EMD SD45 - Union Pacific
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Thanks guys!
Can't run a railroad without a Type E couple. I was going to use someone else's 3D but decided to give it a shot in Sketchup. The majority of rounded edges is varying degrees of beveling applied in Thea Render. Some of the other larger fillets were impossible to model at this time.
What looks like machine boring isn't really necessary although it does keep me motivated on the craftsmanship. It's not 100 percent accurate.
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A 'proper' job done, very nice indeed.
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More parts! Started the trucks and ordered a plan of the trucks from Norfolk & Western Historical Society. This shows the Hyatt journal box, brake cylinder and a part of the truck frame which is really cast steel and was usually painted silver for Union Pacific SD45's. I like the color yellow but it probably looks like Caterpillar equipment here.
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The details and render results are excellent. Looks more like photos than renders.
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Thanks Dave.
Here's the latest. Working on the trucks. Got the plans from Norfolk & Western Historical Society for $30. Hard to find this level of detail anywhere.
This is an earlier version of the EMD truck but it's easily modified to the correct version. Short of my obsession with details.
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Brilliant, nothing less
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Bravo
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Superb, makes for a better day seeing this.
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Thanks everyone!
We've got wheels. OK, they're not precise but it's a start. Also added a bunch of brake system cranks and a sand dispenser system. I'm probably getting carried away with the level of detail but I need the practice. It's forcing me to model a bunch of intricate parts I'm not familiar with.
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Found more details thanks to a video from ccrx6700 on Youtube. Need to add the traction motor and brake system and modify it for a later version of the Flexicoil trucks. Looking like a restomod truck for now but that's part of the fun. Rendered with Thea Render.
On a side note. Grainger has 3D models for fasteners, bolts, etc. The lock bolt for example was downloaded as an stl file and converted to an obj file and imported into Sketchup. Needs some cleanup if you're going to use them a lot of times.
The blue is using metal flakes (car paint) from Thea. I won't use that for the final renderings of the SD45. Usually the railroad companies just spray everything with a single color and in the case of this example it's a silver paint. I just do this to keep me awake.
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Georgeous
How big do you estimate the file size for this model? I have always found for follows function can be extremely beautiful, Like a shark or fighter jet are beautiful but aesthetics was never part of the development. but by pure logic and pragmatism end up being beautiful. I use the analogy with the details of that prime mover 
And you are doing it justice with this model mate -
Thanks L i am.
Well the truck alone is less than 9 MB and the locotmotive is about 15 MB. Not too bad so far. I've had architectural models well over 150 MB alone. Some of these landscape elements like a Wisteria vine can by around half a gigabyte.
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Wow! Excellent work!
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Got the main (air) reservoir and piping laid out and the traction motor blocked in the truck model in addition to adding more detail to the truck. I'm searching for a couple of more details for the brake lever below that connect to the brake shoes.
The pipe fitting are fictional and just comprised of a couple of circles one of which is a six sided hexagon.
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Clay model of the entire locomotive with everything so far. The two point perspective views seems to distort the wheels.
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Top notch work!
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I judge this type of topc by the "Does it look 'solid' and 'right'", this has all that. It IS the subject rather than just looking like it.
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Thanks Mike and Bryan.
This is a tough one filled with many intricate details. Fortunately they're mostly at right angles. I can't believe the amount of steel they put in these locomotives. They're monsters.
This is the underframe. Can't get too carried away since there's plenty more down there. Had to adjust the trucks and the main reservoirs to line up right. Most everything is either dimensioned or traced which is within less than an inch.
I did a lot of structural drafting and design in the past so that helps. For anyone aspiring to do this kind of work learn about how it's built whether it's furniture or a locomotive. Or a house.
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Added more bells and whistles to the underframe. A lot of this is like ductwork or metal shop in high school. It's tedious but tedious is what creates good detailing. You just work through it.
Surprisingly there isn't much underneath the underframe.
I also did a little graphic poster. The linework is just a dwg export that I printed to a PDF and tweaked it in Photoshop.
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