Oil Rig Build Log - Part 3

Making progress! We've got it to a point where it's definitely playable terrain, but still needs some work.

Before we move on to the build report, a couple of interesting notes:

 Upside down it would make some totally awesome  terrain for Battletech!

 Also, it's built like a tank! Here we're using two tubs full of Lego to weigh it down while the glue dries. Lego aint light! (Yeah, Pete's got a ton of Lego. Plus check out that carpeting!)

Okay, back to the build! This round, we decided on and built the upper deck layout, mounted the support columns for the cranes, and tried out the helipad.

This was done on Saturday. Since then, we've been moving forward on some of the cover and loose terrain bits. Pete's put together some nice real wood pallets (1" x 1") and some crates:

I decided to scour the internet and start purchasing some of the more difficult to obtain items. In particular:

• The oil derrick. This is going to be tricky. Not only is it the biggest and most recognizable feature of the the project, but there are very few pre-built ones in a scale close enough! We decided to go ahead and order the Plastruct Electrical Towers & Oil Rig Kit from Hobbylinc. It came in today. However... the oil rig kit looks... a little... small. The girder bits are small and the base is only about 4" across. The instructions are almost useless, but the drawings are worthwhile. It might be useful to try building it as-is with the same philosophy as the cardboard mock-up.
• Forklifts. After some extensive searching, I found some roughly 1/64 scale die-cast forklifts made by Welly toys and bought two red ones off eBay for $5 each. They arrived today as well. The forklifts are pretty neat and look in-scale. They come with cheap plastic pallets that are 1" x 1 3/8", so Pete's should work fine.
• Winches. We are contemplating building winches from scratch, but seeing how work-intensive this project will be, we are weighing the price-to-work savings of some kits or pre-built parts. In this case, I found a Tugger Winch kit across the pond in the UK. I've sent them an e-mail for a quote, but it's looking like they'll end up being around $10 each. And we're talking about needing SIX...

P.S. We got the quote back - a $70 total. Looks like we'll be scratch-building them...