Hi Guys,

I am building a bridge. Inspirations are the classic stone arch bridges from Faller, Kibri and Vollmer.
The plan is to make the superstructure in wood, and then cover it with plaster and carve out the stone-blocks.
Alternative is to cover it with stone-plate imitations.

The pieces;


Assembled;


What to do now?

Looks good so far.
Ira

Hi Henrik,
Another idea is to use modelling clay, role it flat approx 3mm, make an indent with the wood profile then using wood sticks with the end shaped as the face of the bricks at the size you require make an indent of each brick. When you have completed the pattern cast it in plaster, this should be faster than carving hard plaster. Remove the modelling clay and you have a complete side. Make any refinements then using latex rubber make a rubber mould of your plaster casting, you can now make the other side and you have the rubber mould for another bridge at some later time.

Small update:

No photos yet, sorry...

Well, I finally decided to go with plaster.
It was a disaster! :-(((
I didnt blind out the arches well enough before pouring in the plaster, and on top of
that I ran out of plaster halfway. The plaster also dried much too fast for me to work
properly.

Anyway...

After drying totally, I succeded in freeing up the arches, but the structure is full of
air-bubbles (now holes). It doesnt look too well, and I have doubts about being able to
fill it up with another batch of plaster.
I did some test-grating on the sides, and I think I could reach a reasonable result that
way, but for the moment the problem is filling it up inside and underside... :-/

Keep the advices coming, please (thanks to all of you!) ;-)

Note:
I need/want to get experience and solucions using plaster. NOT masonry paper/folios. Not
miniature bricks and prepferably not rubber-molds either. I am trying to go the way of
grating DRY (or semi-dry) plaster, as that is what I want to do later when making other
supports and rock-structures... I need huge amounts of this stuff, for decorating my mini-
Miniature Wunderland ;-)

One of my friends use dentist's plaster for making models. There are two advantages:
1. The mould (dentist's mold) is a gel like substance. You mix it with water and cover the surface you want to copy. After a few minutes, it becomes harder but still like a gel. Also it is a very fine mould so that you can copy fingerprint details.

2. The dentist's plaster is also a very fine plaster and can re-create every detail in the mould. Also it becomes very hard after drying preventing scratches in the future.

Both mould and plaster should be available from medical suppliers. The prices are not very high in Ankara, Turkey. The only problem is that mould will be usable only for a few times, than starts tearing. If you can find or prepare a wall detail you want to copy from, you can mass-produce very detailed copies easily.

Argh, Nev... Cant stand the smell (or taste) of vinegar!!! :-*
-But it´s a good trick!

@uluozgur; I dont think so... I plan on using 50-100kg of the stuff, so any medical class material will be out of the question. (price!)

I´m thinking of making some walls using a form. (modelling clay like Ross says), but I am trying to do it the "Bernhard Stein way". I have some of his how-to videos. It looks so easy when he does it! ;-)

great! it looks like an authenic stone bridge

i also noticed BR45 weathered. does anyone know if marklin would release new version in MFX decoder except 37450/34450

Hi everybody

Interesting project, Henrik. Keep us informed.

Mini-uodate (Still no photos, sorry)

Well, inspired by Purellums comment, I went down to the basement, searching for the left over "gyps" (or whatever ;-) from the guy who installed the plasterwall dividing the garrage and trainroom.

First of all I thought this is great stuff! -because it dried VERY slowly. After 2 hours it was like modellers clay!

Alas it turned out to be another mistake, because when drying, it shrinked quite a lot, leaving great cracks in the structure! :-(

@Bigdaddynz; thanks, I will investigate teh link, although I prefer materiel readily available from the local hardware-store ;-)

@Bigdaddynz; yes, that is the stuff that the plaster-board guy left behind. They are two different 20kg bags. Even from reading the specifications on each bag, I couldnt make out what was what. It looked like one was a filler and the other a binder or something. I think I might have used the binder though... (Now I feel like an idiot :-( )

You are spot on with the pricing. That is the MAIN reason why I want to go this way. Even without having read about hydrocal yet, I dont think it is available at less than a 1€/kg?! (It being softened up by water again doesnt appeal to me though...)

As I said before; this whole exercise is to gain experience enough to do the WHOLE bloody landscaping this way. There are some 20m2 to be covered, eventually!
I also test-cast a natural stone "wall". Later I will show the result also...

@Purellum; incredible insight, or I just have a lot to learn! ;-)
Well, as I am writing this, the last fill-up of plaster (this time I used the other bag) is now drying, and with that the structure is completely filled up with plaster. Later I will have to add a thin layer to fill out all cracks and holes there might still be.
It is still not totally dry from yesterdays filling; Either the stuff was not plaster, or it takes more than 24H to dry totally.

It is pretty heavy. around 2 kg I would pressume. (not a problem)

Update on progress:

The bridge has finally been fully plastered;


As one maybe can see, the result is far from "nice and clean".

After the plaster is totally dry, each individual stone is cut (engraved) on the surface.
Also far form nice and clean. Actually it is NOT up to standards;


On the extreme closeup above, all the errors are easy to see. In real life the result isnt really that bad to look at, but alas does not stand up to closer inspection.

For the moment I will go with it though, but maybe in the future I will substitute it for the equivalent Kibri kit.

With a little luck I will finish the project during the easter holidays.
Oh well...

