Victorian Docklands

Underneath the main street is a maze of passages lined with discreet doorways, garish frontages, offices and subdued Gentlemen’s Clubs. This is where the Toffs and their guests do business, make and lose fortunes, and seek entertainment, pleasure and solace.  Access and order is maintained by a ‘sponsored’ branch of the Metropolitan Constabulary (Peelers or Bobbies) and by means of a single steam powered elevator and the waterfront.

I made up the arches from sign board and dry fitted them so that this area can be worked on later.

I added some warehouse entrances to the far end of the street to make this area playable. The street level board was cut back and a separated floor constructed and hot glued to this section.

The next part of the project was to build the structure of the main street where the houses will go, the power house and the Customs House and jetty.

There will be a canal running along side all this so bridges will cross at various points.

Underneath the main street will a secluded area for the Gentleman’s Club and other ‘entertainment’. The base sections are removable for later work and for dioramas etc.

I also started work on the old ‘medieval’ bridge and the road bridge to the Custom House, both of which were cut and constructed out of the sign board.

The road bridge has three supports and is glued to the main street side only and supported on a ledge on the other side to make it easier for storage later.

The last bit here was to start work on the arcade, making a multilayer piece to slide in with the quayside and shopping area.

While is was pottering away on that area I remembered another Victorian mode of transport that would fit nicely into there.

But that is for another day…

I decided to make the main construction out of two material: hardboard and plastic signage board.

Hardboard because I had a load of scrap pieces from cupboard backs and previous projects, it is easy to cut and sand, it is solid and strong, and it is cheap if I need to buy more.

Sign board because we had purchased a s*** load of it at work to make partitions for Covid protection when it all started, and had lots of off-cuts that were not wanted so I have some in the workshop and more available if needed.  This is harder than Foamboard, with a sort of paper skin on both sides and a plastic core.  It will cut (eventually) with a sharp knife or a saw, and can be drilled and sanded.  But it does tend to break roughly at the edges if worked to quickly or hard. This however could be an advantage for this project.

I started off by cutting some 2ft square pieces of signboard and laying them out on my 6×4 table, taping them together, and then drawing out the basic plan.

I cut the hardboard shapes to suit, making sure that I had enough room on the main platform to use my new warehouse.

Old coffee cans seemed to be the right height for this area so I used them to support the boards while I tried out various ideas and then for marking the heights of the support walls.

These sections will get a lot of punishment during games so I needed to get a good framework underneath.

The next area to be built was the central jetty.  I wanted this higher but also to have different levels on the far side.  This will have a market area, pier type shops and a pillered arcade.

Construction was the same but the arcade shop section underneath needs to be made separately to allow for the shops construction and detailing later. The end of the jetty will have sewer outlets.

The sewer oulet and stink pipe were made with 1/2 inch plastic pipe and fittings cut and shaped to suit. The stairs were ‘borrowed’ from my Core Space.

And then more ideas…

The Goal:

I want to create a docklands section of a dark, dystopian steampunk Victorian Era city (London?), with factories, houses and shops, with lots of levels, suitable for playing games like Wolsung, Carnevale (and Core Space?).

The board will sit on a 6×4 Ocean gaming Mat.

The board must be modular for storage and so sections can be used as diaramas or on other boards.

The board must be excessively detailed.

Anything Victorian or Steampunk can & should be included.

3V batteries are my friends – use as many lights and motors as possible.

The board must be playable and game friendly.

Materials:

Anything in the house or workshop that is suitable.

Scrounge (with permission) any scrap materials at work.

Buy as little as possible (until I see something too shiney to resist)

Use up as much electronics, lights & craft materials as I can from my studio stock.

Incorporate as many kits (or parts of) as I can (just to get the damn things built!).

Repurpose and be inventive.

Construction Methods:

Pen, rulers & squares.

Saws & knives (and the belt sander).

Hot glue, Super glue, T88 plumbing glue and PVA.

Draw lots of plans, concept sketches & find images and just build what feels right at the time and add in any new ideas as I go.

Try not to do too much detailing before the main structues are built.

Try and finish before this (or the next) Lockdown ends.

Micro Art Studios had a Sale on – and one building I have loved the look of for years but never been able to afford (well, justify the cost) was on offer.  Covid Blues cure – I purchased it and the XIX Century Walkway.  Four hours cutting out and four hours constructing and I had my very own XIX Century Warehouse.

And that was that!

But that night the rusty gears started to uncease and churn and in the middle of the night I had to get up, make a cup of tea, and start sketching.  An idea was forming.  If I can’t play with my new beautiful building (Covid Incarceration) at least I could make a board for it to sit on!

The docklands was taking shape…

So a quick confession – this was Sunday 14th March – Yes I did start this project before the Challenge started and this is a catch up – but it was a challenge to me even then!

My Spring Clean Hobby Challenge is to paint up my Wolsung Inventors – which have been sat undercoated for several years, construct a few Micro Art and Sarissa kits carefully stored away, crack out the Carnevale kickstarter that got put to one side (and not quite forgotten) and finish off a scratch build Paddle steamer project from a few years ago.

And bring it all together on a 6×4 gaming table.

I took some inpiration from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Dieselpunk Venice! – Iron Grip: Marauders artwork and old pictures of docks.