Aquia Harbor -Benchwork almost done

Marco stopped by tonight to help finish up the benchwork at Aquia Harbor. His time with us is limited as he'll be moving to Pennsylvania to take a new job.

The benchwork is an open grid of 1x2 lumber screwed to the walls and to the top of Ikea Ivar shelving. A one inch layer of pink foam will serve as the ground. The water surface areas are 1/8th inch tempered hardboard.

The corner of the room was not square so we had to cope the

hardboard pieces to match the walls. We took special care to insure that the hardboard was level so that we will be able to pour resin to simulate water.

This shot shows a mock-up of the pier, ships, car ferry and warehouse on the pier. The backdrop will be very important in capturing the busy harbor look as there isn't that much room for ships, especially big ships.

This is the view looking back to the mainland from the pier. The pier will be about 6.5 feet long. It will have two tracks built on pilings and wood decking. There will be three yard tracks on the pink foam with building flats behind along the wall. The yard area is 15 inches deep. There will be a 4 inch fascia along the front edge.

The rest of the layout lies through a hole in the wall to the right of this photo.

Before securing the hardboard pieces and sealing the seams, I need to paint the backdrop. This will be a real test of my painting skills.

I am also thinking about some additional lighting for this room. The corner by the pier is a bit dark. I may install some trak lighting.