On The Waterfront: Spring Clean Challenge

From the start this is a Terrain project not a Diorama. The Golden Rule is Playability. Keep it simple, cohesive and modular.

One permanent feature of these two boards with be tracks for train cars and trolly. If I keep the tracks above ground I may on occasion run into a problem of lopsided mini’s tutoring on them or vehicles snagging the rails.

I’ve instead choose to go with grooves for the train and trolly wheels to fit into. I’m going to glue down 2mm cardboard around the track area leaving grooves for the train car wheels to fit into. Then I will glue brick pattern sheets of A4 where appropriate.

One thing I noticed as I was laying out where dockside, train track, sheds, roads, sidewalk and buildings would go is I don’t have enough bloody room!

This is where Modularity comes in. I’m going to half the water area and add that half to the land area. 6″of land will allow me to have buildings with a sidewalk. Using two layers of 1/4″ cardboard with 1” of foam on top of that, will give the 1.5″ hight I need to level the new boards with the larger boards.

Cheers

After sometime of laying out on paper the possible options for the dockside track layout, I’m going with two tracks.

First the boardwalk. It’s Balsa wood that has groves already cut into it. I cut 2″ strip pieces. I will then cut each one and distress the sides. The hope is that all the extra work will create depth to the boardwalk. It will also help balance all the horizontal lines this board has.

So here is the layout so far. I have to repeat the cardboard strips for the neighboring board. Still a lot to do before I can even start gluing down or painting anything.

First finishing the boardwalk.

Using a wire brush I scuffed vertical line into the balsa to represent ring lines. I then pressed a pin down each groove to deepen it’s profile.

Next I cut them into single, two and three board groupings.  I’m trying to make it look as if they are individual boards.

Working from the center seem out, I brushed Mod Podge down and placed random pieces into place. I added a strip in the opposite direction to lock the board pieces into place and also give it contrasting lines.

Fin

Now onto the brick.

A few years ago I bought laser printed O scale brick pattern on Ebay. To me this yard is the perfect opportunity to use it.

Starting with the strip closest to the boardwalk I simply brushed glue on the top side. Pressed the glued side onto the paper and trimmed the excess.

For the next row I glued the brick pattern in the opposite direction to break up the vertical lines of the track. It also compliments the boardwalk.

For the wide center strip I wanted to do something different to again brake up the lines. I cut and glued half inch strips to one side. Then 3″ wide strip on a 45 degree angle and another half inch vertical strip to even it out. It’s my favorite piece on the board so far.

Well that’s it for today. I have another track to come. Thanks for stopping by, cheers!

Finished the brick railroad track loading and unloading area.

I also finished the road with trolley track on the opposite side of the board.

I added some posts to the front of the quay. The idea is to create scale by adding smaller detail.

Cheers!

To give myself a break from the dock I focused on this Sarissa Precision Trolley.

I like to spray paint the whole sprue rather then individual pieces. It gives me a base color or finished color depending.

The front and back of the 2mm mdf got a thin spray of Brown. And the 1mm card got a thin coat of white. I then masked the top end of each car side and sprayed a thin layer of yellow.

After giving everything an hour to dry I assembled the trolley cab, roof and wheel chassis. I then sprayed the roof grey and the wheels black.

The kit comes with two layers of side panels. After installing the first panel I decided to glaze all the windows. I used laminating sheet for the glass and thin white glue to adhere them. Then I attached the next layer with CA glue.

Whala job done, feet up!

Not really, still need to wash, add details, posters etc.

Cheers!

Sometimes I won’t need 12″ of water. So I added 6″ to the back of the board. Giving me more set up area or exit points for game scenarios. I cut two 6″ x 18″ panels out of insulation foam. I then cut 2 layers of 1/4″ foam core at the same size. Giving me the hight I need to be level with the larger boards. I then glued then together, stacked weight on top and put it aside to dry.

The left side panel will have a flat area where I can place buildings or other terrain. A permanent road entry or exit point for gaming and to the right of it a possible “green” space. It can fit a Pill Box patrolling the intersection for 02 Hundred Hour game for example.

I’ve had two Sarissa “Gaslamp Alley” shop sets for four years now. I was probably going to build a village for WWII gaming. The cool thing about this set is that from the side it is symmetrical. The other side has a back door and window. So if I cut the buildings in half I will have four buildings to work with.

On the right side panel I’m planing a permanent low relief layout. It will always be at the table edge. Static, action will happen in front of it rather then around or in it.

I simply cut every side piece in half and set aside. I plan to have a flat roof on one of the shops to break up the lines and give me a place to put a sniper.

Allot still to do but this is turning into my favorite part of the boards.

Till next time,

Cheers!

It’s a mild spring day here, perfect weather for spay painting. First up this Feris Games Dockside Crane. It’s not for beginners. It’s laser cut wood. Some pieces have 10mm uncut spacing. You will need to finish cutting out every piece. But if you use a new blade and take your time, there should be no problems.

