Towards the end of my projects imperfections catch one's attention more and more. In the current project, it's the water. It's too clear, a slight opacity would be more realistic. Furthermore, the ripples, caused by currents are only visible from a certain angle. Here is an additional need to improve something.

 

I got a little time in and worked on the brass ladders. In absence of an alternative, I soldered it piece by piece. Countless attempts failed and there are more then one burn marks on my desk! To hold the tiny parts, I had to create or modify some appropriate clothespinds. As you might expected, there are still a lot of ladders to do!

 

Here another detail shot of the mechanism and the stonework. 

A prominent detail of the construction: The lower most gearwheels were protected (from flooding?) by some sort of fenders. They seem to be of zinc coated sheet metal (may be it's more artistic license then reality), so I tried to represent that kind of surface by using a new technique copied from figure modelers: the wet-in-wet acrylic method. As basecolor I used Citadel game Color, Boltgun Metal. Then I applied very thin cloudy coats of creamy white and traces of dark and light rust. This technique allowes you to control the colors carefully. 

 

As I had described bevor, the whole arrangement is dividided in an underwater and a surface zone. So the unbeloved creeping up the bank and walls can be prevented. As a consequence I had to poure in all parts up to the waterline, i.E. the walls, the piling and the water gauge.