Test run of the jetty pier supports

I have been working on the design for the jetty supports, based off of the one available image I have found. There are numerous ways I could have built them, but I decided to try this method first. The method was to make a kind of stamp to in-print into the clay. As you can see, the former is pretty crude to say the least! Note I've also drilled holes to help release the clay (although this really wasn't necessary as I found out.

I don't think need I really need to explain every photo as they can explain themselves. But I will add that the end initial result (i.e. before drying) isn't too bad considering! I will be sanding it after it has dried to try and remove some of the roughness - hopefully it will work, but we'll see how strong it is and whether it can support rough handling.

Fingers crossed it all works out OK...