Dutchiedoughnut

I have a backlog of LDD files to build irl. But my Lego plans gets postponed when I find a great vacation or a plan fot the living room. So little money, such a lot of plans!

Whilst I appreciate play factors... I never use them myself. I guess my models are more to the realistic than play, but they lack the detail of other MOCs. I dont mind. I dont like models that are really busy. So I build my models quite clean and simple and I try to make them look like the originals.

Hmmm jup. The cars are 48 studs long. Or 3 straights which are 16 studs each. The trich for the big ben XL drivers is the 7-wide width at the footplate. There is more than enough room for the flanges between het footplate and the boiler. I've kept the sides straight... there are many lego models with rounded bottoms, but they look more like mk2's to me. I'll look into building more details on the doors though.

Is there room in the chorus? This is just amazing :D. (oh, and kudos to your daughter. I can't make more than two unique minifigs ;) )

Well. In theory it might work, but things go bad when the two battery boxes don't drain evenly. I think the IR receiver will limit your output power. So why not use two IR receivers and have two independant systems?

Looks nice - although I question the engineering a little bit. In a bridge of the bridge will be in tension (it'll get pulled apart) and the top is in compression. It'll be very helpful if the girder extends to the bridge head, or if there is a diagonal connecting to the bridge head. You will notice all girder bridges have this.

It looks great! Certainly reminds me of German train stations and the vending and ticket machine are wonderful :)

What is a SPMD? Google can't make much of it.

Back to topic maybe? A creator line HST may be unlikely after the Horizon Express... but it would be fitting as Intercity 125 entered into service in 1976. It is also an iconic train and might be a very nice kandidate.

Maybe the space shuttle in the new space port has a suitable nose?

Hi! You've picked a challenging model I think! The first thing I would do is answer some important questions: 1. Is the model going to be powered? And if it is, how? 2. How wide do you want to make the model? LEGO's own models are base on 6 wide base plates. Wider models can have more detail and sometimes, specific shapes can't be managed in 6 wide. 3. How long will the model be? If you know this, you can choose the correct wheels for the engine and where to put them. 4. What do you think are the most important features of the model? You won't be able to model everything in the model, and it's a good idea to focus on the important features that make the BR 4-4-0 instantly recognisable. What do you think those are? If it were me... I would be looking into an 8-wide model either with Emerald Night wheels or Big Ben's XL drivers. I think the panelling that covers the big wheels is important on this model, and it will be very difficult to make those look good in a smaller width.

Given the function of the ship, and the reference to Spaceballs, I fully expected a syringe-shaped ship :D!

Be careful not to pick up too many 1x2s, or you'll have to build another one! ;) It looks great!

Well. Money is still tight, so I can't brick build my models yet so I thought I would just go ahead and LDD another engine. The basic layout is complete, and I'd like to see you try and guess. If you nail it straight away I'm doing good! Helpful hints: The main drive wheels will be XL drivers.

The 4mt also has 4 axles on its tender :). I'll do something similar to that setup.

I cheated and painted it black. It'll be a bit more noticable in grey. Also, the IR receiver is blue at the moment. For the best traction, the batteries and the XL motor should be right above the driven wheels (with next to no weight on the leading and trailing wheels).

Ah, all right :). I will still prefer the XL motor setup, it's a bit more compact and it allows me to make fully cylindrical boiler, compared to the 4mt boiler which is cut open in the bottom to place the M motor. I like how the front is right now, I still have to do the rear truck and the cab interior (working around that XL motor!). And then the other 10.000 things.

Cool, guessed it on the first try (and the second) :). I'm modeling it directly after Tornado :D. I wanted to do a model in blue, I love how colorful the British steam trains were. My Tornado will be powered by an XL motor squeezed into the model. The motor takes the place of the firebox because it's too wide to fit in the boiler. The other option would be twin M motors, but that would potentially overload the IR receiver.

Hi everyone, With the 4mt class waiting to be built in actual bricks, I decided to build a coal stage so that its tender is kept full. I also plan to build an engine shed and water tower - first in LDD and later in actual bricks. Anyway, the coal stage is loosely based on that at Grosmont in the UK. A lot of coal stages are built along uneven tracks - the upper track would be used for supplying the coal stored in the bunker, and the lower track is used to refuel the locomotives with coal. That setup wont work on the layout I have in mind, I want to have a flat layout. The coal stage in Grosmont is an actual tower over a single track. A coal bunker is above the track and it has a bucket travelling along a rail to lift the coal up into the bunker. My Lego version doesn't have a bucket and rail, but uses a crane instead. I hope the crane is correct to the 1960's, I tried to model it that way. The bucket of the crane isn't included in the model yet. The coal bunker can be unloaded onto a waiting locomotive. Two hatches can be opened to dump "coal" into the tender. Here is one of the 4mt's under the coal stage:

I know right! I am thinking about doing some non-lego stuff here like build the platform out of model railway materials. Just to save on parts.

Well in that case, watch this space ;). My goal is to end up with a heritage site as a Lego railway. I'm currently working out how to do a V-shaped platform in Lego that looks good. I have space on my layout for a pretty big station, it'll be one of the main features. The other one will be the museum styled yard with at least a turntable and an engine shed. Hey, I like to be ambitious! Sadly my wallet is preventing me from buying a million bricks ;). Here is the start of my platform:

The front wheels are difficult, especially with the pistons. I've got a double ball joint in my design and the lower part of the pistons is part of the bogie. In any case, you'll want to look for a very low solution

I would love to build it! I am setting up my layout to determine where everything will go

Looks good! Is it motorized? If the couplings stick out too much, you could enlarge the wheelbase I think.

A while ago I was working on an early design for a class 4mt 2-6-4 tank engine. Such a design is difficult, because all of the PF elements have to be concealed in a very small container. I am rethinking a class 4mt, this time starting from the Lego PF components and building the engine around it. I started from the drive train used in the class 08 shunter. Clearly, there are no details added and it is only a rough start. The whole drive train is there though - battery box, IR receiver and M motor. The battery box is hidden inside the boiler, while the M motor is clearly shown where the firebox would be, roughly. The M motor can be rotated 180 degrees to sit inside the cab to create a lower profile locomotive. The boiler itself is 6 wide and the design should lend itself to 6, 7 or 8 wide designs depending on details. I will most likely go with 7 wide to match it to my class 08. This model is likely to be a class 4, 2-6-0 with tender, but all PF is going to be inside the engine.