I’ve been pottering a lot rather than anything else, trying to mock in the upper level so I can get on with the upper track and scenery. This is the progress so far – the entry on to the upper level via the tunnel portal:
The next corner with the spur to the Millet creamery or some other diorama:
The track then crosses on to the Cambridge Crossing/Whitney Bent diorama:
The track will then carry on to another diorama – Spensers perhaps? I’ve been raiding my SRMW boxes for retaining/canal walls to use along my rivers etc. Sacrilege I’m sure but I don’t have enough room for 20 2′ square dioramas so they will end up not being used at all if I am not careful. There’s a lovely bridge with stone and concrete abutments from the Whitney Bent kit which I’m going to use for the railroad.
In the back of the lower diorama there will be two diorama – Whitinsville to the left and Delabarre Woollens to the right and front – with a canal in between:
The river is split in two with a coffer dam in between the two levels much like this photo at the Whitinsville Spinning Ring when I visited in 2009. It will be really interesting to model the underwater sections of the mills that you don’t normally see:
To the right is a canal which flows behind the NEBISCO mill complex. It’s been a nightmare because I didn’t put a base in and I want to put water in… I used a card base with some sculptamold and will put in some plaster to level it off before I pour the water. Here’s hoping it doesn’t leak as there’s a storage yard underneath!
The canal comes in at the right here and will flow down a river:
You can only just see the canal round the back:
