Some headway ....

Making some headway on my smelter module. The finished copper shipment wharf is planked. The supports are cut (but not glued) under the coal dock.Planking for the coal dock is cut, painted and weathered, and ready to begin gluing in place tonight. The luan base around the buildings will be covered with the Chooch vinyl cobblestone sheeting as soon as it arrives. The HOn30 track will not be the only thing to be integrated into the cobbles, as there will be a network of 18" gauge track for push carts which were used for moving materials among the buildings. Smelting copper was a very labor intensive process in the 1920's.

Pilings for the coal dock are cut, but not glued yet. Everything will be significantly weathered with drybrush, washes and chalk before the water surface is painted and the water poured.

The copper shipping wharf is sheathed and decked. The track is epoxied to the luan underlayment. All the wood is painted with Rustoleum Camouflage paint with an India ink wash. It will be fully weathered before the "water" is poured. Nut, bolt & washers (NBW's) will be installed in appropriate locations, and the wood has to be installed between the tracks. The track beyond the decking has not been fixed to the base. I am awaiting receipt of the cobblestone sheets with will cover the area around the buildings, so I can see how best to work it in around the track. the decking is a few thousandths below track level. I hooked up a power supply with alligator clips and all my current locos and rolling stock clear without a problem.

Close up of the copper wharf decking. Should look good when loaded with copper ingots, carts, people, bollards, etc. The buildings are just card mock-ups I built a couple of weeks ago in order to ensure that I could fit all the necessary structures into this small space. I am eagerly anticipating replacing them with "the real thing."

A piece of 1" foam with a couple of strips of double sded tape securing the Coffee stir stick lumber for painting and the prewash of India ink. I used two strips of 2" tape with the first batch for the smelter dock and paid Hell prying them loose, breaking a number in the process creating a sad camper! I cut smaller strips this time, and as you can see. the wood is already separating - Happy camper! The dowels will be cut into pilings to be roped together just off the corners of all the piers to protect them from incoming ships and barges.