Hello guys! I am ready to cut in a river and a harbor area into my layout, The bench work is covered with 1/2" homosote and 3/4" plywood. I have it drawn out and I cut it out easily with the tools I have. What I am wondering is how it should look when I am done. How did you guys do yours etc. Do you have any pictures or suggestions? My layout is based on the Williamette river and the Portland Oregon harbor. (HO scale) Thanks for any ideas.
Thayne.
Once you have the opening, then you need the bottom of the creek, river, harbor, whatever.
Somehow, you need to suspend a piece of plywood – in this case – underneath the opening. It needs to be larger than the opening for easy attachment, but it is possible to reuse the piece cut out with a little more work. The “depth” of the bottom can be whatever you like, but take into account how you’ll be creating the “water” and whatever actual depth it and any other scenicking materials will have.
If it is bigger than the opening, then it’s also easier to build the sides of the body of water from whatever materials you use. In my case, Sculptamold. This may need to be absolutely leakproof, depending on what you’ll use for “water.”
Since you specified a commercial harbor, at least some of the length along the water’s edge should be straight, probably faced with closely-spaced vertical pilings holding back heavy timbers. Other, more recent, possibilities: Modern interlocking steel piling wall or a poured concrete bulkhead. I haven’t looked for photos, since my own rivers are unsuitable for navigation.
What I see, for at least some of the river bank, is docking space. IIRC, Portland handles oceangoing ships as well as river barge tows.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - rivers, no harbors)
It really depends on what time period you’re modelling.
I’m modeling in N scale a cannery along the Columbia River between Portland and Astoria around 1900, so I used lots of wood:
But I also carved some stone work for a riverwall / bridge abutment:
Notice that where the foam meets the floor is sealed with spackle.
Then I painted the entire river floor with a laytex paint (“tuxedo” color, since this is a formal layout) making sure to get in the corners so the paint to also help seal the river bottom.
After building the bridge and piers, I made a dam along the front edge with blue masking tape and then I poured Magic Water tinted with Floquil Grimy Black and BNSF Green.
Magic Water (and most water products) will find every single pinhole to leak out of:
so it’s a good idea to test it with real water first (or just make darn sure your dam dam works!)
(Notice the paper towels under the layout 
)
After the Magic Water cured, I painted / stippled the top with a coat of Modge Podge Matte, and then 4-5 coats of Modge Podge Gloss.
The Columbia River (and Willamette) are not clear, but a deep green / brown (depending on the time of year), so the Matte helped “muck” it up: if I had just coated it with Gloss the river would have been too sparkling clear.
The area is getting almost
M.C.
Nice work there in any scale. In N, it’s amazing.
One tip your post brought to mind is how I handled the edge along the fascia. I used casting resin for my water and had a couple of spots where this area was curved to follow the fascia. So I used a piece of aluminum flashing to build a stiffer dam, in addition to the tape, to cope with this issue as it curves easily and has the strength to hold back against the resin until it sets.
As you can see from the great photos above, the actual depth of the “water” on your layout will likely be only 1/8" to 1/4", so it’s the terrain features around the water that will determine how deep to make your water feature. A commercial harbor is generally built up several scale feet above mean high water to allow the harbor facilities to remain near the freeboard height of the ships being worked. For a gentle river or stream, the thickness of the plywood will likely provide enough depth. For a deep gorge, you’ll have to drop down a foot or more.
For me, I use 2" foam boards over open joists, so cutting a terrain feature into the base requires nothing more than an image of what I want and a rasp.
In your case, I’d use the “waste” piece that you cut out of your water feature area and mount it below the level of the layout using scrap wood (or by fastening it to the benchwork at a lower level). Use plaster cloth, papier mache, or glue-soaked towels to create the slopes between the surface of your layout and the bottom of your water feature, keeping it as steep or as shallow as you need to create your desired terrain (DON’T try to put it perfectly vertical, because land never is). Cover your whole area with a thin layer of hydrocal plaster or Sculptamold. This will provide your first line of defense against leakage. Then paint it with latex paint. Deep areas will be dark to black, shallower ones brown, beige, or green, depending on what’s on the bottom. Then add any wall or rock castings you wish to add for scenic details (you can backfill any gaps behind wall castings with plaster, ballast, rip rap, etc., – that’s how real construction firms do it). Use spackle, plaster, or caulk to seal the bases of your castings. Add any scenery details (plants, rocks, structures) that will be in or very near the water, then pour in your water product of choice.
Thank you guys! I guess I forgot to mention That I am modeling In the current / modern era. Your pictures and suggestions are very helpful. One thing I was wondering is if I should bevel / taper the edges at a angle while roughing in the river. The Willamette and the Portland harbor are BIg & Deep water. and that is the look I would like to recreate. would like to have a ship and some tug boats in the scene if space will allow. Thanks to those of you who replied and if you have any other suggestions please post them. mcfunkey monkey, Your layout looks very awesome. thanks for sharing!
Thayne.
Thanks.
You can slope the banks if you want, but it’s a lot easier to do it with paint.
Have medium colors at the “shallow” edges and darker in “deeps”.
This gradation will come through the opaque / mucky tinted water and the rippling effect on top to create change in depth.
Unless you’re going to see through the water to the bottom, there’s no real reason to slope something you’re not going to see.
That said, most of the water around Portland is the same muddy-green water.
A sample shot of a industrial grainery and other industries shows both the water and the various textures along the banks: some dirt slopes, some docks, some retaining walls.
I really recommend collecting a bunch of photographs and work from those to get the feel of the waterfront.
Just make sure to use some joint compound or water putty to seal the area where the sub-roadbed ply meets the river bottom ply before doing any of the structures or scenery
As for those big boats and space issues: you can always model the water’s edge at the edge of your layout, and have a water “diorama” (like a water extension) that plugs in for taking photos or act as a base for a bigger boat, er, ship.
Thayne,
You will probably be surprised at how big even a small ship is in HO scale. If you really want one, modelling just the bow or the stern might be the way to go.
While you certainly can bevel the edges of your cutout, there’s no reason to. Use the underlying hardshell material and the surface plaster or Sculptamold to create the form of your terrain.
Thanks Guy’s! I got my questions answered as usual. That is a great link for photo’s Thank you!
Thayne,