Tecko

I am back. It sure has been a while. I will have to change my avatar since my beard is now white. Here are some update photos: Stairs from Bridge St to Highway Pathway under bridge. Bridge Street.

Thanks John. Next time you go over the bridge, why not turn into Ballina and visit the Naval and Maritime museum. I am hoping to have this project running, in the museum, by Christmas - New year.

Thanks Andy and Mark. I will be missing for a few days updating my drawings (plans and schematics) for this project. I need to do this before I start forgetting what my notes actually refer to. Will be back shortly, hopefully with some more pictures. By the way, the Shire Council has updated the landscape around the bridge. A new pathway has been installed. It looks quite good. I will include this update with the landscaping I plan to do for the diorama. Cheers.

Hi, I got good news, my latest blood test results no longer showed abnormal levels. A change in diet, losing excess weight, and regular exercises has done the trick. But now I just need to keep doing that. Making it a new lifestyle or die sooner. Anyway, enough of that. Mark. I am not sure if I am using the correct terminology, but to me a name-plate is metal tag with a name printed on it. In this case, it is the name of the manufacturer of the console. Here is a closer look at it.

Thanks fellows for your welcome and best wishes. In few hours I am go to get my test results (fingers crossed). As mentioned, here are more pictures of what I've been doing to keep my mind away from worrying too much, or unnecessarily. Another wiring harness was needed that went from the three terminal boards to the back of the console where two D-Connectors are mounted. These connectors will cable signals to and from the Control Box which will be located underneath the display table. I decide to add a Passive Infrared (PIR) motion detector/sensor within the console. The aim is to have the console interior to light-up whenever a person approaches it. However, since there will be a metal kick-panel at the bottom of the perspex front panel, the PIR needs to be above it. A wooden bracket was made for mounting the PIR. Decided to use strips of thin felt between the perspex and the console. Grey felt was not available, so I bought some light coloured felt and dyed it grey. The PIR operates LED strips which are mounted on the inside edges of the console opening. I soon found out that I forgot that Infrared is not so much a light source but a heat source. Infrared-waves won't pass through anything too thick like a glass window of a 1/4 inch thick perspex. So I had to drill a series of holes through the perspex for these waves to reach the sensor. Notice the kick-panel in place. I re-attached the original manufacturers name-plate onto it (the company (1960's) does not exist anymore). Here is what the console looks like in its dormant and activated states. I had a hick-up when I first turned the power on. I blew the console fuse. I discover I had two white wires switched over to the wrong terminals. After minor repairs, all seemed to work okay. That is, without the console connected to anything else. That test will come later.

Sorry for my absence. Been ill lately, plus going through some grief and loss. So I have been somewhat preoccupied. Depending on certain test results I may be absent again soon. I hope not. However, I have done some work on the bridge console since the last time I posted. The wiring harness got completed. It looks like the nervous system of some weird deep sea creature. The control panel got revamped. All instrumentation got cleaned, a few new labels, Added red points to a few switch handles, and a general touch-up with paint. Since the console interior is to be a diorama as well, I decided to add a bit of drama by adding yellow stripes around one of the painted switch brackets. Attached the wiring harness to the control panel instruments. Then added the control panel to the console. Got to go now. Will post some more tomorrow.

Thanks Mark for pointing that out. I forgot that the panel lamp switches are supposed to be the limit switches. I must have had a Senior moment . I've been working on the bridge for too long and forgot what I had previously designed for (electronically). Thanks again.

Thanks Mark for sharing. Good ideas. I am having a limit switch where the gate is opened (against the railing). This switch simply controls the Control Panel Gate Indicators. Green for 'open' and red for 'closed' across the road. The change of polarity for servo motors is controlled by the Control Panel Gate Switches. I am currently relying on the servo controller circuits to be accurate and reliable. If they are not, then I will be considering the good ideas by you (Mark) and Hans. I'll let you know how it goes. TOP: Gate Limit switches: CENTRE: Control Panel BOTTOM:Control Panel Gate Switches and servo controller circuits: I am still waiting for servo (electronics) components to arrive. Easter and ANZAC has delayed postage. In the meantime I have created a wiring harness jig and have started to install the wires. I never done one on a jig before. It's both challenging and revealing (I have made a few mix ups with wiring locations on my drawings).

