The Bridge

[mattd10]

I know it keeps being said, but this truly is fantastic work. Unfortunately my T-gauge has stalled somewhat recently but seeing your progress is keeps tempting me back!

[dkightley]

The magic will be when it all comes together!! At the moment all I have is a collection of bits of plastic that might fit together.

Seriously, I'm really glad you like what I've done so far. I set myself a stonker of a challenge...and so far I can't see anything to stop me finishing it!

And if I inspire others to get building....well, that's a bonus.

[hhearle]

Looking fantastic Doug Just wish I had space to build a masterpiece such as that!

Keep up the great work. It's a very iconic railway feature so will definitely be a crowd pleaser (the real thing looks very stunning when lit up in the dark hint hint ...)

[dkightley]

Just wish I had space to build a masterpiece such as that!

So do I.

I'll just have enough space to assemble four or five of the eight sections together in the house! And that will mean getting on my hands and knees to get into and out of the kitchen!!! Either that....or go out the front door, down the side of the house and in the back door!

Once finished, I'll probably fix a narrow shelf on a long wall somewhere to just display the three cantilevers. Ther rest will have to be stacked away somewhere dry between shows!

[hhearle]

I'll just have enough space to assemble four or five of the eight sections together in the house! And that will mean getting on my hands and knees to get into and out of the kitchen!!! Either that....or go out the front door, down the side of the house and in the back door!

Once finished, I'll probably fix a narrow shelf on a long wall somewhere to just display the three cantilevers. Ther rest will have to be stacked away somewhere dry between shows!

Haha... do the sections just clip together then?

[dkightley]

They will.....held together with toggle catches, and aligned with brass alignment dowels. Well....thats the plan!!

[dkightley]

Its been a busy few days....but sadly there's not a great deal of visible progress I can show at the moment.

I've obtained lots of pieces of wood for the eight baseboards...from a local wood yard who have a cutting service. 72 pieces of 2x1 are currently stacked awaiting assembly!! I've also bought new plywood sheeting for lining the trailer I bought...and the resoration is moving on.

Printing of the tower components is progress painfully slow at the moment as I'm struggling to get good prints of some of the larger and complex girder sections. I keep getting failures due to filament jams or movement on the build platform....but I'll crack the problem!!

As a diversion, I've identified all of the buildings on the north and south banks and itemised them so they can be individually built. I think the count is about 180 different buildings!! A lot of work on this alone........which brings me to the final thing for this post.

I'd like to welcome on board Ivan Furness, who has kindly offered to help me out with the 3D work on the buildings, and is currently working on sorting out the necessary techniques to build such a large number of discreet buildings. Its going to be a challenge just getting to grips with remote working.

[hhearle]

Looking forward to seeing these buildings - I've got a few of Ivan's prints myself and the quality is just superb

[ivanf]

Looking forward to seeing these buildings - I've got a few of Ivan's prints myself and the quality is just superb

Thanks... I'm glad you like them...

[dkightley]

Its sprouting wings....or something like that!:

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The lower tube made up of twelve test prints connecting one of the bases to a tower. NB The final print will be in red plastic!

Standing this assembly on the scale layout print allows me to check if the scale is good....and it is! Having fixed the positioning of the viaducts at each end of the bridge on the baseboard, I still need to allow for any difference in length by not fixing the length of one of the middle sections until the bridge structure is complete. The current guess is that it'll need to be approx 5mm shorter than the base 1000mm length!

[dkightley]

Another thread of the build.....the baseboards are starting to take shape.

Here's all eight frames, four complete at 1000mm long and four at 1050mm long with one end not fixed in. I'll cut these to size when I've got the bridge structure completed and know exactly how far apart the bridge ends are:

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Twas a fiver well spent getting all the pieces cut at the woodyard...all the ends nice and square!!!

[dkightley]

Just when things are going smoothly.....I realise there's been some modification to the bridge structure.

