Currently WIP, In Digital Design Phase!!
Although I’m an American, I have always absolutely loved small British engines and have a lot of fun building them. One of the engines on my list to design and build was a British diesel, the BR-08.
(Not my Image)
Although diesels aren’t generally as appealing to me, the BR-08 is an engine I couldn’t really resist. Though small, stubby, and boxy, it has an iconic look to it and the drive rods help add that visible motive flair that so intrigues me. And as far as my LEGO railway goes, having a small nimble shunter that would be able to fit all the LEGO Power Functions elements was a definite draw.
This engine has been in my design phase on and off since probably October 2012, and I keep tweaking it sporadically. This WIP post will continue to be expanded as I go, and after having 2 steamers cut in line the BR-08 is finally my next engine to build “In the brick”.
This image was made using LDDtoPOVray converter, letting me make a higher quality rendering of my Lego Digital Designer model. This was my first version of the BR-08, and it has been changed somewhat significantly. Sadly, there is no good way to get the drive rods on the wheels as slim as the real engine without modifying some parts, but I do intend to build this engine with some of Benn Coifman’s custom drive rods. In the end, I was unsatisfied with this version for the lack of real texture or detail on the sides. The real engine has several maintenance hatches along the front, and in trying to put those in I came to the conclusion that as designed here, the engine was simply too stubby. It was an OK start, but it needed to be stepped up a couple notches.
This was the next version to roll out of the works, 2 studs longer and with the access panels. Definitely a step in the right direction, but the parts used for the access panels turned out to not exist in black, and furthermore, the arrangement still did not satisfy. A majority of the engine was redesigned, including the front grill and the sides. As and added bonus (And sadly, not super visible here), I managed to fit on the last of the outer triangle frames thanks to the added length.
I have not yet made a high-quality render of this version, however, the access panels are finally acceptable to me and fully viable. The technic spoke wheels visible here will be replaced with BigBenBrick’s Medium Drivers, and the engine manages to fit all the required Power Functions elements, with the motive power provided by an M-Motor. I may change out the ladders/steps on the front and rear to be a little more uniform and slim, but the overall design looks good and I’m excited to work with the eventual final model and see it in motion.