Yesterday I finished off the addition of the waterboard for the layout. Overall I am happy with how it turned out, I managed to blend in the new fake rusted metal riveted strip with original fake rusted metal riveted fascia.
I took lots of pictures of the progress, along with some video.
Carrying on from where I left off in the last post of this project, I gave the surface I had skimmed with Durobond 90 a good sanding to ensure a nice smooth base.
Of course, this created a massive amount of dust, but working slowly when sanding keeps it from getting everywhere. A quick pass with a vacuum removed the dust.
Everything is sealed up with a coat of primer. This eliminates the rest of the dust.
Vita insisted I include this picture.
The front corner of the new waterboard is a bit weak and could use some support. I am a bit concerned that if it gets flexed the water (Envirotex) might crack, so I decided to add a reinforcing bracket.
I made this up from some 1/2″ MDF.
I will install it where the waterboard is the most weak.
Since this will be fastened to the original rust fascia, I will also have to apply the effect to it. Here I have given it and the “rivets” a coat of a orange base coat. This is the first step in creating fake rust.
While that dries, I can begin to install the pre-cut Masonite strips that will be used to represent a metal band wrapped around the water.
Like I did on the rest of the layout’s fascia, I will use wooden plugs to represent rivets. A 2″ spacing looks about right.
The strips are glued and nailed in place with some 1″ finishing nails and construction adhesive.
Rivets added. They were hammered into a 3/8″ hole, which created a press fit, no adhesive required.
I masked off the areas of the layout I did not want to repaint and sprayed the new edge with a coat of a reddish-orange flat paint, this will provide the base colour for the rust effect.
The first sponge coat of the brown rust colour has been applied to the support bracket. Once the band along the front is dry, I will also apply this coat.
The rough surface of the Masonite will actually benefit the finished work. It creates a very believable texture to the rust.
The rust effect takes two or three applications of top coat, brushed on then dabbed off with a sponge. The sponge will create a mottled effect on the surface that looks surprisingly like old rust. This is how all the rusting effects were applied to the layout.
The final finish took three applications of the top coat to create the same colour and look as the original fascia. Here, I have installed the bracket in place, which went a long way to strengthening the waterboard.
Looks great from underneath. Standing and looking at the layout it isn’t possible to see this bracket. The finish work is for the benefit of the kids, short adults and modelers who have fallen over.
The surface of the waterboard was given a coat of a dark, muddy brown colour. It took a few coats to get this to cover the light gray primer I used.
After the first coat was brushed on, I noticed that some of the holes left from screwing the board in place were still visible, so I re-filled them before adding the next coat of paint using some wood filler.
The final coats of paint (there are 4 in total) was applied with a roller as I wanted to create a bit of a texture instead of brush marks. I don’t know how visible the surface will be once the Envirotex is poured.
Lite stipple texture to the painted surface.
Old and new fit together well.
Overall I am quite happy with the result. I had debated on simply painting the edge the same colour as the water, but I think the thin riveted band of old metal adds more visual interest. Sort of a cool rustbelt steampunk look.
Since I now have this nifty new high definition video camera, I created a short video documenting this project.
As if stopping to take pictures every five minutes isn’t time consuming enough….
If you have a good connection, watch it in HD. If it is stalling, simply pause the video and wait for a couple minutes for it to buffer in.
I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!
A few days off in March for the annual pre-Doubleheaders Tour work blitz
Again this year I will be taking part in the annual Doubleheaders Layout Tour, which is coming up this Saturday. It seems to have become a tradition in the week prior to the tour to take some time off and work on the layout, and this year is no exception.
My goal is to get the new waterboard installed and painted. If I have the time, I would also like to make some more progress on the trackwork and prepare a collection of images to display on our portable show display.
So, to that end, I am working on finishing the installation of the new waterboard. “The waterboard” is what I am calling the new surface I am using on the layout where the water scene will be modeled. The first attempt was too small and too low, so I am making a new one.
When I drew up the plans for the replacement waterboard I included pilot holes so I would be certain I was only screwing it to the layout through the ribs. If a screw was inserted in one of the hollowed out pockets it would have warped the surface.
Having the pilot holes spotted made finishing the drilling quick and accurate. A hole in the wrong location will drain the water.
Just kidding. I’m not actually using water.
The holes are countersunk so when installed place I can hide the screw heads under some filler.
I was not happy with this little lump along the edge of the waterboard. When I drew it up it looked ok, but once in place it kind of sticks out, so I decided to route it off.
Using my small laminate trimmer with a straight bit I shaped the edge into a more pleasing shape, freehand. A quick sanding and it looks much better. Will also make it easier to install some banding along the front.
I decided to give the bottom a quick coat of paint to seal it up. Also makes it smoother and less splinterier.
When I initially built the layout, I left about a 1/4″ lip along the water section, to contain the poured resin I will use to model water. This now has to be removed to allow the new waterboard to sit flat onto the layout.
