Covered Bridge for ceiling track (Pic heavy)


Olie

Olie

Active Member
I've been trying to decide how to add some scenery to the ceiling track. I've had several ideas for a bridge but due to the fact that I have two tracks and one is elevated, kit builds are really not in the mix. So, scratch build. After looking on-line at way too many bridges, I finally saw one I thought would look good. A covered bridge. More searching on how to make shake shingle roofing, numerous truss diagrams, etc. Anyway, I have started the build. I went with scissor trusses and a simple Warren through truss. This is far from prototypical but hey, it's my layout, I'll do what I want!! Here's the progress so far:
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The vertical piece will eventually get oil lanterns hanging from it. I found some online that were very expensive but I also found a how to to build them. Holy blow-off valve, they are tiny.
I'm waiting for the scissor trusses to dry and then they'll all get some stain. I will post more pics as the build continues. Please give me feedback as this is my first scratch build.
 
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OK ... I'll test the water!
You are off to a good start. Looks as if you are being careful to get the joints to fit nicely.

I'm not sure how many of those gabels you need, but I would construct a jig for starts from the first one you have?

Keep up the good work and show us more!
 
Sirfoldalot said:
OK ... I'll test the water!
You are off to a good start. Looks as if you are being careful to get the joints to fit nicely.

I'm not sure how many of those gabels you need, but I would construct a jig for starts from the first one you have?

Keep up the good work and show us more!
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I did make a modified jig with 1" foam and some scrap pieces with pins. Worked fairly well and I only needed 5 gables.
 
I once built a station from scratch. Looked as good as anything on the market. I used a brown paper grocery bag to make my own shingles. Took a while to make the individual cuts in the foot long strips, but it looked great when finished.
 
I'm thinking it will look pretty good. I'll take some pics of the strips and post them up in a few.
 
Sirfoldalot said:
I once built a station from scratch. Looked as good as anything on the market. I used a brown paper grocery bag to make my own shingles. Took a while to make the individual cuts in the foot long strips, but it looked great when finished.
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Do you still have it? I'd love to see pics of that!
 
This is looking really good so far. Are you working off of a photo, or are you just building what you want it to look like?
 
Early 60's ..moved too many times .. didn't even have a camera back then. Now I wish I would have kept them.
Made the shingles from 1/2 x 12 strips- drew a line down the strip to use as a cutting guide .. stacked 4-5 strips up to cut the shingles ... worked great.

I got the idea for the shingles from looking at Cambell's back then.
 
Next stage is giving the structure some color. Stain......paint......stain.....paint? I went with stain. Only issue is the glue didn't take the stain but that seems to be only on the top of the trusses.

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The side frames took the stain a little better.

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No comments on the messy garage.
 
So, the work begins on the shake roof. I followed this DIY https://www.scalemodelplans.com/smp/tutorials/shake_roof.html
Started with .020 veneer and construction paper.
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Cutting it into strips going with the grain was fairly easy with a paper cutter.
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Glued down to the construction paper.
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Ran into a lot of issues when trying to cut against the grain. The small pieces would pop off the paper. I was able to fix this by applying a fairly heavy coat of white glue over the strips after they were glued to the paper. The sheets began to curl like the DIY had stated so we assume we didn't have enough glue on the first run.
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Getting the strips cut into such small widths may be a real challenge. Might just leave them wider and simply have more overlapping. Hopefully I will start laying roof this weekend!
 
NYC_George said:
And I thought I had a lot of patience.

George
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I do have to give my wife a lot of credit. She's been working on these as well. They aren't all coming out as nice as those in the pics but I think that's due to our paper cutter. I don't know if I'd want to do this for every building.
 
Sorry I haven't updated this thread. Here is the latest with shake shingle roof:

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Shingle roof 3 resized.jpg

There has been a HUGE learning curve with this build. The original design called for fairly thin strips cut before placing on sub-roof. I have found that 1/4" to 5/8" is ideal for cutting, handling and aesthetics. More to come.
 
Darn, that is a lot of work but the results are fantastic - job well done. By the way, I like whats in the back ground of the pic taken in the garage too ;)
 
wombat457 said:
Darn, that is a lot of work but the results are fantastic - job well done. By the way, I like whats in the back ground of the pic taken in the garage too ;)
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Oh snap! I didn't notice that, I was looking at all the messes. My "other" addiction.
 
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