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The Bridge
Re: The Bridge
I've been able to get a first test build of the south viaduct to check the dimensions against the strip map I produced a while ago:
The photo shows the length of the viaduct...which is missing the track road sections....to the stone tower and beyond to the foot of the first cantilever tower. What you see here is over six foot long! And how does it measure up? Its actually around 4mm longer than expected...which is not a problem as I've allowed for the whole structure to be up to 50mm longer by not completing all the baseboards at this time!
Re: The Bridge
More progress on the layout boards.....
Here's the state of the south shore end as of tonight:
Boards 1 and 2 now have side skirts temporarily fitted to make up the edges of the ground surface. Look close and you can see the ground level pencilled on the inside of the back skirt.
The "step" in the rear skirt is the join between the boards...which is the line the map is folded under at...and the stone arch section is placed in its approxiamate position..and the wrong way round!
The diagonal skirt board will be the extent of the layout, and there'll be an angled backdrop hiding the loop around.
The red handle of the screwdriver is sitting in on where the water starts; the map shows rocks at low tide.
And in a separate thread of progress, I've been printing the houses from the 3D files produced by Ivan for one of the two housing estates at Dalmany. Here's the houses printed so far in their approxiamate positions:
Immediately behind the houses, across the road is the station car park, then the embankment on which the station sits.
Here's the state of the south shore end as of tonight:
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The "step" in the rear skirt is the join between the boards...which is the line the map is folded under at...and the stone arch section is placed in its approxiamate position..and the wrong way round!
The diagonal skirt board will be the extent of the layout, and there'll be an angled backdrop hiding the loop around.The red handle of the screwdriver is sitting in on where the water starts; the map shows rocks at low tide.
And in a separate thread of progress, I've been printing the houses from the 3D files produced by Ivan for one of the two housing estates at Dalmany. Here's the houses printed so far in their approxiamate positions:
- Img_1609_red.jpg (71.01 KiB) Viewed 10174 times
Re: The Bridge
After several failed prints I've come to the conclusion that I've got an expired print nozzle..either worn or pitted, resulting in it not dispensing the plastic smoothly and consequently not printing at all well!! 
I have a new nozzle on order...so I'll have to concentrate on other things until it arrives.
I'm making progress on the base boards. Boards 7 & 8 now have their base assembled and scenery side skirts fitted and cut to profile:
The skirts on Boards 1 & 2 have also been cut to profile...except for where the embankment with the dual rails running through the station:
Its amazing to think that there's 4 boards that fit between these two pairs of boards! 
But not inside the house!!!
I have a new nozzle on order...so I'll have to concentrate on other things until it arrives.I'm making progress on the base boards. Boards 7 & 8 now have their base assembled and scenery side skirts fitted and cut to profile:
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- Img_1640_red.jpg (78.5 KiB) Viewed 10115 times
But not inside the house!!!Re: The Bridge
Some exciting progress to report....
I've just fixed the first printed component down to one of the baseboards....the support for the landing stone arched section on the south shore. Its fixed down onto board number 2..and I've also made the trackbed for the viaduct it feeds:
The trackbed is a strip of 3mm ply that sits loosely into a recess in a fabricated support...and its designed to lift out to allow the layout to be disassembled. Note in the above photo that the support is in two pieces...one on board 1 and one on board 2. Heres another shot where I've lifted the trackbed out of its "slot"".
In the background is Dalmany station platforms and the bridge over the road that passes under it. Heres a photo showing a close-up of the bridge, showing the narrower girder supporting the rails and the wider and lighter sections for the platform. Note the joins to the platforms...which click into the short platform section that forms part of the bridge:
It'll look somewhat better once there's a road and embankment surface and its all painted up.....the bridge is suspended in space at present!
I've just fixed the first printed component down to one of the baseboards....the support for the landing stone arched section on the south shore. Its fixed down onto board number 2..and I've also made the trackbed for the viaduct it feeds:
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Re: The Bridge
seems to be going well.. 
that's quite a drop from the station to the sea....
I'm beginning to get the impression that it's going to be quite a big layout...
that's quite a drop from the station to the sea....
I'm beginning to get the impression that it's going to be quite a big layout...
Re: The Bridge
The north end landfall is also taking shape:
The under bridge here is at a quite sharp angle and just off the end of the station platform...and lies very close to a join in the baseboards, which is just off-shot to the left.:
And the line disappears into a tunnel just north of the station. Quite a neat way of disappearing into the turnaround loop!:
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Re: The Bridge
Some notable progress to report....
