Scale Model Scenery Kit Builds Guides – KX025-OO Modern Bridge Card Kit – OO / 1:76 / 4mm (Part one – The Bridge Piers)

The kit comes in our bio-degradable clear cellophane packet, complete with the following: A set of instruction sheets, Greyboard Card Sheets for the base layer, photo-realistic texture wraps. Baselayer cutting templates. The photos right & below show the supplied kit contents.

Tools Needed:

• Cutting mat
• Steel ruler (for cutting against)
• Tweezers
• Craft knife with a new sharp blade & spare sharp blades ( a lot of cutting on this kit)
• Glue such as Roket Card Glue or Super Phatic glue from Deluxe Materials – for gluing the greyboard/card parts together.
• Glue Stick such as Pritt Stick or the likes of Wilko’s stores own cheaper brand of glue stick. Use the glue stick for the texture wrap layers
• Scissors
• Our SX002 Corner Jig Tools
• Optional… Plenty of coffee or tea & biscuits!!

Let’s Get Started…

The Bridge Piers

We’ll start by building the bridge piers. First, cut out from the base layer sheet the pier side walls (parts labeled A & B). The bridge can be built as a single width track/single road lane or built as a double-track/two road lane bridge. If opting to build as a single-track version cut out the white areas only. If building as a double-track version, then cut out the white & grey sections as one piece. 

We’ll be building the bridge as the double track/two-lane road version.

You should now have the following base layer templates cut out parts A & B. as shown in the photo opposite right.

On the supplied greyboard card (or if doing the download version use 0.7 mm thick card). Glue the template parts A & B on to the card, as shown in the photo opposite. Allow time for the glue to set. We’re using a glue stick similar to Pritt stick from Wilko’s. Apply a thin even layer of glue making sure there are no lumps of glue. 

To maximise the supplied greyboard card, the template pieces have been placed & glued next to each other, as shown in the photo opposite right. Weights have been placed on to the glued templates to keep the card flat whilst the glue dries. 

Next cut out the pier end wall templates, parts C & D from the templates sheet. Please note: There are only 3 part C’s & 3 part D’s on the templates sheet. You’ll need to mark out & cut out an additional 3 more part C’s & 3 more part D’s. This will then give you 6 part C’s & 6 part D’s.  

After cutting out parts  C & D you should now have 6 off part C’s & 6 off part D’s. Like parts A & B, glue template parts C & D on to the supplied card (or 0.7mm card if doing the download version). Allow time for the glue to dry.

Now cut out the glued parts A’s, B’s, C’s & D’s. These parts will make up two bridge piers. For one pier the required parts are as follows: 3 off Part A’s, 3 off Part B’s, 3 off Part C’s & 3 off Part D’s. As shown in the photo opposite right.

We’ll now glue each of the parts into stacks of 3. So take one Part A & apply the likes of Roket Card Glue or Super Phatic glue to one side as shown in the photo opposite right.

TIP: Use our SX002 Corner Jig tool for this next stage 

Next, take another Part A & place it onto the first glued Part A to create a stack of two. As mentioned above use our SX002 Jig tool to help keep all edges on both part A’s aligned & square. As shown in the photo opposite right. 

Repeat the above again, by gluing & a third part A on to the stack of two to create a stack of 3. Place to one side to allow time for the glue to dry. It’s worth placing a heavy weight on top of the stack of three, to keep it flat whilst the glue dries. Once dry, you should have a neat stack of 3 Part A’s. 

Repeat the process above, so as well as the stack of 3 Part A’s, you also end up with a stack of 3 Part B’s, stack of 3 Part C’s, & a stack of 3 Part D’s 

Repeat the above again, by gluing the remaining Part A’s, B’s, C’s & D’s into stacks of three. Once completed you should have two sets of each part as shown in the photo opposite right.

Now cut out & glue the corner brace pieces from the template sheet & glue on to the supplied greyboard card or 0.7mm card if doing the download version. As shown in the two photos opposite right.

Glue into place the corner braces on to the wall pier sides as shown in the photo opposite right. Make sure the corner edge of the corner brace sits flush with the edge of the sidewall piece. If you need additional corner braces, use one of the cut-out corner brace pieces as a template to mark around on some card, & cut out as needed. Allow time for the glue to dry & set.

Using our SX002 corner jig tool, glue the pier end walls C & D  on to the pier sidewall  A. Use the SX002 jig tool to aid alignment of the wall parts in keeping them at 90 degrees to each other. 

Again using our SX002 corner jig tool, sidewall B onto the end walls C & D as shown in the photo opposite right. This then makes a box. Make sure that all sides are at 90 degrees to each other & sit flush with each other.

Now repeat the process to assemble the 2nd pier box.

With the 2nd pier box assembled, you should now have two open box structures as shown in the photo opposite right. We’ll now move on to adding the wrap layers.

With the texture wrap layers, you have a choice of with & without graffiti. We’ll be using one with graffiti & one without graffiti. 

Using a steel ruler as a cutting guide edge, carefully cut the pier wraps from the sheet with a craft knife with a sharp blade. Don’t use a blunt blade, as this will snag & rip the texture sheet. 

Repeat the process & cut out the wrap for the second pier.

Turn the wrap over so the non-printed side is facing upwards. Place the clear packet that the kit comes in on the cutting mat to protect it from the glue. Place the wrap onto the clear packet & proceed to apply a thin even layer of glue to the nonprinted side of the texture wrap. Here we are using a glue stick similar to Pritt Stick.

Making sure that the top & bottom edges of the brick texture wrap align with the top & bottom edges of the pier box baselayer, position & stick into place on the pier box baselayer. Make sure that you smooth out any lumps or air bubbles from the wrap layer.

