Owen Meschter
Lego GWR 4575 2-6-2T Light Prairie
Well, here she is, finished in all her glory. Officially the second GWR model added to my growing locomotive fleet, this has to be by far the most detailed and customized model I've built yet.
This locomotive is indeed based off a real preserved locomotive in case anyone was wondering. The class itself was built from 1927-1929, and was a slightly improved design of the 4500's designed by Churchward. 100 were built, and 11 survive. This one, number 5542, is one of those 11 preserved.
The model itself is very customized, detailed, and in a few areas, there are some unavoidable flaws. One such flaw is some of the proportions. The cab roof for example is not arched enough. Even though I managed to make a very nice design which matched the curvature, I couldn't use it for it made the cab too high. I'm afraid there's not much to that I can change without creating another problem, and it's just something I'll have to deal with when it comes to the limitations of lego.
The loco has a motor and receiver in the rear, but it requires a battery car to run. I'm currently making some prototype designs for one, tampering with ideas such as GWR horse boxes and short passenger vans. This method does however leave a dangling wire at the rear, but it doesn't bother me too much, and won't when it's attached to a train.
There was a lot of painting and modification involved in this model as well. While some may see these techniques as "building on the dark side", I call it "It's my bloody model and no one can stop me!" Some parts where painted out of necessity, others were painted simply because I didn't want to have to order anything from Bricklink. Lots of decals where added as well, including me spending 8 hours meticulously making rivet detail, inspired by Carl Greatrix's GWR Large Prairie model here:
www.flickr.com/photos/bricktrix/13516178613/in/album-7215...
All that being said, I hope you enjoy this model! I've got more locomotives planned, and as of right now I a currently looking at a GWR 57XX Pannier. Perhaps I'll be inspired to grow the fleet of GWR locos even further if I build that! I certainly have lots of them I would like to build at some point...
Lego GWR 4575 2-6-2T Light Prairie
Well, here she is, finished in all her glory. Officially the second GWR model added to my growing locomotive fleet, this has to be by far the most detailed and customized model I've built yet.
This locomotive is indeed based off a real preserved locomotive in case anyone was wondering. The class itself was built from 1927-1929, and was a slightly improved design of the 4500's designed by Churchward. 100 were built, and 11 survive. This one, number 5542, is one of those 11 preserved.
The model itself is very customized, detailed, and in a few areas, there are some unavoidable flaws. One such flaw is some of the proportions. The cab roof for example is not arched enough. Even though I managed to make a very nice design which matched the curvature, I couldn't use it for it made the cab too high. I'm afraid there's not much to that I can change without creating another problem, and it's just something I'll have to deal with when it comes to the limitations of lego.
The loco has a motor and receiver in the rear, but it requires a battery car to run. I'm currently making some prototype designs for one, tampering with ideas such as GWR horse boxes and short passenger vans. This method does however leave a dangling wire at the rear, but it doesn't bother me too much, and won't when it's attached to a train.
There was a lot of painting and modification involved in this model as well. While some may see these techniques as "building on the dark side", I call it "It's my bloody model and no one can stop me!" Some parts where painted out of necessity, others were painted simply because I didn't want to have to order anything from Bricklink. Lots of decals where added as well, including me spending 8 hours meticulously making rivet detail, inspired by Carl Greatrix's GWR Large Prairie model here:
www.flickr.com/photos/bricktrix/13516178613/in/album-7215...
All that being said, I hope you enjoy this model! I've got more locomotives planned, and as of right now I a currently looking at a GWR 57XX Pannier. Perhaps I'll be inspired to grow the fleet of GWR locos even further if I build that! I certainly have lots of them I would like to build at some point...