Phil B

[WIP] Hogwarts Express Custom Carriage

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1 hour ago, ColletArrow said:

You know I do, I can't help myself! It great to have a hand in steering the design of your excellent models.

I'll start by linking a couple of Wikipedia articles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Railways_Mark_1 - the standard design of coach we're dealing with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_coach_designations - because nothing is actually standard. These codes get incredibly confusing and aren't necessary for building models, but I thought I'd include them anyway!

Below is a diagram of a BR Mark 1 BSK (Brake Standard Corridor), i.e. a Guard's coach, that I've shamefully pinched from a google image search.

Suitable Donors for CIE MK1 BSGV - Questions & Answers ...

The guard has their own compartment; it houses a swivel stool, handbrake wheel, shelves, and periscope mirrors to see along the roof of the train (I never knew about that last one!). The compartment also has it's own inward-opening doors, one in the compartment and one directly opposite; these are the only doors on a train that can open if it's stopped in a tunnel, next to a wall etc.

Adjacent, and with a window in the wall between it and the guard's compartment, is the open area with double doors for luggage; you've modelled this area pretty much spot on. I don't think the barred windows are strictly accurate, but they look good so I'd keep them. I also don't think the window should have blinds, but if you like 'em, keep 'em. At least swap the windowed and non-windowed doors around; the windowed one is always on the left (looking directly at them from outside, both sides).

It's clearly not possible to fit all of the doors and windows onto your model; selective compression is the order of the day, and you've done a fine job with that so far. Your overall train so far (CK + BSK) already looks very pretty; perhaps an SO ("standard open", i.e. no compartments) next?

You definitely deserve a ton of credit for your info! Awesome!

The white blind is indeed only used on lavatory windows - perhaps I'll remove that as I continue to tweak my model. I will not add extra doors for the guard's compartment, but adding periscopes is an interesting touch (and who doesn't want to add 2 LBG cheese slopes to a model?). I could theoretically move the break wheel more to the center of the carriage, but then I will not have a lot of space to put the little trunks and other luggage .... perhaps I just leave it where it is and pretend.

I don't think I will build an SO, simply because it doesn't seem to feature in the Potter movies and books. I will double up on the CK instead, maybe label one as 2nd class .. I've got the tiles ready for that :)

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2 hours ago, ColletArrow said:

I don't think the barred windows are strictly accurate, but they look good so I'd keep them

Perhaps they are one of these cars?

1568780512804.jpg

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Alright, I did some work on a "Technology Tester" version of the passenger carriage using real bricks. Here are the results:

48836386048_2484f37d0e_b.jpg

This shows 3 versions of the door: Fixed, Fixed with Hinge, Opening with Hinge.

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The opening door. It only barely snags when you try to close the door (opening goes smoothly) but I like the look very much.

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Interior compartment with seated minifig. Seems to work ok. Ignore the rainbow of colors.

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Doors between carriages. These will either be reddish brown or black in the final model (black would be more prototypical, reddish brown might add more interest).

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Inside view of the doors. I had to use plates with clips as I ran out of 1x1 plates.

IMG_0823 by Phil B, on Flickr

 

Thoughts? Which door version do you prefer? Do you like the change from clear panel (as in the renders) to porthole windows for the doors? 

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12 minutes ago, Phil B said:

 

48836754926_10829623cd_b.jpg

The opening door. It only barely snags when you try to close the door (opening goes smoothly) but I like the look very much.

Opening Door with framed window gets my vote. 

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More WIP stuff. Here is a "technology tester" for the luggage/brake carriage. To allow the double doors to be opened, I offset part of the sidewall by half a stud. Unfortunately, that leaves quite the gap, although a plate (later tile) solution seems to help close this gap up.

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Not sure if I like this version though .... perhaps once the full carriage is built the gap won't be so obvious, but if it stays this obvious I will switch to the non-opening door version, with the hinge plates. Some more shots - note that I used whatever bricks were available, and ran out of 1x1 plates in red so I used modified plates instead.

