Progress - creeping along

Well I have been busy work out bridge designs. There are two large viaducts on the layout as I mentioned before. One based on the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct, which turned out to be simpler, as it is simply concrete. It is composed of two modules - a curved module and an end module. There are 7 curved pieces plus the two ends. Here is the completed CAD model.

I've got this bridge ordered. I'm printing it in PLA - while it will show layering, I am hoping that this will ultimately have the affect of looking like layers of concrete. We will see. Worst case, I can print it in a higher resolution, finer layer material. But it should be here for the show.

The second big viaduct is based more on the Ribblehead Viaduct. This is a stone arch viaduct, and in it, I have modeled the individual stones in the viaduct. It took a long time to get them all in in a reasonable pattern. The bridge has three modules, an end module, a straight module and a curved module. A total of 8 parts make up the bridge, but I was able to order it built in two halves.

You can see the detail down to the individual stones better in this view.

In a moment of minor insanity, I did do things to randomly vary the size and spacing of the individual stones, although I did take care to try to mimic the patterns on the existing bridges. These stone should each print, and some of them have different 3D bulges. You may not be able to see them, but I know that they are there. Of course, this means a finer, high quality printing process using Frosted Ultra-detail Acrylic. Each layer should be about 20 mil thick.

On the actual viaduct, there are several (copper) plates at various locations. Some are round, others rectangular. But they are small - I designed them at about 2-4mm so that they were both printable and visible on the bridge. I modeled these as a set of details, also printed in frosted ultra-detail plastic. Each has a small diameter rod, which I should be able to drill a hole for and mount on the bridge after they are painted.

Thinking about it now, they are almost certainly too large - but they will be very small on this bridge. so even if they are out of scale, the effect should be good.

That leaves one bridge to carry pedestrians across the main road - and hide the top of a mirror - and the wharf area to design for printing. Unfortunately, those are not done yet, and would not likely be printed and delivered in time for the train show. They are still on the to do list, but now I am looking at what I can get done before the train show. Since the wharf is not done, I cannot pour the water prior to the train show, although I may apply a gloss medium to the area, just as a temporary measure. Instead, I am going to focus on other scenery elements. The road bed is all painted, and I continue to work on the bottom detail/coloring of the water. Sculptamold is next.