#011 04 Tybee Pier - Em-pier-acle Error

I'm so excited!  My daughter read her first pages out of a book today at four and a half years old!  That's not all she's doing.  We are starting to build models together.  Like my father and his father before him, I'm starting her out with Popsicle sticks.  She'll be a MMR in no time!

She is learning fine motor skills, leveling, how to glue (go away, Bob) and perspective.  Taylor is a natural and has inherited my family's artistic skills.

Rex the Wonder Stegosaurus was the first to give the decking a weight test.  Coming in a 10 tons he managed to stay out of the drink.

Actually that shot was just to test the new light out.  Some of my magnifying lamps have old bulbs.  The one I replaced today has been working since I was 15 years old without replacement!  These new daylight deluxe bulbs don't give the yellow light that is screwing up my pictures.  They are about $7.00 each, so I'll replace the other two shortly.

A few friends have asked "why do you blog since you don't get paid for it?"  I do it for me.  For many years I've recorded everything I've done in composition notebooks.  It is great for words and drawings, but not for photos.  Blogs are easy and searchable note pads and I'm finding this is a fabulous way to keep track of what I'm doing (example in a few minutes) and to share it with friends.  I learn a ton from the comments that friends send or post.  Post some of your own!

Tonight we are decking the pier.  Its very simple, though a bit tedious.  We'll use Elmer's glue VERY sparingly and put the boards down as square as possible.  Each board will be monitored for color and shape.  Warped boards will be thrown out if they can't be made to give the pier appeal.

Using a steel square, we get started.  I put a few boards down and while the glue was wet I squared them up.  Notice that I use lighter and darker boards together and try not to use too many of the same kind in a row.  My wife came down and in her loving way said "boardwalks don't have a joint down the middle!"  After I picked her up off the floor I explained to her that this was a dock and since it was so wide (32 feet) the boards, only being 16 feet long, would need a seem.  I could alternate them, but since track will be laid directly on them they needed the extra strength under the track of the solid board.  Then I said something to the effect of "it's my !@#$!# railroad!"   She left.

(this is a joke...my wife is VERY supportive of the hobby)

A note to myself.  Scott, you need a thin one of these.  This one is TOO heavy.

Here we are well into the planking.  I just put barely enough glue so that it doesn't seep through the boards.  Then, using a very sharp pair of curved end tweezers, I drop the boards into place and push them with the tweezers points to a tight fit.  I only fell off the pier and into the water once.  Damn.  I forgot to put a ladder on this thing.

In my drawer full of gauges and rules I have these handy aluminum containers with glass tops.  In these I keep scale things the I use for perspective.  Bill the traveling salesman was removed (he's HO scale) and he was assigned to walk the pier.

Here you can get a feel for the size of the pier.  Bill is standing where the track will be.  In my drawer I keep scale cars, people and other common items to use as a reference or a photo prop.

Crap!  I ran out of planks!  But I cut for an hour!  Looks like I have an empirical issue in my ciphering.  Not the first time.  Ok, we'll stop for tonight and make some more (a lot more) planks tomorrow.  This project is moving along fast and I can't wait to see it done!

Here is the planking from the canopy of my Sopwith Camel fighter plane....

(sputter, sputter....cough....cough)....uh oh...low on fuel.

...back into the ocean again!

#010 04 Tybee Pier - Pier-amid Scheme

After home-made chilli and some fun with the family (my daughter flushed something still unidentified down the toilet and stopped it up) I headed back down to the dungeon.  Tonight: Clint Eastwood in For A Few Dollars More.

We need to put the sway braces on the short side of the pier...time to make some sawdust.

The same sway braces are used for the sides, so I cut a bunch of them on the chopper which was still set up from the last cut.

Here is how the pier is looking.  My wife had no comment when I showed it to her.

A little closer view.

Here is a section of track (no ties will be on the model) just to see how it looks.  Just what I wanted.

After distressing and cutting I taped them with Scotch tape to the glass for painting and weathering.

While the braces are drying I double checked the measurements for the decking, which is the same as the sway braces, but will be weathered a little more heavily.  To do this PERFECTLY the top should be weathered more than the bottom.  These are 14' planks.

I started cutting deck planks.  The chopper makes this job go quickly!  Indio just shot the guy that put him in jail.

A quick reminder to find some Scotch Tape.  I've used up two rolls.  There used to be a lot on a roll, so I guess the economy has struck 3M.  Hmmmm...

Here is a shot with the sway bracing.

Now for the decking. After distressing 13 sticks of 1" x 9" board I cut out 150 planks and started taping them down.  They just blew up the bank in El Paso.

Here are some finished deck planks.  Excellent look!  I love board by board construction, especially when Clint Eastwood just shot three of Indio's men for breakfast.

The decking is all painted and weathered.  Tomorrow I'll try to get about an hour and put them down.

It takes a while to do this but the pier is looking great!

#009 04 Tybee Pier - Pier-adigm Shift

Hello and welcome to the I'm With Stupid Show!  Again, your genius blogger has freaked up the model.  Not bad for two days in a row!  Next time you feel that you've done something wrong, just read my blog and you'll feel better.  I'm here for you, man!

Early this morning I snuck down to the train shop and put together another bent and left it to dry.

Later I came back and flipped it over so that I could but the sway braces on.

Using my handy glass top I squeezed Elmer's directly on to the surface.

Carefully I dip both ends of the sway brace into the glue being carful to only get a very small amount onto the board's ends.

Using a very good pair of tweezers (slightly curved points, sharp, precision stainless steel) I lower the brace into place.

