After seeing the beautiful bridges that Tim W. has built, I thought I would try my hand at making some improvements to my layout. Here is my first attempt at making some stonework (a bridge abutment) a bit more realistic than Mr. Rodgers Land Of Let's Pretend.
It’s not in the same league as the work that Tim W has done, but it’s better than it was before. And it was a fun project for a couple of rainy days.
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Lehigh74,
I think you did a fine job, and thank you for the compliments. If you used building foam, it is very strong isn't it? It has probably gotten you thinking about all of the different things you could make with it. It allows for carving, painting, gluing, has a high resistance to compression, and allows for advanced working techniques that result in a different finished look. Once it's painted, it becomes tough as nails, strong, dense, yet extremely lightweight, so if you bang into it, drop it, it can't even harm itself, because it is so lightweight.
I love experimenting with it, and working it with different tooling, and trying new techniques to get more refined end results. It is a joy to work with in my opinion, so much easier than wood, so I use it whenever I can as an appropriate substitute. It also combines well with other materials, but of course, not everything.
I myself, am still learning of all of its capabilities, and that to me, is one of the most enjoyable things in using it to make stuff. So many things to make and try out, it is almost endless.
Really nice. Reminds me of the stone work on the Pennsylvania RR.
Another foam to try is the green florist foam.
It has lots of holes and can be compressed in to shape, scored or rolled. It caome in many shapes and sizes. The secret is to finish it with the water soluable plastic wood filler. That fills all the holes and can be sanded and painted. hard as nails.
Lehigh74,
I think you did a fine job, and thank you for the compliments. If you used building foam, it is very strong isn't it? It has probably gotten you thinking about all of the different things you could make with it. It allows for carving, painting, gluing, has a high resistance to compression, and allows for advanced working techniques that result in a different finished look. Once it's painted, it becomes tough as nails, strong, dense, yet extremely lightweight, so if you bang into it, drop it, it can't even harm itself, because it is so lightweight.
I love experimenting with it, and working it with different tooling, and trying new techniques to get more refined end results. It is a joy to work with in my opinion, so much easier than wood, so I use it whenever I can as an appropriate substitute. It also combines well with other materials, but of course, not everything.
I myself, am still learning of all of its capabilities, and that to me, is one of the most enjoyable things in using it to make stuff. So many things to make and try out, it is almost endless.
Another interesting material for bridges is ceiling blocks. A friend has built some really nice bridges.
Don
Yes. I used the pink rigid foam. It’s great to work with, but a little messy. I’ve used it before for rock formations, landscape, crowned roads, cuts, river beds, coal loads. I’ve even used it for insulating walls.
I’ve got an elevated section about 7 or 8 feet long with about 2 feet of that a block wall made of vacuum-formed plastic and the rest modeled after the brick highline next to 30th Street station in Philly (made of particle board). I’m thinking it would look a lot better with a Rockville like bridge made of the rigid foam.
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