[MOC] M Class diesel hydraulic locomotive

[scruffulous]

Here is my model of a Victorian Railways M Class locomotive (M231). Only two of the prototype were ever built, and they spent most of their lives as shunting locos at the Newport workshops.

This model recently won the Best Diesel Locomotive Model for the Asia and Australasia region in the Brick Train Awards 2022. I started building this for OcTRAINber 2021 (Critters), but didn't complete it in time.

In a change from my normally purist approach, I've used a number of 3D printed parts: the wheels, cranks, connecting rods, handrails and side rod protection connectors are all 3D printed. The wheels, cranks and connecting rods needed to be thin so I could fit them behind side rod protection. I tried a new approach to printing the cranks and connecting rods - they were printed in place (i.e., they were printed as a single part with small supports that need to be broken to get the crank pins moving within the connecting rod). It worked really well, with only a ~20% failure rate. You can see them in action here.

You might wonder why I bothered with accurate running gear, given it's usually covered by the side rod protection. The main reason is it dramatically improves performance, given only the front wheels are powered. The M Class is supposed to have an external frame (i.e., the wheels hidden behind the frame), so I'm considering 3D printing a thin frame for between the wheels and the cranks. I probably at least need to cover the Bluetooth Battery Cube with black vinyl.

Here's the other M Class loco (M232) in a different livery.

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by scruffulous

[Shiva]

Nice build :)

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

The blue model with the yellow stripe is very intriguing, I like the design with the new corner tiles and the large printed wheels!

[scruffulous]

On 11/12/2022 at 5:12 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

The blue model with the yellow stripe is very intriguing, I like the design with the new corner tiles and the large printed wheels!

I'm not sure what you mean about the corner tiles - do you mean the slopes without a stud on the roof of the cab?

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

You're right ...the subject was missing  ...the new corner tiles used for the buffers 

[Vliebricker]

Nice M class engine, scruffulous 😃👍. And congratz with this price winning model!