The Shipyard at Foss' Landing (Diorama) by gjdale (Grant) - FINISHED - SierraWest - Scale 1:87 (HO)

[BobG]

Really great work, Grant! 

[FriedClams]

Looking really good, nice progress Grant.

 

Gary

[gjdale]

Thanks again for the kind comments and all the likes.

Roof Construction (continued) 

Shingling continues….

 

The first task for the other side of the roof was to complete the Dormer roof with Tar Paper and glue into position. In this photo, I haven’t yet finished the weathering of the tar paper. Shingles were then placed as per the previous side, up to the level of the chimney.

 

 

The Chimney was then placed temporarily in position while the flashing was added on the top and sides of the chimney.

 

 

The chimney was then removed while flashing was added to the lower side.

 

 

Shingling then continues, working around the flashing, up to the level of the Cupola, where the lower flashing for it was added.

 

 

And shingling continued up to the ridge line, again with a special row added along the top edge. In the photo below, you can see that some additional weathering has also been added to the dormer roof.

 

 

Ridge capping was then added to the main roof and the two dormer roofs. The Cupola roof was also built and shingled at this stage, but I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I forgot to take any pictures of the construction process.

 

 

 

Rafters were then added to the two large gable ends, and to the two dormer gables.

 

 

 

Rafter “tails” were then cut and added to each side of the main roof.

 

 

As well as to the sides of the dormer roofs.

 

 

That completes work on the roof for now. There will be more details added a little later in the build, but for now we turn our attention to the construction of the Warehouse and the Yard Master’s Office….

 

 

[Glen McGuire]

On my models, the really close-up pics expose all the flaws and make things look worse.  Somehow, yours is the opposite.  The closer the picture, the more realistic it looks!  That last pic is just amazing!

[Old Collingwood]

Superb  work   -   really   coming  together  -   love   those   tiles.

 

OC.

[yvesvidal]

Amazing !!!! 

 

Yves

[mtaylor]

That last photo... wow.  Hard to tell it's not the real thing.

[Canute]

Superb craftsmanship, Grant. I'd rebuild a layout to make that the centerpiece. 👍

[Tim Moore]

Really lovely work, inspiring! Looks like a really fun project, thanks for opening my eyes to doing an architectural subject.

[gjdale]

Thanks again for all the kind comments and the likes.

The Warehouse

Not much work in the Shipyard over the Christmas break, but back into it now. The next order of business is the construction of the Warehouse, which is attached to the front of the main building. All of the techniques used in the construction of the main building are repeated here, so I won’t go into detail. The exception is that the Warehouse doors are steel, so a good rust covering is achieved by applying a combination of two orange chalk powders (one light, one dark) over the brown base. The effect seems to be quite realistic (at least to my eye).

 

I didn’t appear to have any of the stained strips left over from the main building, so had to raid my stash to find some substitute timber. I found some of the correct width, but a little too thick. That was soon remedied by passing them through my thickness sander. Of course, even though I applied the same technique, this batch came out a little differently to my first batch. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as careful as I should have been in the application of glue, and I ended up with a number of glue stains on the walls. I gave them a sand, some further treatment with a wire brush and applied more chalk/alcohol mixture and that made them a little better.

 

 

Subsequent to this photo being taken, I gave them another go with a wire brush to bring them closer in tone to the main building.

 

Here is a close up of the left wall with the rsuty steel doors.

 

 

The walls were then glued together and the whole assembly glued to the front of the main building. The roof was tar papered in much the same way as the rear dormer and the roof was fitted after a view block had been inserted.

 

Here are few overall shots to show progress to date.

 

Rear Wall:

 

 

Right Wall:

 

 

Left Wall:

 

 

And Front Wall:

 

 

The gap is where the Yard Master’s Office will go, and that is next up…

[Egilman]

Beautiful work brother and a happy new year to you....

[gjdale]

Thanks Elmer,
 

And a Happy New Year to you and yours as well.

[DocRob]

Absolutely beautiful work Grant, I really like your weathering methods. I will savour your log later completely, where I just stumbled into right now.

 

Cheers Rob

[Danstream]

Very nice and realistic model. It really conveys the mood of such constructions.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[Canute]

Well, the front section is just a tad newer, so the paint would be more intact. I think this is progressing nicely. I look forward to your next installment.

[FriedClams]

Nice update Grant!  This structure is looking great and has a wonderful overall feel.  Don't beat yourself up over the glue stains, we all do it of course and I sometimes feel that I spend more time mitigating my flubs than anything else.  But when I look at images on the web of real-life buildings, boats or whatever, they are rarely pristine and often it's those irregularities that brings them to life.  Have a great 2023!

