Duq

Just before Brick 2015 in London I finished my new passenger carriages. I'd been wanting to build these for a long time and now I finally have some fitting carriages to go with my BR 55 and other steam engines. The official type is 4yg but they're better known as 'Umbau' or 'Conversion' carriages. They were built in the 1950's using old chassis' with newly built bodies. This one is the B4yg, the 2nd class car. I've also built a 1st/2nd class (AB4yg) and a second class with baggage department (BD4yg). Umbau B4yg by Duq, on Flickr After seeing the beautiful brick-built bogies at PennLug and TBRR I decided I needed to build my own bogies for these new cars. Because of the fact they were partly built from existing stock and because they were built in various workshops a number of different bogie types were used for them. I've chosen the Minden-Deutz MD-36 bogies: Minden Deutz MD 36 bogie by Duq, on Flickr I've paid a lot of attention to getting the wagon ends as realistic as possible. For a start that meant round gangway connectors. The new Technic 'pin with pin hole' helped a lot with getting those right. The buffers on these cars are fairly exposed which I modeled with the old single buffer element combined with a telescope. For the door handles I went to the dark side and cut a handful of bucket handles in half. There was just no other way... Finally the windows. The pattern of part 3245apb01 was what I needed. Unfortunately that part was only used in one set in 1975 and is therefore kinda hard to get. Nevermind if you're looking for 50 of them. Luckily I know someone who can print on bricks so he printed this pattern on 1x2x2 clear panels. I haven't taken proper photo's myself yet but Thomas Cogley took this nice picture at Brick 2015: DSC_5322 by Thomas Cogley, on Flickr

I've just come back to rendering with Pov Ray and here's my first result: Umbau 4yg at sunset by Duq, on Flickr It's not the worst but as you can see, the bogies and undercarriage are just black blobs with no definition. The light settings here are based on Sjaacko's tutorial. I've been playing with other light setups based on HoMa's comments but I keep ending up with that black area. Any suggestions on improving the light conditions so you can actually see individual parts in the black area? Thanks!

I can explain that bit. Let's start with the variables that LDView puts in the pov file. LDXCenter is the middle of your model; < (Xmax + Xmin)/2, (Ymax + Ymin)/2, (Zmax + Zmin)/2 >. LDXRadius. Looking at the values in my model I'm guessing it's the radius of the smallest sphere you could draw around the entire model. So how are these variables used to position a light? light_source { // Latitude,Longitude: 45,0,LDXRadius*2 <0*LDXRadius,-1.414214*LDXRadius,-1.414214*LDXRadius> + LDXCenter The comment explains what's happening in the next line; it's defining a light source at latitude 45, longitude 0, and distance 2xLDXRadius from LDXCenter. Latitude is how high above the horizon you are, longitude is how far from North you are, with North in PovRay apparently defined as the negative z-axis. Light source starts with a position for the light. <0*LDXRadius,-1.414214*LDXRadius,-1.414214*LDXRadius> + LDXCenter is simply a location in x, y z with: x = 0 * 2 * LDXRadius y = -0.707107 * 2 * LDXRadius z = -0.707107 * 2 * LDXRadius. You may remember your Sin and Cos from trigonometry? At 45 degrees both Sin and Cos are sqrt(2)/2 or 0.707107. So this light source sits above the z-axis (x=0), at a 45 degree angle from the middle of the model, and twice as far from the middle as the furthest point of the model. Does that make sense?

As far as I can see the wheels you are using there are the #17.6 wheels, the same as the Lego train wheels: [https://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=55423c01#T=C] There is no blind version of this wheel. BBB wheels don't exist in LDD but they are available in LDraw. If you draw your drivetrain in LDraw and put it on a curved piece of track that will give you an idea about how it will run (look at how and where all the wheels are touching the rails) but nothing beats hands on testing.

My experience with train shows in quite different but my models are also different. My layouts are absolutely hands-off for the little one because the models are just too fragile. The kids still love our layouts, even if they can't touch them. We tend to win the public vote every time... And the organisers love having us because we bring in families. You probably noticed that the model train hobby for 99% consists of men over 55. What works for you is up to you. If you want to focus on entertaining kids (and yes, I know how draining that can be) then the more loops, twists and trains the better. If you want to go for displaying models then I'd suggest reducing your table space by half; go for quality over quantity. Over time your collection of buildings and landscape sections will grow. This was one of the first train shows I took part in. The layout was built by 6 guys I think. My contribution was the train shed in front of me and two or three trains: (http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=240179) Fast forward nearly 10 years and this was the display I had at Brick 2015 in London, all of it mine (me and mrs. Duq that is): Brick 2015 - Overview by Duq, on Flickr It helps to not be on your own. It helps in the size and variety of your layout, and it helps you take breaks and get through a show weekend without needing a holiday afterwards ;-)

4W wouldn't be so bad if that was an excuse to finally make straight (flat!) 4W track pieces to go with those 4W curves...

For what it's worth, yes, we should. Although for some projects it's already too late. These could do with a push: Swiss Electric Crocodile Locomotive (SBB CE 6/8) Vintage Tram DB Class 103 Ten Wheeler

You can also find some instructions on Railbricks: http://railbricks.com/instructions/ But the most rewarding is to build your own or reverse engineer a model from pictures.

