should be very proud.
TomMich
April 2024
Very nice! This turned out really GREAT!
baevans
April 2024
My people came! Here there are, primed and ready for detail painting. The detail on these 3d printed figures is outstanding, but the cost is not pennies.
Jim M
April 2024
I’ve been painting some 3D printed LP. They turn out pretty good. You’ll really be happy with your end product. Those are nice.
TravisS
April 2024
Just catching up. Excellent work all around. Good luck with the LPs. ModelU makes a great product. I dunk them in a bit of a brown acrylic wash after painting–helps to cover any little paint issues and blends them in a bit better to the overall scene. Excited to see the final, final photos of your exceptional build.
baevans
April 2024
7 months after beginning this build, I have finished fiddling with things and declare this build done.
My mini-carpentry skills from ship model building for years and accumulated tools,augmented by Brett’s chalk and alcohol techniques, stood me in good stead for construction of the buildings.
Constructing terrain and resin water, on the other hand, were terra incognita (pun intended) for me. While working it out, mistakes were made left and right and subsequently mitigated with considerable effort. I am pleased with the final result. Next winter when I make the Foss Landing model what I have learned should make it much easier. Thanks to Brett and all the forum posters whose experience provided suggestions to ease the path.
Two posts with pictures of the final product follow. My customizations include the Ford TT truck, the power lines to the main building and the saw shed (yes, the leaning power post was intentional), and the flatcar with a cargo of wood planking being unloaded.
8 little people populate the shipyard, including the yardmaster next to the ship plans and the office manager on the porch of his domain.
baevans
April 2024
4 side views:
baevans
April 2024
4 corner views:
baevans
April 2024
A protective case will arrive in a couple days to guard against errant fingers from grandkids and curious adults!
CarlLaskey
April 2024
A very nice display great job. …
baevans
April 2024
As a final note, a few detail views:
Mountaingoat
April 2024
Beautifully executed. Love your personal touches. Definitely a praise worthy accomplishment…Rick
Jim M
April 2024
Very well done. You have to be proud of what you did here.
Joel
April 2024
Really nicely done. Can’t wait to see your next project.
TomMich
April 2024
Job well done! I like the detail views, they really show your workmanship.
MuddyCreekRR
April 2024
Very nicely done…an effort you should be proud of…
Xodar
April 2024
Look great, and in only 7 months. Your log will help greatly when I get to the layout stage.
Jeff
Kevin L
April 2024
A excellent build well done.
Robert.G
April 2024
What a fine diorama you’ve made. Bravo !!!
baevans
May 2024
Thanks to all. Your comments truly appreciated!