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Hi Guys, just a quick question

Has anyone had experience in building wooden docks? the rickety, old and worn kind. Reason being was that I was planning on building a diorama that included some "pirate looking" miniatures that were fighting on a dock. From what ive found so far (which hasnt been much) people have been using Popsicle (ice lolly for us in the uk!) sticks to make them.
Does anyone have or know of any good tutorials or just know how to build it?

Many thanks

One thing you could use are larger-sized twigs. They will appear to have the scale of logs, and should do well, and do actually have a fair bit of strength once you assemble the structure. Popsicle sticks are good, but make sure you use the skinny stirring sticks, as regular fat pospicle sticks just don't quite do the trick. I mean, how often do you recall seeing a dock made of planks that were each one and a half feet across?

Failing the sticks/twigs, some dowell might do the trick. I like the sticks because of the texture and shape, and seeing as you are going for a rickety piratey number, the extra bend will give it the convincing look.

Wooden stirrers also tend to have a cheaper, rougher finish compared to lollipop sticks. For primary structure you could also use chunks of sprue whittled down to square or rectangular sections. Trim the stuff roughly to get a more natural finish.

Hi guys, thanks alot Those are some great ideas. Will check out the wooden stirrers, and really like the idea of twigs as the supports.

 Flinty wrote:
Wooden stirrers also tend to have a cheaper, rougher finish compared to lollipop sticks. For primary structure you could also use chunks of sprue whittled down to square or rectangular sections. Trim the stuff roughly to get a more natural finish.

if you have a hobby saw, and run the blade down the length of the sprue, you can roughen up the surface of the plastic and make it look more woody.

You might want to check on the Freebooter's Fate forum. Mostly in German but the guys are very helpful.

For example this thread: http://www.freebooterminiatures.de/en/forum/2353 or the one that spawned it: http://www.freebooterminiatures.de/en/forum/1471

Other ressources I found useful for Piraty things: Handcannon Online and Shifting Lands.

If you don't have the time but the money, you should check out Ainsty Castings' Riverfront range. They have a -20%sale running until the end of March, incidentally. (Might want to check out their Pirate Ships, as well, in case you don't know where to throw your money...)

If you wanted to work in plastic, the Goblin Town scenery for The Hobbit released by Games Workshop would work rather well for the look you are after.

The GW book "How to make Wargames Terrain" contains a nice tutorial on a wooden bridge. The techniques could very easily be adapted to a dock or jetty.

I try to work with very soft woods (like balsa), when I can, as it makes it easier to bring out a rough grain - just go over the surface with a cheap brass brush. If you really want the timber beat up, give it a quick press or roll (depending on the shape) on some rough pavement - it will round off the edges irregularly and provide some nice, scattered gouges.

Coffee stirrers have the perfect shape for planking and disposable chopsticks can be shaped into convincing timber (on the smaller side, at least), but the ones that I've found are, surprisingly, rather tight-grained and hard wood. At that point, any grain that you add is artificial, so you might as well use styrene. This is one of those rare cases when you want the crappiest wood you can find.

commissarbob wrote:
If you wanted to work in plastic, the Goblin Town scenery for The Hobbit released by Games Workshop would work rather well for the look you are after.

angry badger games or something like that makes a cheaper look alike.


you can cut styrene plasticard sheets into strips as wide as you want planks, then drag a hack saw blade or razorsaw perpendicular down the strip to create woodgrains and then shave the filings off with your fingernail easily enough.

All great suggestions, thanks alot guys! I went and bought some coffee stirrers (very cheap) so just waiting for them to arrive. I can see how they would make the perfect shape. Checked out that website with all the piratey stuff on it.. some of those pieces are very nice !