The other day I posted some photos of the beginning of my dio. Here is what I have finished so far. Next I will be painting the road surface.

1) I copied the guardrail in this photo - you can see mine in white below the one in the photo. My dio will also have the weeds in the medial strip just like in this photo.


2) Progress on the lower section.


3) Overall


4) Trying to figure out the mounting for the sign. So far, the idea is to have this frame starting on the medial strip on the bottom level and then of course going across the upper deck roadway. I am afraid of the weight bearing on both the ground level mount and the right angle mount.


Bob

Bob.. tha lokks great
i like ur road sign, how do u make it ?

Man oh man is this thing going to be sweet when it's done!

Keep up the great work and keep posting pics....

In the above photo, the sign is just sitting there for now. If you look close, you can see that it is damaged and bent at the bottom, and separated at a panel line. I got the photo from Gino and it printed out pretty well. Thanks Gino!! There were other photos but they were off at an ever so slight angle and so when printed out one end is narrower than the other. To do this the photo needs to be dead-on.

I kept working tonight so here are a few more photos.

1) Here is the back of the sign with the stiffeners and mounts. The sign is not near done yet. Has to be painted a little on the front side and weathered, along with of course this back side. Some of the damage should be evident on this back side view.


2) Basic shot after I painted the road surface. Started with black and then a light spray of grey.


3) My vision. I don't know if I can pull off the sign support. The weight and lack of support on the other side may be too much. I might have to go w/ something simpler that mounts to the side of the bridge and is just one post, which would actually be more common for Iraq.


Next I think I will start weathering stuff.

Bob

It looks fantastic! All is very well built! I can't wait to see the end of it! Keep it up!
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato

I really like what you have done so far. I love the multi-levels, and I think this is going to be one hell of a dio when finished. However, I think the road sign post is a little over done. I think it should be attatched to the side of your bridge. Keep in mind that I've never been over to the "sand box" I'm only basing my opinion on what we do here in the States, and what makes (engineering)sense.

I really like this so far. Suggestion: If you really want place your sign support the way you have it designed now you could make the vertical section out of K&S Engineering brass structural shapes. I think it would be stout enough to support the horizontal section if the vertical section was made out of brass. Just a thought.

Shaun

Link:

http://www.dawntrading.com.au/ks.htm

Bob,
It is looking great. Glad the sign worked out for you. Keep us posted.

Hi Guys:

I thought about the brass way, but I am not into soldering, and the cutting is not my cup of tea, so ... Plus, in making the support I chose I wanted to create a real visual interest, and the cross hatching does that. I did not have to make this since Evergreen has this pre-made. I just needed to put it all together in the correct way to depict a highway sign support.

Brian: This depiction of a sign support is exactly like what we have here in the states. Note, mine is cut off due to the edge of the diorama base, but it would continue to the other side of the bridge and down the other side too. Thus, it would be a big 'U' shape. These larger designs are for supports that hold many signs and/or large signs. Again, mine is a cut-off so only has the one sign showing. But it is inferred that the support goes on... Mine is not attached to the side of the bridge because that is what I have seen on these large supports that go over bridges; the support base is off to the side of the bridge on the ground.

If I do decide this won't work so well, I intend on going with a simpler one-post design that will attach to the side of the bridge.

Thanks for your input. It helps to get ideas before I go too far.

Bob

This is really coming along well. Just the multi-layered design is eye-catching and unique. Looking forward to your next update!

Burik, this looks absolutely fantastic so far. As far as the highway sign goes though, I think that with the current design, it just doesn't fit with the dio. I think that the height element that you incorporated with the bridge alone really helps the dynamics of the dio but with the added sign, the dio seems to be too tall and one loses things like the dead Syrian on the bridge and the M1A1 under it. Just my two cents...
Kyle
PS how did you do the asphalt? It almost looks like you used Squadron putty or maybe even railroad grass for the texture.

It really looks good. Good luck with it

Excellent....what a 3D effects...great composition my friend ! This will grow into a most impressive diorama for sure !!

That looks great Burik. I definitely looking forward to see this one finished.

Kyle, I was worried about the M1 getting lost too. I just may go with the smaller sign support for that reason as well.

The asphalt was made using RR "grass," that shredded foam stuff. I decided it was finer, and a little better texture for asphalt than sand would be. Lots of weathering still for that too, after I paint some white lines. My photos seem to show sand migraited to the side and gutters of the road, so I will be depicting that. As well, I want to show some sign of tank treads on the roadway itself. I was thinking of taking an old tread and painting it black and pressing it down and letting the fresh black paint come off onto the road. Of course, after I weather the road first. Any thoughts?

Again, thanks for everybody's input. I really appreciate it.