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Covered Bridge for ceiling track (Pic heavy)
Thread starterOlie
Start date
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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:
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.
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 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.
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.
Cutting it into strips going with the grain was fairly easy with a paper cutter.
Glued down to the construction paper.
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.
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!
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:
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
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
