John and Alex build a Bailey bridge

[John Fitzsimons]

Hi all, I recently put up a video on opening my Bailey Bridge Kit. I am hoping it will be a joint build with my son Alex aged 11. Hopefully he will be as dedicated as Steve's grandson Tiny.



I came across a something interesting. During a renovation of a historical landmark in Dublin, Hal'penny Bridge a Bailey bridge was built to allow pedestrians to continue to cross the river. I crossed this bridge many times without knowing anything about the history of the Bailey bridge. I never took any notice of it. What an opportunity missed.

56d72f8517c1ac7c266bd380ae2ee459b74c9cf9.jpg (42 KiB) Viewed 2536 times

Looking forward to getting started on the kit but will have to think about sourcing WOODEN BITS.

[Steve Lewington]

Hi John and Alex
Great news mate at least its on the work bench.
I think Garry will be starting his bridge soon as well as his 17 Pounder is almost finished.
I hope you both enjoy the build as much as Tiny and I have.
All the best and take care

Steve and Tiny

[Gary Richardson]

Hi John and Alex

Good luck with the build. Great photo of the bridge.

Regards
Gary

[John Fitzsimons]

original bridge was built around 1816. A pedestrian bridge and remains a famous landmark in Dublin city. There is a youtube video on the restoration but no footage of the bailey bridge being built.

[John Fitzsimons]

I have started to prep the bridge components. There are a lot of components to the bridge and everything appears to be made from steel. Everything in the box is covered in oil to protect from corrosion. I know these kits can often stay in their boxes for years.

Some small brackets were heavily rusted, Just one small bag. Everything else in good condition.

I cleaned everything with Alcahol to remove grease. Cleaned components in Evaporust to remove any corrosion.

I have all small components coated in Upol Acid 8 etch primer and sorted ready for assembly process.

The bigger components are being sprayed outside. Pity weather not good enough when spraying small components.

I am prepping the large components for just one span for now. Will do rest when weather warms up a bit.

Steve Lewington sent me a swatch of his paint. I will get some made up. This being a scale model I might get the paint made a tiny bit lighter. Colours seem to darken as the models scale down.

Just one item to query. Part no EN0116 (TIE ROD PLATE). These according to instructions are only fitted to the inner pannels but from drawings it looks like 4 per pannel. I only got 8 pieces in my kit. Looks like I should have 16. Maybe I got bag from single span kit. Anyway I have requested confirmation from Armortek.

Looking at the assembly I think it might be wise to paint some parts before assemble as access will be tricky later.

Next step get some paint made up.

[Steve Lewington]

Hi John
Reference part ENO 116.
They fitin the inner span only x4 each side top and bottom and they hold parts ENO 117 / 118 in place.
Hope this helps bud

Steve

[John Fitzsimons]

Thanks Steve,
I only had 8 in my kit. I think they must have pt bag for a single extension span. Already onto Armortek and they are sending me extra. I could make out the locations from the instructions. Good clear photo. Thanks. I have degreased most of the large parts now and etch primed. Took 3 cans of Upol. Not bad. Kit should go together quickly. Preparation is the big job with this one with so much in steel. I am not doing anything special with it. It's just a bridge.

[Steve Lewington]

Hi john
I have a few speas enough for a 3 span Bridge if you need them just incase armourtek are short if so then they are yours.
Steve

[John Fitzsimons]

Thanks Steve. I think Armortek are onto it. Got some assembly done today.

[John Fitzsimons]

I was making a video on prepping the Bailey Bridge and lost content of the memory card. So straight into base coating and building.

Alex, my son aged 11 helped with some construction. Alex was having problems getting the M4 screw into one of the parts EN 0128 while assembling the upright posts. One of the EN 0128S is not formed properly. Out by a couple of mm.

Got quite a bit cleaned and primed to start with.

Here is a video of progress

[John Fitzsimons]

i would like to add, i am impressed with the kit but a bit sad that timber components not included. overall, the kit has a huge number if components and it's easy to see the value. a pity it's not possible to expand. hopefully another release in the future.