Cisco Bridges: a new layout concept

[basementcalling]

Yeah still looks HAWT

Hawt enough to dry up the river.  

Scott, your work puts museum quality to shame. Unreal signature scene.

[packers#1]

Stunning work, well done!

[Scottl]

Thanks everyone.  It has been a long time coming but it feels like this scene is getting close to completion.

One more from yesterday.

[GaryHinshaw]

Fantastic!  The backdrop blends so well too.  Sorry about your Powercab though. 

[Scottl]

Thanks Gary.  Since my Procab is dead, I turned my attention to some unpleasant jobs, like assembling the etched handrails for the bridge.  Soldering was the solution, and a few hours later I have about half of the railings in primer.

[Scottl]

Back to the drawing board on these railings.  The set above were ruined by a lousy top coat of paint from a spray can.  It might have been the humid weather when I painted outside, but the paint has now ruined a few other projects as well.  To add to the disaster, the ruined railings were squashed by the cat because I left them out

I had a second set of railings so I assembled them, successfully painted them, and started to install them on the bridge.  I was quickly unimpressed in how even they were and the effect was not as polished as I wanted.  I pulled them off and saved them for a less critical project.  I prepared a new set of etch drawings that make long strings of the railings (11") to make installation much more consistent and to reduce assembly time issues.  They are in the hands of PPD so this project is on hold for now. 

I'm gearing up for some more trees and to finish the river.  I like the suggestion of @mark dance to use leveling compound as a base layer so that will be my next task. I also need to sort out how to paint the bathtub ring on the bank and abutments in a consistent way.  I am thinking of masking and using an airbrush to put down a light coat of white.  More to come.

[Scottl]

Back from some travel and a package from PPD was at the post office.  My new railing etch design avoided all that fidgety soldering work of the previous versions and now the railings are in 11" lengths to ensure a nice even appearance. 

Here they are hot out of the oven. 

[Scottl]

OK, that was not fun.  After a few hundred dollars in etches and dozens of hours, I think the handrails are done.  Strangely, they are barely visible, but I suppose that is the price to be paid for scale handrails! 

Occupational health and safety was finally satisfied and let CN send out a crew to inspect the bridge 



Here is a detail shot, as best I can with my cell phone.  Some of the apps folks suggested to me in another thread have turned out to be very useful, but I am still needing to get a better camera.



Now onto finishing the river!

[C855B]

Waddaya mean, "barely visible"? What a stunning detail in what was already an outstanding scene!

[davefoxx]

The handrails look obvious and well worth the effort to me, too.

DFF

[GaryHinshaw]

I can imagine it is barely visible in person from 2-3 feet, but it certainly looks outstanding in your photos! Love the MOW vehicle too.

[Kevin C]

Good Job Scott. Give yourself a pat on the back!!.

[Scottl]

Thanks everyone.  I think Gary hit the nail on the head- at three feet it is a very subtle, almost invisible detail, but up close like the second photo, it is quite prominent.  I guess my first reactions were conditioned by the former, but I am definitely happy with the outcome. 

I spent the afternoon doing some detail work, including some warning and milepost signs, weathering the concrete erosion protection structures and assembling a Showcase signal for the east bank.  I will light it for effect but have no intention of a signalling network at this point.  I promptly lost one of the little (yet critical!) parts and spent an hour looking for it fruitlessly.

[Bendtracker1]

WOW Scott!
Superb job, I'd say it was worth every cuss word and drop of sweat you put into it!   

[Santa Fe Guy]

Great work Scott, worth every penny so to speak.
Rod.