I'm gathering some ideas before I start hacking away at some new 3D props. I had an idea in my head of what my 3D bridge would be for, but I think I'd like to hear what others would want. As usual, this will kind of open it up to people saying "yeah - I want it all!" but it's much more helpful if you add to that "but, if I had to pick just one, this is what I'd want most..."

Regarding a 3D bridge prop for HV Streets:

The set contains a "bridge" wall piece, though TLX is designed for 3" and 6" tiles. I have several options here:

1) Design something totally custom. If you have any reference photos you might want me to draw inspiration from, please let me know.

2) Use the existing walls as a base, but build a fixed 3D structure (kinda like what I did with the garden waterfall piece). If I did this, I will experiment with optionally leaving the TLX hooks on the ends so it could still slip into posts, but also allow for a totally free-standing model. Any preference to sizes? I'm thinking 1" and 1.5" wide walkways using the HV Streets bricks, in 3" and 6" lengths. As a fixed structure, it'd end up a solid shape - not just walls and a top.

3) Use the existing walls as a base, but use custom TLX tile sizes for the walkway. I can leverage the catwalks design from the Lair of the Dragon God, and you can plug in standard railing pieces. This might allow me to easily make other shaped pieces, like L-shaped walkways.

Maybe I'm going down the wrong path with what I was thinking the bridge would be for. As I type this, I'm imagining a much lower bridge (i.e. not based on a 2" high TLX wall) that would be used to span across a canal tile, or across a Hinterland river tile...

Thoughts? I'm open to anything!

I was thinking Venetian canal bridges, no more than 3" wide, although I'd prefer 2" in width, but I know TLX things need to match up. That's what I'd like.

It dawns on me, The Garden has a little bridge prop that I could modify if I want something small to go over rivers... What I've been sketching is a little different tho, so hopefully there will be room for more than one little bridge.

@Squirmydad - I looked up pics of Venetian canal bridges - some good stuff for me to think about! Thanks for the suggestion.

Two things I'd love to see in a bridge:

1) High arching bridge - a venetian bridge is a good example.

2) Variable width bridge - a bridge that you can easily scale the width. I'd love to do a bridge that has buildings on it, but all the papercraft bridges that are around require some serious hackery to do it. They're all designed to be a fixed width.

A way to utilize the arches in HV Streets as a bridge would be a start for this. My things is, if going bigger than the Gardens bridge, then I want it to fold flat.

Both good suggestions.

FYI, Himmelveil Streets (plus HV Canals for the water) has everything needed for 3" and 6" wide bridges.

What's missing is a) narrow footbridge (i.e. 1" or 2" wide) and b) arching bridge.

How much work would it be to kitbash Himmelveil Streets to produce a bridge with a 1" or 2" wide flying span? Maybe >=< in shape, where the > are ramps and = is the flying span.


MProteau, thanks heaps for your incredible generosity with all this. You've done so much for us with what you've produced already. Offering to do even more, and subjecting yourself to the whim of a discussion about what we would want is amazing. Please accept our enormous gratitude (whether or not you do any of this), and please make sure you do only what you'll enjoy doing.
Thanks again, Zen

I'd like what we call in the UK a humped back bridge (google it - the best image I found was a model so I can't link!).

And definitely +1 on what Zenguy wrote! MProteau - you rock!

Ok. So, here's what I'm thinking of doing in the short term. I'm thinking of using the bridgewall.PDF file from the Himmelveil Streets set as a starting point (I'll try to make a 3" long version of this wall as well.) Specifically, the anti-warp walls, and I'll explain why. I want to be able to use the walls as-is. To them, I'd like to create "toppers" like those that exist in the SwiftScenics sets - kind of like a railing piece that will glue to the top of the outside of the wall (opposite the side with the anti-warp triangle). I don't know quite yet what the shape of the toppers will take, but I will probably start with something simple before I get creative. I want to spend some quality time thinking about ways to make the toppers not have to be glued onto the walls, too. I'm thinking maybe slots cut into the tops of the anti-warp top to slip them in place. It'd be pretty cool to make a modular system for this! (can you say "fold-flat covered bridges"?)

