BR-18 Locomotive by Greg Davis - OcCre - 1/32

[Greg Davis]

Today I couldn't overcome the need to start yet another project - this time the 1/32 scale BR-18 Locomotive kit made by OcCre. This is a model that I have had my eye on for many years, but was unsure about paying the list price for. When Model Expo was closing out their line of OcCre products, I was able to get it for 50% list - so it was added to the massive stash. 

OcCre considers this an advanced level model that should take approximately 500 hours to complete. They also indicate that the model has 2342 parts - thus the model should be assembled at the rate of 4.684 parts / hour.

 

 

When the box arrived I did notice that it was quite heavy and after opening it is clear why that is the case - the model is dominated by metal parts! There is a lot of brass and a ton of soft metal castings. 

 

I was impressed by the size of the drive wheels - 3 5/8" in diameter - this is going to be a good size model when completed!

While the box cover art and instructions make the model up in a very nice green and gold theme (that actually works good for a Green Bay Packers fan), I plan on going with a blue based theme similar to this Marklin BR18:

I am looking forward to diving into the model immediately with the project sharing time with at least three others!

[Greg Davis]

I've cut out and test fitted the 35 pieces of wood that serve as the boiler frame. Because I am so used to working with model ships, I will say that there are 7 bulkheads that mesh with a 4-piece false keel assembly. The 4 pieces in the false keel have tabs that interlock with one another along the central axis. This quickly squares up the bulkheads. There are then 4 stringers running fore to aft that slot in next to the false keel pieces. Finally the middle 5 bulkheads have doublers. Currently all these pieces are being held in place with clamps and rubber bands. Tomorrow I'll recheck that everything is in the correct place and then glue all of this together. Besides keeping everything square, I think the most important observation is that the doubles need to be placed on the aft side of the inner bulkheads. Looking ahead, the reason for all the doublers is that this structure will soon be covered with rectangular sheets of brass. The brass plates will line up with the center of the frames and doublers as well as the joint between keel pieces and stringers. If the doublers are placed on the wrong side of the bulkheads, there will not be correct support / fastening locations for the brass plates - hence I'm checking this tomorrow when I'm more awake!

 

By the way, this boiler frame is 11.5" long and 2.375" in diameter! 

 

[wvdhee]

I'm in. 

It's on my list too and will only get it when I see it at 50% 😉

[yvesvidal]

Great model. I have almost finished the Coasta Passenger car from Occre and can see a few similar parts between the two kits. I will be following your build, for sure.

 

Yves

[Greg Davis]

15 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

Great model. I have almost finished the Coasta Passenger car from Occre and can see a few similar parts between the two kits. I will be following your build, for sure.

 

Yves

Appreciate it!

[Greg Davis]

The boiler framing is all glued together and faired. I finally found a good use of a sanding 'tee bar' that I had from building model airplanes years ago. The fairing is minimal, but quite important so that the plating sits evenly along the boiler; however, the work is not as satisfying for me when it is compared to working on a ship's hull.

 

Here the boiler is setting on a jig / stand that is included in the kit. First, it will be used to hold the boiler during the brass plating that comes next and then for adding castings / details. Later in the build, the stand is turned over and a couple of pieces are added to hold the lower mechanic of the engine.

[wefalck]

In case you need supporting information, there are several surviving examples, for instance in the Deutsche Museum in Munich. This Wikipedia page gives an overview over S3/6: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayerische_S_3/6. It's in German, but that shouldn't be a problem with GoogleTranslator. 

 

I was surprised to see a Bavarian locomotive in blue in did a bit of search on German fora. It seems that they were painted for unknown reasons in blue for a number exhibitions around Europe, but blue was never a regular livery. 

Edited Tuesday at 12:34 PM by wefalck

[Greg Davis]

10 hours ago, wefalck said:

In case you need supporting information, there are several surviving examples, for instance in the Deutsche Museum in Munich. This Wikipedia page gives an overview over S3/6: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayerische_S_3/6. It's in German, but that shouldn't be a problem with GoogleTranslator. 

 

I was surprised to see a Bavarian locomotive in blue in did a bit of search on German fora. It seems that they were painted for unknown reasons in blue for a number exhibitions around Europe, but blue was never a regular livery. 

Thank you very much for this information!

