Peeling
add them to the model’s inte- rior. I decided to leave them off since that detail would never be seen. Decaling an entire struc- ture can be tedious, but the end results are awesome.
Paint To create the look of years of rust and weath- ering, a first layer of dark rust (Chipping Color) was sprayed over chipping fluid and removed. Flat black was the final top coat and chipped in the same manner, revealing multiple layers of peeling and weathering.
Flange Plates
The flange plates are steel plates that run the length of the top and bottom of the beam to add even greater strength. Addi- tional plates will be added to the top and bottom near the center outward to provide even more support to the structure. I created my plates from 0.010 x 0.250 strip styrene. The strips were cemented to the top and bottom, allowed to dry, and then finally cut to length. As mentioned above, I added two additional plates to the bottom of the girder for strength. Since this detail would be hidden by the ties, I did not add the de- tail to the top of the girder. After these had dried, I turned my fo- cus to the bottom diagonal brac- es. Again test your work to make sure it is square.
Diagonal Braces
To finish out the structural components, I added the diago-
72 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
nal braces to the bottom of the bridge. The diagonal braces are there to prevent any sway that might occur. Heavier bridges will use a similar pattern as the interior braces. However, I used less material since my bridge was lighter and shorter. Using the angle strips, I cut each one to length and attached them to the bottom of the flange angles with steel plates. Using 0.010 x 0.250 strip styrene, I cut these plates to the desired length and glued them in place. I then at- tached my angle braces. I used printed decal rivets from Micro-Mark. Archer sells a wide variety of rivet arrange- ments as well. The “rivets” are raised resin dots printed on slide decal paper. I found ap- plying the decals a bit tricky at first. I soon got the hang of it, and the process went fairly quickly. I added rivets to the bridge, following prototype practices; however, I did not
I sprayed the entire model with gloss varnish to create a smooth surface for the decal. Working with the stiffeners first, I cut strips of rivets to length, soaked them in water, and ap- plied the line to the model much like decaling other models.
Painting and Weathering
I sprayed the entire bridge with a foundation of Dark Rust from AK Interactive. Then I switched colors (I don’t clean my airbrush between colors), and sprayed the corners with AK Shadow Rust to add shad- ows in the appropriate areas. Without cleaning my air- brush, I sprayed the interior flat black to darken and hide the ar- eas not easily viewable. I went back to my Dark Rust color to add highlights to the bracing and followed that with Shadow Rust.
I brushed on Heavy Chip-
ping Effect fluid by AK Inter- active, adding dimension to the rust and peeling paint. I al- lowed it to dry and then lightly sprayed Chipping Color to the areas where the paint was going to peel. I wet a soft paint brush with water, and then lightly re- moved color in the corners and areas I wanted the rust color to show through. Now for the top coat. When my shortline built the bridge,
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