CHURCHILL A.V.RE / S.B.G Assault Bridge - 1/76 Matchbox WIP BLOG Finished

Nice work on the dry brushing, you can really see the wear in the bridge.

That is looking great! Excellent dry brushing. I hope the rigging comes out good. :)

I think it looks good. For the rigging, you might want to try invisible thread used for sewing hems of pants. I think they make a brown color and  it won't have fuzz most thread has when you use it on the model.

RX7850, thanks 

Bish, thanks, I think that part is wooden and the green parts are aluminum 

Mike, Thanks, the rigging is next 

Rob, good idea because the fuzz is what I'm trying to avoid esp. at this scale

 All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

I followed the i-sheet for decal markings option 1, 5th Assault Regiment. And started a little weathering too

 All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

So how's the rigging?

That's really looking nice, Sprue!

Hi Mike, I'm still finishing the weathering that I need to do while handling the model first. Then rigging, then final weathering touches. 

Hey Karl, Thanks!

Guys, do you know if this SBG bridge is aluminum or steel? I want to scratch, chip and weather it appropriately. I found an informative site that describes this subject in all ways but what the thing is made out of. 

Aluminum or steel? Good question. I would think it would be aluminum because of the weight, but aluminum was just as hard to get a hold of as steel at that time. So you have me thinking pretty hard on that question.

I doubt it was all steel, but maybe parts of it were. I'm going to look it up.

Edit: Nuthin' found about what the dang thing was made out of at all. Looks like you'll have to use creative licensing in this case.

I couldn't find anything either. I would guess Aluminium because of weight as well. But both were vital materials and I think Aluminium is harder to produce isn't it.

Damn good question.

Thanks for helping with research. I expanded my search to include the WWII Bailey Bridge and a site I found, not Wiki, describes:

" There were 5 basic considerations that informed the design;

1) ...

2) all parts were to be made from readily available materials and welded, certainly no aluminium alloys which were earmarked for Spitfires and the like!

3) . . . 

4) . . . 

5) . . . 

I'm going with steel 

Excellent! Now we know. And knowing is half the battle.  lol

Mike, Yeah, true that!

Robin, Thanks for the suggestion for rigging material. 

All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

I started the rigging using 10-lb test fishing line. I couldn't work with the threads I have because of the stray fibers. The local marine/boat supplies store doesn't have the waxed rope fine enough for this scale either.

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A little more weathering on the lower hull and running gear. I'll fine tune this a bit more when the bridge is attached.

 All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

thanks for looking . . . 

Nice!! Yeah that looks good!  :)

Coming along great so far.  Just wondering if you had looked into the invisible polyester sewing thread. I believe someone had mentioned it before. It's very thin gauge and would match up very well scale wise.

Mike, RX7850, Thanks for the comments. 

I actually didn't buy any of the invisible thread since I found the satisfactory gauge in monofilament. Heads-up on this stuff though, it doesn't play well with CA 

Wow, great looking detail in this, SPrue!!

Thanks, Doog !

 All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

Rigging is done before paint. I see there needs to be more tension (weight) on the lines. The Bridge Carrier Hinge points are not glued yet. I'll put weight on the bridge while I apply glue at these points later 

All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

Looking really good . I have to agree with you with regard to the tension.  Looks like it requires a very delicate approach.

Oh man that looks cool lol! Don't get too carried away with extra weight when you could change the fishing line for EZ line or something that would not require any more weight added.

So that thing was actually raised  and lowered with a hand crank?

WOW, man! That's really taking this build to the next degree!! Fantastic!!!

RX7850, Yes it looks unrealistic like that. Sort of like that way I used to install the vinyl tracks on my first model tanks 

Mike, I wish I knew about EZ Line before I installed the monofilament 

Raualduke, I web searched for ref pictures and I saw hand cranks on some 

Doog, Thanks for looking in 

I'm painting the 'cables' tonight and will work on glueing the bridge addressing the unrealistic tension tomorrow

Sorry Sprue. I should have thought of it sooner.  :(  My bad mate.

no worries, not your fault. Thanks for the heads-up

All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

I have the day off today so I'm finally getting to this step of applying 'weight' to the rigging. This is what I did this morning.

The red ' ! 's  and dotted arrows illustrate the cotton swab applying tension to the monofilament rigging. The white arrows indicate points where I applied CA glue.

I hope this works . . . 

All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

Aw man--that's just SO frickin cool!!!

All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

Thanks fellas.

Yes, I think it worked. I removed the cotton swab this morning and it stayed in position.

While not totally perfect, I'm satisfied with this look of 'weight'.

Next is final weathering, probably just some dusting with pastels. Thanks for looking.

 All WIP and finished pictures for this BLOG is here: https://imgur.com/a/T9zbg

 Wow, such intricate meticulousness in such a small scale. 

  This could not only cause frayed cables but frayed nerves too.

Looks perfect . Can't wait to see it done.