Thanks Gus. This bridge is much simpler to build then the other one. I may reconsider that once I start adding the nut-bolt-washer castings.

Here is a ballast check, just to see what it looks like. Still have to add the walkways and handrails. For the walkways, I am going to use roofwalks which have been removed from my modernized boxcars.

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And a bit of work on the bents, now off to bed.

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My only question Gary...

When do you sleep???

This is great progress and looks really good, as usual.

Sleep? Oh, sometime around 2:00am I guess. I did spend the majority of the day yesterday working on this bridge. Thanks for the compliments! So far, this one is coming along quickly.

Had to do some more "styrene strip to wood" conversion, so I took a few photos. The photos aren't all that great, so instead of doing a seperate tutorial, I'll do it here. This technique is relatively well known, and works nicely to represent wood. My apologies for the lack of detail in the photos.

First, take the styrene and scrape it with a fine tooth razor knife. Mostly along the length, but at various angles too, and even some "back and forth" to rough things up. Probably best to do too much instead of not enough - don't want any untouched spots because they will definitely be noticable after painting.

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Next, put on the paint. I used gray, mid-brown, and slightly dark brown craft paint. Thin it just a tad with water, just a bit, definitely not a wash, just enough thinning to make the paint flow. Slop the paint on, alternating the brush dips in the three colors, blend them together on the plastic, but you also want variations in the colors too. It's okay to have just the gray, and just the light brown for stretches. Don't want anything uniform.

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After that dries, next comes the wash. I used a black wash and a brown wash, thinned with water and alcohol. Start putting the wash on, sometimes dipping the brush in the black, sometimes in the brown, but mostly the black. It helps to keep a bowl of water handy, just in case the wash is too strong, dip the brush in the water and spread the already applied wash a bit thinner on the styrene. It is okay o be sloppy here, but keep in mind that the entire point is to have the black wash go into the grooves that we created with the razor knife.

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Now let that dry, then comes dry-brushing. Use some gray, dip a soft brush in, twirl it around with the aim of getting the paint into the inside of the brush. Then using a piece of paper and a cloth, take most of the paint off the brush. Then gently brush over the styrene, what we want here is the paint to go only on the raised portions of the "wood", leaving the black in the grooves. This is one technique that takes practice, but is hugely worth it, and not just for making fake wood. Really and truly, everything on a layout should be dry-brushed with off-white or some other light color. The point is to bring out the details. In combination with the dark wash in the low spots, and the dry-brushing on the high spots, things just look so "wow!". I am definitely not an expert at the technique, and it does take patience, but again, the results are worth it.

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And the finished product. Could have done better on the dry-brushing, but from three feet, it is acceptable.

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Gary S Wrote:For the walkways, I am going to use roofwalks which have been removed from my modernized boxcars.

Recycled roof walks !! There's just something absolutely right about that idea !!!

S-two-fiddy, a real modeler rivet-counter expert would use some of the schmancy fancy etched brass see-through walkway material, but the roofwalks are sitting right here in my junk box and the fancy schmancy stuff is not. Also, with the height of the layout, a person can't really look down through the walks, the main view is from the side, so the plastic roofwalks should work just fine.

Gary S Wrote:S-two-fiddy, a real modeler rivet-counter expert would use some of the schmancy fancy etched brass, so the plastic roofwalks should work just fine.

A real modeler: One who, to the best of his ability, creates a scale model of a chosen subject, understands that he doesn't know it all and compensates by trying and learning, and understands that a wood walkway isn't made of schmancy fancy etched brass.

A rivet counter: One who is very quick to point out the deficiencies of another's modeling skills, while not necessarily possessing those skills himself. ( I consider the counting of rivets a preparatory step. )

Expert: Otherwise known as "A know-it-all".

You, sir, have shown us all that you are a real modeler. ( the use of recycled roof walks, is "points in your favor" )

My latest sail vessel, for the modules, will be a sloop. The wood grating that the helmsman stands on will be " schmancy fancy " photo etch, painted to look like wood......hey, I can't build a wood grating that small, and I have a few small pieces of "PE" left from some other projects.

"The Shadow knows...." because he's always there, lurking, unseen, in the "shadows"........ learning.

You made me smile! Thanks!

On this bridge, the walkways are actually perforated metal, not wood. I'll use the simulated steel roodfwalks that are laying around.

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Sumpter250 Wrote: ... A real modeler: One who, to the best of his ability, creates a scale model of a chosen subject, understands that he doesn't know it all and compensates by trying and learning, and understands that a wood walkway isn't made of schmancy fancy etched brass.

A rivet counter: One who is very quick to point out the deficiencies of another's modeling skills, while not necessarily possessing those skills himself. ( I consider the counting of rivets a preparatory step. )

Expert: Otherwise known as "A know-it-all". ...

Sir, a spade is a shovel ... and you expose it as one with inimitable style!

Gary S Wrote:... On this bridge, the walkways are actually perforated metal, not wood. ...

[attachment=21777]

Yessir ... they are ... and you can't see through them from this angle, which, if I remember correctly, is about the angle from which the viewer will see your model!

And I love the ballast spill-over onto the walkway! A nice detail ... the type of detail often overlooked by many modelers!

neat trussle didn't wade through all the photos but i i have seen in colorado some years ago (line was abandoned if the late 70's) one get a similar treatment though it was much shorter more like 60 ft long the reason they replaced the deck was a derailed car damaged it so i assume that the bridge engineerrs just took the shortest way of fixing it. wish i'd have been smart enough to take some photos but i never did .
jim

jim currie Wrote:didn't wade through all the photos

I suppose I am guilty of posting a "flood" of photos, causing readers the necessity of pulling up their pants legs as they cross the murky depths of my build threads. :oops:

jim currie Wrote:but i i have seen in colorado some years ago (line was abandoned if the late 70's) one get a similar treatment though it was much shorter more like 60 ft long the reason they replaced the deck was a derailed car damaged it so i assume that the bridge engineerrs just took the shortest way of fixing it.

Interesting. This is a possibility on this bridge too. Could a derailed car damage a wooden bridge to the point it would have to be rebuilt?

Gary S Wrote:Could a derailed car damage a wooden bridge to the point it would have to be rebuilt?

Maybe not, but, add a load, and derail it at "speed", and all the elements could come together to create a " slight structural malfunction ", that could require some "rebuilding".

I was thinking that a derailed car going over this bridge would most likely have gone into the bayou with a major disaster on our hands, but, on the other hand, maybe it would have stayed on the bridge as it went across, with the wheels smashing the ties and the outboard timbers.