3D Pontoon Bridge and Kickstarters

Finally, I have a moment to blog about my latest project, a 3D printed pontoon bridge suitable for Flames of War or any 20th Century-era battle in 15mm.

The idea started as a from a Facebook post on the FoWSA discussion group. Someone was looking for specific terrain for a Team Yankee scenario. Said scenario involved some combat engineers hastily constructing a bridge or some type of river crossing. There didn't seem to be any easily found bridges available for purchase. I took it as a challenge to 3D print it.

I searched briefly on Thingiverse to find a suitable bridge. There were a few very detailed bridge models there. Most of them looked very spindly and breakable. But, I found a cool design for a pontoon bridge. For those not familiar, a pontoon bridge is a series of simple boats tied together across a river or water feature. Some type of roadway, wood or metal, is fastened to the top of the boats thus providing a functioning bridge across the water. The concept has been used since antiquity but is still widely in use today.

Printed with neon green

size comparison with Sherman

The model I found was well crafted and it printed up easily. However, the designer intending it for use with 15mm medium-sized tanks such as the Sherman. A modern 70 ton M-1 Abrams in the same scale is just too wide for the roadway. But that's not a problem for the 3D printer. I adjusted the scale of the bridge by 15% and printed it out. Now the M-1 can drive on the roadway safely and the Shermans can still fit on it. And like a real pontoon bridge, if you need a longer bridge, you simply build more boats. Perfect for a 3D printer project!


Completed bridge after priming and paint

There is a 'wrecked' version of the pontoon model but it did not print as well on my printer. I'll have to make some adjustment to the get it right.

Now that I've dipped my toe in the 3D printing pool, I've started backing 3D printer-related projects on Kickstarter. I've purchased the Rampage Castle from Printable Scenery (Fantasy castles and dungeons) and the Future Worlds Terrain (Sci-Fi corridors and walls). Also, I backed a non-3D printed project called Hex Terrain Toolkit, which is a convenient tool for creating hex shaped contoured terrain. Looking forward to working with all of it!

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The Blog is going on a Permanent Vacation

Ok, I haven't had any comments on this blog on an post for many, many months. The only post that seems to get any traffic is my 2015 post about Star Fleet Battles. I don't fully understand why that post has generated so much interest, while the rest of my content has been mostly ignored. Clearly, this has not been an successful blog. I get much more traffic with my Facebook content and the YouTube channel is showing promise. Perhaps the subjects of my posts have been too random. I may need to focus on a specific game or subject. Maybe I didn't generate enough posts to keep the audience connected. Whatever the case, I am ending this blog with this final post. I'm calling it a 'permanent vacation' because the blog and posts will still be here, though I will not be adding any new content. I might continue to comment on the SFB post since that is still generating traffic 3 years after it was published. To anyone who might still be reading, I say 'Thank

Gulf Strike - Final Turns 26,27,28,29, and 30

The "Soviet-Persian War" continues using the Gulf Strike rules. We have reached the final turns of the scenario. Turn 30 is the last turn, when we will count the number of cities captured by the Soviets and determine the margin of victory. The Soviets currently have 10 cities captured. The US is building a supply network in southern Iran. Can they reach the Iranian cities in time to help defend? Most of the air missions and ground assaults have been reduced due to decreasing supply for both sides. Turn 26 - US/Iran still have the initiative On Land: The last few Iranian infantry brigades move toward Esfahan. The Soviets assault the city of Kashan and capture it. This is the 11th city for the Soviets. This qualifies them for a 'marginal victory'. At Sea: The US LHA carrier with a compliment of AV-8 Harrier aircraft, moves northwest to the Iranian port city of Abadan. In the Air: Harriers launch air strikes against Soviet targets approaching Ahraz, but are ineffecti

Gulf Strike - Turns 18 and 19

The "Soviet-Persian War" continues using the Gulf Strike rules . The Soviets are moving further south in Iran. The Americans now have supply chain problems. There are two points of failure. A Soviet heavy cruiser is bombarding the supply head at Diego Garcia The supply chain has been broken at Konark. Turn 18 - In Air; F-4s bomb a supply depot in Afghanistan, further weakening the Soviets there. Soviet Backfires make a conventional bombing attack on Iranian Militia in Hamadan, but the militia gets some incredibly lucky rolls and put a hit on the bombers. This forces the bombers to retreat. Su-24s provide close air support for the assault on Hamadan and Qom. On Land; SpecOps raids destroy a truck unit in Afghanistan. Soviets push out the remaining militia and capture the holy city of Qom. At Sea; The Soviet CA is finally sunk by an American SSN. This is the last Soviet naval unit in the Indian Ocean. US heavy transport ships reach the friendly port in Somalia.

The Painted Thumb

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