I decided to start construction of my Micro Engineering 200ft Viaduct... the tall one. AND IT IS TALL!!! The bridge is about 8 inches tall unmodified... I had to get it down to 6 inches. So theres a slight kitbash here. Build time? 2.5 hours



The one PITA with this model? The barrels and bridge mtc. walk way is an ADD ON KIT!!! Thats not included... how frustrating.



Wow that is tall!

Tower assembly:








Bridge assembly:



Sprues are bigger than the actual MAJOR parts. So be careful with your pen knife... or....



and if your not careful with the file...









Now here's the pieces needed to assemble it all. Before this however I trimmed off the bottom section of the towers (2 inches) with my Dremel tool... No pic





I glued the main tower in with the bridge upside down... why you ask? To make sure there's no gaps



Assembled an in place! How nice!




All thats left is to paint, weather, and add track.

A lot easier than I thought it would be.

For others wanting to partake in this kit:

RESIST the urge to use super-glue to speed up construction. Super glue sets way to fast for this kit. I like using super glue for buildings...but in this case the brush on cement works just fine. But use a smaller applicator than the included brush, less is a LOT more for this kit.

On that note, when assembling the tower structures, don't let the glue cure all the way. Be sure to assemble it while the glue still has a little give so you can make sure the tower ends up being square and level.

Take your time. This is a general idea for all models, but I put emphasis on this kit. Why? Because it's VERY easy to mess up, and they can be very frustrating.

Paint it onces it's completed. I normally paint first while everything is on the sprues, then paint it after. But in this case a nice can of flat black spray paint will be working wonders.


Thanks for viewing!

Luke, GREAT Build!! I have always wanted to get one of these in HO scale and expand on it to make it tall and longer lol

Id say job well done

semi-finished product.

This is just after sprayin on the black-satin paint and then adding the flex track.

Did you forget to trim some of the sprue from the cross bracing, or is the N scale kit different from the HO one?



I'm surprised, too, that the fire barrel platforms aren't included with the kit. I have to agree with you about the quality of the plastic, though: I found it to be fairly crumbly, and, if the blade being used to cut the parts from the sprues wasn't extremely sharp, the plastic would tear. Makes into a nice bridge, though. :mrgreen:

Wayne

nope, that was all the parts in the box for this one.

I was mad when I didn't get the parts to make it look like the picture!

Luke now that Wane pointed that out, it does appear that the little "tabs" on the cross bracing should not be there and they were only there in the first place as the molding channels for the plastic to flow into the original mold for the pieces....



The little tabs are on all beams/braces, there looks to be 4 of them on each beam, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom....

From what I've read about the N scale kit, two barrel platforms and barrels are part of the kit - I suggest that a letter to Micro Engineering is in order, explaining the problem. And I mean a real letter, not an e-mail. If you provide a self-addressed envelope and an international postal reply coupon, I'll bet that you'll get those parts. :mrgreen:

Still, this does not address my first comment: if you compare your model to the picture on the box, in addition to having no platforms or barrels, your bridge has the casting gates still on the various structural elements. These should have been removed before assembly. You can still remove them if you use a very sharp blade, such as a single-edge razor blade. With the bridge on its side, hold a piece of wood (a length of 1"x2" long enough to hold in one hand , with the other end extending from the underside of each tower right up to the underside of the bridge girders will work) firmly against the back side of each protrusion, slice off the offending nubs - this is best done with the bridge supported, in mid-air, by the 1"x2", and completely off your work surface - this will prevent downward pressure from the blade accidentally crushing the tower. If you have a bench vise, clamping the 1"x2" in it so that it extends sideways, then using your free hand to support the bridge might be even easier than holding the wood in your hand. However you do it, the piece being trimmed must be fully and firmly supported while doing the trimming. Don't forget the little "V"-shaped ones below the centre of the "X"-bracing, too. With all those bits trimmed off, there'll be nothing to detract from the otherwise fine job which you did on the assembly.

Wayne

The build looks good and will look great once the tabs are removed. I hate when I'm missing parts.

Thanks, I didn't notice those.

Another thing thats missing in the directions anyways, is how the bridge spans on the towers are 'shallower' than the others.


I'll be clippin off those tabs. I thought they were supposed to be there for some reason. Large rivets or something...

I think the barrel stands would be very easy to make out of strip wood or styrene then you might find some drums at your lhs.

Fire barrels, hmmmmm. I'll have to do some research, but I don't remember (I don't remember a lot of things these days ) seeing fire barrels on steel viaducts. Wood trestles yes, but steel?.....hmmm.

Sumpter250 Wrote:Fire barrels, hmmmmm. I'll have to do some research, but I don't remember (I don't remember a lot of things these days ) seeing fire barrels on steel viaducts. Wood trestles yes, but steel?.....hmmm.

LOL good point.

The October 2008 issue of RMC has an 11 page article on fire protection for open-deck bridges - the lead photo is of a steel bridge on the CPR, complete with fire barrels. The article goes into some depth on different classes of fire protection, including sheet metal capping on wooden bridges, both of support members and ties, ballasted decks and ballasted decks over sheet metal, along with various "fire-proof" coatings and the use of fire barrels. While fire barrels have almost disappeared from the scene nowadays, they were a common sight on both wooden and steel bridges during the steam and early diesel eras. Anybody remember the Poughkeepsie Bridge fire?

Wayne