Hello Folks,
Greetings from India!
I'm relatively new to the forum, came to know about it from a friend a few months back...
I have been making paper models since I was 12 (I'm 19 now). I've repainted quite a lot of Airplane models. My latest repaint being Edwin's 777 in TNT livery. I'm also repainting the paper-trade F-7A in CN colors. I mainly use Inkscape for my repaints.
Never tried my hand at designing models from scratch though. My first model design (I used Fusion 360 and pepakura designer) was the Indian Railways WDM 3D Locomotive class. Although it turned out very pretty, (images attached) it had dimensional inaccuracies. So I'm gonna rework the model. Designing that model was a great learning experience.
Coming to the Beyer Garratt, BNR (Bengal Nagpur Railways) operated these 4-8-0+0-8-4 locomotives from the 1940s-1970s and by the Indian locomotive nomenclature, these beauties were named the 'N' class. The 'N' class along with the 'P' and 'NM' class were the largest steam locomotives to ply on indian rails. 16 of these were built by the Beyer & Peacock Company. Locomotive number 815R is displayed at the National Rail Museum here in Delhi.
I plan to go about this model slowly and keep it detailed. Not impossible level details, But detailed enough to look good. I want to keep the model Beginner-friendly.
I've decided that the model should be 1:43 scale so as to keep it consistent with my other designs. (I know people will want 1:48 scale so as to display it on O scale track. However, as many of you may be knowing, we use 5' 6" broad gauge rails here in India. Hence, the 1:48 scale model won't fit. To make it fit on the 1:48 scale track, I'll have to make the model in 1:52 scale which will make it too tiny). Who knows, maybe I'll call 1:43 the Indian O gauge.
I'm currently on the lookout for details. I plan to go to the National Rail Museum and capture a ton of photos. I haven't been able to find drawings of this specific locomotive. If I am unable to locate drawings/dimensions, The Last straw would be to go and manually measure up the actual locomotive with a 30-meter tape measure.
I'm also attaching a few images of the Beyer Garratt here at the NRM to tempt you guys
Best Regards,
Prabal