I started this structure & diorama about a year ago and finished it back in March, but I wasn't active on this forum at the time, so I'll post all the build now as if I was.
This is my interpretation of a diorama by well known Australian model railroader, the late Laurie Green, his Alaska Inlet Company, the first 4 pictures.
I'd seen this model many times when visiting Laurie for our local NMRA meetings and always said I'd like to do my own version.
So here's some pics of Laurie's model, which is in a pretty bad state after sitting under his layout, literally gathering dust for many years.
Front of Laurie's diorama orientation showing the wharf scene.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011511-578122397.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011511-57809930.jpeg)
Rear of Laurie's diorama.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-300726213713-578582086.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-300726213713-57859123.jpeg)
I am keeping the basic shape & orientation of the building & wharf the same, but changing a lot of it to make it my own.
Basic walls cut out. Used NE lumber clapboard siding
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011511-57813181.jpeg)
Attached all the siding to matboard and cut out the rest of the door & window openings
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011512-578141278.jpeg)
Rob,
Although the model by Laurie is very nice, I'm sure your model will be just as spectacular.
Are the methods used for peeled paint similar to ours? I also like how the smaller peaked
addition is extending out at an angle.
Rich
Rob, thanks for sharing your beautiful model with us.
It's a pleasure to see.
What a cool structure/diorama. Interested to see your take/techniques.
Jeff
Thanks Rich. Yep the clever use of angles was what always attracted me to this structure.
Thanks Rick. The 1st 4 photos are of Laurie's model, which yes, is stunning.
Thanks Jeff. Yep, I didn't just want to do an exact copy.
So next up was to get all the walls put together.
On each upper side wall Laurie had 3 windows. I've changed it to two on the right side wall.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011512-57815921.jpeg)
left side wall
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011633-578172129.jpeg)
On the back upper wall, Laurie's was just blank with a big sign on it.
I decided to add a couple of freight doors, for loading goods to the upper floor
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011633-578181156.jpeg)
At the front of the building I'm having an upper story window, whereas Laurie just another big sign.
This whole large front piece was actually a left over from another build where I had already cut out the window. I had thought of filling it in hence the inserted clapboard piece in the pic below.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011634-578191093.jpeg)
Howdy Rob,
The structure is looking mighty fine at this point. I'm sure your version will look fantastic.
Have fun,
mike
Hey Rob thanks for doing this build for us.
It's looking like a really good start.
Jerry
Rob,
I can see why you would like to make a "copy" of Laurie's model, it has a ton of character. I'd say you are off to a great start, but we would have to fo back in time for that. ;D
I'm really glad you have decided to post a build thread for this as I always learn something from your builds.
Thanks Mike, Jerry & Ron for your interest.
Happy to be back posting my builds here again.
Even though there is a side addition to still add, at this point I usually get tired of looking at bare timber so decided to get on with painting it. Used the same colours as Laurie, white with red trim, because it looks good and is a colour scheme used a fair bit on New England waterfront structures.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011634-578201806.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011917-57824501.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011917-57823307.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011917-578221036.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011917-57821762.jpeg)
Quote from: robert goslin on July 31, 2026, 07:24:42 PMThanks Rick. The 1st 4 photos are of Laurie's model, which yes, is stunning.
My bad, I must of posted before finishing my coffee and carefully reading your original post. :-[
I like the changes you made on your build.
I find it interesting that you paint after assembling the walls.
Paint colours look great. I also find it interesting that you paint after assembling the building. I find it easier to paint before I assemble as I get cleaner lines that way but your lines are excellent.
Thanks Rick & Ron.
For ease, I see that many paint on a flat surface before assembly.
I mostly tend to prefer painting after assembly, just a personal preference.
Although occasionally I have first painted my N scale DPM brick buildings before assembly.
Next up I modified & painted all the windows. The windows on this structure run in two different orientations.
Three are normal vertical windows, but the upper five windows on each side wall run horizontal.
I have plenty of normal 8 pane vertical windows, so I just modified five of them to run horizontally by trimming off the bottom raised sash trim, turning the windows sideways and adding new sash trim along the bottom made from styrene.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012052-57826477.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012052-578272225.jpeg)
Here you can see the inside of the building.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726011917-578251591.jpeg)
At this point I also made up a floor for the interior of the building as it will be lit & detailed inside.
Just used stir sticks for the floor planks, glued onto a piece of 12mm thick MDF. As the bottom floor is actually two different levels, higher at the back loading dock than the front, I also added some steps.
