Deck Plate Girder Bridge Scratchbuilding a
CRAFTSMAN/Shawn Branstett er, photographs by the author
Details Smaller projects like this bridge scene are a perfect opportunity for super-detailing. Since this will be the fi rst thing visitors see when entering my basement, details and scenery are important.
Scratchbuilding
There are many reasons why we, as model builders, scratch- build something: the model is not available; we are trying to match a specific prototype; or perhaps we just enjoy the chal- lenge. For me, this project was a little bit of all the above. Tragi- cally, while in the final phases of building a really nice brass plate girder kit, the model jumped off the workbench and onto the
concrete floor. I tried to salvage it to no avail.
I was left with a dilemma: purchase another brass kit or finally try my hand at scratch- building one for myself. An advantage of scratchbuild- ing would be that I could build the girder in styrene and use scale thicknesses to achieve a very realistic-looking model. Furthermore, I could build a bridge to fit the span I needed without having to modify a kit. Finally, the project would give me an opportunity to advance my scratchbuilding skills (which I desperately needed). I have never tackled a project like this before, and I wasn’t sure I could do it. I am very pleased with the end results.
Gathering Data
The first step to any project like this is to gather as much
68 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
prototype data as possible. Even if you are freelancing like me, staying true to prototypi- cal standards will significantly add realism and believability to your models. I did a lot of read- ing: Model Railroad Bridges & Trestles (Kalmbach), Google searches, and finally, Ed- ward Traxler’s blog on build- ing a plate girder bridge (http://
etraxx.com/projects/bridges/ on18-city-bridge).
Once I had a good sense of what I was going to build, I made a rough sketch and ordered materials.
The steel girder is part of a bridge, which crosses a creek on my recently started Angles Camp & Black Creek Railroad. This structure is in the first scene visitors see as they enter my basement, and I want it to be a focal point. My concern re- garding the bridge’s appearance
DECK PLATE GIRDER BRIDGE
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