Using the rear blunt edge of the craft knife, score the wrap layer along where it meets the edge of the base layer to create a fold line. As shown in the photo opposite right. Be careful not to cut through the wrap layer. Then stick down the wrap, making sure that both the top & bottom edges keep level & flush with the top & bottom of the base layer. Repeat the process of scoring, fold & sticking the wrap down onto & around the pier base layer.

Once wrapped with the brick texture there will be one side that has a gap to be covered with the brick texture. Measure the gap to be covered, cut out another brick texture wrap piece to fit & fill the gap. Apply glue to the non-printed side & stick it into place to complete the wrapping of the pier. The photos right & below show the gap piece being cut & glued into place. 

Repeat the process with the wrapping of the second pier with the brick texture wrap as described above.

Using the rear blunt edge of the craft knife, score the wrap layer along where it meets the edge of the base layer to create a fold line. As shown in the photo opposite right. Be careful not to cut through the wrap layer. 

Pier Tops & Plinths

We now move on to fitting out the pier tops with the top plinths & bridge height spacers. The final height of the bridge from the baseboard to the bridge deck level can be built to a varied height between 80mm to 95mm. The bridge height can be adjusted by varying the height of the pier top plinths & spacers to suit your requirements. As a guide, the standard height for the bridge deck on most model railway layouts is around 85mm. To make the bridge deck at this height you’ll need to make the top plinth 5mm thick high & the spacers 10mm thick high. Adding additional or removing card layers will increase or decrease the bridge deck height.

Assembly of the Pier Tops & Plinths.

For the bridge plinths, you’ll base layer templates part E’s. Cut the template part E’s out from the sheet.

With the template part E’s cut out, glue on to card, allow time for the glue to dry, then cut out the part E’s from the card.

If you need to make the plinths taller/higher, mark out on some more card using an already cut out & glued to card part E as a template. Then proceed to out the extra part E’s as needed. Here you can see we’ve cut out two extra part E’s (the two grey pieces far right) to increase the height of the plinth tops to our required height.

Glue parts E together in a stack to your required height for the top plinth making sure all sides are flush & square. For our required height of 5mm, we needed four off of part E’s to create a stack 5mm high. This was then repeated so that we have two stacks of part E’s both 5mm high. As shown in the two photos opposite right. Use some kitchen weights or similar to keep the stacks flat whilst the glue dries.

Next, cut out the bridge pier plinth top, texture wraps. as shown in the photos opposite right.

Now turn the plinth top texture wraps over so the printed side is face down. And score four fold lines as highlighted by the orange lines in the photo opposite right. Again use the blunt rear edge of a craft knife & steel ruler to act as a straight edge guide to create the score lines.

Now glue centrally into place (as shown in the photo opposite right) one of the plinth top base layer card stacks, on to the non-printed side of the plinth top texture wrap. Make sure the stack sits squarely to each of the four flap sections.

Fold & glue, the two long side flaps as shown in the photo opposite right. 

Repeat the process with the two end flaps, fold & glue into place. As shown in the photo opposite right.

Repeat the process with gluing & wrapping the other plinth top as described above. We now have two pier top plinths ready for fitting to the piers.

Next, using the likes of Deluxe Materials Roket Card Glue or Deluxe Materials Super Phatic Glue, apply a bead of glue along the top edge of the bridge pier as shown in the photo. The top edge, of the pier sides, has the weathering streaks running downwards. This edge must go to the top.

Making sure the plinth top is square with the pier wall sides, place the plinth top onto the glued top. Hold down with firm pressure the plinth top against the pier, until the glue starts to set.

Then turn the pier over & apply glue along the inside of the corner joints to add further strength to the pier top. As highlighted with orange arrows in the second photo opposite right,

Repeat the process again with the second pier & plinth top. Again making sure the plinth top is square with the pier wall sides, place the plinth top onto the glued top. Hold down with firm pressure the plinth top against the pier, until the glue starts to set.

We now have two bridge piers ready for the spacer top pieces.

The top spacers

Cut out from the base layer sheet the spacer templates part F’s as shown in the two photos opposite right.

Next glue the part F’s templates onto the card, then once the glue has set, cut out the templates. We need the spacer stack to be 10mm in height to reach our required bridge deck height. If requiring a taller spacer stack, use one part F template to mark out additional part F top spacers. Once marked out onto the card, cut out the additional spacers.

Using our SX002 corner jig tool, glue the part F spacers into two equal height stacks, as shown n the second photo opposite right.

We now need to wrap the spacer top pieces with the spacer top texture wrap layers. Cut out from the texture wrap sheets, the two spacer top wraps (highlighted with the orange X’s).

With the spacer, top wraps now cut out, turn them over so they are facing the printed side down. Lightly score the fold lines as highlighted with the orange lines in the photo opposite right. 

Take one of the spacers stacks & glue it centrally on the non-printed side of the spacer texture wrap. As shown in the photo opposite right. 

Like the plinth tops, glue & fold down the two long sides flaps as shown in the photo opposite right.

Like the plinth tops, glue & fold down the two short end flaps as shown in the photo opposite right.

Repeat the process with the second spacer. We now have two top spacers ready for fitting on to the pier tops.

Apply the likes of Deluxe Materials Roket Card Glue or Deluxe Materials Super Phatic glue to the base (non wrapped side) of the spacer piece. Then stick centrally on the pier top plinth as shown in the photo opposite right. Hold the spacer down on the pier top with frim pressure, whilst the glue starts to grab & set.

Repeat the process with the second pier & spacer top.

We now have two completed bridge piers ready to take the bridge deck. We’ll look at how the bridge deck is constructed in part two to follow. Coming next…

Happy modelling.