Some finishing details...

[tetters]

Hello again,

I was getting to the point where I thought I was almost done. Then as I began to survey my work, I noticed some details that were just bugging me. So I made some changes which I hope will improve the over all look of the slip in the end.



I started by removing the upper piece and redoing some of the structure up there. I fashioned some upper brackets out of some brass stock which are a little closer to what is on the prototype bridges. The brackets were drilled and four pieces of music wire were inserted "nailing" them in place.




I also made some new top plates for the tension cables. I used some brass shim stock measured, cut to shape, drilled holes, and bent some eyelets and inserted into the three end holes. I used the plywood as a jig of sorts. Once I soldered the eyelets in place, I then bent the ends down... like the prototype.



The top plates were then glued with pilobond to the top piece. The wood was drilled and four pieces of music wire were inserted into the four holes. These were also soldered. The Pilobond activates when heated which makes for a very strong bond. Once cooled, I trimmed the music wire down to give the appearance of bolts.



No project goes without its mishaps though. This piece snapped clean off due to all the handling. It was easily repaired thankfully.



More structure replaced. The blocking was moved down, to allow the angle bracing to match the 45 degree angle as seen in the prototype photos.



I also added some additional bracing and blocking to where the counterweights are located.



I managed to get one of the counterweights re-installed. The brass pulley wheels were also filed down to a smaller diameter which I think looks better then the larger size they once were. I also put a coat of Rail Brown paint on the rails, added a whole bunch of nut/bolt/washer details courtesy of Grandt Line, and oh yeah, applied a grey ink wash to the wood to give it that nice old and weathered wood look.

Working hard to get this done. Almost there.