[MOC] [WIP] Shinkansen N700S

[sebulba56]

Hi ! About a month ago I teased this project, and now I’m opening a topic to follow the WIP of my Shinkansen MOC. My goal is to submit it to the BrickLink Designer Program Series 11 in April.

My inspiration is the Shinkansen N700S, the latest version of the high speed train that connects Tokyo to Fukuoka via Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, and more. It’s definitely not an easy train to reproduce in LEGO because of its proportions and overall shape. It’s extremely flat and very close to the ground. The nose is terribly very complex.

 

Let’s start with the front end. It took me several months and many iterations to achieve a result I’m satisfied with. I finally got something that works thanks to the many slopes, wedges, and curved slopes LEGO has released in recent years.

 

 

 

The second problem I’ve had to deal with so far is the bogies. On the real train, part of them is covered by skirts. That means I had to design bogies without using the LEGO parts normally intended for that purpose. Since I want to submit this MOC to BDP11, I can’t use unofficial parts or illegal techniques. So I had to get creative to design bogies with as little friction as possible. I’m quite happy with the solution I ended up with : the 7L axle only rubs on a single stud. I’ve done some tests and it rolls almost as well as pre-assembled bogies.

 

 

Here’s where things stand today. There are still a few challenges I already know I’ll have to face: fitting powered bogies into one of the cars (they are much larger than my custom bogies), and making sure seated minifigures can fit inside the train (there won’t be enough space for them to stand). My goal for the BDP 11 is to build, one end car, one intermediate car and one power car with the pantograph. Maybe I will build a second end car for myself to have a full 4 cars consist. If you want more frequent updates, you can follow me on instragram @sebulba_creations !

That’s all for now! Feel free to share any feedback, and I’ll be happy to keep you updated as the project progresses over the next few weeks. 

Edited Monday at 09:43 AM by sebulba56
IG added

[Darkkostas25]

Interesting solution for bogies. And yeah, good that we now have new curves and you nailed using them for the beak/head of locomotive

[Shiva]

Nice Shinkansen. How well will those bogies run in the long term? I think it is good to have alternative boggi options.

[Feuer Zug]

The Shinkansen N700 design and the bogies are both great. Nice engineering.

[L-Gauger]

Terrific work on this model, @sebulba56! You captured the streamlined shape very well, and I especially like the way you figured out for making actual outside-frame bogies. 

[zephyr1934]

That is insanely complex. I don't even want to think about those curves on the nose (now I'm going to have nightmares). Crazy impressive how well you've tamed the wild curves.