Class 73

[MallardFan]

Hi, I started building a class 73 Locomotive in Google SketchUp. Coming along nicely I think, but I have no clue how to do the bogies and the train connectors

I have a nice set of plans via the book "The Electro-diesels: An Illustrated History of Classes 73 and 74" (An Excellent book by the way)

I have three different sub classes, the class 73/1, and two 73/2, one with headlight.

http://i43.tinypic.com/68hemq.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/5casxv.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/35c1jer.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/v7y5ir.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/dbmvps.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/i44ffc.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/1y8ohv.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/ravrb8.jpg

[jp4712]

Lovely pics, but I've converted them from images to links as the largest size allowed here is 800 pixels in width.

Excellent work, please kep it up and let us know how you're getting on!

Paul

[yerkes]

Agreed, this looks very promising.

[MallardFan]

Thanks, and I will make sure all the pics are smaller in future.

Some updates from tonight:







Some basic Windscreen wipers have been made, and a attempt at the bogie has been made, looks OK, but it looks empty (its not finished, but I can't quite see how to make it look less empty).

Couple of questions for the future, so to speak, is it possible to make the route indication numbers on the front scroll round like the destination boards on the Class 156, or would it have to be like the 4CIG version? Also do you have to create texture maps for RW?

[charlie99]

Looks really good and a great start. Do watch out with the 3D springs though, as Derek said somewhere they take up a lot of polys which can have a real hit on frame rates. Sketchup is also particularly bad at creating excess polys in cylinders. In my sketchup models I always just used textured cylinders on bogies.

[MallardFan]

Ahh thats a good point - thanks for the advice

Is there a guideline for a reasonable amount of polys?

[charlie99]

I heard around 20,000 is advised, but it's easily possible to go up towards 40,000. Texture sizes also seriously affect frame rates.

[MallardFan]

Ahh... Thats... not so good

With the Springs its 143,000... :/
Without its 78,353

So yeah removing the springs is a good idea but still a lot over... I assume for RW polys are triangles as I get the triangle count from Kerykythea

[Kariban]

No, they're for polys. I'd probably not go over 60k total for an engine though.

[MallardFan]

Ahh OK Thanks

I think the main poly-heavy bits now are the roof and the front brake pipes, neither of which can easily be replaced

Anyway other then some optimisation, I have worked on the cab today:



Main Driving Position:



Alternative Driving Position:



The Main Power Handle. The Diesel Engine is controlled by the bottom, whilst the electric is controlled by the top (The two controllers are separate components in SU)



Drivers View (If... slightly low seat):

[gavo01]

Excellent work so far.

[dp123]

Just a quick point, the diesel engine is controlled by the bottom power handle when working with another blue star compatible loco. When running on it's own, or with another 73 (or 33/1 I believe), the top handle can be used on diesel or electric.

I've always thought if RW could handle electro-diesels, the 73 would be a nightmare to script, it's a very complex loco when it comes to power control.

[MallardFan]

Just a quick point, the diesel engine is controlled by the bottom power handle when working with another blue star compatible loco. When running on it's own, or with another 73 (or 33/1 I believe), the top handle can be used on diesel or electric.

I've always thought if RW could handle electro-diesels, the 73 would be a nightmare to script, it's a very complex loco when it comes to power control.

Ahh OK thanks, I was just going by what it said in the book:

With the Class 73 being dual-powered locomotives, operational under both diesel and electric conditions, the cab layout is somewhat unorthodox, in having two controllers at each driving position. However only one is, and can be, used at the same time. The upper handle, with a round grip, is used for electric operation, while the lower handle, which hbas a square grip, is used for diesel or auxillary power operation

From "The Electro-diesels: An Illustrated History of Classes 73 and 74" by Colin J. Marsden.

Ooh... scripting... That will be interesting - never done that before. Modelling yes, texturing, a bit, but no scripting lol

OK, trying to work out the cab desk, I thought I had done it but then as I was making the controls (Specifically looking at the brake), I noticed some errors, not things look less good :/

Here is the old cab "desk":





Now the problem here lies in its height - the top of the desk at the side should be just under the side window, but as you can see, it is not quite the case and the gap is quite significant. So I tried changing it around to remove this gap:



However, now, to my eyes, the area where the speedo and other gauges are doesn't look steep enough and a little short, if you compare to this pic I have found

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rpmarks/33 ... otostream/

Any ideas?

*Ignore the buttons that appear to be floating in mid air, as they are just waiting to be put back on properly

[dp123]

The book is slightly inaccurate; when running on auxiliary power (which is diesel power controlled via the Southern Region control system) or electric, the upper power handle is used. The lower handle is used when running on diesel through the Blue Star control system, to enable control of a second Blue Star compatible locomotive. The 73 essentially has two control systems for flexibility. I've seen both types being used at work when running 73's in push-pull configuration; one with a 73/31 combo (lower handle), and a more usual 2 x 73 combo (upper handle).

The upper handle will control diesel power when running solo, with another 73 or with a 33/1. The lower will control diesel power almost like a "compatibility mode" to ensure the loco can work in multiple with any other Blue Star engine.

Enough technical jibber jabber - I'm impressed with the model so far. Is the secondmans side power handle a placeholder copy currently, it should point towards the right hand side of the cab? And will you be doing an electric version and a diesel version, as RW can't really handle ED simulation currently?

[MallardFan]

The book is slightly inaccurate; when running on auxiliary power (which is diesel power controlled via the Southern Region control system) or electric, the upper power handle is used. The lower handle is used when running on diesel through the Blue Star control system, to enable control of a second Blue Star compatible locomotive. The 73 essentially has two control systems for flexibility. I've seen both types being used at work when running 73's in push-pull configuration; one with a 73/31 combo (lower handle), and a more usual 2 x 73 combo (upper handle).

The upper handle will control diesel power when running solo, with another 73 or with a 33/1. The lower will control diesel power almost like a "compatibility mode" to ensure the loco can work in multiple with any other Blue Star engine.

Enough technical jibber jabber - I'm impressed with the model so far. Is the secondmans side power handle a placeholder copy currently, it should point towards the right hand side of the cab? And will you be doing an electric version and a diesel version, as RW can't really handle ED simulation currently?

Ahh thanks for the info then

Yes, at the moment the power controller is the same one, just noticed it should be the other way around but should be pretty easy to fix.

Haven't worked out yet about the power situation*, but most likely will be a diesel version and a electric version.

*To be fair I haven't a clue where to start but one thing at a time lol