Bridge building in balsa

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Gavin Miller

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Aug 4, 2002
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Vic

The Windex did have some effect but not enough to hold the balsa as tight as I had curved it.

Anyway, I had already traced my bridge outline onto the styrene sheet. I scored along the curved line with my Exacto knife then bent and snapped the sheet to release my new road surface.

In this picture I have laid it on top of the bridge to test fit ... perfect!

Sorry, couldn't resist. Had to place some vehicles on it to get an idea of how it will look when finished.

I took a bit of a risk starting this thread without knowing how the project would turn out. However so far I am pleased with my progress. Hope I don't screw it up now (with everyone watching!) haha

At least I have achieved the goal of disguising the hole in the backdrop.
 

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Vic

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Hi Gavin, Absolutly no chance of you screwing this one up!!! That is just great! Looks just like part of a major highway interchange.
Please post more pics as progress is made.
 
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NYCentral

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Gavin,

Thanks for the photo's and inforamtion on your bridge building technique. You did a great job, it looks fantastic. I may borrow it for my own layout to cover an area wher three tracks disappear behind a few buildings in a city scene.:cool:
 
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Gavin Miller

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Not much has been happening on my bridge project. This close to Christmas too much to do and so little time.

I have decided to use solid "concrete" bridge edges rather than plastic railings. Just to get an idea what they will look like I have cut out one piece (from sheet styrene) and cemented it to the road/deck edge. I will paint it grey and line it with pencil to represent poured concrete sections. But for now, back to all the 1 to 1 scale jobs I have to do before Christmas!
 

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Gavin Miller

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Okay, it's Boxing Day. Everyone is relaxing. Time to sneak off to the hobby room and advance the bridge project a little.

Those of you who have followed this thread to learn from my mistakes - here's one. The 1mm styrene sheet I used for the "concrete" barrier looked too thin. I decided to buy a packet of Plastruct 1/4" wide (2mm thick) styrene strips (stock #90769)and cement them to the opposite side of the bridge to compare the two thicknesses. I definitely prefer the 2mm (on the left) to the 1mm (on the right).

As I coudn't find any styrene shapes to represent the "web" at the base of the barriers I bought a packet of Plastruct 1.5mm styrene quarter-rounds (stock #90893) which, to my eye anyway, create the desired effect from normal viewing distances.
 

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Gavin Miller

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I have now completed and painted the barriers on my highway overpass.

A lesson I learned after I had three quarters completed them is that you can bend the Plastruct styrene strip to get it curved before attempting to cement it to the curved bridge deck. By "over bending" it (without snapping it!) it relaxes into a comfortable bend which makes it much easier to handle. (I began by applying cement to straight pieces and holding them against the curve while they dried - much harder).
 

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Ben H

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Great job of bridge building!!!! The overall scene is very together, great backdrop, nice flow to the pieces and great color relationship.

Super scene--------
 
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