Then, I'll make 1" and 2" wide floors using 1" and no-grid textures, and a 1.5" wide floor using 1.5" and no-grid textures. I'll make these 3" and 6" long. 1" seems VERY narrow, but I might as well put something together while I'm in there.

Lastly, I'll make a couple 1", 1.5" and 2" TLX wall sections for HV Streets.

Putting it all together, I believe what it will look like is this - four 2-way posts in which you'll slot two anti-warp bridge walls that have the toppers attached and two short wall sections on the ends (these are more structural than anything). The bridge should fit well against any TLX build (i.e. if you have a 2nd story that you want to connect - the bridge should work just fine) and if you want it free-floating, you can simply put stairs on either end. I might bash up the stairs a little so they meet nicely with the "toppers" of the walls, and I'll make sure they work in all three directions off the end of the bridge.

I think this won't take long to whip up examples of (I might do untextured builds to start with...), then I can see what kind of reactions I get.

I for one have a planned build that requires a 12" low arch bridge, plain or decorative. [No spoilers yet!]

12" long, or 12" wide? (some have implied wanting houses on a bridge structure...) Assuming 12" long, would two of the walls provided by the bridgewall.PDF file from the Himmelveil Streets set work for you? I guess the more specific the dimensions you've got, the more accurate I can be...

Playing around in GIMP, learning how to do things like un-bend a bent piece of texture...



I try not to invent all new textures for kitbashes - I try to abuse what's already there. In this case, I took the stone from inside the archway and "bent" it to fit my curved top piece. I grabbed bricks from a normal wall and shrunk em down. I'll add a layer of grime over it so that it will hopefully blend in better with the wall below.

I'm learning how to use bump mapping now to kind of emboss/engrave some textures onto the side of the wall. I'd like to have a couple options.

I'm also thinking that I might make special inserts for the posts that I intend to slot these into - to cap off the tops of the posts using something that would blend with the style of the HV Streets set (like using a smaller version of the 'streetlamp' prop might be cool.

I quickly put together a test build, and discovered a little flaw in my "design"... It turns out the piece fits really nicely into the anti-warp wall (better than I had hoped!) but it's got to be 1/4" taller in order to come up over the tile piece that will rest on the wall! D'oh! Other than that, though, I really like how it goes together. I am not going to work too hard on it tonight (or tomorrow for that matter) but I think I'm on to something.

Oh, and note to self... let the glue dry on the wall before inserting the "removable" topper piece...

quick question...why not use the railings already included in Himmelveil streets, as I did?

Well... That's a fine question...

At this point, I'm just playing around. I'll be honest I find I don't make a lot of use of the TLX railing pieces. They don't lay flat, and I've ripped several of them, rendering them useless. I'm not opposed to going this route, though. I'm just trying some things out. I might simply end up with other options that can be made into railings. Railings would work just fine in 1.5" and 2" width bridges, but maybe not so well for 1" bridges.

What I put together last night is completely flat and requires no foamcore. I'm still not sure if I want a TLX bridge piece that makes use of existing pieces, or if I want a fold-flat bridge option, or both. If I like my flat attachment system, then yeah - I can have lots of different styles of rails and other coverings.

So, yeah - in the end I might just make narrow TLX tiles to use with rails, or I might come up with something completely different. We'll see. I'll try to post pics of each little experiment so people can have some ideas to work from.

Bendy bridges!

As tatteredking has shown, for "flat" bridges we have a work around.

But we need the mproteau "magic" to make the humped back bridge we (OK I) desire!

And when you've done it for Himmelveil, reskinning it for a Hinterlands track with an old stone bridge would be perfect.

Hey, a bloke can dream can't he? (especially when I have the artistic ability of a dead badger )

My top vote would be for narrow bridges, and some tidy way to get on and off them.

ah, I understand now!