I saved some offcuts of the iron-on veneers to use them on the extension for the sea lock. These veneers have a short storage life, perhaps three or four weeks. I wrapped the offcuts in cling flim and put them in the garden shed away from the central heating but they still curled up along their long axes. So when the kit to build the extension baseboard arrived, I built it straight away.
The baseboard is a standard module from Grainge and Hodder, 400 mm long and 400 mm deep, with the front cut away to make a space for the sea lock.
I have reinforced the front edge of the top and the slimmed-down front of the module with parts provided to use as diagonals.
The structural bases for the sea lock (right) and the extension of the basin (left) are some 6 mm ply left over from another project. I cut locating slots in the frame not the new parts because this makes it so much easier to align the new parts.
Fixing the extension of the basin. The block of softwood here is simply holding the base of the basin level, it is not a part of the model.
The idea is to make the course of the Navigation appear to curve to the right and drop away towards sea level.
The original idea was to put the lock gates at the baseboard joint, but this wouldn't work because the arm for working the gate of the sea lock would be crossing the headshunt. So this arm will be beyond the headshunt, near the pencil.
The veneers flattened themselves out quite well after I brought them back indoors, but they don't like being stored for any extended period.