It is being manufactured right now in our workshops!
This massive machine was an order we accepted for the first time. It has been a big challenge because until then, we only made locomotives from the turn of the 20th century. Okay, this version of the H-9 you're seeing represents its original form when it left the Baldwin factory in April 1921; so if you are a WM H-9 lover you will see many similar or different details when WM itself modified them.
At the time of this post, we are finalizing some major details of the tender, and even so, there are still minor details to be added. But, we are taking great care with these details, and leaving only those that are really visible; it is not necessary to put in details that will never appear in a 3D model during a simulation in Train Simulator. This also helps a lot in post-processing, preventing the model from getting too heavy and causing unwanted crashes.
We take as an example, the dual air pumps that are exposed on the stoker's side of this H-9. It's a massive locomotive, full of details, lots of screws and rivets on display. So we see that, if it's apparent, it's worth detailing the part.
We still have a lot of work to do, we are close to finalizing the tender details, and there are still a few things to review on the outside of the machine. When the external modeling is fully completed (this includes the details of the WM-modified version) we will start the textures step of the entire model.
The cab interior of this locomotive will be the last thing we will be working on. There are many details, big and small, and few references available from the time; it will be another challenge, but we are confident about it. Still without a release date, we can stipulate between the end of this month and the beginning of the next; but this is just speculation.
Our current project list contains 10 machines with the H-9. So 9 of those, it was a selection from our team. If you are interested in formalizing a commission with us, send us a message to check availability.
Remembering that: All commissions that are accepted by the Machine Rail team will have priority from the beginning to the end of the project, therefore; the other projects that our team selected will be in the background, but that doesn't mean they're abandoned; the work on them will continue in the same way, while in parallel work on the commissions received.
We'll be back soon with new updates.
Greetings.