A couple of cheap bridges completed

While I was making my stone walls a couple of weeks ago. I also made up a couple of small bridges with the intent of painting them up once I had worked out how best to create a painted stone effect. With some free time this last weekend I completed the two bridges.

The bridge arch is created be gluing some very thin balsa wood to the underside of some cardboard and then gluing it across a balsa strut placed in the centre. 

The arch glued in place. In addition two little cardboard cutout arches were stuck to the bridge walls. This will act as guides later on. 

More paper towel was added to hide the gaps and little thing cuts of balsa wood added to the tops of the wall and across the arch along the arch guides previously stuck on. One thing I did with the bridges (a learning from doing the walls) was to sand the balsa bits to give them a smother look.

A coat of light grey was applied. 

A dark grey wash was added and once dry a mid brown wash was applied over the top.

Unfortunately there is a bit of a gap in photos of the painting process as I whipped through the painting very quickly as it was drying very fast in Melbourne's heatwave. The same process was used as with the walls (post here).

Once the stones were all dabbed on with an old paint brush. The extra step I did with the bridges was to use a half watered down blue/black and small brush and go around some of the stone dabs to give the impression of mortar and a more solid look that the stone walls.

The bridge deck is dry brushed with sand and brown before dabs of paint are added to represent stones.

The watered down blue/black is used to in-between the dabs to create a more solid looking  appearance 

The finished bridge on the tabletop.