Builders in Scale "The Waterfront"

[Opa George]

I feel like I'm making some progress now, Karl.  So far no wild and tricky construction steps--pretty straightforward.

Jaime--the waterfront area is evolving even as this one takes shape. I will certainly post some pictures from this portion of my waterfront as this kit comes to completion, but I must confess that I am not sure yet about the final setting.

[Opa George]

So painting the back of the wall sections worked out well. No major warping from the A&I despite the light bracing. I dry-brushed the walls with a relatively cheap craft acrylic paint, keeping it darker near the top where it would be protected by the roof and eaves, and lighter toward the bottom. This was followed with some light sanding to make the battens stand out and some additional, almost haphazard staining with various things:  the old standby "dirty Dio-sol," some quarter-strength A&I and some Floquil driftwood stain.  Window and door castings installed (but not yet weathered):


The bait house walls (shingled) were almost entirely colored with heavy coats of Floquil driftwood stain. I will dry-brush with some off white and light gray acrylics later.

Below are the freight doors. I had fun beating them up and making them appear very much in need of repair. I hope they aren't storing any food in there. Those holes at the bottom are rodent front doors!  Once more, Floquil driftwood followed by dry-brushed red acrylic paint and finally some half-strength A&I.


The close-up shows more fuzz than I thought I had--need to address that.  Also need to add and paint handles.

[Opa George]

Fast forward a few steps--I finished basic detailing on the freight house walls, installed the doors and windows and added signs and posters--a mix of my own stock and a few Woodland Scenics dry transfers. I put off installing the wooden freight doors as I prefer to position them once the walls are up and together, but before installing the roof. Below are two of the three sub-assemblies. The dock assembly is three-sided, and will butt up against the large blank wall of the two-story structure.


I found I had to install additional interior wall bracing in the two-story sub-aseembly to counter some minor warping that crept in after applying the posters. I had hoped the installation of the cardstock second floor would straighten it out. It did a little, but not enough.


In my last post I had painted the bait shop's shingled walls with Floquil driftwood. Below shows the additional dry-brushing with craft acrylic white paint. 

Next up will be corner posts on the walls, roof, trim and more weathering.

[Opa George]

Time to begin putting the bait shop together. This had the look of a tricky bit of construction but it went well. The narrow arms of the front wall attached to the insets on the side walls via a "figure eight" bit of corner post. That was somewhat tenuous until the roof was added. To keep is all drying well, I let it rest upside down overnight:


I didn't want to continue on to the next step, constructing the bay windows, until the bait shop sub assembly was completely dry, so I continued on with connecting the dock section to the two-story structure. Side one is below:


And side two (slightly blurry--I think I tried getting too close with the camera):


All for now.

[Opa George]

A day off from work and yardwork all caught up!  Good opportunity to get some more done on the freight house. The bay windows for the bait shop addition took some careful fitting but turned out well. I do have spots on each window where the top of the interior frame is not covered by the metal roof. Although I carefully followed the plans I got the assembly too wide or cut the roof too short. Regardless, I will touch that up.


The other end shows the added interior floor in the two-story building, and another mistake, but this time all of my own creation. The freight doors were to be installed to open to the inside but my addition of additional interior wall bracing meant they would not fit unless I cut them down. Not wanting to lose all of that beautiful wood rot, I decided instead to install them to open to the outside. This means I will need to add exterior handles, but also disguise the smooth unfinished side. I started that process by adding some 55 gallon drums.


Another side from the front. There will be a dock for the elevated freight door.


Finally a shot of the interior of the two-story building. It is not a full interior, just enough to suggest activity. The kit proposes to model the building as nearly abandoned, with only the bait shop occupied, but I want to keep it as a functional freight house with the harbormaster office upstairs.


Next up: trim for the shingled roofs, docks, a canopy roof, weathering and lots more.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Looking good, George.

The colours have worked out very well - although you might want to tone down the bait shop roof a tad.  The weather beaten doors are especially catching.

Cheers, Mark.

[Opa George]

Thank you, Mark. I am happy with the color scheme so far. Now I have to figure out what will go well for the last building--the fish cannery. Probably white or off-white. Maybe two-toned?  I agree on the bait shop roof. I'll try some light gray chalks as weathering to see if that takes the bright tone down.

[GPdemayo]

Well done George.....

[postalkarl]

Hey George:

Very nicely done.

Karl

[PRR Modeler]

Great looking build. I like the colors.

[Opa George]

Thank you much Gregory, Karl and Curt. Now that I am getting back into craftsman kits after several decades I can see my old skills returning, but following your builds, and others on this forum, has given me a wealth of tips and techniques, which I think are beginning to improve my results!


Below is the freight house with the long dock installed. The wooden 2x4 frame on the mat in front is for a corrugated roofing canopy to go over the front (ground level) freight doors. There will also be a shorter canopy built for this dock once I find the other frame end piece that I cut, but which now seems to have taken off for parts unknown.


I also had a chance to tone down the color of the bait shop roof. I started with light gray and white powdered pastel chalks, but it wasn't giving me the washed out look I wanted. I finally turned to burnt umber and black powdered chalks, then scrubbed most off, and I am satisfied with that result.

[Opa George]

The freight house is substantially finished. A few minor things to tweak, but overall turned out well, I think. The view below is my favorite side:


Side view:


And the bait shop end:


The last structure in the kit--not counting the dock--is the cannery. Also the largest and with the most interesting architectural features.

[bparrish]

George...

Wow. 

This is really cool.

Thanx
Bob

[Opa George]

Thank you, Bob. I appreciate the compliment and the input.  I'm eager to get started placing it and its sister structures into the scene, but want to finish all structures first.  I will be combining it in the waterfront scene with the BIS Tidewater Wharf (already done) and the Bar Mills FSM tribute kit #1--my next build.  But first I need to build the cannery.

[NKP768]

Nice job George

Doug