BURNSIDES BRIDGE

The Real Bridge.

Burnside’s Bridge played a key role in the Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War. It is named after Major General Ambrose Burnside. The bridge is 125 feet long, 12 foot wide, and has three arches. The bridge spans the Antietam Creek. It was intended to move frieght, animals, and people to Sharpsburg, Maryland.

BMC offers a bagged set of 54mm models and figures of the Burnsides Bridge. I purchased the playset for $12.95 at a Hobby Town USA near Pottstown, PA. The parts of the bridge are crafted of plastic. There are mould lines that need to be removed before the bridge can be dry-fitted. The task of dry-fitting was somewhat mind-bending. The parts that I received in my package did not fit together in any reasonable way. I ended up having to bend some of the pieces using a hair dryer and cold water. I had to cut some of the other pieces to properly fit together. This model is intended for ages 6 and up, but the assembly process with take someone with a little creativity, patience, and hobby skill. After adjusting the pieces so that they will dry fit, the assembly process itself was very frustrating. The model is supposed to be snap together using small plastic pegs and drilled holes. Most of the pegs will not fit in the pre-drilled holes. I attempted to dremel the pegs to make them smaller, but the fragile plastic tended to snap off under the dremel’s grinder and sander. I then attempted to make the holes bigger using an x-acto knife blade, and this seemed to work fairly well. I used Gorilla Super Glue to fix the parts in place. Snapping together was impossible. The fully assembled bridge looked like this when finished:

This is the assembled bridge.

This model itself is nice. It’s big so it will make a nice objective on the gaming table. However, the inferior build of the parts is rather infuriating and frustrating.

BMC Toys produces inexpensive 1/32 scale plastic figures, accessories and playsets. Buying a model this size would normally require spending $50 or $100 dollars if it was intended for model railroading or miniature wargaming. While historical accuracy and basic human anatomy take a back seat with BMC sculpting, these figures are ideal for children and for use in school history projects and offer excellent play value. In the end, I guess you get what you pay for in quality. My final word on the bridge is this: If you’re looking for an inexpensive bridge for miniature wargaming, this is a good choice for the price and scale. Just be aware that it is not “easy snap together” as advertised and will require a maddening amount of skill to overcome the flaws in the parts

~ by Quixotic on June 16, 2009.