After CA gluing the parts together into the main three sections. I primed all three with Black Chalkboard. After drying the legs got Army Painter Grey Primer and the cab and crane arm got NC-Acrylic Mt. Fuji.

After some time rummaging every corner of the studio looking for missing parts to finish the European Engine I found this unassuming box. Inside I found the parts I was looking for and more! Just goes to show that you should label everything.

While rummaging I found this!? When did I buy these?

I’ve heard this kit is a pain to build; probably got a deal on FleeBay. I will convert them into two Police cars and a Yellow Taxi.

Finally I sprayed the road part of the Waterfront boards with Black Chalkboard. I like the Matt finish it gives. After drying I gave it a couple of coats of Matte Finish to protect the paint.

A good Base layer day I think.

Cheers!

This member of the waterfront Board is finished. I GW washes to weather the trolley. I then gave the top a very light dry brush. I made the Tin Tin poster (couldn’t resist). I see using it as a exit point or where to find a plot point/MacGuffin.

Cheers!

For the low relief modular add-on I dry fitted the building in place to give me an idea of how much sidewalk I would have. I want enough space to have encounters with models without feeling cramped. I used 3mm card board to raise everything off street level. To match the hight of the curve. I then cut to shape 2mm styrofoam to level up to the curve. On this I glued .5mm squares to represent sidewalk. I cut some to represent broken sidewalk. (Mind your mothers back!)

On the other side I did pretty much the same thing so that the sidewalk would continue. The only difference is that the space for buildings or not, is left generic.

All most done,

Cheers

I set out to fill the center area of the boards with “slabs” of concrete. I had some scrap rectangle bits of 3mm cardboard. I sanded a bevel to all sides of each peace and glued them on to the board in a random pattern. Then when I was out of scrap pieces, I measured and cut the remaining pieces out of more 3mm card.

All the paint I used I had in stock. Some are sample pots that I got from HomeDepot when we were trying to decide what color to paint our dining room.

To give the center bit of the board a concrete look I started by brushing the groove edges with a dark grey. Making sure to get the paint deep into the grooves.

Next without adding paint to the brush I rubbed the brush around each piece starting from the outside into the center.

I then added Tan to the palette and rubbed Tan and Dark Grey around, sideways on an angle.

I continued to add more tan to the mix each layer.

I then added Lite Grey to the Tan dry mix and did the same stroke technic.

Remember to keep the paint light on the brush. Do the mixing of paint on the board by rubbing in multiple directions.

For the brick/track area I added some dabs of furniture stain that I had around and GW washes to create depth and the look of years of use and abuse to the area.

To the concrete area I highlighted the edge of each piece with a white Pastel pencil.

For the Boardwalk I used the same colors and technic that I used for the concrete area. I then highlighted the edges with white pastel pencil.

Cheers

Apologies for not having in progress photos.

I started by spraying thin black lines along the length of the board to represent deep water. I then squeezed dark green paint onto the board and rolled over it with a 4” roller. I then just used the roller on the backside so I would get a light green color. This representing the quay part under water.

I may gloss the water area if the finish I have hasn’t spoiled. This 3′ x 3′ MDF board IS my gaming table. The other times I roll a gaming Mat on top and add terrane. My Studio/Gaming room is only 11′ x 9′ so everything is a multiple use piece. It’s small but I love it and it keeps me sane.

Cheers

Moving on to the modular city block boards. I used the same method to paint the sidewalks as I did for the Concrete. I call it dry rub method. It’s not dry brush. I never “clean the brush at any point. I also try to keep a chisel point on the brush. I mix from dark to light colors on a piece of cardboard. As the layers dry they begin to add texture to the flat foam core. Looking a bit more like a sidewalk to me.

I then added a crosswalk by using 1/2 inch masking tape to mark out stripes and then sponging layers of grey white paint onto the surface.

I purposely made them larger then scale. I want them to stand out.

Thank you for stopping by,

Cheers

Base Color(s)

To start off I primed each building with Black chalk spray paint. I then lightly sprayed a Brick Red paint on all three sides. I then found 7 pots of brick like colors in my collection. I dry brushes random light strokes of the seven colors going from dark to light.  Im only doing this to the sides of the first and last building. The rest just get attention to the front.

Cheers

Mid Tone

Using the same 7 pots of paint I used for the Base coats, I picked out individual bricks and painted them in. I also painted the vertical bricks over the windows and doors.

Highlight

I then used Ochre to edge highlight each edge, doors, windows and walls. Finally a yellow edge highlight in short random spots.

Putting this aside now to work on TRAINS!!

cheers

There is a small space for grass on the left side additional board. I can place a tree,bench, pillbox whatever on it.

I painted the rectangle dark brown. When the paint was dry I brushed on Mod Podge and house mix flocked the area.

~Cheers