Nemo's Nets - O scale, 1/48 waterfront scratchbuild

[robert goslin]

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.

[robert goslin]

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.





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.

[elwoodblues]

Hey Rob,

Just caught up on your build (had a lot of catching up to do   )  Love the narrow gauge boxcar build with the very plausible history.  Boxcar looks great.

[robert goslin]

Thanks Ron.  Glad you have enjoyed seeing my build.  I enjoyed making the boxcar, just to add something railroady to the scene.

[robert goslin]

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.









Asorted junk on the wharf.  I scratchbuilt the lobster traps from styrene

[Rick]

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.

[Zephyrus52246]

Nice work.  Diorama looks great.  

Jeff

[Jerry]

Rob excellent work on thes diorama.  It should be a real winner at the convention.

Jerry

[robert goslin]

Thanks Rick, Jeff & Jerry. The convention was back in Easter, and yes the diorama was well received.

[robert goslin]

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.





Here you can see the boxcar shed in place.


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.


Boxcar shed in place


Old pallets and a broken lobster trap around the shed.  I scratchbuilt the pallets from balsa.


The pickup truck is 1/48 scale, from Denver Diecast, as is the panel van




The fence I scratchbuilt from very thin basswood, with some damaged palings.
And added the classic Moxie sign.


Other side of the building


For the ground cover I used tile grout.


The overall dimension of the diorama are 17.5" wide  x 15.5" deep.


The two pine trees I made using the wire & rope method, but instead of rope, I used paint brush bristles.


Good view of the roof, including many of my birds. There is a total of 17 birds on the diorama.