[LDD-MOC] Powered Up passanger train and FLIRT3 crossover

[Ashi Valkoinen]

Recently our LUG got the new Powered Up passanger train which was a great fun for the kids at the holiday LEGO camp to assembly. However it seems that TLC will keep the big, one-part train fronts for all upcoming passanger trains, in other details the new City set seems a really good deal even for my AFOL-eyes. The color scheme, the easily removeable battery compartment solution is really nice, and the improved remote handles the speeds better (train not stopping at curves with speed 1). It is a real drawback, that only two outputs can be handled by a single battery box and connectors can't be stacked, but I hope there will be an official solution from TLC to put more motors on the same port (and maybe AA battery box).

But back to colors... this bright orange, dark blue and light bluish gray combination is just perfect, I think it looks better than the 75% of real train colors. So I decided to make a try in LDD how this color scheme would look like on my Stadler FLIRT3 EMU (which was build for real recently). I had to change bright orange to simple orange - bright orange parts are still very limited. So, here are some screenshots from LDD:

1. The overall look:

2. Front pattern (light bluish gray cheese slopes missing but could be fit for real):

3. Overall look focusing on front:

4. Next to my GySEV FLIRT3:

Basically only small details have been altered - the hinge connection by the front needed to be changed since the 1×2 plate with bar (closed ends) doesn't exist in orange. Also the side detail next to driver's cab and front window have been changed a little. 

However FLIRT trains have two different levels (upper one next to driver's cab and articulation, lower one anywhere else) I kept all color patterns horizontal through the train. Some lines with 1 plate height in Powered Up set have been increased to two plates (white on side and darb blue on the top), and made the full-orange front to have a line back at the bottom just like Railjet locomotives are painted with the red pattern curving back to the bottom. The doors became orange, sincs new TSI standards require to make doors with outstanding pattern to be easily identifyable to people with damaged vision.

For this train I decided to make the plan with 3 cars - most LEGO passanger trains are given with 3 cars. Battery compartment could be hidden at toilet section.

Tell me your opinion. :)

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by Ashi Valkoinen

[3D LEGO]

Ashi Valkoinen,

That rendition looks really good. Its unfortunate that the color bright orange is not more readily available. It would be great for anything from the US railcar pool company TTX Company. But colors aside, the irony in your model is there is an actual regional carrier in northern Hesse, Germany (Hessen, Deutschland) that uses just that color combination, minus the white stripe, which you came up with and in a very similar fashion. They own and operate the first Stadler FLIRT EMUs that were ordered for operation in Germany. Look up Cantus Bahn for pictures. I used to ride their trains on a regular bases, especially between Kassel, Hesse (Kassel, Hessen) and Göttingen, Lower Saxony (Göttingen, Niedersachsen). The blue is not quite a dark blue but more a violet tinged color, like Dark Blue-Violet.

Cantus Verkehrsgesellschaft

3D LEGO 

[Ashi Valkoinen]

20 hours ago, 3D LEGO said:

Ashi Valkoinen,

That rendition looks really good. Its unfortunate that the color bright orange is not more readily available. It would be great for anything from the US railcar pool company TTX Company. But colors aside, the irony in your model is there is an actual regional carrier in northern Hesse, Germany (Hessen, Deutschland) that uses just that color combination, minus the white stripe, which you came up with and in a very similar fashion. They own and operate the first Stadler FLIRT EMUs that were ordered for operation in Germany. Look up Cantus Bahn for pictures. I used to ride their trains on a regular bases, especially between Kassel, Hesse (Kassel, Hessen) and Göttingen, Lower Saxony (Göttingen, Niedersachsen). The blue is not quite a dark blue but more a violet tinged color, like Dark Blue-Violet.

Cantus Verkehrsgesellschaft

3D LEGO 

It is really funny, because I know lot of FLIRT-designs across in Europe (I really love these trains and also the representatives of them in Hungary gave me a lot of help when it comes to build, display my LEGO FLIRTs), but this one in Germany I missed and have seen for first time after reading your comment. Seems a classic FLIRT-design for regional lines (only three doors / side), with a little less orange compared to my design.

For me it seems it is a new trends in modern electric motor unit's color pattern that there is a dark color (or black) line between the windows - this horizontal pattern starts at frist window and breaks by doors and carrieage ends - and it seems even TLC applied this to their train (dark blue in the line of windows).