Firstly, I've laid the first track! But not in the way you'ld expect. I've used the process as described here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=114&start=9 ......and here's acouple of detail shots:
The track is "tacked" to a 3-ply strip with contact adhesive. It'll get glued properly when I apply the ballast and soak the lot in PVA. The ply strip is designed to drop snugly into a slot on top of the embankment as described a couple of posts back.
Secondly, I've also started laying the ground surface...on the south of the layout:
board
I'm using 75mm thick expanded foam thermal insulation board.....which cuts easily and can be shaped easily with either a sharp knife/scalpel or sandpaper.
And finally, a third first. I've made a start on some paintwork:
I've taken delivery of a new airbrush and compressor to replace the cheap & nasty airbrush I've had for over 20 years (which I never really got good results with)....and I've started putting some colour on the viaduct supports. This photo shows the base colour coat only...there's more to do to finish them off.
Firstly, I've laid the first track! But not in the way you'ld expect. I've used the process as described here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=114&start=9 ......and here's acouple of detail shots:
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Secondly, I've also started laying the ground surface...on the south of the layout:
- IMG_1692_red.JPG (55.41 KiB) Viewed 9957 times
I'm using 75mm thick expanded foam thermal insulation board.....which cuts easily and can be shaped easily with either a sharp knife/scalpel or sandpaper.
And finally, a third first. I've made a start on some paintwork:
- Img_1698_red.jpg (139.8 KiB) Viewed 9957 times
Re: The Bridge
Things are starting to come together on the south side approach:
I just now need to get the viaduct road deck sections finalised and I can fix the support bases down. The first of these is printing at the moment!
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Re: The Bridge
Mre progress on the south end of the layout....
I've printed enough road sections to allow me to fix the viaduct support bases down...and I've fixed down the foam shhet sections for the terrain and made a start sanding away the foam to form the ground surface:
You can see I've also penned in the road layout so I can make a start creating the road surfaces.
I've printed enough road sections to allow me to fix the viaduct support bases down...and I've fixed down the foam shhet sections for the terrain and made a start sanding away the foam to form the ground surface:
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Re: The Bridge
The roads are coming along nicely.....I've got first versions of the shore road adjacent to the Hawes Inn done:
The Inn itself is a curious mix of buildings built over a period of time. Here's a closer look at a test version of it that I've printed to work on fitting the road section to it and the adjacent buildings:
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Re: The Bridge
Hawes Inn before it has bits of flash removed:
Just imagine sitting on one of those picnic tables on a nice warm summer's evening downing a nice cool pint. Heaven! 
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Re: The Bridge
The level of accuracy you are going for here is amazing. This layout will be quite something to see when it is complete.
Re: The Bridge
Again another week or so where I'm not able to report any significant progress....although I do seem to have made small incremental bits of progress...
I'm almost at the point where I can think about glueing together the components of the centre tower...most parts have been cleaned up and fitted together loose at least once. I had some strange problems with printing the final part of the tower..the vertical support for the rail deck that sits half way along the tower. The slicer software for reasons unknown didn't generate the raft on which the girders would be printed. Eventually, after two complete redesigns of the part, the raft appeared...and I was able to print!
With the centre tower nearing completion, I've also started putting together the designs for the north and south towers. Some of the parts are the same as the centre tower, some need slight modification, and some need redesigning from scratch. I'm about 75% through the designs and have some bits printed already. Another few weeks and I might be ready to assemble these towers!
There's also progress on the south end. I've moved on with the ground surface profiling around the initial versions of the roads as pictured a post or two back. I've also had to reprint the Hawes Inn model in two pieces to ensure it printed reliably....about 35 hours printing time in total to end up with the final article..which I think looks pretty good:
Ivan has almost completed all the houses for one of the housing estates in Dalmany...and all of what he's done have been printed. That's about 25 out of the 200 buildings!!
Moving to the north end of the layout, I've fixed down all the mounts for the approach viaduct and the north stone tower for the end cantilever. I'm part way through cutting out and fixing down the foam sheeting for the complex surface profiling around North Queensferry.
