Bridge 7-C

Jared Harper shared this scene recently on the Proto-Layouts discussion group. Here are his notes on modeling this scene on his HO scale Santa Fe branch line layout.

All my scenery is based on photos of the prototypes in the Flint Hills of Kansas in late May. I used various artist’s media like gloss medium, and a variety of latex paint colors for the water. The backdrop river is a photograph, with the 3D scenery painted to match.

The trees are constructed from sage brush and Scenic Express Super Tree material for the branches. I use leaf flake for the leaves.

It’s taken me three tries to get the river scenes to where I am happy with them. I am no artist, but a person can hardly miss using nature as their model. I made five more tree armatures last night. I will paint them and leave them today. These are some smallish ones for a couple of specific scenes.

The model bridge follows the prototype Warren truss bridge over Dragoon Creek west of Burlingame, Kansas. I modified a wood Campbell Scale Models kit to reflect the prototype structure.


A picture is worth a thousand words. Jared’s image prompted many comments on the discussion list. We thought our blog readers would enjoy it, too. Thank you, Jared Harper, for sharing your fine work on the Resin Car Works blog.


Subscribe to the Resin Car Works blog so you don’t miss inspirational modeling and new model announcements. Add your email address to the Subscribe function at the bottom of the page.

Questions and comments can be posted below. Please follow the instructions so your comment can be posted. All comments are reviewed and approved before they appear. Share the blog link with other model railroaders.

5 thoughts on “Bridge 7-C

  1. Jared an excellent river scene that I am sure provides satisfaction and shows others what can be achieved. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Beautiful scene and very realistic.

    Hope mine is half as good as yours and I’d be happy. Original photos were not taken with photo backdrop in mind, 20 years later really overgrown and afraid to go down for more photos because of numerous homeless.

  3. This is a really nice scene, Jared! You may not claim to be an artist, but the overall scene is extremely effective! I would hope to do as well with the one modeled creek crossing on my layout. (Unless you’d like to come out to Yuma and do it for me!)

Comments are closed.