# OcCre BR 18 Bavarian Dream [G scale building project]



## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

I'm building the *BR 18 Bavarian Dream* from the Spanish model manufacturer OcCre. I'd like to share this project with you train fans.

Lovely machines! The BR 18 was a Bavarian locomotive, built during the 1908 - 1931 time period. It was not only the biggest machine ever made for its German manufacturer, but it is also being considered as the most beautiful German locomotive.

Some of them are still active! Check out this loc from 1918.

Scale 1:32 / G-45
Height: 153 mm
Width: 100 mm
Length: 720 mm
Wood / metal

With a length of 720 mm it's a very big model! Usually this scale is used in the garden where some hobbyists have laid rails.
I'll make a wooden stand covered with small stones and a rail track. The locomotive's wheels will not touch the rails but this have its wheels rotating by a built-in motor. Besides I'll also make a rail track so I can watch the locomotive move.

I'll also extensively make use of Arduino. This is a name for various cheap electronic boards. A computer board can be programmed by connecting it with a usb cable to the pc.A motor shield can be attached and programmed to make wheels rotate for example.I'll also add a bluetooth shield so I can control it with my phone.

I'm gonna implement the JGY-370 DC 12 V motor, a Massoth 8310101 smoke unit 5 V, LED lights and sound.

Used paint will be acryl, wood glue from Mantua, super glue / epoxy from Bison.
Here are all photos of my progress:









































































Chassis with a 12 V DC motor attached:




























This is what the running gear should look like:










This is what it looks when attaching connections rods on one side:






Oops!







That's didn't quite work. What we're missing here is that steam locomotive drivers are quartered. The crank pins are set 90 degrees apart.
This means that the crank pins on the left side of the locomotive are turning upwards and on the right side of the locomotive offset by 90°(a quarter).

This works for real locomotives as well. Let's bring it into practice:






That's better.

Enough to do! I'll keep you informed.


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

Wow, now that's a project!


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Nice workmanship. That is quite a project.


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## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

That looks like fun. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the build. You're doing a wonderful job on it.


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## VilledeGrace (Sep 6, 2021)

Beautiful. Cant wait to see the finished product.


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

Thank you! I'll soon post more pics of my progress.

Check this real-life BR 18 beauty:










Testing the Massoth smoke unit:


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

Using steam power and making those loc beauties is really an extraordinary milestone in history.

*Update*
More work on the cabin. The interior is painted white.
I didn't buy white acrylic paint as I have white enamel from a previous project.
White paint + enamel is really slow though...

Cabin's roofing:



Wooden base + metal sheets as usual:





Priming + wooden floor:







Varnished:



Now working on the boiler's back end where the stoker is doing it. The cabin of a real BR 18 looks like:



















Result so far:



It's not the final result so I'll leave you in suspense for now!

Any Train Simulator fans here? They have a BR 18 dlc where you can drive the actual locomotive!




More to come next time.


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

*Update*

Moving gear is now fully assembled. I really like the moving parts. It creates that kind of magic effect. Now also imagine smoke covering the locomotive on a cold winter morning. Isn't that wonderful?





 

Work on the cabin is also completed now:









Installed cabin light:





I've filled the gap between beams and roofing at this point:







Time to combine all parts (boiler, chassis and cabin) now!


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Very nice work.


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

Thank you!

*Update*
I have a few days off so I can continue working on the loc. I've finally assembled all parts of the locomotive:










Cabin... look at those ladders! There are also some doors which I'll put into place later.



















Small parts to be attached to the loc. It's still bare now.










Yay! It's gonna look like a real loc:




























I've soldered an electric plug which will be connected with the tender later. All electrics and batteries are in the tender.



















Took me some time to solder all electronics. But the result is statisfying. The loc has lights now:










Drilled some holes for pipes to be attached:




























Painted and glued into place:









There're alot of pipes to be attached so that's what I am working on now.

Till next time!


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

Thank you all for the likes!

*Update*

The locomotive is done!! No parts anymore to assemble. Still needs a varnish coat though. Think I'll go for satin and brush gloss for some parts.
I've also redone the name plate parts using a proper dry brushing technique this time.

