“Über die Brücke” (A Spring Cleaning Challenge - 30 years late!) with Zebraoutrider
Phase 1 - Cleaning and Removal of old plaster
First thing to do is remove the miniatures. The original glue had lost its tack and so all minis came away from their locations pretty easily. The only one to retain any scenery was a Dwarf Runner stuck on a plank of wood. Some miniatures are in better condition than others and will need carefully cleaning before returning to the diorama. 
Once the miniatures had been removed, I could see that the main superstructure of the bridge was still fairly sound bar the peeling brickwork. The plaster, on the other hand was very powdery below the top crust.
Using a soft-headed one inch make-up brush, I began the careful extraction of the plaster powder. I took care not to damage the bridge, barge, trees and polystyrene rock superstructure. I managed to recover some fantasy toadstools and plants made from Green Stuff and toothbrush bristles. Once the first stage of cleaning had been completed, I could next look to covering the base frame and start the re-plastering of the rocks. As the re-plastering will get a tad messy, another cleaning phase will be required later on. 
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