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48844345152_73323aaf0f_b.jpg

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@Phil B

Since your adding interiors what about the Lavatory?

Loving the work btw

But seeing it in LDD I thought the gap was ok ... Seeing it in brick ... Not so much.   I guess when it boils down too it you have to ask yourself this: What is my main purpose for this build.  Meaning if your not planning on opening and shutting the doors all that often then I would go with the hinged method with no gap. As you can always display it with the doors open and you can drive it with them shut.  However if you plan on grand central going through your coach doors as you role play every fig through the station in and out of the car the go with the gap.

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12 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

@Phil B

Since your adding interiors what about the Lavatory?

Loving the work btw

But seeing it in LDD I thought the gap was ok ... Seeing it in brick ... Not so much.   I guess when it boils down too it you have to ask yourself this: What is my main purpose for this build.  Meaning if your not planning on opening and shutting the doors all that often then I would go with the hinged method with no gap. As you can always display it with the doors open and you can drive it with them shut.  However if you plan on grand central going through your coach doors as you role play every fig through the station in and out of the car the go with the gap.

Alright @Roadmonkeytj :) You asked, we deliver:

Presenting a BR Mk1 SO (Second Open) carriage to accompany my First Class and Brake/Luggage carriage from before. I switched back to closed doors with hinges (to create the suggestion of opening doors - the roof will be removable on all my carriages to get access to the interior, so even though opening doors would have been nice, it is not a must.

And ..... featuring a bathroom, with toilet, sink and mirror. The toilet bowl placement shows as not being a collision in Stud.io, so I think it'll work, but if it does not, I have some ideas on alternatives. As usual, comments welcome and most appreciated.

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Hogwarts Express Carriage 7-Second_Class_20191005_4 by Phil B, on Flickr

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I've spent today riding around Somerset on several of the prototpye, and your models are spot on. The newest digital model looks excellent; I'd have written off most of the features as too difficult to include ages ago! Even your underframe detail is smooth.

As for the doors, I think I prefer the version with SNoT-ed plates to allow them to open without a huge gap, but I recognise that interrupts the lining. What you've gone for is just as good I feel. I'm still looking forward to seeing a train of these in real bricks!

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Getting closer to completing the first carriage! Doors will be of the non-opening but hinged version (I can always remove the roof and manually open the door if needed for display purposes). 

48852575893_a33e91b570_b.jpgIMG_0834 by Phil B, on Flickr

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5 hours ago, Phil B said:

Getting closer to completing the first carriage! Doors will be of the non-opening but hinged version (I can always remove the roof and manually open the door if needed for display purposes). 

48852575893_a33e91b570_b.jpgIMG_0834 by Phil B, on Flickr

I think this is swell ... Its visually appealing and if you wish to show a brakeman you can lol

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On 9/16/2019 at 7:12 PM, Phil B said:

I have recently gotten my hand on about 40 of them, so that won't be a problem for my build.

One question. HOW?? :D  :D

Would it be ok to share the digital file with us? 

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3 hours ago, Robin_IV said:

One question. HOW?? :D  :D

Would it be ok to share the digital file with us? 

EBay ... managed to get a few incomplete copies of the previous 2 versions of the Hogwarts Express for under $30 shipped each. Not only did this provide me with the windows, it also gave me a ton of other useful bricks for this build.

Regarding build files - I am still far away from having a final build, and only once that is done will I go back and update the digital files. Still lots of work needed to make the build strong enough.

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Preview low-res pics and video, including my modified 79755:

49301701892_7a71cdff7b_b.jpg

Hogwarts Express Completed by Phil B, on Flickr

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And here is a (very grainy) video of the complete train running - click on the picture to get to Flickr for the video:

49301490671_a9dc2bf452_b.jpg

Edited by Phil B

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