Right side:



Left side:

















Time to use my smoke generating stuff:





















Live action:






Now it's time to build the tender and connect all electronics together. I've ordered rail tracks already so soon we'll see it moving!

Till next time! I'll keep updating this topic.


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

*Update*
So far I have been working on the tender. The tender not only contains coal to fuel the fire, but also water - a lot.
Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water. It is pumped into the boiler by steam pressure.

We start with wood again:



Attach brass sheets to it:



A toggle switch is incorporated in the design to turn on / off electronics (both wires should be black or red actually, small error):





I've cut some of the wood to make room for the batteries and electronic boards. I still need to access the inner room though, that's why I have removeable wooden boards.









Rail tracks are delivered:



I've tested the locomotive and it runs fine on straight pieces, but it doesn't make it through the curve. The three major big wheels are fixed and all inline. They don't pivot. So they get easily stuck at the curve. A little bit research on this topic reveals how ingenious the design of train wheels is. When looking at train wheels they look cylindrical at first glance. But in fact they are semi-conical. 
This is how it looks when trains take a curve:










This footage is even more insighful: 







So a minor setback so far. I tried to make the curve less tight using this technique:






The locomotive can get through now, but the diameter required is huge! I think I'll make the curves myself using wood and continue experimenting. Maybe 
Any ideas are welcome.


See you next time!


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

Thank you, NoelSmith. I really like how the result is now. And indeed besides locomotives, OcCre has also some cool passenger coaches, trams and ships on their website.
Hey, the Flying Scotsman is overrated. This beauty from the German railways is much cooler!

*Update*
So far I am continuing work on the tender. This is how it looks before applying primer:







Toggle switch:





Now I had to add the coal. This is represented as little stones which are glued into place with white carpenter's glue. Really funny job to do.





I still need access to the inner part to put all electronics in so the wooden board with stones are removeable. Its weight holds it into place.



The coal is less shiny in reality than shown on the photos:





Bogies for the tender:


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

*Part 2*



I had to be creative to get the steps perpendicular glued on the ladder:



But hey I'll keep the result of this for next time.


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

Indeed! These heavy beasts are incredible sights.

*Update*
The tender is done now. Look at these lovely ladders! Gosh these rivets are so cool.









It's also time to put in the electronics and to program it. Here's the full circuit diagram. 
Basically there are batteries powering the motor with 9.6 V. The Arduino microcontroller and other devices run on 5 V though, that's where the buck converter comes in. 
The bluetooth receives a signal from the phone and sends it to the microcontroller. From there the internal code will turn the LEDs on for example.



Here's the spaghetti:



More spaghetti:



Spaghetti bolognese!



Next thing is to make a permanent stand and curved rail tracks from wood for temporary riding.


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

*Update*
I bought a beautiful oak panel. Really nice wood! Got some help with creating a decorative edge with a router.



Adding aquarium gravel to simulate rail ballast.



The result is a gorgeous locomotive model on a stand.

























The coolest part is yet to come. This is not a stationary model. Imagine the chuf chuf and smoke! But hey that's for later. Plus I need to solve some annoying problems regarding the running gear







.


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## Quintillius (Sep 5, 2021)

First of all: Happy New Year everyone!! 

*Update*
Got head-scratching problems making the locomotive actually run. My first thought was that it isn't properly quartered. As I have told before, locomotives need to be quartered in order to run. But the quartering looks fine to the eye. There was still a wheel which didn't do the job properly. If the quartering isn't the problem, maybe the connecting rod? 

I replaced it by a brass wire of the same length. When running the locomotive it became dent as you can see on the photo below. Then it was running fine. 
So I measured the straight-line length of the brass wire and filed the connecting rod to match it.



Now the locomotive runs fine! Problem solved. 🇹🇭 .
Here you can see it running on a static stand. Putting a block of wood under the locomotive removes contact with the track rails. 






Next project is finishing the wooden track circle. Running short on wood now tough.



Till next time! Almost finished.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Very nice work. I does look like there is still a slight pause in the wheel as they are rotating from something binding in the running gear. That might be the video reproduction though. I get that too sometimes during playback.


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