Bridges come in all shapes and sizes. The only constraints are that they are must be long enough to span the gap they cross, wide enough to allow appropriate sized vehicles over them and strong enough to take the weight. Bridges for wargaming have to follow the same principles (Figure 201).
PROJECT 16: A Wooden Bridge
This bridge is intended to be crossable by pedestrians or possibly horsemen or a light cart, so it has no supports beneath it.
MATERIALS
• Balsa stripwood
• Balsa sheet
CONSTRUCTION
Cut two lengths of balsa as supporting beams, long enough to span the gap and rest on both river banks. I’ve used rectangular section balsa rather than square for the supporting beams because I find it has a tendency to warp less (Figure 202).
Figure 201: Robin Hood and Little John meet on the bridge in A King’s Ransom. (The Minehead Wargames Club)
Figure 202: The common directions in which different profile wood most readily bends.
Cut planks from sheet balsa and glue them into position (Figure 203). The bridge looks best if the planks overlap the supports. If you’re in a hurry, you can use superglue, but ideally I recommend using adhesives specifically formulated for the material in use.
Figure 203: A simple wooden bridge over a TSS terrain tile.
The supports have the effect of raising the level of the planks. I don’t have a problem with this because it brings the planks up to the level of my roads. If you have roads built into your terrain and so don’t want the bridge to be raised, you need to give the supporting beams a taper at each end (Figure 204).
For a bit more variation, you can add handrails (Figure 205). Simply cut selected planks flush with the outside edges of the supports so that you can glue uprights into position and finally add handrails.
Unless representing very recently cut timber, I follow the same procedure for painting wood, namely a black undercoat, followed by successively lighter grey drybrushing. For new wood, which tends to feature rarely in my models, I usually undercoat with a pale cream, followed by a lighter drybrush on the upper surfaces that catch the light. But as ever, there is no substitute for taking reference photographs of the real thing.
Figure 205: A bridge with handrails.
PROJECT 17: A Different Wooden Bridge
Unlike the previous wooden bridge, which just rested on both river banks, I wanted this one to look more solid with its own supports. Since this bridge was to be used with canal or docklands terrain, it had to fit precisely between perpendicular walls. How I built the docklands themselves is covered in Chapter Six.
MATERIAL
• Balsa stripwood
• Balsa sheet
CONSTRUCTION
The basic design featured a pair of uprights with two supporting beams onto which wooden planks were fixed. To ensure a strong joint between uprights and beams, I drilled a hole so that each beam could be pinned to the cross beam (Figure 206). For accuracy it’s a good idea to drill the holes for both beams at the same time.
A cross beam was pinned to the uprights and two angled supports were glued into place. Cut two short beams, and glue them into position. Add two angled supports between the short beams and the adjacent uprights (Figures 207–208). Make the other side assembly and glue it into place, along with the angled supports (Figure 209).
Figure 206: Drilling uprights to support cross beams.
Figure 208: Cross beams with supports added.
Figure 210: The unpainted bridge.
Figure 212: The finished bridge positioned in the docklands.
Cut the planks to size and glue them across the supporting beams. Note that the planks between the uprights are trimmed shorter to fit (Figure 210). Another simple variation is to cut the uprights flush with the top edge of the cross beams and run the planks at each end to the full width of the bridge (Figure 211).
Finally the bridge was given a black undercoat, followed by a grey drybrush (Figure 212). I find Dulux Flint works well, but take a look in your local DIY store: most of them have colour charts and cards to enable you to pick the range of colours that suit you the best.
PROJECT 18: Pons Sublicius
This bridge model is based upon the Pons Sublicius: the bridge across the Tiber defended by Publius Horatius Cocles against the Etruscans in 508 BC. The bridge is built in two stages: the bridge itself, and the supports. Unsurprisingly there isn’t much (any) reference material specific to Pons Sublicius – all I could find was a Wikipedia article – so it was a case of coming up with a design that looked right, but under the circumstances it was unlikely that anyone could say with any real authority that my representation was incorrect.