 

I had done some searching on the web with regard to color schemes hoping to find another bright color than green. It is not that I have anything against green - I was just looking for something different than the box cover. A blue based scheme had been on my mind and I was actually surprised to have found that it might be a possibility. If this hadn’t shown up I think I may have decided on a more standard black boiler with red underworks or just black. 
 

This is a nice looking locomotive and would probably make an attractive finished model in nearly any color.

 

Greg 

[wefalck]

Yep, but Bavarian locomotives were not painted in 'any' colour. The standard livery was green before the state railways were unified into a national railway in 1925. The 'livery' of the 'Reichsbahn' was black with red frames, wheels and inlays in works.

 

At some stage the S2/6 also was painted in yellow-ochre for an exhibition or something. I think the lining then was red, but one would need to check.

 

[Greg Davis]

Today I began attaching the brass boiler plates. The kit comes with a pretty significant number of pre-drilled brass rectangles:

The black object is a bending tool that OcCre markets - I had to buy this separately, it is turned wood and I'm surprised this isn't just included with the kit! The instructions show it in use and do indicate the brass should be bent on a cylinder with diameter 40mm. The boiler's wooden frame is 60mm in diameter. When the brass is bent on the smaller diameter it flexes back to fit the boiler nicely. I had thought about turning a bending tool myself, but wasn't sure if the 40mm diameter was a typo so I went ahead and purchased the tool. Note it has a couple of smaller diameter extensions on the right. These will be used later in the build and (unfortunately) the instruction booklet, does not indicate the diameters of the smaller shapes. So I guess it is advisable to have the tool!

 

Here is the first plate attached - I think this is a required picture!

The instructions indicate that the plates can just be nailed - glue not needed. I followed along, but with some apprehension. The instructions suggest using a pin/nail driver that they also market. I chose to not get that tool. Instead I have drilled very narrow pilot holes and used pliers and / or a small hammer to insert the nails.

 

Currently, I have attached 3/4 of the large plates needed on the boiler - one more row to close it up and 4 smaller plates at the front will finish the work.

One last note, the instructions provide guidance on how the builder can make / keep space open if installation of a smoke generator is desired. I will not be doing so, so I have not created an opening on top for such a feature. 

 

[Greg Davis]

The amount of work putting on the last row of the larger plates was about the same as the other 3 rows in total. Each plate needed to be reduced in size - I don't think I over sanded the frame and didn't leave gaps between rows of plates, yet there was about 0.5 mm that needed to be removed from each plate. In some sense this is not bad when you think about how hard it is to manufacture the wooden disks and then provide brass plates that the sum total of lengths of 4 plates would exactly match the circumference of the boiler assembly! I adjusted the plate length using the Dremel sanding tool and the mill file. 

 

The four smaller plates at the front went on smoothly.

Once all the plates were attached, I had a small amount of overhang in the front that was removed with the mill file. Again the amount was not great considering that the five plates lengths needed to match the wooden frame length. I should note that the instructions said to not pin / nail the front of the small plates. I believe this is because the kit comes with adhesive yellow stripes that go around the boiler and one is right at the end of the brass plate. The adhesive stripe would not work well on top of the nail heads. I put the nails in as I will not be making use of the adhesive tape.

 

Next I have begun to fit and attach the soft meta castings to the boiler:

The outward appearance of these castings are really nice. Each needed some adjustment at their base in order to match the diameter of the boiler. Again the Dremel with a (larger) sanding drum is getting some good usage. Related, the nails securing the brass plates under each casting are to be removed when the castings are attached. I have removed some, but others have been stubborn so they have been ground down instead. 

[wefalck]

I did not examine the photographs of the original, but wondered whether they actually used such prominent 'rivets' on the boiler-cladding (this is thin layer of sheet metal over an insulating layer, but I don't know what was used on these locomotives, perhaps asbestos sheet). They took great pride in their appearance then. I seem to vaguely remember from the catalogue description when Arnold Rapido produced a N-scale model back in the early 1970s that the painted surfaces where puttied and sanded down several times, then several coats of paint with sanding in between, and finally several coats of gloss varnish. That applies to the green livery, not the later black livery.

 

So they probably would also have used sunk rivets and puttied over them. Hence, the rivets would not interfer with any 'coach-lining'.

