The Dock, continued again

Completing the structure

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

There are lots of pictures here, will take a while on a slower connection….

Finally set aside some time to work on the dock scene a bit this weekend. Still not complete, but much further along.

Picking up from where I left off in June, I assembled the structure of the dock.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

All the individual strips of planking were glued to a sheet of 1/32″ thick plywood. I engraved the position of the planking onto these sheets so I could get the alignment accurate. The track layout and all the spiking holes were also added. There were 3 sheets in total.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Once all the strips of planking were glued to the 1/32″ thick ply, the entire sub assembly was put back into the laser and cut and engraved to shape.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

The completed sheets were glued to the dock structure and clamped in place.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

The trackwork was all spiked in place onto the dock. This took several evenings of work, but went fairly easily as all the spike holes were pre-drilled and the outline of the rails engraved onto the planking.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Once all the trackwork was completed, I needed to make up the piles for the dock. I purchased a bunch (35 pcs) of 3/16″ and 1/8″ dowels for these. I cut these to length using my chop saw. This tool really pays off for a job like this!

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Once cut, I stained all the pieces using the same dye I used for the planking. I just dumped them into the jar…

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

A couple of hundred pieces.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Once stained, I removed the pieces and let them dry on a paper towel.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

I glued these pieces to some stripwood and made sections of 20 scale feet in length.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

These will be glued along the inside edge of the dock.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

I think this will look ok.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

After talking it over with John, a change is in store in the design. He suggested I move the wall of piles back, under the dock, and add single piles in front to create more detail. I liked the idea, so some extra piles needed to be made up. I worked on a technique to create the look of piles that have been in the water a while. I started by staining the lower end of the pile.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Once the lower end of the piles was stained, I applied a “wash” of an olive green paint, to create the look of algae growing on the submerged part.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

A bit of a white “discoloration” is needed as well, and this was done by drybrushing some white paint onto the upper part of the stained portion of the piles.

For this I prefer using Acrylic paint. I pour a little out and work it into the brush.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

The remove most of it onto a paper towel

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Then lightly brush it onto the pile, slowly working up a light layer of white paint.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

I think the final results look pretty good.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

I applied the same effect to all the piles I had previously glued onto the dock.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Looks nice and rotten.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Next, I glued on all the outer piles to the bottom of the dock. I worked upside down for this step.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

and a test fit….

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Before installing the dock permanently, I thought I had better paint the backdrop, also, the green color of the wall was tricking my camera, making it hard to get a good representation of the colors. I am using two different shades of blue here, a very light, almost white, for the horizon, and a darker blue for the upper part of the sky. Its 3/4 glaze, and 1/4 latex paint, painted over a white primed surface. Using the glaze helps keep the paint wet, allowing it to be nicely blended from one shade to the other.

I also painted the water surface a brownish grey. Not sure if I will stick with this color or not.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

With the backdrop and water surface painted, it is getting easier to take pictures. I have painted the outside of the rail, which was a bit tricky. I used an airbrush and diluted Floquil “Railroad tie brown” for this. I held a piece of cardboard up behind the rail while I painted it, otherwise there would have been too much overspray, and I didn’t want to overdo it. I stained the planking between the rails to simulate a bit of grime. Studying some old pictures of tracks on docks, this was a common effect.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

Here I stuck a Jordan truck on the dock, just to see how the finished scenes might look. While it is still a long way from complete, I think I will be able to get the look I am hoping for.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

When I painted the water surface, I also painted a scrap piece of wood, so I could do a test to see how the color looks with the water added. I will likely use a layer of Enviro-Tex, and then follow up with a layer of silicone to create the ripples. I have not have much success in the past getting ripples into Enviro-Tex, it just seems to want to go flat! By starting with a layer of Enviro-Tex, even if it is flat, adding a wave layer with silicone will create lots of depth, than with just silicone alone.

Here is a sample with just the silicone. Still not sure on the water’s color…

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

A “mini” scene with some Jordan vehicles and a Sheepscot Scale Models Pile driver. Would look better with some water. That will come later.

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Image copyright 2005 Tim Warris

So far, so good. The majority of the dock structure is complete, still a few details to add, like a wood ledge across the front edge and a few other details. I will be adding building fronts all along the backdrop. All wood buildings, one warehouse with a series of jib cranes, and lots of dormers. I am hoping to create a scene with lots of activity.

Once complete, I will add the car ferry apron and the removable car ferries.

Posted by: | 08-21-2005 | 09:08 PM
Posted in: Uncategorized

5 Comments »

  1. Wonderful stuff! I always like to drop by the PKR to see what magic has been done with your laser cutter. I have neither the time, patience nor skill to do what you build.

    Comment by Richard Howell — 8/25/2005 @ 6:26 am
  2. Those piles look fantastic Tim! You nailed the algae/mineral deposits. The dock deck looks like it could use some distressing. It looks a little too “new”.

    Comment by Chris Zygmont — 8/26/2005 @ 5:22 pm
  3. The pier/deck makes for a very interesting feature. I can see you are excited about its potential as a setting for model photography.

    I am considering running track over a similar, but much smaller deck. Do you think that a thin plywood sheet with the deck detail laser engraved on it could be laid on top of a homesote subroadbed and the rails spiked down through it. The deck would be an alternative to crossties, but basically the roadbed construction and track laying would be conventional.

    Comment by Mark Chase — 8/27/2005 @ 7:30 am
  4. The dock is still new, I will be working on that soon…

    I don’t see any problem spiking through the plywood into Homosote, will hold nicely. Although I have found that just 2mm plywood alone holds the spikes quite well.

    Comment by Tim — 8/27/2005 @ 10:59 am
  5. Hey Tim, looks like you have not had much time on the motorcycle this summer! But the model looks great!!!!

    Comment by Sun Tanned Wally — 9/7/2005 @ 12:28 pm

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