[WIP] 2005 Orion V 32'

[JLiu15]

My fifth bus model will be smaller than my previous ones. It maintains the same scale, but the model is of a shorter bus - a 32ft Orion V operated by the Bee-Line System in Westchester County, New York.

The above photo was taken by Elyse Horvath in January 2023.

I decided to model a shorter bus this time because I plan to bring two bus models to Brickworld Chicago this year, one of which is my New Flyer D60HF model. Because I have already used a lot of my white System pieces on that model, I could build this model without having to order as many pieces. It also guarantees that I have enough space to display both MOCs with a good view of both, as display space can be pretty limited at Brickworld Chicago. My original plan prior to signing up for Brickworld was to disassemble my New Flyer D60HF model and have most of the pieces needed to model a PRTC OmniRide 40ft Orion V, which I saw at the NJ bus festival last fall.

The tentative list of functions are:

• Drive (with single PF XL motor or two PF L motors)
• Steering with working steering wheel
• Opening doors (pneumatic?)
• Detroit Diesel Series 50 engine model (removable)
• Opening engine door

I had considered powering the model with BuWizz 2.0, but my BuWizz has been having issues recently, mostly with there being a delay from when a command is sent from the app and when the motor responds. Because of this, I may just end up using PF IR receivers, which I have not used in a MOC for many years now.

Unlike my previous bus models, I am starting from the bodywork this time in the Stud.io build. This should reduce the need for last minute revisions to the chassis to accommodate the body panels. As of right now, the Stud.io model largely consists of partially built body panels with the front/rear axles and engine model to mark their locations. By being a smaller bus model, it also serves as a challenge in building compact as there is less interior space to hold all the mechanisms.

The livery will be mostly brick-built, as it is largely just two side stripes, but the diagonal section I plan to use custom stickers since it gives it a much cleaner finish than solutions using LEGO pieces, even though I try to avoid custom stickers unless necessary. The left and right side views, as of right now:

One of the things I've been most satisfied about so far is the front windshield design. The Orion V has a slanted driver's side window to reduce glare, and since using LEGO window pieces becomes more impractical when building at larger scale, I wanted to have the windshield be outlined in a way that clearly shows how it appears on the real bus. Thankfully, it was not as complicated as I thought, and I really like the way it turned out. Once I have most of the bodywork designed, I could then probably begin designing the chassis and begin the building process from there.