Bridges…For rivers that, years later, still don’t exist on our gaming tables (but they will later this year!). These two bridges were not created by me but by another member of our game group. They were built using assorted balsa wood and basswood as well as pink insulation foam and green stuff (aka modeling putty). I don’t have a lot of pictures of these bridges being made because I didn’t take any at that time. Construction was pretty straight forward.
The bridges were constructed separate from the embankments on either side. The bridges were cut from various pieces of balsa and basswood and assembled with wood glue. Along the bottom of both bridges were two braces that ran longer than the length of the bridge, so they had a bit sticking out on either end. This allowed us to dig small channels into the pink foam to get a flush mounted bridge that looks like it’s built right into the embankment. The ‘Rope” that’s around each post on the bridge was done with “green stuff” aka modeling putty.
Both bridges have similar embankments, in that they are simply cut, shaped, sanded and fit together ahead of time (prior to painting). This allowed us to assemble and paint as an entire piece rather than 3 separate pieces. After that it was all about painting. Even though there are two bridges here, the same building method was used, the only major difference is the width. Bridge #1 is large enough for two large models to stand almost side by side on it and Bridge #2 is wide enough for one large model to stand on it.
Some of the colors we used were Beastial Brown, Snakebite Leather, Brown ink/wash, Black ink/wash, white highlights via drybrushing. That’s how they were painted in that order, the brown wash was for the whole bridge, the black was to emphasize the gaps in between the planks on the bridge.
The last part was to add a mixture of brown/green colored flock to either embankment. So we’ve had these bridges to nowhere for quite some time now, sorry I don’t have more pictures of the progression of them being built. I can see the rivers flowing under these bridges in our future!