As we look at the scene, the water will be ground zero. The back edge will be raised up. A piece of the gatorfoam is a scale 3/4" thick (remember the model is 1/4" to the 1"), so I glued two together to raise the "land" up to 1 1/2" above the water level. I want this on a gentle curve, a cosmetic curve if you will. From the viewer's standpoint it is a convex curve (the center of the curve is closest to the viewer). After I cut this I'm starting to think that maybe it should be a concave curve ( the center of the curve is furthest away from the viewer).
Elevating the buildings above the harbor does makes for a nice looking scene and I think the concave curve would probably show off rolling stock and locomotives better. I'm really debating the car float and float apron at this point though. It seems to get bigger every time I look at it. I think I will drop the tug concept, even using the smallest tug I think it would make the scene to crowded. Things to dwell on.
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| The first "land" layer being glued down. |
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| And here we go with the second layer. |
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| The land is in place and stands at 1 1/2" above the water. That would be about 10 in scale which feels about right. |
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| Just lining up the buildings, no particular rhyme or reason at this point. This is a convex view at this point so your view would be from the outside of the cosmetic curve. The curve is not readily apparent which is fine, its supposed to be subtle. Note how much space the barge, including the apron, takes up within the length of the scene. |
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| An aerial view. The car float and the apron could be swapped side to side. There is quite a bit of water space available. the curve is a bit more obvious from this viewpoint as well. |
