Bridge on the River Kwai _ a static display.

[Derailed]

I only just got interested in model roading, so what I am about to share with you has little, if anything, to do with trains. About a year or so ago I started scratch building, as seen in the movie, The Bridge on the River Kwai. In doing so, I had no intentions of showing a train, let along a model train gauge. I simply wanted to show the bridge near its completion of construction. I had no plans to follow other than my own estimations. The scale I chose was more or less based on the available space I had at the time. So, the scale chosen is 1:150.

I have taken photos of its construction to its present unfinished stage. They will be posted here as I sort them out. I am not sure if I will complete this project, as I am keen to start on a model railway layout. However, I am hoping that the following photos may help a newcomer who is interested in scratch building a wooden bridge.

I have to warn you though that this bridge has a few errors. However, I believe it will still be passed as a reasonable representation of the movie bridge.

to be continued...

 

[Derailed]

Doing the research for this movie bridge was fascinating in terms of construction, and realizing that they built this marvelous bridge just to blow it up. However, the research lead me to discover the truth from which the movie was based on _ a very sad and depressing reality of the 'Death Railway', or the 'Thai-Burma Railway' (and other names) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Railway.

I found it difficult to build this bridge, even though it looks nothing like the real bridge, but it has become an icon and represents unbelievable hardship, torture and death. So I decided to use a figurine for both reference and a bit of humour to give me a break from what I am trying to portray by this model. The figure has entered in some of my photos acting as the construction foreman/supervisor.

Since this will be a static display, the bridge will be built for a narrow display case.

Here is the foreman on a 6mm dowel.

The figurines are 11-12mm (165-180cm). The POWs need to be thinned down.

All the uprights need to tapered like trees.

The foreman got buried.

I decided to keep all the waste materials from the modelling so to reuse it as something else, like saw shavings etc.

to be continued...

 

[Smudge617]

Doing the research for this movie bridge was fascinating in terms of construction, and realizing that they built this marvelous bridge just to blow it up. However, the research lead me to discover the truth from which the movie was based on _ a very sad and depressing reality of the 'Death Railway', or the 'Thai-Burma Railway' (and other names) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma_Railway.

I found it difficult to build this bridge, even though it looks nothing like the real bridge, but it has become an icon and represents unbelievable hardship, torture and death. So I decided to use a figurine for both reference and a bit of humour to give me a break from what I am trying to portray by this model. The figure has entered in some of my photos acting as the construction foreman/supervisor.

Since this will be a static display, the bridge will be built for a narrow display case.

View attachment 151122

Here is the foreman on a 6mm dowel.
View attachment 151123

The figurines are 11-12mm (165-180cm). The POWs need to be thinned down.
View attachment 151124

View attachment 151125

All the uprights need to tapered like trees.
View attachment 151126

The foreman got buried.
View attachment 151127
I decided to keep all the waste materials from the modelling so to reuse it as something else, like saw shavings etc.
View attachment 151128

View attachment 151129

to be continued...

I like this, can't wait to see more.

 

[Derailed]

I just got some time to sneak in a few more photos...
I am cutting a base, slightly larger than the model platform, to accommodate a glass surround display box. The plywood I am using has a slight bow to it. To cancel this, I glued each bow (like a lens shape) against each other. I used 35kg to flatten the bows as the glue dries.
My foreman is guiding my saw cuts.

Using scrap Perspex and card to determine the gap for the glass panels of the display box. I want to be able to easily lift the box of its base so I can access the model if I need to.
The off-cuts is my clumsy way to determine how to cut 45 deg angle of the picture frame beading.

Discovered I drilled an extra row of holes (for the pylons) on both sides.

On applying wood putty to fill the holes, the spatulate broke.

After sanding it up, the display base looks quite well, and without a bow in it.

to be continued...

 

[Derailed]

Getting my notes and plans together so as to determine my next steps.