Thank you Hans for the photo. It is a type of lift-span bridge I have not taken too much notice off. Where the operating hut is not being on the spam. As for the stops on the servo, I will consider your suggestion when testing the circuitry. The servos I am using already have internal stops just past 180 deg. I think about 190 deg. If the servo arm wonders around the intended stops, I will first use the microswitches to cut power to the motor. The servos use an internal gearbox, so soon as the power is cut there should not be any noticeable drift in the servo arm. Thanks again for suggestion.

Hello Hans. Thanks for your response. I am currently waiting for electronic components for the servo controller circuit (SCC). The common circuits used for SCC incorporates stops via a variable resistor (trim potentiometers). These set the number of degrees the servo moves. The servos I bought actually goes a bit beyond 180 deg. This type of servo is a position rotational servo and can be set anywhere up to 180 deg rotation. However, I will be incorporating microswitches at each end of the 180 deg swing of the servo actuator arm. These are not for stopping the motor but for switching other circuitry; such as the red and green control panel lamps (indicating open/closed gates). Well, this is my understanding of SCC. If I am wrong, I will post it here. In any case, I will let you know how the SCC works out.

Hi Steven. Thanks for the compliments. Yes, many steel framed lift-span bridges of over 50 years ago had similar design structures. The Clyde looks very similar to both the Harwood and Wardell bridges. Both Clyde and Harwood have extended horizontal structures for strength. While the Wardell uses extra piers on submerged pylons for extra strength. The Wardell, only 100 kms north of Harwood, is regarded as a smaller version of the Harwood. Though they are talking about the towers and span design. I know that these are small discrepancies for us, but to a bridge engineer they see these things as major differences. I only have learnt some of this stuff since I started the project. Heck, I didn't know what a lift-span bridge was until then.

Richard. G'day mate! Welcome. As you already know, there is a lot of info and skilled people in this forum. It's the best.

At last! The brass tubing from China finally arrived (after 2 months). Now I can start making the swing gates that close across the bridge road. The tubing will be used for housing the rotating shaft (90 deg rotation). I am using fencing wire for the shaft (it's an Aussie thing to use). Radio control servo motors will be used for driving the shafts. However, these servos, despite their reduction gearing, rotate too fast for my liking. At first I thought about using a speed control circuit for slowing the servo motor. However, this won't work because the servo motor already uses the same sort of circuitry for servo arm positioning. So the other two alternatives is to use further reduction gearing seems too complex and expensive. The other, is to use a lever system whereby a 180 deg rotation of the servo arm leads to a 90 deg rotation of the gate hinge - effectively reducing the speed by half. If I have the electronic components, tomorrow I will experiment with a servo controlling circuit. Hopefully I'll get the servo arm to rotate exactly 180 deg.

Thank you Hans. Talking about electronics! I usually swap from one task to another for a change of scenery / focus. I've been thinking it would be good to do more work on the electronics side. After a chat with the curator, a win-win situation occurred. I now got the console at home to work on, and the museum got more workshop space. I wanted the console because I am more equipped for electronics than the museum is. It makes the task easier to do at home, though I am now more crowded in.

Thank you Keith for funny incident report. I take it as a compliment considering the creative skills of realism you display in your models. You too Dilbert55. Thanks for compliment. I am not sure what the public response will be. The model (hopefully) will only respond if the control panel is used in the correct sequence. I fear there will be many impatient youngsters abandoning the control panel before completing the cycle. Then a museum personnel will need to reset it all. If that proves to be a problem, then the bridge may have to be operated under supervision by museum staff. Ballina Naval and Maritime Museum only gets lots of traffic when a bus load arrives. Sometimes it's a school bus full of kids who have to touch everything. When they arrive there is always a staff member conducting the tour...hence the possible supervision over the controls.