And also made up a flight of stairs to go up to the upper level. Used Rusty Stumps stair kit for that.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012052-578282401.jpeg)
Now time for a bit of surgery. I needed to open up the side wall (the bit without the cladding that is circled) so the interior can be visible when looking through from what will be the side extension.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-040826195046-57883681.jpeg)
Then added some timber detail to that wall section and put in the base / interior raised platform and the staircase.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012052-578301222.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012052-578291963.jpeg)
View from the rear showing the interior staircase
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012414-578311132.jpeg)
It was at this point I needed to do some more surgery. Because I was copying Laurie's model, I added a door that never made any sense.
On the model the inside floor of the main building is raised up because it opens to a raised loading dock at the back.
At the front there is a door that doesn't make sense (circled) as it wouldn't be able to open inwards because of the raised floor.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-050826182452-578841954.jpeg)
So I removed this and added on some more plain weatherboards.
So now onto making the angled side extension.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012415-578351802.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012600-57836123.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012415-578342432.jpeg)
Here you can see where I've removed the offending door, and attached the side extension to the main building.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012415-57832743.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012415-578331856.jpeg)
Nice job on the surgery.
Couldn't have been too easy with the walls together already.
Angled side extension fits well.
Thanks Rick. Wasn't too bad cutting out the hole in the side. New blade, plenty of shallow cuts and patience did the trick.
Doing that side extension was a bit of a pain because the back wall of it is shorter that the front.
If either are out. it throws off the angle.
So getting the correct angle off the main building took some time. Got it right in the end, after trialling with a cardboard mock up.
Looks like your doing some good hikes in Colorado. Really enjoying your photos.
Next up I added in the upper story floor, made from cardboard. But I didn't take any photos of this.
Also painted the walls of the side extension.
So now I could close up the building by adding a sub roof to each section. Used picture framing card for this as I was given a lot of it from a mate of mine.
Also added the rafter tails and the gable end trim, made from stir sticks.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012600-57837612.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012600-57838443.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012600-57839594.jpeg)
better view of the rafter tails.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012600-578401970.jpeg)
Next up came the roof shingles. These were hand cut with scissors in strips from card.
This time I added a bit more detail to them by scratching grain onto each shingle.
It's a subtle but nice effect to give some texture.
The rooftop lead flashing is just paper. Why orange ? Cause that was the first bit of paper I grabbed.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012830-57841613.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012830-57842487.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012830-57843253.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012830-578441310.jpeg)
Shingles look great.
Are you going top paint the cap?
Hi Rick. Yep, it and all the shingles have to be painted.
The grey is just the card colour, which is good in case I miss any spots.
Quote from: robert goslin on August 08, 2026, 09:21:00 PMHi Rick. Yep, it and all the shingles have to be painted.
The grey is just the card colour, which is good in case I miss any spots.
I thought you would but I had to ask. :D
Rob great diorama your building. The original looks fantastic and years of collecting dust is some nice accidental weathering. You're off to a great start and now I know about your thread I'll be stopping by watching a unique and different type of diorama build.
Thanks Rick.
Thanks Larry. Unfortunately the amount of dust & damage to Laurie's diorama was beyond what I'd call weathering. Ha Ha.
Because Laurie was such a prolific modeller, those of us that knew him figured he had no long term attachment to his models. He was always moving onto the next one, so when we visited his house, many times for our local NMRA meetings, all the dioramas sitting under the layout, were just full of dust and many damaged.
One of our NMRA members has since bought many of Laurie's dioramas from his estate, and is restoring & refurbishing them.
At this point I hadn't taken any photos of the painted shingles roof. So I have now moved onto the actual construction of the diorama.
I have long admired the military modellers who do a lot of hand carving of stones & bricks using foam, so I decided to try my hand at it.
I wanted a stone wall under the wharf so used blue foam for this, carving the stonework using a ball point pen.
Stone work carved with a pen, then rolled over it with a ball of aluminium foil to give it some texture.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012830-57845966.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012959-578462464.jpeg)
Then gave it a base coat of dark brown paint, then coloured individual stones in various browns
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012959-57847568.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012959-578481345.jpeg)
Then finished with a light tan wash to unify the colours, and some dry brushing
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012959-578492254.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726012959-578501057.jpeg)
Rob, that's an outstanding job of carving.
I wouldn't have thought of using a pen.
The aluminum foil did a nice job of adding texture.
Colors you used look very natural.
Very nice stone work and coloring.
Jeff
Thanks Jeff
Thanks Rick. Some folks use an X-acto blade but I found the grooves too small and I can get better control with the pen. It's basically drawing on the foam.
So I made up the diorama base from some 12mm thick melamine board. On top of this I added a piece of 40mm thick foam for the land area, and added a piece of 2.5mm matt board to the top of that, then added the foam rock carved wall.