I agree with the others, this is looking pretty good. The only alternative I could think of to get rid of the rounded ends of the Technic plates would be to put 1x6 tiles either side of the window. That would leave a 1/4 plate gap between your door and the windows. Just put it into MLCad to show you what I mean: 3 Wide Door Idea by Duq, on Flickr

Can you show us a picture of your carriage? Depending on the rest of the shape there may be several solutions.

It's usually not a good idea for your first post to ask people to do stuff for you... From your post it's not clear what you want. Do you want someone to collect the parts and build one of Tony Sava's engines for you? Or are you looking for a designed from scratch MOC of those engines? Either way, if anyone is nuts enough to do it for you I hope you've got deep pockets. You're looking at $100+ in parts, even for a small model. Add to that Bricklink shipping costs. Add to that packaging and shipping of the completed model to you. Add to that labour... My advice would be: First show us what you've got; you say you have two train MOCs. Next show us how far you've got with your next MOC and explain where you're stuck. That way you're far more likely to get some helpful hints and tips. In the long run you'll probably get more fun out of building your own than from buying someone else's model.

Yup, absolutely correct: http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=41531#T=C

For my BR70 I needed a narrow boiler, only 4 studs wide. The obvious choice at that size is macaronis but I still needed to attach sand boxes and stuff at the top. After trying a number of options I ended up putting tiles around core made of wheels. The tiles are just held in place with (original Lego) rubber bands. BR70 three quarters by Duq, on Flickr

Never heard them called rare earth magnets. They're known as Neodymium and info really isn't that hard to find: http://bfy.tw/3e4u

This smells like teen spirit new year's resolutions... and I'm pretty bad with those ;-) Anyway, already underway is a German diesel shunter and a building to go with my station to replace the modular sets at shows. I had a basic maintenance yard with me in London and that will should get extended. Then I've plans for some freight cars, an electric loco, another steam engine, a rebuild of the BR65...

That's a really nice engine. I love brick-built logo's when possible. And as has been mentioned before, your presentation is awesome!

You said you want to build a steam train MOC. While you can learn from building the Emerald Night in a different colour I wouldn't go mad on buying parts. Buying a City train set will give you a lot of useful train parts like wheel sets and couplers so that would be a good start. After that the best advice I can give you is to start small. Do a search for Holger Mathes' BR 080 for example or have a look at my own BR 70. The BR 70 does not have a motor, it's pushed by a carriage with a standard train motor (like you'll get in that City set) but it does have working drive gear. Once you get a feel for how a Lego steam engine works you can go for something bigger. Good luck and enjoy the journey!

That's a little beauty! I had missed this thread initially, only found it after I saw the post about your passenger cars. This scale allows a lot more detailing and you certainly have an eye for it. I'm looking forward to new models from your hand. Oh, and you're right, you're not the only one building big Lego trains: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bricksonwheels/14942063251/in/dateposted/ ;-)

They are beautiful cars! You can do so much more when you go a little bigger... How did you do the stickers? Are they transparent or a very good match of the dark green?

The Lone Ranger train was actually a pretty good set. It didn't sell well because the movie tanked and because it was a bit expensive because of the license. If the next train is another American steam engine I'll probably buy it if it's a decent design and/or decent parts pack, even if until recently I had no idea what the golden spike meant. Ithink most people in Europe wouldn't know about the golden spike.

I loved the early days of Creator, in particular 2003-2005 with sets like 4404 and 4883. That period ended when Lego gave in to complaining parents of lazy children. "Little Johnny can't build the model on the back of the box because you haven't included step by step instructions". I remember enjoying hours of figuring out how to build the extra models from just one or two pictures. I also remember when the instructions for a 400-piece Technic set only took 20 steps. Ok, grandad, that's enough now...

I think the design of the HE was pretty good. All Lego trains are too short. The Maersk engine is only 75% of scale length for its height (or it's 30% too tall for its length). @Zephyr: interesting observation about the colours. I'd love a dark red or dark blue train, as long as Lego can manage to get all the parts in the same shade of that colour... I don't agree with your point about the Creator Expert designation. Creator is a theme for models that don't share a scale or theme. Creator 3 in 1 is just one of its sub-themes, Expert is another.

Err... thanks, but that's not my design I'm afraid. The Ideas project I showed was designed by James Mathis.

I loved the Horizon Express and have 2. That EMD to me looks like just another 'merican diesel and wouldn't get me excited at all. I guess that's a problem for Lego trains; a Ferrari has fairly universal appeal but Yurpians and 'mericans don't seem to like eachothers trains much. I would love to see a red and black German steam engine but I doubt that would sell well in the US.

I just googled around a bit and found it surprisingly hard to find any conclusive figures which is an answer in itself I guess... The minimum radius varies, depending on the type of railway and the location/country. Street track (trams) has very tight turns dictated by the requirement to fit in cities. As a result speeds are low and cars are short. High speed trains have extremely wide curves because their prime requirement is speed. Other examples of tight turns are mountain railways and industrial lines. So just pick your subject wisely and you'll be fine ;-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_railway_curve_radius