Bowstring Girder Bridge Kit Build

The build…

First, remove the bridge deck from the parts sheet. Lightly sand any pips flush on the deck sides.

Next cut & remove one of the bowstring side sections. Lightly sand flush any pips on the side edges.

Test the fit the bridge deck into bowstring side, it should be a snug tight fit. If all okay remove bridge deck section & apply a bead of Roket Card glue along the sections between the square holes where the bridge deck fits into the bowstring.

Carefully refit the bridge deck into the bowstring. Wipe away any excess glue. Make sure that all is square true & flush.

Now cut & remove the top girder section & four top cross pieces. Lightly sand flush any pips on the parts sides.

Test fit into the holes as shown on the right along the top of the arch. If all is okay, remove, glue ends of the parts & refit. Make sure all parts are true flush & square.

Next cut & remove the other bowstring section from the parts sheet. Lightly sand flush any pips on the parts sides.

Test fit into the bowstring section as shown on the right. If all is okay, remove, glue between & around the ends of the square pegs. Carefully refit & wipe away any excess glue. Make sure all parts are true flush & square.

Time to add the side detail parts. There is two arch pieces & two straight long pieces. Carefully cut & remove from the parts sheet. Lightly sand flush any pips on the side edges.

Apply a bead of glue along one side of the straight pieces as shown on the right.

Now place on to the side of the lower edge section as shown on the right. Again make sure the part is flush with the ends & along the bottom edge.

Next, glue along one side of the arch piece & place on to the side of the bowstring section as shown on the right. Make sure it sits flush on top of the long straight side piece, as well as being flush with the arched edge of the bowstring.

Now repeat fitting the other arch & bottom side pieces on to the other side of the Bowstring bridge.

We now move on to the rivet detail parts. Cut & remove the eight rivet detail strips. Lightly sand any pips flush on the parts sides.

Four rivet strips per each side of the bridge.

Starting from the beginning of the arch, glue four of the rivet strips on to the arch of the bowstring as shown on the right. You may need to hold with firm pressure whilst the glue sets, to prevent the rivet strip lifting off the arch. Take care not to damage the laser engraved rivet detail whilst doing this.

Now repeat fitting the other four rivet detail strips on the other side of the bridge as shown on the right.

The last bit now…

Carefully cut & remove all the laser engraved gusset plates from the parts sheet. Lightly sand any pips of the part edges, taking care not to damage the raised detailed parts.

Glue into place on all the girder upright sections on the outside of the bridge as shown on the right.

Having completed one side of the bridge, move onto the other side of the bridge & continue glueing the gusset plates into place. Once that’s done, the bridge is ready for painting.

Just to show how strong the bridge kit is, we carried out a load test to show you. Here we placed two 1kg bags of sugar on to the bridge. The bridge shows no sign of any flex or movement, so will cope with any of your heaviest locos with ease.

Happy modelling.