Unterfeuer Westerooge

While I wait for the electrical gubbins to arrive I've been working on the lighthouse that will hopefully set the scene and hide the fiddleyard a bit. Actually the model is not of a traditional lighthouse as much as an 'Unterfeuer' which I think translates as a 'Navigation light'. An Unterfeuer tends to be smaller than a lighthouse, and works with an 'Oberfeuer', which is much taller and usually further inland, so that ships can line up the towers or lights to guide themselves through river or sea channels. The model is based on an Unterfeuer at Baumrönne, one of several which work in conjunction with the Altenbruch Oberfeuer, and is not too far from where Westerooge is supposed to be. As an added advantage the height of the Baumronne Unterfeuer in 1:43 scale is almost exactly the length of a standard tube from a roll of kitchen towels.

I'm debating if I should have the windows clear or of they should have a card backing, as the picture of the original seems to show the windows being largely shuttered. I know I could make a detailed interior, but 'Westerooge' is supposed to be a short-term project and I'd like to finish it before we go to visit my family in mid-May. This isn't as ambitious as it sounds: I've ordered the remaining electrical parts so they will arrive any day now, and I already have all the track and scenic bits for finishing off what will be a fairly flat model, so I think things will speed up now, as long as I don't keep procrastinating.

I'm already planning the summer project: I'll tell you about it in the next blog entry.

[Update: Just as I was about to publish this entry, DHL delivered a box of electrical goodies]