These girders got me Jiggin'

[diezmon]

I need to make two plate-girder spans for my layout.  I'm too impatient to wait for shipping, and I like to build on my own if I can anyway.

This is how I made up my jig for gluing up the braces to the panels.

I start by marking 5' intervals in a nice straight board (I got five feet by eying up various girder bridges, after mucho googling).  The I cut slots with my coping saw.  I found the razor saw was too thin. The styrene brace pieces wouldn't fit.


I then cut my L shaped styrene pieces.. I cut them long to be trimmed later.


Each piece goes into a slot along the length of the panel



align the panel on top, and start glueing... I use MEK and a brush, applying to each joint, to weld the styrene together


After turn it over, just glue on the long strip for the top and bottom of the girder, and voila!


the whole thing took about 15 minutes 

[up1950s]

Very nice , and can you say cottage business ? " Diezmon's Custom Plate Girders " for N scale bridges and loads .

[Zox]

Good thinking there!

I have a bridge I want to do eventually that'll need custom plate girders like that, and you've just made the project seem a lot more do-able.

[Dupesy]

dude, thats aweseome!

Now we need a article on weathering bridges.....

[diezmon]

dude, thats aweseome!

Now we need a article on weathering bridges.....

Maybe we can hit up Tom Mann's head on that one?   

[diezmon]

Very nice , and can you say cottage business ? " Diezmon's Custom Plate Girders " for N scale bridges and loads .

good idea!  only $299.99 per kit.. then I can quit my day job   ;D ;D

[TrainCat2]

Careful ... Someone will come by and tell you that your product should cost only $2.99   

[diezmon]

Careful ... Someone will come by and tell you that your product should cost only $2.99   

Hmm, no hidden meaning in that post of mine.  If I weren't on such a budget lately.. I wouldn't be cutting slots in 1x2's 

[tom mann]

I'm a little surprised to see my head in a jar...

http://lh6.google.com/diezmon/RxVUyVO7z3I/AAAAAAAABdE/t9UrC_eGVq8/s800/IMG_6121.JPG

...I never thought it would come to this ;D

[TrainCat2]

Tom,

Your being preserved for posterity so generations of RailWire Forumites may know of you.

[diezmon]

Ok, so the girder-ing continues.

I got the full girders with brackets all glued up into units




And how they look with some track on 'em




So far so good.. anyone counting the rivets?

And gluing the track on...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That's awesome, especially the Futurama-esque head in a jar.

[tom mann]

That's awesome, especially the Futurama-esque head in a jar.

I wonder how many of these I could sell?

The Tom Mann Head-in-a-jar:  a likeness of my head, in a jar, always happily watching over your modeling projects.  And if you shake the jar and turn it over, you get some friendly advice from a floating prism-like object also in the jar.  Advice includes "weather that with chalks", "try your airbrush", and "it sucks, try another scale".

[diezmon]

Cool, like the 8-ball but in a jar! 

"Oh Tom in a jar, will I be able to weather this boxcar?"   *shake*shake**shake* 

jar -"Signs point to yes"   

[tom mann]

Cool, like the 8-ball but in a jar! 

"Oh Tom in a jar, will I be able to weather this boxcar?"   *shake*shake**shake* 

jar -"Signs point to yes"   

jar - "No, try collecting stamps instead" ;D