What have our modelers here (of any scale) done w/ homemade bridge abutments? I find Chooch, Walthers, etc., which I have used. However, I have occasion to make abutments for a long bridge using the CV 200' Parker in series with a plate girder bridge. The abutments, I could probably use commercial but the pier between the 2 bridge types will have to be custom made (by me) and want it to match the abutments. So it seems to me the easiest way is to make all three myself. I build a set of abutments on my former layout and used wood encased in brick/stone sheets. The effect was pretty good, but I'd like to try something else. Maybe wood with a good coating of plaster and granular paint to simulate concrete or concrete/aggregate. I've thought about building a mold and using casting plaster, but my talent lies more in cutting wood than casting molds. Anyone here ever built some abutments? Piers?
I scratchbuild all mine out of styrene. That way I can get it to match the prototype as closely as possible.
I made the abutments on either end of this bridge from 1/4-inch blue foam. They are painted with cheap craft acrylics. They are not especially high fidelity, but easily pass the 3-foot test. The curved retaining wall at lower left is also homemade from blue foam. This is N-scale. - Jeff
What era are you modeling? If you want a concrete abutment, I'd say styrene. If it's wood, then I would just use scale lumber. I don't know much about stone, so I can't really help there. Rust-oleum makes a textured spray paint that comes in about a dozen colors. There are a few greys. It looks a bit heavy duty, but it may work for a concrete texture.
I have previously used styrene and plywood for making abutments (cement). Essentially i dressed the plywood block with styrene on all sides. Then i carved the styrene in order to replicate the mold lines from the wooden molds that were used to pour the cement. It was time consuming and for the rest of my "cement" structures (tunnel portals, retaining walls etc...) i ended up using molded plaster ones. I made the molds on my own using patterned plastic. The end result was much better since it replicated the construction method of the real thing, so next time around if i need cement-lookalikes i ll end up using plaster and molds. I also experimented with thin foamboard (not the thick one we use in order to make landforms) and it also works nicely, but it is too weak with respect to it's structural support properties. So best use it as sheet styrene to dress something to look like concrete.