Thanx for your quick answer. (I feel like I have jsut hit the "Post..." button ;-)

Answers; (I´ll try)

I formed the inside with a plastic "spatula" (stirring-pins for automatic coffee machines)
I then cut/filed/sanded away the material, until it was reasonably round. (The wooden inside defining "round".)
It was very difficult, and the main reason for the delay of the project.
NOT recomendable.

I use nails for engraving (a big one and a smaller one). Makes my fingers hurt. (Ehm... I mean nails for hammering, not the ones at the end of my fingers... ;-)

The inside will only be done for the outermost bricks. The rest of the inside is practically impossible to see, and definatly impossible to engrave.

The most interesting thing is the colour!!!
It is a trick that I learned from the spanish user-group MärklinCafé.
It is a stuff called "Betún de Judea".
I dont know what it is exactly, but it is for "weathering" and "ageing" of plaster sculptures, wood (like furnitures and sculptures) and metal.
The information on the bottle doesnt say what the stuff consists off, other than it is a "petrolium based paint", but I tried it out on a piece of wood, and the effect was astonnishing!
For the bridge I think it is too dark.
Powerful stuff, this!

Edit; I tried Googling for it, and it looks like if it is based on tar. Maybe other spanish-speakers can help out here?

Very good work.

Looking really good, Henrik.

Very good!

Stonewall finished!

The methods and experiments with the bridge, is paying off! The wall has almost none of
the errors encountered when working on the bridge!

The totally engraved/grated(?) wall was first painted grey with an acryllic paint;


It was then "weathered" with diluted "Betun de Judea"; (it´s very thin; you smear it on,
wait 1-2 minuttes, and then wipe it clean with a cloth) (a wash (heavily diluted paint)
with black acryllic paint could also be used)


The finished wall in its place at the alpine station;



I have now developped a specific method for producing these walls, with a result that
satisfies me.
I dont pretend to be an expert on this, after these few works, but the method is good for
somebody who needs flexibility and cost of materials close to 0,-!
Here is how I do it;

1) Build a rough model in wood/carton. (usually some left-over pieces will do)

2) Cover every visible part with a VERY THIN film of white glue (wood glue)
This is important so that the plaster will adhere well to the wood, also when grating.
Dont get plaster and glue mixed up, which will make it IMPOSSIBLE to grate the plaster! (bridge problem #1)

3) Cover every visible part with plaster. Around 1mm thickness will do, but not less.
Thick layers of plaster wil do also, but there is always the risque of cracks and
holes. Better to have a more accurate model of wood inside. (bridge problem #2)

4) When totally dry, grate the stones. First horizontal lines, which can be made using a
ruler. Vertical lines must be made stone by stone. This is very tedius, and seems to take
forever. Grating can hurt hands and fingers.
Dont worry about some cornes breaking off, cracks showing up, etc. during the grating.
This is exactly what makes for such a realistic result!

5) Paint everything with a diluted paint.

6) Weather everything with a HEAVILY diluted black paint. (Or the "magical" Betun de
Judea); Apply generously, wait, wipe off with cloth. (bridge problem #3)

Finished!

Excellent paint.

Awesome.
Nev

Giday mate. Henrick , you were saying earlier that your bridge was not quite "nice and clean";and "error".
This bridge you have built is a great model.
I don't how, but in the end the little problems seem to blend into a finished scene.
Some times they even enhance it.
Great thread ya got here; bridge(11 out of 10)...
life is cool

Dear Hxmiesa,
The Spanish conquered South America, and middle America, and now they conquer the mountains of model-dom.
Well done, excellent modelling, and a great incentive for us to "have-a-go, mate" as we say in Australia.
regards
Kimball

Thanks mate Kimball.
Although I would like to remind you, that the SCANDINAVIANS conquered most of northern europe, and even found the Americas 100´s of years before anybody else.
They even reached as far down in europe as Spain.
-And they still do! ;-)

great !

They sure do, but I live here permanently.
Sorry to say that living and working here is not as glorious as spending your holidays here...

If I told you, I would have to kill you. (So I wont tell you, okay? ;-)

Judging by the size and importance of the scandinavian countries today, I dont think they
are in a position to invade anybody. But I think they ARE trying to conquer the world in
terms of functional design and meatballs. (IKEA has both, although the danes are also
very proud of THEIR particular versions of the same things)

Well, actually, I think Spain is a great train-modelling nation! Certain shops in
Barcelona stands up to the comparison with big and famous german shops! -in price,
service and availability/stock ;-)
Here are also several "famous" (at least in spanish-speaking countries) brands here;
Electrotren (okay, we all know that one)
Ibertren (anybody still remember this one? -well, it has re-appeared with some very
highly detailed spanish rolling stock. 2-rail)
Aneste (a kind of Preiser/Busch/Brawa accesory producer)
Tecnotren (catenaria in spanish style. Metal construction!)
-well, just to mention a few...

More walls,

Yet another wall has been finished (part of a tunnel-entrance);


This time I think the result DOES stand up to closer inspection;


The improvement compared to the previos wall, is that I mixed in some grey paint directly
in the plaster! (The previous grey wall was painted over with the acryllic paint, which
seems to fill up all the small pores, and thus smoothening/degrading the details.)

A sneak previev of the next wall (a very high support with arches, with a steep drop down of around 50cm (the wall is "only" 30cm, the rest will be rocks/mountain);

-it is part of the access to the alpine station, and I hope it will be very spectacular ;-)