...and then I shove the final parts into the assembly jig.

Great!  Right after breakfast the last bent is dry.

They are coming out straight and with the mottled color that I wanted.

Here are the magnificent seven!  The one on the left is Uyl Brenner.

Referencing my drawings I double check the measurements of the small bent against my jig just to make sure they match.  Good!  The left hand side of the jig will be used for making the smaller bents.

Back on the chopper I set up the fence for the dimension and start making sawdust.  We'll only need four of the caps and eight of the sway braces.  All of the pilings are cut and stained.

Here are the small bend top caps.  I'll distress them with the saw on all sides.

After cutting the sway braces with the Northwest Shortline Chopper, I stick them to some Scotch Magic Tapic and paint/stain them CAREFULLY.  I'm using a dry brush technique here to avoid warping.

Here is the test bent.  The boards look off center, but that is just the odd camera angle.  It is amazing how strong these guys are.

With the caps and braces stained we start to assemble the four bents.  This will go quickly.

In about 7 minutes it is braced on both sides and dry.

I put another one together in the jig and while it is drying I'll work on the Pier Wall.  These boards are overhanging and need to be cut off flush.  Normally I use my jeweler's saw, but there is not enough room.

The Zona Saw is very sharp and makes quick work of it.  You have to watch the Zona Saw because it has a top cap along the blade for support.  As you cut something long the cap starts to defect the blade.  That is why I like the jeweler's saw better.

Here we have a nice cut along the end of the wall.  I'll hit it with the palm sander and flatten it out.

I cut this end with the Zona and got the deflection that I talked about.  It leans a bit, so I'll hit it with the sander to level it out.

It is more uneven than the sander can handle, so I'll have to cut some more off.  This time I used a rule to keep the blade straight.  When you do this use a STEEL rule, not an aluminum one as the saw will cut into the aluminum.

Once sanded it is now flush.  I'll come back and touch up the color later.

On the small inside wall, which is hidden by the pier somewhat, I quickly install the boards which were cut on the chop saw.  I was careful not to use too much glue.  Get used to using less and less Elmer's glue.  It is very strong and a little goes a long way, while a lot will ruin the surface of the model.

There!  All done.  Now, while still building bents, we'll finish the long back wall.

All four small bents are now done.  That went quickly!

Since I'm through with the bents I put the jig, the test bents, left over pilings and pieces into a Glad Brand Zipper Bag and labeled it.  This way I know what the jig is, what it can make, some pieces to used to set up saws and a couple of samples.

Good Thing:  My daughter stops by to steal an animal cracker and give me a kiss.

Bad Thing:  energetic daughter doesn't watch where she is walking and knocks the module over with a CRASH.  All of the track supports were destroyed and will have to be replaced.  The luan is damaged as well, so we'll need to do some repairs.  Actually I'm amazed that it took such a shock and didn't explode.  I had not screwed the risers in yet, otherwise it would not have broken at all.  This shows me that the single leg "kick leg" is not enough for the stand along module.

Hey Bob....what should I do?

Since I'm through benting...I'll clean up the work space and prepare for the final assembly stops.

Here is the back pier wall drying with the use of clamps and Rick's Popsicle Sticks.  I still have some glue sneaking out and promise to use even less next time.

WARNING:  DON'T USE THE DRAWING SHOWN HERE AS IT IS INCORRECT.  IT SHOULD BE REVERESED WHEN YOU GLUE THE BENTS ON.  ERROR NUMBER TWO FOR THE GENIUS AT THE WORK BENCH.

Using two print outs (it all won't fit on one page) I pieced the top view drawing on the glass and then covered it with wax paper using some Scotch Tape.

I cut the remaining stained boards (some are only partially stained) and then distressed, painted and stained the untreated sides.  Be sure to get the ends!

Using just a very tiny bit of glue here and there I lightly glued the runners in place just to hold them steady.  We'll need to lift them off the wax paper later.

Using a steel right angle with a soem weight on the bottom I put glue where the bent and runner intersect and glued them into place giving each bent time to dry before placing the others.  If you don't they will fall over like dominoes if you bump them.

It is here that I began thinking about how the bents would look on the front and noticed I HAD BUILD IT BACKWARDS!  Shit.

You have to flip the drawing when you build it upside down.  Now I'm in a pickle.  The bents won't come off.

I took the Zona Saw and cut through the runners.  We'll go ahead and assemble it, then move the smaller pier to the other side.  Crap.  That is not going to look good.

Here is the upside down pier with all the bents installed.  I'll come back tonight and make some sway braces for the sides.  These board by board structures, while very simple to make (when you aren't making mistakes) are VERY impressive and make people go "Wow!  You scratcbuilt that?"  A kit for a piere like this would cost you $70.  As it sits it probably cost me $24.

Edited 01-20-10  The Blogger was smoking weed, per the Blogger's wife.  My cost for this (Miss Slavedriver keeps all the receipts) is more like $60.  I forgot that I paid for the deck boards a long time ago, and forgot a side trip to Hobby Lobby.  Next time, I'll buy a kit! :) 

The bents are nicely colored.

Here you can see the cut.

Almost done!  Just need another hour to put the sway braces on the side, and then another two hours or so for planking the top and adding details (which I won't put on yet.)

We'll keep the top flat for now until we mount it in the water.  You can get some warpage when you pour water around an object so we want a flat surface for the weights we'll need on top.

Ok, not a disaster, but not a contest winner either.  But I'm not after big contest wins, just the 87.5 points I need for a structure in the NMRA AP program.