Concrete bridge piers I stained all wood parts yesterday so I could drybrush them this morning. I used a color not mentioned above: Tamiya XF-55 deck tan. It makes a more greyish look than XF-57 buff. To glue all the parts together I used a fast setting white glue (Ponal express). The next step was to find a technique to color the concrete bridge piers. The piers are made from 0.04'' styrene. XF-55 deck tan seemed to be a good basic color for aged concrete. But instaed of airbrushing I used a good ol' stiff brush and dabbed the color on the piers. The effect was a uneven surface with some bright spots. After a little bit of drying time, I used the the same brush, dampend it a bit and rubbed it on a brown piece of artists chalk. I again dabbed the chalk on the pier. Then I added some rust and dirt streaks from the top of the piers and finally drawed the "parting groove" between the upper and the lower part of the pier. The next step is airbrushing the "steel" parts of the bridge.
Picture of the day All woodworking is done! Last work was adding the sway bracing. I cutted the scale 10'' wide boards from a 0.02'' thick basswood strip.
More pics of the day ;-) Thanks to fast drying acrylic colors I can deliver some further photos. I used Modelflex Weathered Black for the "steel" parts. Some rust spots will be added later. ----- A view from above without provisional track. I will use ME code 55 bridgetrack on the module and also added guard timbers as on the prototype. ----- At last the "classic" viewing angle as on Nick Harvey-Phillips inspiring prototype picture Yes, I have to admit I´m a little bit proud about the result. It was my first attempt to scratchbuild a model of a real piece of railroad infrastructure, it is my first "wooden" structure in N scale and my second at all. So with a bit of planning ahead and the courage to try out new techniques or develop your own you are able to achieve something really individual and prototypical for your layout. Give scratchbuilding a try!
Das sieht auch wirklich sehr gut aus :thumbs_up: (it looks really good) And it might lure me into scratchbuilding a bridge myself. I have several road bridges that I probably have to scratchbuild to match the location. I might use parts to the Rixx concrete bridge, but would prefer some stone bridge. Should fit the 1950's era.
Looking Great! Wow! That is a great looking bridge! Thank you very much for taking the time to photo and describe what you did to help those of us just trying to figure out where to start . Keep up the good work and I know this module is going to turn out beautiful. NCDaveD
Continuing work on the segments (1) After finishing the bridge, I prepared the segment for a first test setup. To route the slots for the bents and piers I draw the outlines on the backside of the styrofoam sheet and used my Dremel with the Multipurpose Cutting Kit. Work the slots in counterclockwise direction and you are able to route very exactly. As I laid the sheet on an even surface and tried to testfit the bridge parts, I noticed that the bents were ways to short.... No, just kidding. The problem was that the styrofoam sheet bended upwards. There seems to be some tension when about 2/3rds of the material are removed from one side and the original surface is interrupted by the "cut" for the raod. The solution was simple: After I made sure the slots for the bridgeparts were right, I glued a 40mm (1 1/2 '') thick reinforcement sheet on the lower side:
Continuing work on the segments (2) The next step was preparing the roadbed. Since we use butt joints at americaN, a sturdy base is needed at the module and segments ends. First I needed ten pieces of hardwood roadbed. From a hardwood strip 0.12'' x 0.8'' I made long 1.2'' segments. To file the 20 slopes, I made a little fixture from two C-clamps, to pieces of wood and four screws. In the backgruond you can see the finished roadbed pieces. Since I also like to have a roadbed with a realistic slope of about 1 1/2 :1, I cut 7/8'' wide cork stripes from 0.12'' thick cork sheets. After the roadbed is installed, I use brown spackle to form the slope. An easy way to make sure the stripes all come out in the same width, I use again the two C-clamps and a piece of wood as an arrester for the edge of the cork sheet. Two additional pieces of styrene in the desired width make it easy to place the steel ruler always at the right distance for cutting: Now I could start with the work on the segments. I glued the wooden roadbed on the wooden frames and filed the pieces flush after the glue hardened. The cork roadbed was glued to the Styrofoam "inlay", so both parts are still separate. In the image below you see the frame and the inlay of one of the angular sections:
Some photos of the focal point of the module... ...should not be kept back. You bet I had to make some test shots: [/PHP] BTW: The black lines are the guides for the roads drainage ditches. I still have to correct the slopes under the trestles.