Finally finished painting the road. It was very restricted within the span. Included road markings and reflectors. Bottom photos shows the 1/72 scale cars I'll be installing at end of project.

Michael. Thank you for your comments. Yes you are right. It will add some insight what was involved, especially the wiring, to operate a bridge for maritime traffic.

Thanks druxey for your response. The boat is 210 mm long. Any longer the boat will look too close to the bridge... I am not sure what you mean by too symmetrical in side view. My goal is for not knowing any difference between bow and stern. So when boat moves forward or backward the leading portion of the boat will look like it is the bow. Yes I agree that the boat does look too short. Perhaps if the upper deck was lower, such as... What do you think?

Day off from the bridge. I am waiting for the paint to dry before further work. So, in the meantime, I've been figuring out what a simple symmetrical boat would look like. It has to be small enough to seem distant from the bridge before and after steaming under it. It must also be tall enough to warrant the span to be raised to full height. Below is my plan. Please feel free to make any suggestions that may help it to look more real, yet simple.

chborgm, what model does not have faults. Actually it is those faults which can give a vessel character, even unknowingly. However, I know what you mean because to build a model requires a focus bordering on perfectionism. But nobody is perfect. And if you were perfect, then you would be all alone on top of the mountain. Anybody else would not be good enough to even inspire you. So be happy with those faults my friend. Besides, what I wanted to post, before I read the above quote, is that I am really enjoying seeing this boat coming together. I never been on a paddle steamer before and this thread is attracting me to visit one. Thanks for sharing this build. Keep up the great job.

Thanks druxey and Greg for your support. I bookmarked the Woodlands Scenery link. I will check it out after I finish the road. Almost finished the road within the span section.

Started to paint the concrete road. My plan was to splatter the cement surface with darker grey. But the plastic bristle brush soon got softer from the oil paint and became difficult to aim the splattering. I ended up over-doing it in many places. I thought this was a stuff-up and might have to start again. But first I will try to work with it, and if that fails then I'll start again. BOTTOM L-R: At first it was going well, then up the road it went sour. So I dry brushed cement grey over the dark, and some dark over the lighter parts. Then went over the road with a fine paintbrush and added dots of dark into the light, and light onto the dark. LEFT: Is after a rough evening-out by point work. RIGHT: Is after another point work coverage but this time I stepped back to see the lighter and darker patches that needed further blending. I think it turned out okay. I feel confident that once the road has the added double-centred lines, and outer fog lines, it will look more like a concrete road. Oh, by the way, I have not done the road in the span yet. Hmmm, another challenge.

Hello Keith. Thanks. To be honest, that is what I truly love about being creative. Ingenuity is like a spark of hope that something new or different will save the day. It brings wonder, insight, and joy in the heart after it has been applied with good results. I believe every modeler experiences it. I also believe scratch building provides greater opportunity for both ingenuity and headaches. It's amazing how a spark of ingenuity can consume a headache.

Thanks for telling me. I'll look out for it if I need a new one.

I tried the sulfuric acid trick forty years ago. It improved slightly but not like a new file. After a few more etches, and a closer examination, I found that etching rounded file teeth still leaves rounded file teeth, yet smaller. Some files are very hard on the surface, yet softer underneath. I hardly have to buy a new file. I always try to use the right file for the job. If I don't, a file can get blunt in one single swipe. I prefer to buy a new file from a reputable industrial supplier (not hardware store). Then I take the old file to the grinding stone and take the teeth off at one end. Leaving square edges. This turns into a powerful scrapper. I have taken off the teeth along the thin edge of a file to use for filing into corners. This allows me to only file one edge at a time, while the other (blunt) edge simply slides along the surface.