In this pic you can see the finished shingled roof. I also made up a sign in MS Excel and framed it with basswood strips, and painted the water. Also made the large freight door from card & balsa.
And made the wharf planks from stir sticks.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726013135-578511.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726013135-578522082.jpeg)
I decided I wanted some cobblestone paving around the wharf area, so I sliced some blue foam about 1.5mm thick, and carved in the cobbles.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726013135-57853547.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-280726013135-57854253.jpeg)
I also decided I wanted something railroad related on the diorama, so scratchbuilt an old 2nd hand narrow gauge boxcar that the owner had got for free from the railroad, to be used as a storage shed.
It still has the sliding door on one side, but the other side the door was missing and the hardware removed so Nemo just boarded up that side. So gives it a bit of character & a backstory.
Also added a loading platform to the door side.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-120826191638-579081152.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-120826191639-57909616.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-120826191641-579101540.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-120826191641-57911444.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-120826191641-57912478.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-120826191721-57913108.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-120826191721-579142486.jpeg)
Hey Rob,
Just caught up on your build (had a lot of catching up to do :o ) Love the narrow gauge boxcar build with the very plausible history. Boxcar looks great.
Thanks Ron. Glad you have enjoyed seeing my build. I enjoyed making the boxcar, just to add something railroady to the scene.
So it was about this time that I stopped taking progress shots of building the diorama, as I needed to get it finished before the Australian Narrow Gauge Convention where I was showing my waterfront dioramas and doing a clinic on boat building. So here's a start to some final pictures.
These ones without a boat so you can see the wharf detail.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826065326-579151463.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826065327-57916990.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826065327-579172177.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826065327-57918580.jpeg)
Asorted junk on the wharf. I scratchbuilt the lobster traps from styrene
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826065327-579192261.jpeg)
Rob, excellent modeling seen in these final photos.
The old narrow gauge boxcar is well conceived and constructed.
I'm sure this will be a hit at the convention.
Nice work. Diorama looks great.
Jeff
Rob excellent work on thes diorama. It should be a real winner at the convention.
Jerry
Thanks Rick, Jeff & Jerry. The convention was back in Easter, and yes the diorama was well received.
I placed one of my boats in front of the wharf. This boat is suitable as the colours match the building and is a Maine lobster boat, probably picking up some new or repaired lobster traps. I scratchbuilt this boat a few years ago and named it Miss Anna, after my daughter.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185512-579202203.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185512-579211673.jpeg)
Here you can see the boxcar shed in place.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185512-579221432.jpeg)
On Laurie's model, the back loading dock was just straight across the back. I extended it around the side of the building and added steps and a lean-to over it.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185512-579231853.jpeg)
Boxcar shed in place
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185512-579241444.jpeg)
Old pallets and a broken lobster trap around the shed. I scratchbuilt the pallets from balsa.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185724-579251195.jpeg)
The pickup truck is 1/48 scale, from Denver Diecast, as is the panel van
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185724-579261679.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185724-57927606.jpeg)
The fence I scratchbuilt from very thin basswood, with some damaged palings.
And added the classic Moxie sign.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185724-57928189.jpeg)
Other side of the building
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185725-579291079.jpeg)
For the ground cover I used tile grout.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185956-579302170.jpeg)
The overall dimension of the diorama are 17.5" wide x 15.5" deep.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185956-5793177.jpeg)
The two pine trees I made using the wire & rope method, but instead of rope, I used paint brush bristles.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826185956-579321022.jpeg)
Good view of the roof, including many of my birds. There is a total of 17 birds on the diorama.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826190058-579352411.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-140826190058-579361002.jpeg)
Very impressive.
Thanks Jaime & Rick. Glad you have enjoyed my diorama build.
Here's some final night shots.
I added interior lights to the structure in the ground floor, upper floor, side annex and under the rear porch/overhang and also two street lights that I scratchbuilt.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-150826221058-579451039.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-150826221058-579462317.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-150826221058-579471473.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/1641-150826221058-579481920.jpeg)
Rob an outstanding job on the diorama; should be a big hit at the show. The fact you placed objects at an angle, as opposed to having things parallel with the base, makes the scene even more convincing. The seagulls look great especially the ones in mid air.
Howdy Rob,
Just catching up on your diorama work. Wow, it is amazing. From the structures and shingles, to the stone, well done.
Have fun,
mike
Thanks Larry, es it was well received at the convention back at Easter. Having the angled wharf & building is what I always liked about this model. Something different.
I'm doing another train exhibition in early September, so will take this and another one or two dioramas to that show, whilst I get some modelling done whilst there.
Thanks Mike. Appreciate you nice comments & interest. Hopefully some folks can get some useful info from the build.