Loose Ends

We've always got at least a few of them on any layout project, right? In the case of the Z Scale Gorre & Daphetid, the plate girder bridge numbered among the more outstanding: I mean, after a month and a half after being built and installed on the layout, it finally got abutments—plus, as a bonus, the G&D logo.

The abutments couldn't have possibly been any simpler: two pieces of sheet styrene laminated together, sprayed Light Aircraft Gray, and weathered with chalks (one may rightfully wonder what took so long). As for the G&D logo, that turned out to be one of those classic "Duh!" moments. I wasn't looking forward to having custom white decals made—until it finally dawned on me that I could do the old print-in-reverse-on-white-decal-sheet trick.

Reducing the logo from HO down to Z resulted in a startlingly small decal, and even printed in high resolution they're a bit crude. Nevertheless, they look reasonably good under normal viewing; only a seriously tight macro shot reveals their flaws.

They're seen here on the bridge which was in the midst of a weathering treatment; it's still got a ways to go, as among other things I need to tone down the white of the logos a few notches. Meanwhile, I plopped all of the completed structures and other details in place on the layout to get a sense of how far along I am, and it looked good. Yes, there's still plenty of work yet to be done, but much less than it might seem when the props aren't in place.

The plate girder bridge completion may seem trivial, but sometimes even the smallest accomplishments can be quite satisfying, as collectively they move the layout that much closer to completion. Now I'm getting really itchy; I'm on the threshold of some serious progress, but forced to wait until supplies arrive in the mail. Please Mister Postman...

Original Gorre & Daphetid image courtesy of Peter T. Prunka.

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