 

Gary

[pwog]

Really nice work, Grant!

[BobG]

Your meticulous attention to detail is second to none, Grant. All of your modeling projects are so interesting and so well done. I wish you and your family good health and prosperity in 2023!

[gjdale]

Thanks one and all once again for all the kind comments and likes. Progress has been slow but steady, so it's time for an update.

 

The Yard Master’s Office

The Yard Master’s Office introduces a slightly new technique for this build. Here we see for the first time the use of clapboard siding. (I believe that in Australia we call this simply “weatherboard”). To achieve this while still using a board-on-board construction technique, the kit designer has cleverly made use of laser cutting to provide a substrate with the correct angles pre-cut. It is then a fairly simple process to apply the boards (prepared in the same manner as previous boards) to the substrate in perfect alignment.

 

Here is a super-close-up to show the design/construction process. 

 

 

In reality, this is so subtle that it wasn’t until I turned the substate end on that I realised what had been provided. Very clever!

 

Here is another “in-progress” shot:

 

 

And all three walls with siding applied and trimmed up.

 

 

Some bracing is added to the interior side of the walls (to help prevent warping), and the inside front corners of the two side walls are then bevelled to allow a snug fit with the front wall.

 

 

Each wall then has windows/doors and window shades applied in the same manner as previously described. The front wall also receives a cast resin vent, that is “rusted up” before gluing in place.

 

Here is the completed Front Wall:

 

 

The Left Wall (complete with Yard Master sign on the door):

 

 

And the Right Wall:

 

 

The walls are then glued up. The rear wall is simply a piece of laser-cut card as it will be glued up against the front of the Warehouse. View blocks are also added.

 

 

A pre-cut roof substrate is then added, and the ends covered with a fascia board.

 

 

The roof is then shingled in the same manner as the main building. It was at this point that I realised that I was going to run out of shingle material. I reached out to the kit designer/provider via email and received a response within 6 hours, saying that he would be cutting more shingles next week and would put some extras in the post for me then. Now that’s what I call customer service!

 

Here is where I got to before running out of shingles:

 

 

I have some more things that can be progressed while waiting for the extra shingles to arrive…

[Glen McGuire]

Looks fantastic, Grant.  Interesting that the yardmaster's office is clapboard while everything else has standard siding - almost like it was an add-on well after the original structure was built. 

[Canute]

Kind of over kill, providing the base and then adding individual clap boards. Unless you're going to lift up selected boards to make a more distressed look to the structure. Much easier with these separate boards, instead of slicing into the base piece to lift up random segments.. I've tried it but is didn't really achieve what I wanted to show. This was is better. 😄

[gjdale]

Thanks Glen. I believe that is the intention - to show the growth of the building/business over time.

 

2 hours ago, Canute said:

Kind of over kill, providing the base and then adding individual clap boards. Unless you're going to lift up selected boards to make a more distressed look to the structure. Much easier with these separate boards, instead of slicing into the base piece to lift up random segments..

You are quite right Ken and that is exactly what some people do with this structure. I neglected (forgot?) to lift/angle any of the boards as I was going…… so mine is a little less distressed. 😉

 

 

[FriedClams]

Looking really good Grant - nice progress!
 

On 1/14/2023 at 5:55 PM, gjdale said:

Now that’s what I call customer service!

It’s always refreshing when companies support their customers without a quibble.

 

Gary

[gjdale]

Thanks Gary.

Details, details, details…

While waiting for the additional shingles to arrive, I have begun work on some further details. First up is adding the Pitch and Tar Tank and it’s platform. A 1:1 scale drawing is provided as a template upon which the platform is built. A couple of scrap wood guides are first attached to the template with double-sided tape.

 

 

Three support beams are then cut to the size specified on the drawing and these are also attached to the template using double-sided tape.

 

 

The five joists are cut to size and glued atop the support beams.

 

 

We are then instructed to cut 10 deck boards from the 1/32” x 1/16” material. As can be seen from the first picture above, the drawing shows these 10 deck boards in place. The only problem with this is that the completed platform measures 7/8” x 7/8”. 10 deck boards that are each 1/16” wide are only ever going to cover 5/8” (or very slightly more allowing for a little size variation and potential small gaps). In the end I needed 13 boards to fill the space, with the last one trimmed back a little. I checked the size of my completed platform against the drawings, and it matches these. It is also a good fit for the size of the tank. No big deal, but there is definitely a discrepancy in the drawings/instructions/materials here.

 

Anyway, once the platform is completed, some bracing is added to all sides. Here is a picture of the completed platform.

 

 

The Pitch and Tar Tank is a resin casting. This is our first foray into the plethora of resin and metal castings included in the kit. It is prepared by painting a light undercoat and then dry-brushing a darker brown over the top. It is then given a dusting of dry chalk powder to finish.

 

 

Subsequent to this photo being taken, I decided to give the entire tank a dunk in my Alcohol/Ink mixture and was quite pleased with the result.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the completed structure in place atop the Warehouse roof. Note also the addition of support blocks around the platform legs. Prior to final placement, the metal pipe was prepared, blackened and attached to both the tank and the roof. As with previous metal fixtures, black paint was added to the epoxy glue to represent tar and pitch where the pipe enters the roof. It has yet to be finally finished off with some chalk to dull it down a little further.

 

 

 

The Chimney and Stacks for the other roofs were then prepared. These are all white metal castings. With the exception of the Chimney, they are simply cleaned, blackened, polished, and dusted with some grey chalk powder. The Chimney itself has a multi-phase preparation. An undercoat of AK11007 (Rock Grey) is used in place of the Pollyscale Concrete called for in the instructions. This represents the mortar between the bricks. AK 11087 (Scarlet Red) is then used in place of Floquil Scarlet Red and dry-brushed over the top. The aim is to colour only the bricks, leaving the mortar seams untouched. This project has been my first real attempt at the dry-brushing technique, so I’m learning as I go. From normal viewing distance I think it looks okay – the macro lens of the camera is a little brutal though. The top of the Chimney is painted with AK11021 (Basalt Grey) in place of Floquil Grimy Black and finished off with a dusting of black and grey chalk powders to give a “sooty” appearance.

 

 

All of these parts, except the Pitch and Tar Tank pipe, have now been set aside and will be fitted in place once the Yard Master’s Office roof has been completed and that building attached to the Warehouse front.

 

Next up, I’ll be starting work on the loading docks…

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by gjdale

[Egilman]

You have the technique down brother, excellent rendition of a chimney, darken it a hair to show some age and you won't be able to tell the difference from real life...

 

Your work amazes me....

[Canute]

Like EG says, a little soot on the chimney and you're done there. This build is progressing beautifully. Super!

[gjdale]

Thanks very much Elmer and Ken, and also everyone for the likes. I'll add a little more "soot" to the Chimney prior to installing.  In the meantime …

The Loading Docks

While waiting for the additional shingles to arrive, I have made progress by constructing the Loading Docks. These are all made in basically the same way, with a couple of variations.

 

All the docks have a paper template that the dock is built directly upon. Here is the Left Loading Dock template taped down to my glass plate and ready for action.

 

 

Some guides made from scrap wood are then attached with double sided tape and the frame is built up.

 

 

The decking is then added and nail holes applied before giving the deck a final light wash with the black ink/alcohol mix.

 

 

Finally, dock legs are cut to length and attached to the underside of the frame.

 

 

The Right Loading Dock is made the same way, only this time some bracing is added to the legs.

 

 

The Barge Derrick Dock is similar again. A hole is left un-planked to receive the derrick later on.

 

 

The legs under the larger left-hand end of the dock also receive some barnacles around their lower sections. These were represented by a mix of three different shades of ballast.

 

 

The Sales Office Porch is once again constructed in the same way, this time with the addition of some lattice work. (Propped up on one of the other docks in this photo to show the lattice work.)

 

 

The Main Dock, together with the Foundations for the main buildings are constructed at the same time in the same manner. In this photo, the framing is complete along with a series of joists for the Main Dock.

 

 

A staggered "shift of the butts" was used on the Main Dock decking, except where the Dock will be covered by the main buildings. The Main Dock also receives a set of railway tracks as part of the construction. I couldn’t source separate track easily, so I bought some FlexTrack and “deconstructed” it to remove the tracks from the plastic ties. I also blackened the tracks to remove the bright brass look they came with.

 

 

That completes the Loading Docks. We now move on to some more of the out buildings….

 

[Old Collingwood]

Some great  construction  work  going on there.

 

OC.

[Glen McGuire]

Love the barnacles!  Those minor details are one of the things that set your work apart.

 

BTW, I'm having new shingles put on my house today.  I hope my roofers do as good a job as you did with the shingles on this building! 

[Papa]

Have you ever done a kit from Fine Scale Miniatures? I wonder how you would compare them?  They have similar craftsman kits, but have closed up shop now.   This one seems more detailed and the instructions that you show look more extensive. I built several FSM kits when I had some HO trains and enjoyed the construction more than running the trains.  I am sorely tempted to purchase a kit from Sierra West and just do a diorama as you are doing.

 

Ron Gove