Soyokaze Harbor: Progress Report

• Note: Click images to enlarge them. 

I've managed to make some progress on the Soyokaze Harbor Fish Market area and I'm happy with the results so far. As I thought, the rough sketches that I was making while on vacation in Maryland - away from the modules and a way to measure the spaces I had - were WAY off. I was trying to be conservative, but my drawings were still packing way too much into the space I had allowed myself.

Once I was home and the Tomytec market arrived, I was able to measure and plan the space out.

My first approach was to set the mood of the module and to figure out what the work structure behind it was. I didn't want to just toss things together without thinking through how it worked.  I came up the idea of Soyokaze being more than a tourist spot for photography. It's a place where you can also get fish that was fresh off the boat that morning. Additional fish deliveries are sent into several restaurants in Shizuka.

The basic setup is really simple now.  The "ocean" in on the left of the module. The dock runs out into it from the main dock area of the Market.  At the front of the module (bottom of the image) the road will lead into the scene. One road will run to the market with a gate and another will run to the right and up to the two buildings at the top of the image. There in a span between hills in the back where another small footbridge will lead off, but will most likely be blocked off with danger signs. :) A sea wall will face the ocean area.

I want the whole of the scene to be busy and full of action. The people on the boats are talking back and forth already and I love the look it gives.  It's like things are really interacting in the scene.

There will be many trucks, bikes and workers as well.

I used a black foam core piece for the base with additional foam core and foam pieces to build up the landscape. Standard tacky glue was used.

I painted up the ocean based on reference photos of Japan and the fishing areas there. I went with a green for the ocean base color. I mixed in some blues here and there including the area under the wood dock that extends into the water.

I used Woodland Scenics Realistic Water again and it was much easier to handle this round now that I know how it flows and moves. I poured into the center of the space and pulled it out to the edges and it conformed to the foam core perfectly. 

I think it's a great start to the harbor. I'm really pleased with how it's turning out so far.

Next step is the addition of the Woodland Scenincs Water Effects and setting in the boats. The water effects are going to be tough. They really need to be built up to work correctly. I think I may leave more of the water without effects this round. I'll start small and work up.



Comments and suggestions are welcome, as always.