The pylons go into the platform at a slight angle, so the base of the dowels need to be trimmed (as noted in above drawing).

To start with, I need two aligned poles at both ends of the bridge to serve as reference points for aligning everything else.

I used a template, and to align the sloped pylons; and a square for the verticals.

After trimming the pylon footing a bit I used a mark to indicate which part needs more trimming, to get the desired lean, before gluing.

As mentioned earlier, I saved all scraps for later use (as off-cuts and debarking of trees, etc.,).

to be continued...

 

[Derailed]

Using a card for a jig-spacer.

Apparently I shaved to much off a pylon base and it became too loose in the hole. I did not want to make another tapered pylon to replace it, so...

 

[Derailed]

Now for the center two pylon structures that support the cantilever suspension bridge. Their design structure is very different to the ends I have been working on. In the first place I have to know exactly where the leaned (4) pylons would be to each other at the same height of the two end framed structures. To do this, I used a card jig with correct spacing between the pylons. All I had to do is have the card at the correct height and pull in the pylons against the jig, then glue the pylons to the base.

Using an angle aluminum bar as a straight edge, for the card to be raised to.

After gluing on the top cross-beams the foreman realized he had to cut the elastic band to detach it.

My scalpel blade was getting blunt...

Tapered several 4mm dowels for supporting beams.

The foreman feels proud on top of his bridge, but there is still a lot more to come.

to be continued...

 

[beiland]

I visited that location in Thailand one time when I was doing a little exploring with my Thai wife. We stayed in an inn just 1 mile from the site for about a week. and also visited a number of the local museums associated with the history of the war that brought on the building of those bridges. it has become a tourist site. i have a goodly number of photos if I could ever fine them.

I also spent a fair amount of time at an adjacent city that had lots of floating homes, restaurants, etc. I was reasearching the idea of building some floating Thai or Bali style floating homes/cottages.

 

[Vince-RA]

Really impressive! Can't wait to see how this turns out.

(PS N scale isn't far off from 1:150, just saying)

 

[Derailed]

@beiland , thanks for your response. I am at the stage of this project where the bridge is almost finished and nothing more can be added to it that I do not know about of the movie bridge. However, I have spent many a month researching the real Thai-Burma Railway, and gathered many images of the time and up to the present. I normally do extensive research for two reasons, firstly to get to know the subject matter and most importantly to gain a deeper feeling for what it is I want to portray. The first part feeds the technician in me, and the second part feeds the artist in me. Often it is the artist part which can make the biggest impact to a model.

I am looking forward to completing the bridge, even more so is all the goings on around the work sight _ a challenge indeed.

I hope to introduce a part of Hellfire Pass into the scene. The bottom photograph gives an insight of what it must have looked like when the POWs worked into the nights ; hence, the name Hellfire Pass.

 

[Derailed]

@Vince-RA , thanks for kind words. Yes I know N scale is close, and even the homemade tracks I put on it turns out to be very close to N scale (narrow). The actual train was running on a narrow gauge, and I had made it 5mm between the two rails. To put in the N-gauge, I would have to pull of a lot planks too. Besides, its a static display only. Perhaps I will try and get a plastic N scale model of a JNR Class C56 and bring in the wheels if I have to.

 

[Smudge617]

@Vince-RA , thanks for kind words. Yes I know N scale is close, and even the homemade tracks I put on it turns out to be very close to N scale (narrow). The actual train was running on a narrow gauge, and I had made it 5mm between the two rails. To put in the N-gauge, I would have to pull of a lot planks too. Besides, its a static display only. Perhaps I will try and get a plastic N scale model of a JNR Class C56 and bring in the wheels if I have to.

I'm enjoying seeing your work, way beyond me to even try something like this.

My Grandfather worked on the Burma Railway and the bridge, he survived, but refused to say anything about his time as a POW of the Japanese.

I do know from official records that it was called Hellfire Pass because of the sight of starved and emaciated prisoners working by torchlight looked like a scene from hell.

