Like most buildings I make this is being constructed around a foam board shell. I found a massive sheet in a local hobycraft for about the same price as I pay for a3 sheets.
I started by cutting out the ribs for the Viking boat that will be part-made in the boat yard and then pinned it together to give me a scale to work to. I then estimated up the size of the yard and started cutting. At this point I made a few decisions, I reckon that the boat makers in a town built on the lake would be pretty important and wealthy people, so this is going to be a high status building with decoration.
I also thought that building it on stone foundations would help reduce the likelihood of the wood rotting so the bottom of the model will look stone faced. I used my usual foam board stone technique for this. Scrape off one side of the paper and then use a ballpoint pen to draw in the shape of stone. The ball rolls over the surface, pressing it not tearing it giving a passable finish. I’ve always struggled to get the paper off. In the picture above you can see where I’ve cut into the foam board trying to lift the paper off. I’ve discovered a foolproof method. Wet the paper with a sponge and then simply peel – you might need to re-wet it, but the paper comes off really easily.
Then I glued on the balsa wood
I cut out a template onto a piece of plasticard for the windows and set about cutting them out.
Next I cut a balsa dowel in half and then glued the halves down onto the board to look like pillars.
To give further decoration I cut out extra pieces of wood to create the arches above the windows. Parts have been scored to give a decorative effect.
The next pictures show the completed side. I’ve pinned it together to see if it works/ hangs together.
This is the view from the watery end. Once I’ve completed the shell, I’ll build some decking in for the boats to be built upon. Originally I was going to make the two sides even, but I reckon if you launch the boat sideways it will just crash into the other side, so there will be one wide deck with a wide pool and a narrow deck on the other side.
If I have time I’m going to build a sail maker’s loft at the top.
This is the view from the other end. You’ll note that the front door is on top of the stone work. I’m going to build decking all the way around the boat yard for people to work on/land supplies etc. I’ll also have to build some steps up to the higher level decks that I’ve used for previous the Laketown construction.
I put arches in the stone work here because I thought that there might be a problem with silting up if water couldn’t flow through the boatyard (still might be, I don’t know much about sailing/ lakes etc). I also think it makes it look more interesting.
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Basic construction techniques
Like most buildings I make this is being constructed around a foam board shell. I found a massive sheet in a local hobycraft for about the same price as I pay for a3 sheets.
I started by cutting out the ribs for the Viking boat that will be part-made in the boat yard and then pinned it together to give me a scale to work to. I then estimated up the size of the yard and started cutting. At this point I made a few decisions, I reckon that the boat makers in a town built on the lake would be pretty important and wealthy people, so this is going to be a high status building with decoration.
I also thought that building it on stone foundations would help reduce the likelihood of the wood rotting so the bottom of the model will look stone faced. I used my usual foam board stone technique for this. Scrape off one side of the paper and then use a ballpoint pen to draw in the shape of stone. The ball rolls over the surface, pressing it not tearing it giving a passable finish. I’ve always struggled to get the paper off. In the picture above you can see where I’ve cut into the foam board trying to lift the paper off. I’ve discovered a foolproof method. Wet the paper with a sponge and then simply peel – you might need to re-wet it, but the paper comes off really easily.
Then I glued on the balsa wood
I cut out a template onto a piece of plasticard for the windows and set about cutting them out.
Next I cut a balsa dowel in half and then glued the halves down onto the board to look like pillars.
To give further decoration I cut out extra pieces of wood to create the arches above the windows. Parts have been scored to give a decorative effect.
The next pictures show the completed side. I’ve pinned it together to see if it works/ hangs together.
This is the view from the watery end. Once I’ve completed the shell, I’ll build some decking in for the boats to be built upon. Originally I was going to make the two sides even, but I reckon if you launch the boat sideways it will just crash into the other side, so there will be one wide deck with a wide pool and a narrow deck on the other side.
If I have time I’m going to build a sail maker’s loft at the top.
This is the view from the other end. You’ll note that the front door is on top of the stone work. I’m going to build decking all the way around the boat yard for people to work on/land supplies etc. I’ll also have to build some steps up to the higher level decks that I’ve used for previous the Laketown construction.
I put arches in the stone work here because I thought that there might be a problem with silting up if water couldn’t flow through the boatyard (still might be, I don’t know much about sailing/ lakes etc). I also think it makes it look more interesting.
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