I haven't mentioned yet that I live on the coast of Maine within a few hundred yards of the ocean. The harbor I live on is a working one and not (yet) absorbed by the tourist business and most of my neighbors are fishermen or in a fishing related business. Modeling waterfronts and all the activity there is something I've done quite a bit of and I'd like to spend some time showing the results of those efforts. Typical of what one might see here are the lobster boats like the one above. This fellow is about to gaf the pot bouy and bring it aboard by running his line (called warp) through the davit you see just in front of him. The model is a waterline (meaning flat on the bottom and meant to be modeled in water) resin Bluejacket piece and I have added some resin traps on the stern that are representative of the old round top wooden traps of years ago. The water is a product from Woodland Scenics that is clear and I have painted the base under prior to pouring the fake water product on. The wake of the boat was done with epoxy.
Another related business to fishing itself is boat building and repair. Above is a shot from a boat repair yard where they are loading a rebuilt deck winch on to a shrimp trawler. The vessel is high and dry on repair slip cribbing. The crane is an old steam powered Bucyrus Erie B-2. Here's a shot of the repair slip framing made from strips of pine and weathered with a thinned dark gray acrylic paint and some chalk powders. Behind is a new barn being built to house materials. The ship itself is a resin offering from a Dutch company called Artitec that produces wonderful vessels of many kinds with lots of photo etched details.
There has to be a way to get boats to and from the water in the form of a launch site. Usually just a ramp leading down to the water. Breakwaters that elevate the grade above the water can be constructed of cut stone, concrete and/or wood pilings as in this photo.
In the late 1800's and well into the next century this coastline was filled with steam ferries that ran from town to town carrying materials and suppies, passengers and even locomotives. The coastline represented here is fairly typical of what I get to see here. In this next scene I've taken the liberty to have some local wildlife make a show. Moose and whitetail deer and osprey can be seen and there's a family taking a Sunday drive being treated to see a passenger ferry slide past in the deep water just off the rocks. This is another of the very nice Artitec vessels available. That's the Penobscot Bay in the background there.
Wherever there are fishermen, there are old fishermen. This small wharf is no exception.
And we'll say goodbye for this session just as this lucky sailor is getting a welcome home from his wealthy girlfriend as her driver and limo awaits.
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