Another description from a officer who was there, described it as like a picture of Dante's Inferno, but much, much worse.

 

[Derailed]

I'm enjoying seeing your work, way beyond me to even try something like this.

My Grandfather worked on the Burma Railway and the bridge, he survived, but refused to say anything about his time as a POW of the Japanese.

I do know from official records that it was called Hellfire Pass because of the sight of starved and emaciated prisoners working by torchlight looked like a scene from hell.

Another description from a officer who was there, described it as like a picture of Dante's Inferno, but much, much worse.

Yes, it is hard to imagine what it was like without ever experiencing anything close to it. To work there, tortured, sick and dying, is bad enough, but the rock they were digging through was hard and already reddish in colour. The rock had red inclusions of stone that reflected the light, making the air seem reddish too (a description I read from a POW).

There is a powerful movie about such death camps, called the The Railway Man (true story), he was also a railway modeler. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Railway_Man_(film)

 

[Smudge617]

Yes, it is hard to imagine what it was like without ever experiencing anything close to it. To work there, tortured, sick and dying, is bad enough, but the rock they were digging through was hard and already reddish in colour. The rock had red inclusions of stone that reflected the light, making the air seem reddish too (a description I read from a POW).

There is a powerful movie about such death camps, called the The Railway Man (true story), he was also a railway modeler. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Railway_Man_(film)

I've seen that movie, I also found it quite powerful and moving too, it beggers belief that humans could do that to one another, but that was the culture the Japanese soldier was brought up on, very similar to the German "Untermensch" mentality.

 

[Derailed]

I've seen that movie, I also found it quite powerful and moving too, it beggers belief that humans could do that to one another, but that was the culture the Japanese soldier was brought up on, very similar to the German "Untermensch" mentality.

It is the collective beliefs of a people which forms cultures and sub-cultures, in which each one has differences of opinion of each other. Even forums of a similar hobby, such as model railroading, are sub-cultures. That is why I choose to be more independent than most, and usually end up doing odd and quirky things, even in model making.

About the movie, The Railway Man, what also amazes me is that both men eventually befriended each other.

The story behind such existential experiences can be explained by Viktor Frankl.

 

[Derailed]

Thank you all for your support and information, it's much appreciated.
I am having a late lunch, and got some time to post some more photos.

This section of the bridge remains unfinished and it will show the POWs at work. However, the rest of the bridge is to be completed, but not as you see it here.

to be continued...

 

[Derailed]

The final download of photos...

A simple touch of a permanent ink pen provides the impression of spikes heads (fasteners).

The foreman in the bottom photo sure gives a good idea of how big the bridge was.

Working on the track and footway.

Using 1mm thick styrene strips for railway sleepers (painted light brown).

Using 1mm styrene strips for track rails (painted silver). Used a 5mm block to keep the rails apart at a constant distance while gluing.

Used 1mm styrene for the dispersed planks of wood for supporting both the footway boards and vertical hand rail supports (yet to be built).

The holes you see in the styrene will be for the handrail verticals/posts; and the notches for the braces.

This is were I am at the moment. I will come back to this thread when I get back into it. Doing this thread has certainly inspired me to seriously think about restarting this project.

Hope this has inspired others to give bridge building a go.

 

[beiland]

I wonder if there are any video presentations of the building of the movie version of that bridge??

BTW, I did find a number of my photos of my trip to that bridge. I could post some photos of a few of the locos they have on site, if someone wants to see them?

 

[PRR Modeler]

Derailed,

I just found this thread. You have done incredible scratch building. I look forward to seeing your completed bridge.

 

[Derailed]

I wonder if there are any video presentations of the building of the movie version of that bridge??

BTW, I did find a number of my photos of my trip to that bridge. I could post some photos of a few of the locos they have on site, if someone wants to see them?

I have not seen any videos but I have a few photograph images showing different stages.

Regarding your photographs, yes, please do share them with us.