Model Railroading > 1mm plastic angle?

I'm planning a model of CP's Stoney Creek bridge (the big arch span up in Rogers Pass) and am considering scratchbuilding the plate girders at the top of the bridge. The smallest angles I can find from Evergreen or Plastruct are 1.5mm, or .060 which scales to 5.25 inches in HO scale. That's great for the top and bottom (or even use 2mm/.080/6.75) but the stiffener angles and interior bracing are smaller. Does anyone have a source for 1mm, or .040 plastic angle?

Yes, I thought of scaling down the bridge and using ME 30' girders. It's intended to span a doorway on the upper level, and 48" (484 scale feet) is a perfect match. The prototype girders are 21 and 42 feet long, and 48" deep. Any commercial girder I've found will require cutting and splicing to match those dimensions; at that point scratch building becomes attractive!

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Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

I'm not tracking anything in styrene smaller than Plastistruct or Evergreen. I would make a simple wooden jig, and make my own angle stock out of appropriate strip styrene. If you want a model beyond everybody else's, you are going to have to go beyond everybody else's efforts!

Give it a shot! And post some pictures to show off you work!

Rick Bacon
Windsor, CO

Yes, you could easily make your own angle stock like Rick posted. However, if you are willing to work with brass, Speical Shapes from  K&S Enginering has smaller angles.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/29/19 15:22 by wabash2800.

Victor, do you have a part number for K&S? The smallest I can find is 9880, which is 1/8 angle. My best bet looks to be the two smallest sizes from Plastruct, 3/64 and 1/16. They'll be slightly oversized, but that will work.

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Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

815001 is 1/32" brass angle, smallest size after 3/64". I've scaled down Styrene angle before by placing a flat metal edge inside the angle and running a blade over it, trimming each side. 

I went to a clinic once about fabricating small plastic angles and channels from styrene strips. You put a glass plate on your work bench then tape a piece of thin brass or aluminum strip as a straight edge on the glass.

Place a plastic strip narrower than the angle you want against the metal edge. Now stand another plastic strip against the open side of the first strip. This will be tall enough to make the angle you want and thick enough to make the angle you want when added to the bottom strip.

Hold the pieces against each other with the end of a scale ruler and apply some thin solvent cement. When that dries you can lift the angle or channel off the glass.

fbe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I went to a clinic once about fabricating small
> plastic angles and channels from styrene strips.
> You put a glass plate on your work bench then tape
> a piece of thin brass or aluminum strip as a
> straight edge on the glass.
>
> Place a plastic strip narrower than the angle you
> want against the metal edge. Now stand another
> plastic strip against the open side of the first
> strip. This will be tall enough to make the angle
> you want and thick enough to make the angle you
> want when added to the bottom strip.
>
> Hold the pieces against each other with the end of
> a scale ruler and apply some thin solvent cement.
> When that dries you can lift the angle or channel
> off the glass.

And the resulting angles are as strong as a "manufactured" angle. And it's not that hard to do.

Sounds like an interesting technique, I might have to try that. I do need 800 actual inches of 3.5 scale inch angle, but for this sort of model...

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Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan