Baureihe 50 Kab.
(Deutsche Bundesbahn)

by Bernd Korte

images by Deun Yu

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron

A steam locomotive???

To put this into a better prospective, I should start at an earlier time …

Some time ago my father bought a Revell kit of a German steam locomotive the Br 50. Since I was working on an airplane model at that time and didn't want to start something new before finishing it, the Revell kit got put aside. But as both the research for a 1/72 F-102 Delta Dagger and for an alternative project (Gloster Meteor NF 11) didn't progress the way I had planned ... I remembered my father's kit.

The "Baureihe 50"
literally translated "Series 50"

The Baureihe 50 was developed and built before WWII when the German railway was still called "Reichsbahn". Due to its low axle load, the 50 proved to be exceptionally suitable for operating on the numerous side-tracks. Thus by 1943, 3164 engines had already been built.

After the war the surviving locomotives stayed in service with the two new German railroad companies ("Deutsche Bahn" in Western Germany and "Reichsbahn" in Eastern Germany the DDR) with 2159 being with the "Deutsche Bahn".

At the beginning of the 1960's, 751 tenders were equipped with the so-called conductor cabs (Br 50 Kab.) This made the locomotive even more practical and multi-purpose. Only the coal supply was reduced by the new space requirements of the new cab from 8 t to 6.6 t.

A Br 50 with a converted tender was built from the Revell kit. Other than the transparent parts for the windows, all 143 plastic parts are molded in black.

To complete the kit there is a track the length of the locomotive on which the finished model can be presented and a small decal-sheet with the serial numbers etc.

Construction

Construction is straightforward per the instructions. Only a few parts have flash that require removal. Choosing the colors, I just followed the instructions as even Revell could hardly go wrong with the colors used on a German steam locomotive (black and red). The complete framework of the locomotive, tender and the wheels are painted in red: Revell # 330. The boiler, the control cabin, tender and the cylinders are airbrushed in black: Revell # 302. As all these components can be built and painted separately there isn't much to mask. Painting the coupling red and silver does take somewhat a little more time.

After all components had been finished separately including decaling and weathering, it was just a matter of assembly. At this point I installed the clear parts through the not-fixed roof.

The only fitting problem was encountered when building the tender. The rear wall (part 10 B) was at both sides too short. I had to insert a small plastic sheet to fill the gaps between the side walls and rear wall. Weathering was done by drybrushing in silver/ iron and washing the chassis of the locomotive and tender with black diluted oil paint. After that, these areas were sealed with "Erdal Glänzer" (the German "Future"). After applying the few decals I sealed the model with a final coat of silk-matte Humbrol lacquer except the coals. The coals do not get this finish as to keep them contrasting with the tender.

The relatively short construction period of three weeks (with breaks), I would recommend this kit as a nice "time out" project. But be sure, the F-102A is now back on my assembling line. Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind again building another railway kit in the future for a change of pace.

Special thanks to R L Donaldson who helped me with this translation (original German article can be seen at www.modellversium.de in the gallery).

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Model and Text Copyright © 2003 by Bernde Korte
Images Copyright © 2003 by Deun Yu
Page Created 30 July, 2003
Last Updated 17 March, 2004

Back to HyperScale Main Page