In what must have been a later project, a railway line was added from just south of Dalmeny station, splitting of in an easterly direction and curving westward underneath the very end of the Forth bridge in a cutting. To facilitate this, the existing stone arches seem to have been replaced with a much longer structure consisting of four elongated arches. This has solved a puzzle I'd had over the placement of the arches...but the birds-eye view from Bing maps resolved the issue.

Consequently, I've had to make a new structure. Its in the design phase at present:

NewSouthArches.JPG (54.37 KiB) Viewed 13767 times

Also in the design phase is the girderwork for the cantilever arms. Here's a CAD view of the various bits that make up most of the arm:

CantArm.JPG (102.99 KiB) Viewed 13646 times

We've also got the design and build steps in place for the houses, etc...and Ivan's starting to make his way through the first estate full!

[dkightley]

Phew!

Apart from the temperature being up in the low 30s centigrade at my PC, this has been the most challenging part of the Bridge to print so far:

IMG_1578_red.JPG (58.34 KiB) Viewed 13752 times

The first attempt failed 14 hours into the print, when it got to the narrow sections on the decking. To get round this, I split the deck off as a separate section...but this then took five gos to get a correct print, as being a thin section, it had a tendancy to curl...so I had to add anchor pads at the ends to keep it flat!

I've now got the finished article....and I can move on to the next job!

[dkightley]

The layout baseboards are starting to take shape.

Here's a photo of two of the eight sections (joined together with clips and location dowels) showing the "water effect" sheeting I'm using. This is the south shore of the estuary and I've roughly sketched on some of the detail to give an idea of how it will look:

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There's the outline of the back sheet and the angles end to the scene, where the track will disapear behind the scenes into the turnaround loop area. Dalmany station is just before before the track disapears. In the foreground is the pier where boat tours start and I've shown four of the support towers.

Whoops! Just spotted all my lines have arrowheads on them.

[mattd10]

I know I keep repeating what's been said here, but this is truly amazing work and I, for one, can't wait to see two HST's pass each other across it at scale speeds.

[dkightley]

Thanks Matt

I have to admit thatI at times I take a look at what I've done..... and can't believe that it's me that's done it!!!! And that spurs me on to get things done.

[mattd10]

Its making me want to get a printer of my own so I too can take on a task like this!!!
Maybe I should try and finish that other layout I started first....

[dkightley]

Just got back from a mini break to Edinburgh...to do two things - ride their new tram system (my other main interest is trams...and no, I'm not an anorak!!) and go and see the Forth bridge close up. I've only previously seen it from a plane landing at the nearby airport and from the road bridge when driving across.

The bridge does look very smart in its new coat of paint and the absence of scaffolding and "bandages" that its had for the last few years. I've got a selection of photos...which I'll post a few of when I get chance.

My visit went exactly to plan! I parked the car on the roadside near to the water's edge under the bridge on the south shore and then walked up a steep footpath to Dalmany station, where I caught a train over the bridge and got off at North Queensferry. I then walked down a steep road to the village and had a look around. After some food and a well-earned ice-cold pint at the Albert Hotel , I staggered back up the hill (steep hill - not drunk!!) to the station and caught a train back to Dalmany, where I then made the descent back to the water's edge! Not a bad round trip! Not having to wait more than 15 minutes for a train...and the return fare only £3.20, thia was a good way to spend approx three hours. Something I can recommend to any able-bodied enthusiast (ie anyone who does not have difficulty walking long distances).

[ivanf]

glad to hear the trip went well and looking forward to the photos...

btw... it has occured to me that my cutter thing might be rather good for doing road signs... warning triangles and such... will post something when I've had a play.

[dkightley]

Not much progress since the last post...

I've sorted out the storage of the baseboards...all eight of them! Having cleared a corner of my spare bedroom by moving a wardrobe into my master bedroom (and having to dismantle and reassemble it !!!), I've fixed some adjustable shelve barackest to the wall to allow the boards to be stored flat:

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The two missing sections are downstairs in the middle of a bit of build work.

And after my trip to Scotland, I've identified some changes I need to make to the top of the towers between the viaduct and the cantilevers..and I'm currectly wrestling with 3DC to make these changes!!