Hi all
Trumpeter, a brand very well known for its military kits, made a BR52 loco, in its original German army version of course. This is a very large kit at the scale of 1/35. This scale is unusual in the rail world but I discovered it was quite common to military kit builders. The loco is static, 99% plastic, and intended for diorama.
I could not resist buying a box with the intend to make a TCDD 56500. Indeed, TCDD BR52 are nearly identical to the German Army ones except for a few changes. My opinion is that these changes were done afterwards by TCDD. The most visible are:
- Relocation of the turbo-generator from the top of the firebox to the smokebox
- Addition of a central lock on the smoke-box door
- Addition of a cow-catcher
- Removal of the brake compressor frost protection.
- And, on some units, additions of smoke screens.
So for about 80 Euro, I got myself a quite impressive box, nearly the size of a small suitcase (35x60x15cm). It contains about 710 plastic parts, a dozen photo etched parts in brass and the promise of many hours of fun.
Detailing kits containing many more brass parts are sold separately for the demanding modeler. They looked very nice, but way above my skills, my time and my budget.
I am about halfway done building this BR52, having completed the tender, the cab and the boiler. The cab itself is quite detailed, although only the main gauges & valves are shown. It is quite pleasant except for a shocking mistake: the brake valve and related pipes were located on the left-hand side. This is very easy to fix. But, when I spotted this mistake, I had already assembled most of the cab so the change was a bit touchy. I had to cut into already completed and painted parts.
Otherwise, the quality of the kit is very good. In such a scale, details not normally seen in HO can be reproduced such as all the internal bars of the frame. Also, a static kit is free from any mechanical constraints and the wheels, brakes shoes & gears, … can be made to scale.
What to do with this 75cm long monster once complete? I already started negotiation with my wife for a display spot. I asked for the mantelpiece in our living room, she offered the darkest, top most shelf in a bedroom … Hopefully, completion is still several months away.
I toyed with the idea to make a diorama but I gave up, this being above my capabilities. In my dreams, I would have done a typical depot scene: smoke box door opened and a worker shoveling the cinders out to a pit.
I will post a progress report in a few months.
Jean-Patrick
PS: links to some nicely completed BR52
Example 1Example 2Example 3and finaly a wonderfull Turkish built one, showing all the super-detailing
Example 4 The cab is nicely detailed, but wrong! The builder has obviouly never seen a real BR52