MATERIALS
• Balsa stripwood
• Balsa sheet
CONSTRUCTION
Cut two beams, long enough to span your river allowing about 2.5cm overlap at each end. I always use rectangular section balsa for my spans to reduce the likelihood of them bending (Figure 213). This is a long bridge and needs a series of additional cross beams. To ensure accurate right angle joints I called upon my ready supply of Lego bricks, and pinned each beam in place as well as gluing … it’s the only way to be sure (Figure 214).
The number of cross beams depends on the length of your bridge, but I always err on the side of caution and would rather use too many than too few. Once all of the cross beams are in position, add the other spanning beam and leave the assembly to dry thoroughly (Figure 215). Plank the bridge by cutting planks out from sheet balsa (Figure 216). The sides of the bridge consist of a series of open frames. They may look complicated but if you study the diagrammatic view (Figure 217) and the follow the step-by-step photographs they are straightforward to make if you take your time!
The diagonal pieces within each frame have to overlap each other, which means that they must be no more than half the thickness of the outer frames. For example, if the outer frames are 0.4cm thick, the inner diagonal pieces must be no more than 0.2cm thick. Create your first outer frame by pinning and gluing together the four sides. Each frame is divided into two so add the central upright (Figures 218–219).
Figure 214: Fitting the first cross beam.
Figure 216: The basic planked bridge.
The next stage is adding the diagonals which must fit flush inside the outer frame and which are half the thickness of the outer frames (Figure 220). Fit the diagonals on one side of the frame first. Turn the frame over and repeat the process (Figure 221).
Once you have made all the frames, glue the first one in position (Figure 222). I used Lego bricks to keep the frame upright while the glue dried. Glue the remaining frames into position to complete the basic bridge (Figure 223).
Figure 218: The outer frame: stage 1.
Figure 220: Fitting the first diagonals.
Figure 222: The first frame is glued into position.
You could stop at this stage, because the bridge will now rest on the opposite river banks and span any depth of river. However, I wanted to go a few steps further by adding supports to the bridge. After all, it was originally built to carry the massed legions of Republican Rome! If you decide to add supports, bear in mind that a bridge without supports will fit any terrain system, whereas one with supports may have limited usability. One other option, depending on the height of your river banks above the water level could be to slide pontoons beneath the bridge.
Assuming you want to add supports, cut four lengths of balsa long enough to be flush with the top of the sides of the bridge and to rest on your river, and glue them into position (Figure 224). Add cross pieces between the supports (Figure 225).
Never one to do things by halves, I decided that the overall appearance of the bridge would be further enhanced if I added additional supporting struts (Figure 226). At this point, I thought that my representation of Pons Sublicius looked pretty reasonable (Figure 227).
Remember what I said about the addition of supports potentially limiting the usage of the bridge? Well I unexpectedly found myself having to fit my bridge over a deeper river! If you find yourself in a similar predicament, do not despair, there’s an easy solution: I call them ‘boots’ (Figure 228).
Figure 225: Cross pieces added to the supports.
Figure 227: The finished bridge? Well almost!
Figure 229: The bridge boots in position.
Just make a number of open boxes into which the supports can fit. The boots just slide over the bridge supports so that you can make your bridge fit virtually any height of river bank (Figure 229).
I paint aged unpainted or untreated wood in the same way: a black undercoat followed by a drybrush of a mid tone grey, followed by a highlight of pale grey. Sometimes, depending on the subject, I might add some random green streaks to simulate moss or mildew. It’s also possible to use wood stain to colour wood, but there can be problems with this. Wood stain tends to be transparent, which means that pencil or pen marks will show up. Also in areas where glue has spread onto the surface of the wood, it won’t absorb as much, if any, of the stain, causing potentially unsightly patches.
The decision that I had to make with my Pons Sublicius was whether the wood, which in real life would have had to carry significant loads, would have been allowed to age and potentially weaken the structure. I decided not, and therefore painted the wood using a thinned pale cream to give the impression of relatively new timber that had been well maintained (Figure 230).
REFERENCES
Unsurprisingly with a wooden bridge that was built over 2,500 years ago, there isn’t much contemporary reference material to be found. It’s a case therefore of creating a structure that follows the established style of Roman bridges and which looks right. However, I did find the following publication, which contained a useful artist’s impression of a Roman bridge that looked the part.
Connolly, P., Tiberius Claudius Maximus: The Legionary (Oxford University Press, 1988)