help with bridges...

[Anonymous]

looking for any suggestions on what to use for bridge piers...i am in the process of spanning a small lake on my layout and would like to know what products work best and look realistic....(i tried to make my own out of plaster and i think my 2 year old daughter could have done better)...looking for the kind that mold into the side of a hill and also the middle link...are there molds out there??..this is a new layout i am building and i am learning to do all of my own scenery for a change...any help would be great!!![:D]

[Anonymous]

looking for any suggestions on what to use for bridge piers...i am in the process of spanning a small lake on my layout and would like to know what products work best and look realistic....(i tried to make my own out of plaster and i think my 2 year old daughter could have done better)...looking for the kind that mold into the side of a hill and also the middle link...are there molds out there??..this is a new layout i am building and i am learning to do all of my own scenery for a change...any help would be great!!![:D]

[Anonymous]

Go to www.walthers.com and search "piers" and "bridge" and see what is on the market. They will not have every one made, but most. You could also look at plastic and paper rock and brick stock from companies like plasticstuct. You could use wood and make trestles. Solder brass stock into ironwork piers. Lots of possibilities.

[Anonymous]

Go to www.walthers.com and search "piers" and "bridge" and see what is on the market. They will not have every one made, but most. You could also look at plastic and paper rock and brick stock from companies like plasticstuct. You could use wood and make trestles. Solder brass stock into ironwork piers. Lots of possibilities.

[der5997]

fire216: I've got to cross a window and need to do this with two separate tracks. I've a river in mind to to this. I'm using foam board up to the river bank, and to form the bridge abutments. I'll face the foam with plastic sheet stone work cut to the size that looks right once I know the height of the track above the river, and the type of bridge I'll be using.

(These bridges may be different for each track, to give the impression they are two different roads. They may or may not be, haven't decided that yet. The two bridges will however be close together, as I have to be able to reach over or under the river section to open and close the window. I think nine or ten inches total depth should do it. I want enough space so as to be able to angle the forward track slightly away from the rear one, again to give an impression of difference, as well as to separate the tracks more as they coninue around the room.)

The central piers will have rounded ends facing the flow of the water. I thought that I would make wood blocks and cover them with the same sheet plastic stone the abutmtents are made from. I'll bend the plastic around to get the effect I need, and fix it to the wood, with the join on the window side of the peir, out of sight. (OK so there might be a reflection from the window, but I don't think it will matter.) I'll paint the stone with my own mix of paint for this layout to give continuity throughout , wash with dilute india ink with or without alcohol, haven't decided, and dry brush with an off white or very light tan. The tops of the piers will have either the same stone color, or a concrete look. The wings of the abutments will be angled to suit the terrain at the site. (Abutments in real life hold back the fill and soil from falling into the river or lake and undermining the track, or dropping the brigde into the water!) Hope this helps.

[der5997]

fire216: I've got to cross a window and need to do this with two separate tracks. I've a river in mind to to this. I'm using foam board up to the river bank, and to form the bridge abutments. I'll face the foam with plastic sheet stone work cut to the size that looks right once I know the height of the track above the river, and the type of bridge I'll be using.

(These bridges may be different for each track, to give the impression they are two different roads. They may or may not be, haven't decided that yet. The two bridges will however be close together, as I have to be able to reach over or under the river section to open and close the window. I think nine or ten inches total depth should do it. I want enough space so as to be able to angle the forward track slightly away from the rear one, again to give an impression of difference, as well as to separate the tracks more as they coninue around the room.)

The central piers will have rounded ends facing the flow of the water. I thought that I would make wood blocks and cover them with the same sheet plastic stone the abutmtents are made from. I'll bend the plastic around to get the effect I need, and fix it to the wood, with the join on the window side of the peir, out of sight. (OK so there might be a reflection from the window, but I don't think it will matter.) I'll paint the stone with my own mix of paint for this layout to give continuity throughout , wash with dilute india ink with or without alcohol, haven't decided, and dry brush with an off white or very light tan. The tops of the piers will have either the same stone color, or a concrete look. The wings of the abutments will be angled to suit the terrain at the site. (Abutments in real life hold back the fill and soil from falling into the river or lake and undermining the track, or dropping the brigde into the water!) Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

thanks for all of the tips on this...i guess i really hadn't thought of all of the possibilities....thanks again...tim

[Anonymous]

thanks for all of the tips on this...i guess i really hadn't thought of all of the possibilities....thanks again...tim

[Anonymous]

I'm in N-scale, and I used .080" thick styrene. Straight or sloped piers either one are fine, but I think sloped looks best, unless you are in an urban or short piers. I slope 1 foot on each side for every 15 of height. I used a "capstone" of .250" thick styrene, overhanging the top of the pier 1.5 scale feet on all four sides. A capstone is not necessary. I just think the extra detail looks pretty cool. I spray paint with Polly S "old concrete" then weather with washes of "rust" and "grimy black" in vertical directions. I think use Testor's "dullcote." I built four different heights of piers this way, from 85' scale feet tall to 26' scale feet tall. I used various thicknesses of styrene to shim under the pier to get to the right height.

[Anonymous]

I'm in N-scale, and I used .080" thick styrene. Straight or sloped piers either one are fine, but I think sloped looks best, unless you are in an urban or short piers. I slope 1 foot on each side for every 15 of height. I used a "capstone" of .250" thick styrene, overhanging the top of the pier 1.5 scale feet on all four sides. A capstone is not necessary. I just think the extra detail looks pretty cool. I spray paint with Polly S "old concrete" then weather with washes of "rust" and "grimy black" in vertical directions. I think use Testor's "dullcote." I built four different heights of piers this way, from 85' scale feet tall to 26' scale feet tall. I used various thicknesses of styrene to shim under the pier to get to the right height.

[Anonymous]

Well, do to my 1-year old's insistance on my presence with him, I left out the the part on my ideas for curved ends. Use quarter rounds glued to the edges of the previously mentioned rectangular pier. Since I built a sloped pier, there would be a wider gap at the bottom than the top between the quarter rounds. It would look like the same form was slid up the pier as the concrete was poured, just that the filler section between the two sides was narrowed for each pour. I would filled the gap with Squadron modeler's putty and sand it smooth, then repeat the putty-and-sand process once again for as much perfection as I think is appropriate.

The same process could be done for the abutments. However, the abutments can be totally different in style than the piers.

Happy modeling!

[Anonymous]

Well, do to my 1-year old's insistance on my presence with him, I left out the the part on my ideas for curved ends. Use quarter rounds glued to the edges of the previously mentioned rectangular pier. Since I built a sloped pier, there would be a wider gap at the bottom than the top between the quarter rounds. It would look like the same form was slid up the pier as the concrete was poured, just that the filler section between the two sides was narrowed for each pour. I would filled the gap with Squadron modeler's putty and sand it smooth, then repeat the putty-and-sand process once again for as much perfection as I think is appropriate.

The same process could be done for the abutments. However, the abutments can be totally different in style than the piers.

Happy modeling!

[Anonymous]

I have always used real wood, dowls....sometimes hobby (square) wood. I never really enjoyed looking at plastic

[Anonymous]

I have always used real wood, dowls....sometimes hobby (square) wood. I never really enjoyed looking at plastic