Added another set of girders which will sandwich the railway tracks. Used matchsticks for railway sleeper supports.



Cut strips of 1 mm sheet plastic for railways sleepers. After gluing them in they got a coat of paint resembling freshly cut timber.

POW were used for hauling up and dropping a weight, all day and night long, for several months, to drive-pile the piers into place.

Hi Peter this is really impressive, it deserves a load-test when it’s complete – not sure of the scale weight but maybe 3 kg across the central span should confirm your engineering skills…no actually I wouldn’t dare risk it either.

Your premise & images focusing on the suffering of those involved in building & dying for the bridge beg the question why you’ve chosen to build the fictional bridge instead of the real one? I’m not suggesting you’re wrong to build it & besides you’re doing a fantastic job, it certainly looks more challenging & spectacular. Have you come across any models of the original? - I visited the Aust. War Memorial recently & didn’t notice one but was concentrating elsewhere.

(ps I think you misunderstood my earlier query, to be more specific you look so much like a David Sy***t of my past acquaintance I wondered if you might be brothers)

[quote I am now considering donating it to our local Returned and Services League (RSL) museum.[/quote]

I agree 100% Peter. Nothing worse than doing all this work to be unappreciated by the intended recipient not protecting it, only logical.

Loving the progress ;0

The build idea came up for a group build (GB), to build a model from a movie, in another forum. Upon doing the research into both the movie, and Burma Railway, I discovered the bridge was different. Still wanting to do the GB, I stayed with the movie bridge. However, I also discovered that the movie bridge is still more recognised than the real one. In a museum, what attracts a person more is what they recognize. Not wanting to promote a false impression, I plan to provide images of the real bridge as a backdrop to the display.

(ps yes I misunderstood you. Funny that we both know someone with a surname starting with Sy..., which is not common. No, I have no brothers, or family.)

I agree 100% Peter. Nothing worse than doing all this work to be unappreciated by the intended recipient not protecting it, only logical.

Loving the progress ;0[/quote]
Thanks, Ski.

Aha, thanks Peter now I understand re project origins & recognition issues, and an elegant solution showing the real one as backdrop. Good on you for donating it to the RSL too, I’ll look forward to visiting it when in situ.

ps indeed a weird coincidence – in a weak attempt at a crossword clue/code it’s certainly NOT a common surname if we’re talking about the same one, they must be related somehow.

Tim, I sent PM.

Now there is a matter with the rail tracks. I cut thin strips from a 1 mm sheet plastic. Used a block of wood, filed to 5 mm width, as a track gauge/spacer. Glued tracks into place. Then masked the tracks and painted them a brown-grey colour. Finally added silver paint to the colour mix and swiped that across the top of the rails.

On top of the girders are support beams for planks which will support vehicle use.



I cut strips of 1 mm sheet plastic for support beams. half of these beams needed to be drilled and filed for handrail posts.







Well, folks, it's intermission time. Have to take a pause from this build until New Year. An other build requires my attention, for completion, by New Year. Hope you enjoyed this build so far.

In the meantime I will post bits of information updates now and again.

Peter I'm amazed at your attention to detail, kudos!!
Great reference material too, I really like the color illustrations.
Thanks for the note on the film, never heard of that one but will chk it out.

Cheers
Dave

Being originally a model railroader I love to see proper model bridge building. And something in the model world that is so often done incorrectly. (Sorry but it is!)

Beautiful work here! Kudos of praise!

Fascinating build and truly enjoy seeing the step by step photos. I'll be watching to see the bridge finished after the new year. Well done sir.

Beautiful work, Peter.

Thanks also for the movie info, as I was not aware of that film. Will definitely check it out.

Looking forward to your return to this project.

Happy Modeling,
Zon