MOC: UP Challenger, partial W.I.P

[sioka]

Here is a little project that has been gathering dust since Christmas due to lack of funds, most of the hard work is done but some things still need tweaking or being Bricklinked in correct colours. Much thanks to Jayhurst, Wardlws, SavaTheAggie and Shuppiluliumas (names from Flickr) for inspiration, without you folks I would never have had a snowballs chance in a very hot place of even getting started on this. Also my apologies for the bad photography but the weather in England is not the best!

IMG_1632wb by sioka sculpting, on Flickr

IMG_1627wb by sioka sculpting, on Flickr

IMG_1625wb by sioka sculpting, on Flickr

IMG_1623wb by sioka sculpting, on Flickr

IMG_1638wb by sioka sculpting, on Flickr

[Locomotive Annie]

Wow! - what a beautiful steam locomotive. A beautifully proportioned loco, an absolute classic in grey and black.

[Spitfire2865]

This is amazing. I can not fault it in any way. And the contouring on the tender is fantastic.

[Hrw-Amen]

Looks really good, lots of wheels and nice tender. Good to keep the colors simple as well, give it a powerful look. How many motors do you have pulling /pushing it along? I am guessing that there is one in the engine (Under the cockpit.) and possibly another in the tender, is that right?

[sioka]

Thanks Guys and Gal :), this has been quite a monster of a project so it is nice to see something heading toward a finished loco. The Challenger is powered by 4 medium PF motors hidden in the boiler and firebox these provide power to the driving wheels, the wiring is passed under the cab and then out to the IR receiver and battery box hidden in the tender. There have been numerous rebuilds on this MOC to get it to this stage, mostly geared around getting it to negotiate standard Lego track but also for things like making sure the running gear works without binding. The next rebuild will concentrate on getting some of the internal weight down and reducing the brick count. Sadly a lack of funds has kept me from getting some of the final parts needed to complete the build (black triangular flags to replace the dark blue on the front of the cab).

[Werlu Ulcur]

Look at the size of that beast! Awesome!

Did you ever run it on standard track yet?

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Nice work!

Beautiful american steam engine!

[sioka]

Did you ever run it on standard track yet?

It runs fine on standard Lego track and can negotiate points, the standard 8 track 180 turn and even pulls up an incline but does drag and loose speed in the corners somewhat. Just wish Lego made some decent radius corners although the corners with straight track mod from Railbricks sorts this out without making life too difficult, some times I wish that our house was lots bigger so there was room for a decent layout .

[Hey Joe]

Truly awesome!

Is there some sort of primer that exists for building a Lego steam engine? Perhaps one smaller than this. I'd really like to build one but have no idea where to start. I'm not looking for step-by-step instructions.

Joe

[Spitfire2865]

Truly awesome!

Is there some sort of primer that exists for building a Lego steam engine? Perhaps one smaller than this. I'd really like to build one but have no idea where to start. I'm not looking for step-by-step instructions.

Joe

Exactly what do you mean? Like a generic base that can be built on?

[sioka]

Truly awesome!

Is there some sort of primer that exists for building a Lego steam engine? Perhaps one smaller than this. I'd really like to build one but have no idea where to start. I'm not looking for step-by-step instructions.

Joe

Thanks dude! In regards to your question about where to start I would personally say that I am very much a beginner at all this, this steamer is only my third (including TLG Emerald night) my other MOC was a Big boy simply because it had fascinated me since childhood. When starting the project for the Big boy I searched for any and all info I could find for reference both for real and in the brick, Brickshelf, Railbricks and Flickr are amazing resources for this as well as Google. Once the reference material is sorted I found some of the techniques used by other builders by reverse engineering their work (my attempts at this are far from perfect!!) and tried to work out how to get an end result that was faithful to the subject and also ran well on my 9v track. For the most part my Big boy was largely copied from Shuppiluliumas amazing 9v version but I reworked the boiler using curved wedges and made some other deviations from his work, without his hard work my MOC would never have been possible and I would have missed out on some ingenious solutions to the problems faced. Taking the time to do the research enabled me to find numerous MOC's from other builders and learn new methods of building. So in short, 1 find a steamer that makes you want to build, 2 find numerous sources of drawings/info to work from. 3 have a look to see if someone has MOC'd this subject previously and if not find something similar to see how they worked their solution, 4 get building but don't get disheartened when it won't work first go or even on the eleventh go steam takes patience but that is what makes it so rewarding to build, 5 post pictures of your beautiful new steamer for us to see and give some credit to those builders who's techniques you used or who helped with your solution. The steam issue of Railbricks is a great place to start.

[Hey Joe]

Exactly what do you mean? Like a generic base that can be built on?

Well, that's a start! Guess I need a 'Lego Steam Locos for Dummies' book.

Thanks dude! In regards to your question about where to start I would personally say that I am very much a beginner at all this, this steamer is only my third (including TLG Emerald night) my other MOC was a Big boy simply because it had fascinated me since childhood.

When starting the project for the Big boy I searched for any and all info I could find for reference both for real and in the brick, Brickshelf, Railbricks and Flickr are amazing resources for this as well as Google. Once the reference material is sorted I found some of the techniques used by other builders by reverse engineering their work (my attempts at this are far from perfect!!) and tried to work out how to get an end result that was faithful to the subject and also ran well on my 9v track. For the most part my Big boy was largely copied from Shuppiluliumas amazing 9v version but I reworked the boiler using curved wedges and made some other deviations from his work, without his hard work my MOC would never have been possible and I would have missed out on some ingenious solutions to the problems faced. Taking the time to do the research enabled me to find numerous MOC's from other builders and learn new methods of building.

So in short, 1 find a steamer that makes you want to build, 2 find numerous sources of drawings/info to work from. 3 have a look to see if someone has MOC'd this subject previously and if not find something similar to see how they worked their solution, 4 get building but don't get disheartened when it won't work first go or even on the eleventh go steam takes patience but that is what makes it so rewarding to build, 5 post pictures of your beautiful new steamer for us to see and give some credit to those builders who's techniques you used or who helped with your solution. The steam issue of Railbricks is a great place to start.

Many thanks for the long reply. Let me digest this and I'll probably start another thread in the future when (not if) I get stuck!

Joe

Edited May 10, 2013 by bjtpro

[zephyr1934]

This loco is a fantastic build, all sorts of great details abound.