Take it easy on me, it's my first attempt...(Updated pics)

[dave9999]

...at scratch building anything.

I need a small fishing/boat pier for my pond that I am modeling. I had
thought of trying to find one at the hobby shop. And then it hit me... I have
seen everything I need to build a pier at Walmart in the crafts department.

I bought some small dowel, some wood strips and some stain. In all
the project cost me less than ten dollars. And I have enough wood left
to do probably fifty more piers... if I needed them. Anyway, here's the
finished product. What do you think? And be honest. Thanks, Dave

(click for a larger view)

[simon1966]

It looks good to me. One minor criticism is that the diagonal cross brace does not look like crosses the left upright enough, but then again, this may be out of sight on the layout when installed. Good job.

[Anonymous]

I'll give it a 95 out of 100! [tup]

Maybe a different, lower 'value' color on the wood (it looks too freshly creosoted) - perhaps gray wash with a hint of moss green.

[dave9999]

Thanks Simon,
I was thinking the same thing. I will probably need to raise it anyway or it will be "under water"
when it is in place on the pond.

Ken,
Wow, a 95 out of 100... you're just being nice. I plan to "old" it up a little. I picked the
stain color for the cresote look... I can almost smell the cresote now[:D]. Dave

[grandeman]

I like it. Good job Dave.

[BMRR]

Looks good to me.

Stan.

[Anonymous]

Looks great. Did you stain the wood before assembly or after?

[JohnT14808]

It looks good, Dave. It looks like you have room for a fisherman or two as well. It should fit into your layout real nice!!

[randybc2003]

BRAVO!!! You'r Getin' smart!!! [^]
I would place a second cross-brace on the next bent - opposite in direction to the 1st., forming a "cross" in the "mug shot".

How will you "install" it on the layout? What do you expect to use for "water"?

Now I met this little mermaid the other day............

Randy

[Virginian]

I think it looks good. It looks way better than the real pier my cousin built.

[dehusman]

Now that you are learning to scratchbuild, start thinking about getting two of the most important tools you can have: a calculator and a digital or dial caliper. With the calipers you can measure thicknesses, spacing, etc of materials, plus dimensions from drawings and diagrams. With the calculator its a snap to convert betwen scales or from real dimensions to scale dimensions. Virtually every project I make I have my calipers, calculator, pencil and pad of paper handy.

A scale inch is .011" so it becomes fairly easy to estimate lumber sizes, every .010" is about an in thick. A 2x8 in HO would be a .020 x .080 piece. If you used 1/16" wood, that would represent about 6" thick boards. If the real board is only 2" thick, and you can measure things, next time you choose 1/32 or 1/64' balsa or go to .020 styrene. As you start to think about the sizes of your materials, you start to use finer materials and your modeling improves.

Keep going!

Dave H.

[MisterBeasley]

Dude, you have been found skillful by a jury of your, uh, piers. I can hear the waves lapping at the posts, and your girlfriend saying, "No, you have to gut it."

And if you make 50 more, I'll take one. It would look great on Moose Bay.

[ukguy]

I'll concur with the rest of the guys... 'looks good Dave, cant wait to see the finished scene. The other structures in the background look great too.

Keep it up
Karl.

[egmurphy]

The dock looks fine to me.

Got to work on that shoreline a bit though. [swg]


Regards

Ed

[AggroJones]

Looks fine.

[dave9999]

First of all, thanks everyone for the words and encouragement. This was a "get my feet
wet" project. I would like to do more... and hopefully get better. If I could scratch build like
some of the guys on here, I'd quit work to stay home and build stuff all day.

Dave H.,
Thanks for the advice.
I have dial calipers and micrometers from my machining days. I know the boards on the
pier are a little too wide, as well as too thick. They actually scale out to about twenty inches
wide[:O]. Thanks again, Dave

[ereimer]

nice !
i'd love to see it with a little guy sitting on the end of the pier with his fishing line in the water

[twhite]

Dave--you just showed me what I'm missing at Bullard's Bar lake, and I thank you. That's a nifty little dock, and REALLY well done! Now I'm off to Michael's to get some supplies and build one for my WS Fishing guys. Nice job!
Tom [:D][bow]

[dave9999]

Here's a rough idea of how it will look when I get it in place. Of course I have a lot of
landscaping to do, not to mention the water. Dave

[Anonymous]

Very nice![:D] My first attempt at scratchbuilding was a little loading ramp. It didnt look near that good. By now I have moved on to making buidings and rolling stock. You will find that scratchbuilding is much easier then people think it is. I have still yet to get a caliper due to the cost, I just rely on markings on the packages of material. Good job and keep on building!!!

[selector]

Very nice, Dave. I'm sure you're thrilled at how well it turned out. I also like how your concrete coaling tower turned out...great work!

[Anonymous]

Looks good to me!

[davekelly]

Looks good to me! Somehow I'm thinking that you've just been hit with a new infection - scratchbuilding. I've heard that once you start there's no turning back!

[dave9999]

QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

Very nice, Dave. I'm sure you're thrilled at how well it turned out. I also like how your concrete coaling tower turned out...great work!

Thanks.
As for the coaling tower, I still need to fini***he chutes. I going to replace the thread
that they provided with some scale chain... when I get around to it[:D]. Dave

[dave9999]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

Looks good to me! Somehow I'm thinking that you've just been hit with a new infection - scratchbuilding. I've heard that once you start there's no turning back!

I think you're right. I build full scale structures everyday... I should be able to build little bity ones. Dave

[dave9999]

I'm almost ready to pour the water. Here's a couple of shots of the pond and the pier.
I'll be pouring the water tomorrow night after everything has had time to set-up and
dry. Dave

(Click)

[selector]

All I could think of, drooling over that bridge (aside from how well the scenics are coming along!), was, "Man, would I love to weather that!!!"

Love your taste in locos, too.