[Greg Davis]

4 hours ago, wefalck said:

I did not examine the photographs of the original, but wondered whether they actually used such prominent 'rivets' on the boiler-cladding (this is thin layer of sheet metal over an insulating layer, but I don't know what was used on these locomotives, perhaps asbestos sheet). They took great pride in their appearance then. I seem to vaguely remember from the catalogue description when Arnold Rapido produced a N-scale model back in the early 1970s that the painted surfaces where puttied and sanded down several times, then several coats of paint with sanding in between, and finally several coats of gloss varnish. That applies to the green livery, not the later black livery.

 

So they probably would also have used sunk rivets and puttied over them. Hence, the rivets would not interfer with any 'coach-lining'.

I agree with wefalck wrt the rivet situation - in pictures of actual BR18's that I have seen, such a rivet pattern is missing. The pictures project do show metal bands at the locations that OcCre places the yellow stripes. It seems likely that the boiler sections were welded with joints reinforced with the bands. The rivet less portrayal is also noticeable in models produced for model railroading. So I think it is safe to conclude that the noticeable rivets need for assembly of the OcCre model are contrary to the actual construction of these locomotives. The final product of this modeling adventure certainly will be a 'representation' of the BR18 with a number of misgivings! 

 

 

[wefalck]

Actually, nothing was welded at that time. Welding in sheet-metal construction was not common until after WW2.

 

Contrary to what I said earlier, I think the boiler-cladding was probably screwed on in some way. It had to be removed without becoming damaged during the in-depth boiler revisions that had to take place every few years.

[Greg Davis]

26 minutes ago, wefalck said:

Actually, nothing was welded at that time. Welding in sheet-metal construction was not common until after WW2.

 

Contrary to what I said earlier, I think the boiler-cladding was probably screwed on in some way. It had to be removed without becoming damaged during the in-depth boiler revisions that had to take place every few years.

Interesting!

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

Actually, nothing was welded at that time. Welding in sheet-metal construction was not common until after WW2.

 

Contrary to what I said earlier, I think the boiler-cladding was probably screwed on in some way. It had to be removed without becoming damaged during the in-depth boiler revisions that had to take place every few years.

They were flush riveted on the boiler plates, the bands reinforced & covered the riveting.... They were also built during the end of WWI thru approximately 1928 in several variations.... There is one still in operation today...

 

Plate arc-welding as a manufacturing process didn't come into use until 1932, and even at that time was limited to the shipyards building warships... It's became widespread during WWII...

Edited Friday at 08:18 PM by Egilman

[Greg Davis]

Everyone -

 

Thank you so much for all the input - I learn so much from all of you!

 

Greg

[Greg Davis]

I have finished the first phase of the build. All the main boiler castings have been added. The instructions tell me that it is time to prime and paint the boiler!

I'm now having reservations about the light blue / red color scheme I had picked at the start - I'm concerned that it may look too 'toy-like' for lack of a better description. Still don't want to have it in green. My feelings are now tilting toward this blue / black scheme:

This is one of several color schemes that Micro Metakit has produced the BR18 in. By the way, this HO brass model sells for about $2,300. Yet, some people tell me that making wooden ship (and other models) is a costly hobby!

[thibaultron]

The boilers were of riveted construction, but were then covered with a layer of blanket insulation (generally Asbestos), and covered with sheet metal. The bands were used to hold the sheet metal in place. The only places without covering were the lower portion of the firebox, and (in the US, I don't know about other countries) the forward section that had the smoke box (the area that the smoke stack is). These were the external areas directly exposed to the fires.

[SaltyScot]

On 3/1/2025 at 7:09 PM, Greg Davis said:

Today I couldn't overcome the need to start yet another project - this time the 1/32 scale BR-18 Locomotive kit made by OcCre. This is a model that I have had my eye on for many years, but was unsure about paying the list price for. When Model Expo was closing out their line of OcCre products, I was able to get it for 50% list - so it was added to the massive stash. 

 

I am glad to see you back at it, Greg. I am going to hop on board and follow along with this as well, sir. 

[Greg Davis]

Here is the wood framing for the cab. The six pieces slot together nicely. Note how the bottom of piece 40 goes across the cab floor. Once the glue is dry, that strip will be removed - while  not noted in the instructions I was careful to not apply glue down there!

Later the exterior of this structure will be covered with bass sheeting.

[SaltyScot]

That brass work looks so nice in the background there, Greg. I am enjoying seeing this come together.