Another thread....preparation for painting...I've looked through all the colour charts for model paints and haven't been able to find a colour suitable for the "Forth Bridge Red" of the metalwork on the bridge, so not wanting to have to mix the colour, I decided to take a lateral look at the problem. The bridge is red because in the early years, it was painted with the most rust-inhibiting paint they had - red oxide paint...and then not covered with a cosmetic finish colour. Hence the bridge is a browny-red - the colour of red oxide paint. When the bridge received its current epoxy-based finish, the colour was matched to the previous red oxide paint colour....so its currently not painted in red oxide paint...but with red oxide coloured paint!
My initial painting tests were using spray red primer from Halfords..the type used for undercoating car paints, but it didn't look right. So I thought about doing the reverse to what they have done on the real bridge....move from red coloured paint - to red oxide paint! And surprise, surprise....red oxide paint just happens to be the right colour!!
I'm almost at the point where I can think about glueing together the components of the centre tower...most parts have been cleaned up and fitted together loose at least once. I had some strange problems with printing the final part of the tower..the vertical support for the rail deck that sits half way along the tower. The slicer software for reasons unknown didn't generate the raft on which the girders would be printed. Eventually, after two complete redesigns of the part, the raft appeared...and I was able to print!
With the centre tower nearing completion, I've also started putting together the designs for the north and south towers. Some of the parts are the same as the centre tower, some need slight modification, and some need redesigning from scratch. I'm about 75% through the designs and have some bits printed already. Another few weeks and I might be ready to assemble these towers!
There's also progress on the south end. I've moved on with the ground surface profiling around the initial versions of the roads as pictured a post or two back. I've also had to reprint the Hawes Inn model in two pieces to ensure it printed reliably....about 35 hours printing time in total to end up with the final article..which I think looks pretty good:
- IMG_1757_red.JPG (36.79 KiB) Viewed 9718 times
Moving to the north end of the layout, I've fixed down all the mounts for the approach viaduct and the north stone tower for the end cantilever. I'm part way through cutting out and fixing down the foam sheeting for the complex surface profiling around North Queensferry.
Another thread....preparation for painting...I've looked through all the colour charts for model paints and haven't been able to find a colour suitable for the "Forth Bridge Red" of the metalwork on the bridge, so not wanting to have to mix the colour, I decided to take a lateral look at the problem. The bridge is red because in the early years, it was painted with the most rust-inhibiting paint they had - red oxide paint...and then not covered with a cosmetic finish colour. Hence the bridge is a browny-red - the colour of red oxide paint. When the bridge received its current epoxy-based finish, the colour was matched to the previous red oxide paint colour....so its currently not painted in red oxide paint...but with red oxide coloured paint!
My initial painting tests were using spray red primer from Halfords..the type used for undercoating car paints, but it didn't look right. So I thought about doing the reverse to what they have done on the real bridge....move from red coloured paint - to red oxide paint! And surprise, surprise....red oxide paint just happens to be the right colour!!
Re: The Bridge
Unlike the last upsate, I can show the progress I'm making to the two north sections of the layout.
I've fixed down the foam sheeting and have started the really messy job of profiling the foam to form the ground surface. I'll keep a low profile when the binman empties my bin in his lorry....there's likely to be a cloud of foam dust!!!
I've also just fixed down the trackbed support....some photos will illustrate things better. Here's the assembled trackbed leading to the north viaduct:
The photo shows three items...the tunnel portal where the line goes into a short cut and cover tunnel. And on my layout its where the line disappears behind the scenes!
...the bridge where a road goes under the line:
....and the stone built launch into the viaduct:
And the magic bit! You'll notice this track section bridges a join in the layout boards.....and the track lifts out like this to allow the sections to separate:
I've fixed down the foam sheeting and have started the really messy job of profiling the foam to form the ground surface. I'll keep a low profile when the binman empties my bin in his lorry....there's likely to be a cloud of foam dust!!!
I've also just fixed down the trackbed support....some photos will illustrate things better. Here's the assembled trackbed leading to the north viaduct:
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Re: The Bridge
After several hours of slicing, cutting and sanding, I finally have the ground surface for the north shore almost there!...including the end result of quarrying in two places:
And I have a dustbin liner full of bits of foam!!!
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Re: The Bridge
Its looking awesome, keep up the good work. Can't wait to see this finished.
Re: The Bridge
Thanks for the comments, guys.
Thought I'd summarise where I've got to on the build of the actual bridge components to give an idea of the size of the project....
