The Drawbridge:

“Designing the drawbridge:”

With the harbour doors finished, I had to make a decent bridge so you can cross from one side of the harbour to the other. While boats have to go through the canal, it had to be a drawbridge.



First of all I made a simple foam drawbridge (using a sketch I made earlier) to have an idea of how it would look like. The dock element itself (stone pavement part of this bridge) is less wide then the regular dock element. I am aware of the fact that it could cause problems when I decide to build up the dock elements up another way but This is just a minor problem that can easily be solved. It does however make me aware of the fact that working with a modular system does mean that you need to be consequent when it comes to measurements.

The stone pavement is sculpted in a way that the surface will slightly curve up towards the bridge element itself. The vertical (front) wall of this element also curves forward a bit. In this way I created a broader surface where I could sculpt the openings for the vertical poles of the bridge.

The 2 poles have a barrel shaped form on top, suggesting that there is a rotating mechanism inside. The top part of the bridge itself is a rectangular shaped set of beams with an inward curved section at the back. At the end of the inward curved beams a barrel is attached to it that is used as a counterweight for operating the bridge.

The floor element of the bridge was done twice. At first I made this too short and at was too narrow, leaving too much space between the 2 vertical poles. The second attempt is a bid wider and also has 2 special spots at the front where chains or cables can be attached to it for connecting it to the beam structure above.

Assembling the bridge:

With 7 individual parts I can make one bridge part and with a double set I can make 2 (obvious). First thing is to glue the 2 half barrels and after that gluing the barrel to the upper beam structure.

The fun thing is that I can make a structure that can actually move. In order to make it work I had to drill holes in the top of the vertical poles, and the beams that has to go between the poles. In the wooden walkway section I drilled 2 holes in the side where the walkway is connected to the poles and in the poles themselves are again holes drilled at this level. At the end of the walkway (on the broader sides) holes are drilled and straight above in the upper beam structure 2 more holes are drilled. To simplify all this I added a picture with red dots/arrows to show where the holes are drilled.

I took some plain nails and cut of the top of them. These metal pieces are now used for pinning the elements to its place. After testing the movements the structure can be assembled Once this is all in place the ropes has to be placed at the end of the upper beam structure and on the walkway so the walkway does actually lift. I glued the rope in the drilled hole of the upper beam structure. The rope goes through the drilled hole of the walkway and is fixed with a tiny knot. Now the bridge is assembled and can be operated. The construction will most likely operate with a minimum of force but will stuck in the position you set it in. This is a good thing, a bridge that strays open when you open it.

When 2 elements form a larger bridge (opposite sides) connect, they do this in a slight upward position. If you would like to have it completely level, then the walkway might even slope a bit downwards. To avoid this I glued a small piece of wood underneath the walkway close to the stone wall of the dock. This block prevents the walkway from bending too far down.

Painting the bridge:

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The set of colours used for the stone dock element is the same as described in the other dock section. The wooden parts are also painted in the same way as the wooden walkways are painted in that same section. About the moment of painting the bridge, one could do this before assembling the bridge. I first build the bridge up and drilled the holes. After that I took it apart again and painted the individual parts. After varnishing the parts the bridge was assembled permanently.

About the size of the stone dock section: This bridge section is about 2 centimetres les long than a normal straight dock section. In order to make it fit with any combination of dock elements I will design a small set of smaller dock parts is necessary. The reason for adjusting the size of this element lies in the fact that the elevated element that hast to come directly behind the docks has a certain size. One could say that I went wrong there at that moment but the idea of it all is to create a set of docks, elevated areas, houses of different kinds and special features that eventually will make up a landscape that has to dress up a side of the table and that I will call…. “Tortuga”

I hope you will follow my great adventure of this and see how my twisted idea of sculpting an entire pirates hideout from scratch. If you would be interested in how I do get along with this project then drop me an email and I will add you to my mailing list. I do not often update my site but do send out emails more frequent to those who are interested.

The next update will be the elevated area…….