[WIP] MCI D4500CT Commuter Coach

[JLiu15]

56 minutes ago, Milan said:

Indeed, it looks very close to the original. Every line, and every broken line, seems to have been put into the model.
Again, mudguards/fenders, rear bumper and the whole rear side look incredible.
Oval windshield glass is something that is always hard to reproduce accurately. I started using transparent plates to make curved glass sections, and I love how they look, even though I understand the majority of people hate seeing them.
A bit of detailing on the front panel might help it flow even better with the rest.
The main doors...they somehow feel a bit out of place, compared to the ultra clean design of the rest of the side of the bus. Probably not much can be done, as they need to have some rigidity and functionality.

I might have missed...will the bus have any decals?

 

Thank you!

The front panel was actually quite difficult to make as there is a "cutout" in the backside of it to not interfere with the bevel gear for the front door panel. The doors are made with Technic elements and are in Metallic Silver (like the "stainless steel" side panels) and the Metallic Silver palette is quite limited (there's unfortunately still a LBG piece here and there). Still I'd rather have most of it in Metallic Silver than have all "stainless steel" parts be LBG.

And yes, the bus will have decals! It will be in New Jersey Transit livery (like my New Flyer XD60 Articulated Bus model). The NJT order of new MCI D4500CT cruisers are part of a six-year contract, and I'm thinking of making my model one of the 2021's as the 2021 order (year five) was by far the largest. More info about the order here.

Edited November 20, 2023 by JLiu15

[JLiu15]

UPDATE 12/9/23

I made quite a bit of progress on the physical model. All silverside panels are in place, along with the front body panel. The roof support frame has also been modified with attachment points for the side body panels. It has also been extended forward for the front destination sign attachment. I added a new function - the destination signs can now be easily changed (the front sign is removed by pushing an axle and the side sign simply connects using pins). This way I can have the destination signs display multiple routes (or simply be blank in "off" mode). Note the pins on the top - those will be used to attach the roof which will be made using mainly 5x11 Technic panels. The front and rear bumpers are also in place. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the direction the model's going.

While not the hardest part to build, the silverside panels were a real challenge as there is not a large variety of pieces in metallic silver, especially tiles. I was able to get a large number of them thanks to Pick A Brick, but still they weren't that cheap. It looks like metallic silver is another color where there's color discrepancies - the 1x4 tiles I received has a noticeable shade difference compared to the other metallic silver pieces. Note the "handles" for the luggage compartment doors on the real bus are still missing - I want to use the ingot piece in metallic silver as their shape allows them to stand out in the silverside panels, but they were only used in four 2013 sets and aren't the cheapest.

If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Photos:

[JLiu15]

UPDATE 1/10/23

I made some major progress since the last update - the left side body panel is installed. The front and side destination signs, which are removable, are also installed along with some window pillars. The passenger door is also installed and fully functional.

I also made some major changes to the chassis, which was not easy as it involved taking a lot of the chassis apart. Due to the weight of the model the front suspension was sagging, so I upgraded it to use two shock absorbers per wheel. This involved some major modifications to the chassis directly above the front axle as the previous design only had enough room for one shock absorber per wheel. The drive axle, which previously used the yellow 22-tooth heavy duty differential, was changed back to the red 28-tooth heavy duty differential. I wanted to make sure the Control+ XL motor driving the model had enough torque as this is a very heavy build, so the change from a 14:22 to 12:28 gear reduction gave it a lot more torque; the drive motor doesn't struggle at all even as the model's weight is increasing with body panels being installed.

I'm overall satisfied with the way this build is progressing. The passenger door mechanism works exactly as expected - I had no issues with it jamming and there is minimal backlash in the mechanism. After upgrading the front suspension, the model is handling its weight perfectly and the change back to the 28-tooth differential means the drivetrain has plenty of torque to move the heavy model.

If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Photos:

Left side (with body panel installed)

Right side (passenger door closed)

Right side (passenger door open)

[JLiu15]

UPDATE 1/22/24

The model is about 95% complete, with the roof being the only part I still need to build. The roof will be a simple construction made mostly using Technic 5x11 panels. After a year and a half since I started working on the model in August 2022, the model should be finished this week.

Since the previous update, I have built and installed the right side panel, the rear panel, as well as the front and rear edges of the roof. I was concerned that the right side panel would obstruct the opening of the bi-parting passenger door, but the door opens with no issues. In fact, the bi-parting door is one of my favorite parts about the model - I designed the mechanism with no idea if it would work but not only did it work as intended it never has any issues (e.g. jamming). The rear end was built entirely using SNOT techniques with the rear panel/grille being split into two submodels along with the bottom silverside part. The position of the rear lights and the geometry of the black section could've been better (the wedge pieces I used have a slope that is steeper than how it appears in the real MCI D4500CT) but the result is still recognizable as a post-2007 MCI D-series coach rear (older models had a simple horizontal grille in the rear).

If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know.

Photos:

Right side (passenger door closed)

Right side (passenger door open)

Rear view

Left side (showing the roof that still needs to be built)

Left side

[Jundis]

This is really close to the original, great job!

First I thought the front was too bulky, but it fits the original look! 

[JLiu15]

9 hours ago, Jundis said:

This is really close to the original, great job!

First I thought the front was too bulky, but it fits the original look! 

Thanks!

9 hours ago, Jundis said:

This is really close to the original, great job!

First I thought the front was too bulky, but it fits the original look! 

I also feared the front would look too bulky - the bevel gear driving the front panel of the bi-parting passenger door sticks out to the front quite a bit, and the front end actually has a cutout in it for the gear with only a single plate/tile thickness on the outside. Still I'm satisfied with the end result, especially with working around the gears/linkages for the door.