Victorian Docklands

The Victorians loved their girders, so I have to have a few girders in there.

To support the buildings above the canal quays and engine room these need to be big and strong. Girders were often decorative as well as functional so I wanted a design that was relatively easy to mass produce but had some character too.

The idea I came up with led to three days of boring repetitive mess and a nice result.

Using a one inch forstner bit I cut out rows of off-set circles and then cut the beams just wider than the centre row of circles.  Then I cut thin strips of the sign card for the top and bottoms of the beams and used pipe glue to weld them together. The off-cuts will get used later as wall features.

The back area consists of several sections of base board that interlock but need to be stored separately, so the girders were made in sections and glued to the individual boards.  Floor sections and a chimney stack were made at the same time.

I found some lights and started adding some pipework.  The beams on the outside will have ‘glass’ in them, some with signage and some lit. The chimney will carry on up the other levels. A brick front for the engine room was another tedious job but I don’t have any plasticard so a stanley and ruler had to surfice.

And that brings me up to date.  Entries from now on will be as progress is achieved.

I did have to buy one more sheet of hardboard (about €11) and I did find some nice LED street lamps and railings on AliExpress and a Genleman’s Convenience (Pissoire), a water tower & a steam crane from Sarissa, but still managing a certain amount of restraint.

Next Job is a Cleaning Challenge!