Thomson River Bridge - 3

With the four piers at hand, all I had to do was to assemble them and get them ready for the finished effect. As mentioned I thought the best way to go was to apply Selleys Spackfilla Rapid over the piers, then colour them up to represent the real thing. I am not sure if the natural finish of the 3D print would have resulted in a better representation of the concrete finish, but after completing then, I am happy with the look.
When I assembled the pieces of the piers I had used five minute araldite along with a section of styrene over the joints to strengthen the pier. I am not sure if this extra section was required but gave re-assurance that it would all hold together.
Two of the pieces I received already had the bases included as part of the print. As these prints were basically experimental, I suggested to Roger that they could be omitted to save time and filament in printing. The only time I have seen the actual bases was when the bridge was new, in all photos viewed since the bridges opening the bases have been covered with river gravel.
The caps were left in their original state and didn't require any plaster. Roger had also moulded the plates that the bridge rests on at the top of the pier.

The four piers awaiting finishing

I eventually got the four piers covered with the plaster and then it came time to work out how to finish them off to look like the real thing. I had taken as many photos as I could on my two visits to the real bridge as a guide for later construction. The lighting in the area was different on the two visits which was reflected in the photos but luckily we dodged rain on both occasions. Having been in position for over one hundred years the piers have had plenty of natural weathering. The top of the piers has a lot of 'gunk' that has dribbled down the sides. As it goes further down it fades out. So it is a complicated job to get the overall look of the real thing.

My attempts at weathering

I grabbed a piece of florist foam to practice on before I applied a finish it to the piers. The final finish had to be the same over the four piers. As stated on the previous blog entry the final colour was hard to define, and varied over time. After this test piece, I thought I was ready to do the four piers, and after having a go I was a bit disillusioned with the result.

Pier one, fail one

I wasn't satisfied with my results and knowing that the piers on the bridge are the focal point that people will focus on, I wanted to get these right. I became aware of a painter Ian Fainges who does custom painting work for Andian Models.

Two of Ian Fainges painted figures on the layout

I had Ian paint up two figures for me and was very pleased with the final finish. Ian is also a great painter with war gamer figures. So I thought why not ask him if he could do the piers for me using his skills. After contacting him he said he would have a go and the four piers were packed up and sent to him. After a short while he sent photos which looked OK.
I received the piers back but after unpacking I thought they weren't what I wanted but he was happy to have another go. So when I received them back the second time I reckon he has got them spot on. The weathering from the top down is really excellent.

Painted piers Mark 1

Painted piers Mark 2

Looking good

I still need to do a little more on the piers basically trying to simulate the concrete layer pour lines but more than happy with the end results thanks to the help of Roger and Ian. The bridge is a complicated build but if taken slowly will all come together in the end.

Fox Valley Railway

Readers of this forum would know about our group of regular modellers who gather together for trips out or meetings at each others place for a layout run, barbeque, drink and maybe a rail related video, then cake etc to finish off the day.
The last event was held locally at Kevin's place where we were treated to his great Fox Valley On30 railway. I follow VR narrow gauge but he has chosen US based models with a lot of freelancing thrown in. He has made many of his models from locos to rolling stock and buildings. His skill has probably come through from his trade as an aircraft maintenance engineer.

No 16 latest scratch built sound loco

A few of the steam locos around the turntable

Opposite side of layout to first photo

At the loader

Busy day at the local station

 So everything was going well on the day and after a while at the layout we went upstairs for a barbeque lunch. While the sausages were on the barbie, the skies started to darken and within ten minutes the day had gone from a very smoky day from the bushfires to cyclonic weather. The rain was coming down horizontally, wind blowing and we were wondering what would happen next. We rescued the cooked sausages from the barbie and went inside for lunch. Of course next to happen was that the power went out. The wine drinkers amongst us were happy but we all missed out on our cake and coffee later on.
With no power to see a video we adjourned for the day and I was given a lift home, dodging downed trees on the way home.
The tops of a tall tree were brought down in the back yard that being the only damage. But later that night around 7.0pm we lost power and didn't receive power back until another 3 days, also around 7.0pm. Needless to say not much modelling or computing got done on those three days. We sometimes don't realise how reliant we are on electrical power.