Preparation for track laying Hallo again, after a longer hiatus I´m back on work on the module. The last work I did last year in August was speckling the slope of the roadbed: To fix the rail ends at the module end, I solder them on PC board tie stripes. The PCB tie strip I use match the thickness and tie spcing of Atlas Code 55 track, so they are a bit out of dimension for the ME track I will use on this module, but after painting and ballasting it will not be a problem. I use two-part epoxy adhesive to glue the stripe piece in place. For an exact fit and to avoid a too big gap between the rail and the pcb-ties, I fix the tie stripe with double-sided tape on a piece of flex track. And the tie stripe covers both ends of adjoining segments: When the epoxy is hardend I cut the stripe it with a very thin file (just 0.015 inches "thick"):
Butt joins on module ends Meanwhile I laid the tracks on some segments. At the FREMO we do not use joiner tracks or joiner rails between modules. Instead we run the rails right to the endplates. Before I solder the rails to the PC board ties, I tin coat both the ties and the bottom side of the rail. Then I put some waterproof white glue on the roadbed and bond the track in place. After some minutes I solder the rails on the tiestripe. Of course I precut the track a little bit longer than the module. I use a diamond disk to cut the rails almost flush with the endplates and then I use a mill file to finally shorten the rails. Be aware to press the end onto the faceplate and only touch the rails in the downward motion. Take it away from the rails on the backtrack. I finally check the rails using an metal straightedge. If I can pull it along the faceplate without hitching the rails, it´s okay. If not, I use a needle file to get away the last fractions of a millimeter. Then I check the track gauge with a NMRA gauge. If necessary I correct the gauge with the help of the soldering iron. On the last picture you see a short segment with the perpendicular future module join to the right and the skewed segment join to the left. A small but important feature can be seen on the left end: small tapers on the inner sides of the railheads. And of course I cutted an (expansion) gap in the rails to avoid tension in the rails. The feeder wires will later be soldered right to the tie stripes.
Bernd, Thanks for keeping us updated, especially with detailed photos of the process. I've been following the debate on the flush tracks for the Free-MoN standard so it's nice to see your construction methods. Keep posting progress photos when you have them!
The track is laid... I just finished tracklaying on the last segment. All railends are now soldered to the PCB ties, filed to the correct length and slightly champfered. And all rails have an "expansion gap". The first "rolling tests" were satisfying. The imperfection that can been seen in those long focus photos are not really noticable if you look at the module nor do they affect the performance of the rolling stock. Yes, the whole module is 12 feet long.... What I forgot to document is the making of the superelevation in the two curves. I did not raise the outer side of the track. Instead I sanded the cork roadbed. In the photo below you can see the decent but IMHO very realistic looking effect.
Wiring is done, train is running Last week I finished the wiring Here is a segment join with four feeder wires soldered to the PCB tiestripe. After painting and ballasting they will be almost invisible. The feeder wires are made of silverplated copperwire and are just a little bit longer than the thickness of the styrofoam sheet. And that´s the look from below: the feeder wires are soldered to short pieces of stranded wire. Unbelievable, it´s running :thumbs_up:
Hi, thanks for your comments and compliments and yes, the module will be part of the americaN layout at the US-Convention in Rodgau/Germany. So after the functional test at the FREMO meeting next weekend in Lauffen the countdown starts for creating the scenery!
First test runs Since we use wing nuts and wing bolts to connect the modules instead of C clamps, it´s nescessary to make to holes in every faceplate. I prefer to make the holes after I laid the tracks! To mark the correct position, I use a simple paper template with some pencil lines The first test of the module was at last weekends FREMO americaN meeting in Lauffen, Germany.