Starting from the north shore, there's the three arch stone "launcher", as I call it!:
The bottom half is hidden inside the structure of the layout board....and the top section simply plugs into lugs on the legs:
Next is the north viaduct...made up of the components shown here:
There are in fact five girder sections...with four of the narrow stone supports. The actual supports and tower for this end of the bridge stand on land...and hence don't have the oval base as shown here, but have mounts similar to the stone arched section. The tower and the girder sections are all separate, and plug into their bases when the layout is put together. Hopefully, willpower and gravity will keep it together!!
Everything described so far has been 3D printed...but all still require painting.
Now comes the north cantilever....made up of a central tower and two identical arms. Here's a view of the tower:
The individual parts are coloured differently to help with identification...its not the final colour!! And here's a view of a not quite finished cantilever arm:
I still have to add the cross-bracing under the lower tubes and above the track bed, and the vertical trackbed supports...24 parts in total!
The centre cantilever is made up of a larger tower and arms the same as the north cantilever...which makes the build a little easier! Here's a view of the centre tower:
Note it has an additional vertical support.
Between the cantilevers are box girder sections....which I've not yet made a start on.
The south cantilever is exactly the same as the north cantilever...which helps! Of the cantilevers, I have printed all of the components that make up all three of the towers....but still need to clean off support material and flash and fix them together.
To the south, the viaduct is of similar construction to the north viaduct...and consists of ten girder sections held up by nine stone supports. All bar two of the supports sit in the water ...and have an oval base that plugs into a fixed mounting block on the baseboard.
The final part of the structure is the south "launcher"...I'll have to show it on a follow-up post as I have set the forum to only allow five attachments per post! As per the north approach, I've printed all the viaduct sections, the stone tower, and the "Launcher" viaduct.
Thought I'd summarise where I've got to on the build of the actual bridge components to give an idea of the size of the project....
Starting from the north shore, there's the three arch stone "launcher", as I call it!:
- FifeArches.JPG (147.46 KiB) Viewed 9618 times
Next is the north viaduct...made up of the components shown here:
- Viaduct.JPG (170.16 KiB) Viewed 9494 times
Everything described so far has been 3D printed...but all still require painting.
Now comes the north cantilever....made up of a central tower and two identical arms. Here's a view of the tower:
- NSTower.JPG (162.67 KiB) Viewed 9618 times
- CantArm.JPG (134.71 KiB) Viewed 9494 times
The centre cantilever is made up of a larger tower and arms the same as the north cantilever...which makes the build a little easier! Here's a view of the centre tower:
- CentreTower.JPG (175.66 KiB) Viewed 9618 times
Between the cantilevers are box girder sections....which I've not yet made a start on.
The south cantilever is exactly the same as the north cantilever...which helps! Of the cantilevers, I have printed all of the components that make up all three of the towers....but still need to clean off support material and flash and fix them together.
To the south, the viaduct is of similar construction to the north viaduct...and consists of ten girder sections held up by nine stone supports. All bar two of the supports sit in the water ...and have an oval base that plugs into a fixed mounting block on the baseboard.
The final part of the structure is the south "launcher"...I'll have to show it on a follow-up post as I have set the forum to only allow five attachments per post! As per the north approach, I've printed all the viaduct sections, the stone tower, and the "Launcher" viaduct.
Re: The Bridge
....and here's the final attachment:
One day I'll work out how many separate components there are. There'll certainly be a lot less then the number of parts I've printed!!!
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Re: The Bridge
Phew!!!
I'm getting there with the cantilever arm component design:
I've got all the supports for the road done...and all bar three of the cross braces that span across the lower tubes.
I need to create the three missing cross braces, finish off the ends of the pink and grey vertical tubes /girders that join the lower tubes to the girders at the top.....and then create six sets of cross braces that span across the pink tubes.Then, I'll need to extract each part from this assembly and make ready for printing. A quick count...48 separate pieces!!..or thereabouts.
I'm getting there with the cantilever arm component design:
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I need to create the three missing cross braces, finish off the ends of the pink and grey vertical tubes /girders that join the lower tubes to the girders at the top.....and then create six sets of cross braces that span across the pink tubes.Then, I'll need to extract each part from this assembly and make ready for printing. A quick count...48 separate pieces!!..or thereabouts.
Re: The Bridge
I'm part way through creating the last set of cross braces in the cantilecer arm.
Am I getting punch drunk??...or does this look like I'm playing "Kerplunk"?????
Am I getting punch drunk??...or does this look like I'm playing "Kerplunk"?????
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