I pondered this for about two weeks. I thought I would sand it off with a belt sander, but this would fill the house with dust and yelling. I decided since Masonite is simply thick paper I would try to cut if off with a utility knife.
Surprisingly, this works. A few passes with a sharp blade and I am able to slice through the Masonite.
Now a word about this piece of shit knife. Sorry for the expletives, but this knife is really a piece of poorly designed crap. Fortunately I found it in the parking lot of Home Depot so I didn’t actually pay for it. I think it was planted there as a joke of some sort. Anyway, this piece of crap knife is incapable of holding onto the blade. The blade release button is strategically placed so a left handed person will frequently release the blade (see image above), therefore rendering it useless.
The thing is, it is a hefty knife. When I found it I thought wow, what a hefty knife, this will be great for cutting the Masonite lip off my layout should I need to replace the waterboard four months from now. How dissapointed I am with this knife.
I have another one, but it is upstairs, and I’m on holidays, so I made this one work. Anyway, enough about the knife.
10 minutes and several knife related expletives later I am half way through the job.
All cut off.
I chipped off a piece of the finish near the end.
I blame that knife.
A bit of glue and it is all patched up. Won’t really be noticeable as the edge of the waterboard will cover it.
I used the belt sander anyway. Not much dust though as I cut most of the material off already, just a light touch up to ensure the surface was nice and flat.
In addition to screws, the waterboard will also be glued in place with some construction adhesive. This stuff is great, glues anything to anything. Permanently.
I left one of my Bronx Terminal cards under the new waterboard. A little note written on the back for whomever tears the layout apart someday. I like to leave little time capsules in all my models.
Waterboard finally being secured in place with lots of screws.
I applied a bead of the same adhesive along the joint of the new waterboard and the layout. This will seal the gap and make the addition permanent.
Since smooth plywood was not available in 5/8″ thickness, I had to use sheeting, which has a rough surface. To smooth everything out I am skimming the surface with a light coat of Durabond 90. This is light, and drys fast, about the same time it takes to update this blog…
All coated and waiting to dry. Maybe I should just model winter, then the job would be done.
Just in time, Vita came in for lunch and a dog cuddle.
Next, sanding the surface, adding an edge band along the waterboard and painting. Will update again when complete.
I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!
When I designed and built the benchwork for the terminal I made a slight miscalculation on the water level. I took a guess at the distance from the ground level and the water level, and I got it wrong by about 3/4″. The water ended up being too low.
After doing a bit of research about tides along the Harlem River and reading a few articles on float bridges I confirmed that what I built would be okay as there could be quite a difference between the level of the float and the level of the ground, depending on tidal changes and the load on the floats. This difference was taken up by the float bridge, a pivoting bridge connection between carfloats and terra firma. Sometimes the float bridge could be an incline, sometimes it could be level or a decline. What I am aiming for is either level, or a slight decline. The water level as it currently is would result in a very noticeable decline, and while technically correct, I thought that would be a bit distracting.
This error was apparent shortly after I set the first carfloat on the water section and I have been debating on how to fix the issue for some time. I decided to have a new piece of plywood cut to fit precisely over the original water section. I also decided that since I am designing a new piece I might as well make it wider so it could accommodate two carfloats sitting side by side, a scenario I have seen in many photographs. Having two float moored together at the float bridge would provide storage for 34 cars! And look good too…
Using two floats means I could simply swap them to generate a fresh set of cars for the terminal.
Having designed the entire layout in 3D CAD means that I could return to the original files to extract the necessary information to have a new piece of plywood cut. Theoretically it would be a perfect match. I created a simple 3D model of the carfloats and inserted them into the design to confirm they would fit well. I wanted to have a couple of inches of modeled water around the floats, and also create a wavy edge to the layout at the water. In photographs I didn’t want to have straight edges at the water, they stand out too much.
Virtual model of the Bronx Terminal.
Once I had the design finalized I sent the files to Brian, my friend with the CNC router who cut out all the parts for the layout two years ago. I went over this afternoon and we cut out the new section. I should have brought the video camera, it is very cool to watch.
This is the new piece, cut from a single sheet of 5/8″ sheething. To keep it as light as possible, I created pockets in the bottom to remove as much material as possible.
This is where having the entire layout designed in 3D really pays off. I was able to keep the pockets precisely where they should be by designing the part virturally in place on the layout. The CNC router simply follows the lines I drew.
Of course the other advantage of having designed the layout in 3D is that it fits together like a puzzle.
It fit perfectly, added some more space for the second float and brings the water level up so the float bridge will only have a slight decline grade on it.
The pockets line up precisely with the original edge of the layout. The other pockets will be hidden under the new “waterboard”.
The float bridge will occupy the space between the track and the carfloat.
Two floats side by side. The hull of a steam tug sitting next to the float. I am not sure where I will put the tug yet, but I do want to incorporate a tugboat into the layout.
This should look great!
Ignore the boxcar missing a set of trucks….
Will look better once there is actually some water modeled, but so far I am happy with the addition. Adds about 6″ to the width of the layout, but that isn’t an issue.
I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!
