Porthpol harbour – a recent development. A suitable piece of sandpaper, about the right colour for wet sand will form the small beach.
The white area (you can’t see it has been scribed) behind the beach is sloping masonry, and the small pier (Wills cobbles and embossed stonework of uncertain lineage) is on a composite polystyrene base with a piece of plywood on top to enforce rigidity. The stonework will receive some further "tidal" weathering at the bottom. The steps are cardboard. Nearby Porthmeor beach at St Ives has black rock, probably basalt, but this is a lump of slate. It is assumed the pier is built on top of a natural formation, and lines up with the gateway (Launceston) leading back into Fore St. (yes, it’s only a cardboard mock up so far…..)
I prefer to model buildings which are local, or at least regional.
On the left is a pub from St Just (a commercial model). The cottage, based on one in Mousehole is under construction (using a roof recycled from a previous building), and low relief bakery which is an accurate model of 38 Southside St, in Plymouth (an 18th century façade fronting an Elizabethan rear). More construction to follow now that road alignment and levels are defined. The station is off to the right.
Lots of head scratching has gone on whilst thinking about how deep to construct the pier, and how high the tide will go - the railway quay is about 3cm higher, assuming it will be serving medium size cargo vessels rather than small fishing boats. Also, there would be a desire to ensure that track level is above the maximum of spring tides plus a storm surge.