Before Christmas I posted about a diorama built using a cat food box and polystyrene. I had a vision of using similar methods to create a scene of a 15" gauge line crossing a beck on a girder bridge and I started work on this on New Year's morning. As I didn't have as much polystyrene to hand, but plenty of cardboard boxes to dispose of, I actually filled the bottom of the box with layers of card cut to be a snug fit.
I actually sellotaped the layers together and then glued the whole block to the base and sides of the box, making it quite strong. I used some chunky clamps and a piece of plywood to make sure the box sides didn't bow out and actually stuck to the inner card layers.
The following day I inserted the polystyrene layers and blocks built to allow a valley to be carved out. The clamps and plywood were used again to make sure everything stuck all around.
I added some 3.5mm foam core into the gap at the bottom of the box as a potential future watercourse, and carved the basic shape of the landform into the polystyrene using the existing opening as a guide.
However, something didn't look right and I mused over this for a day or so. I then removed 1/2" of polystyrene from the top of the box, re-shaped the slopes to a more gentle grade and slightly reduced the angle (and size) of the bridge abutment supports. I think this improves the overall balance of the scene.
The bridge is a modified Wills SS28, with the lower handrails removed from the girders to look like a lightweight 7mm scale bridge suitable for a 15" gauge railway. I will make new abutments representing cast concrete, as the basis of this I added cardboard uprights to the abutments to make the bridge deck fit snugly.
DAS modelling clay has been used to shape the bottom of the embankments as they were not easy to carve from the polystyrene. Once this is dry the ground cover can be started... watch this space...
Colin
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