DSB MZ 1413, Blender model

Created by Darren Wilden (dwinnovation.dk) · Version 1.0 · November 2026 · Licence: CC BY 4.0 (commercial use allowed, credit required)

A detailed, real-scale model of the Danish State Railways diesel locomotive MZ 1413, a Series II MZ built by NOHAB in 1970, in the red and black livery it carried from 1984. It is made for close-up rendering in Blender Cycles, with modelled cab interiors, real glass and a fully detailed running gear.

What is in this archive

Folder or file	Contents
`blender/DSB_MZ1413.blend`	The model, made with Blender 4.5 LTS. Every texture is packed into the file, so it opens anywhere without missing images.
`export/DSB_MZ1413.fbx`	FBX export with textures embedded, for other 3D applications and game engines.
`export/DSB_MZ1413.glb`	glTF binary export, for web viewers, three.js, Unity, Unreal and similar.
`renders/`	Six cinematic renders of the model, made in Cycles.
`source_scripts/`	The Python scripts that build the model in Blender, for study. See "Source scripts" below.
`README.md`, `README.html`	This documentation.
`LICENSE.txt`	The CC BY 4.0 licence terms.
`NOTICES.txt`	Trademarks, reference material and fonts. Please read it before commercial use.

The real locomotive

Item	Value
Operator	DSB (Danske Statsbaner), Denmark
Class and series	MZ, Series II (MZ 1411 to 1426)
Builder and year	NOHAB, 1970
Wheel arrangement	Co'Co'
Length over buffers	20.80 m
Width	3.06 m
Height above rail	4.26 m
Bogie pivot distance	12.40 m
Axle spacing in each bogie	2.00 m + 2.00 m
Livery shown	DSB red and black, 1984 design

Model specifications

Item	Value
Scale and units	Real scale, 1 Blender unit = 1 metre
Origin	Midway between the bogie pivots, at rail top height
Axes	X along the locomotive (A end towards +X), Y across, Z up. Rail top is at Z = 0.
Geometry	About 200,000 faces before modifiers, about 50 objects
Materials	62 physically based materials, including real glass for every window, lens and gauge
Textures	Lettering decals and the driver's instrument panel, all packed into the .blend
Render engine	Cycles (set up for 256 samples with denoising, 1920 x 1080)
Cameras	`CAM_Hero_A` (three-quarter front view, active), `CAM_Side` (full side view), `CAM_Cab_A` (inside the A cab)

How the model is built

The scene has one collection, MZ_1413, with these parts:

Body: the body shell and both cab shells. Doors, windows, grilles and pockets are cut with live Boolean modifiers, followed by a geometry nodes modifier (Crisp) that keeps the cut edges sharp.
Cab: the window glass, rubber gaskets and both complete cab interiors.
Roof: the three radiator fans with their guards, the roof hatch box and the exhaust outlets.
Bogies: two Co'Co' bogies with frames, wheelsets, axleboxes, springs and brake gear.
Underframe: the sole bar, fuel tank, air reservoirs, step ladders and skirts.
Front_End: the buffer beams, buffers, couplings, hoses, ploughs, head and tail lamps with reflectors and bulbs, the roof lamp, twin horns, wipers, grab rails and side marker lamps.
Details: lifting eyes, labels and other small parts.
Decals: the DSB lettering on both cab fronts and both sides, and the "MZ 1413" number panels.
Cutters: hidden helper objects that the Boolean modifiers use. Do not delete them, or the windows, doors and cab interiors will lose their shape.

Cab interiors

Both cabs have the same layout, turned 180 degrees, with the driver on the right:

The driver's desk with an instrument panel: an alarm lamp grid, rotary switch, toggle switches, square speedometer and round pressure gauges behind glass.
A black handwheel controller, the reverser lever, and the automatic and direct brake valves.
A keypad console with a green display.
Two seats.
Perforated wall and ceiling panels, a ribbed rubber floor, a round ceiling light, and a door in the back wall leading to the engine room.

Using the model

Rendering: press F12 in Blender to render the active camera. The scene has a simple grey world and a sun lamp. For outdoor scenes, add your own sky or HDRI. With a bright daylight sky, an exposure of about -2 under Colour Management keeps the red paint correctly saturated.
Moving or posing: select everything in the MZ_1413 collection and move it as one. Keep the Cutters objects in the same place relative to the body.
Changing the livery: the paint colours are in the materials Paint_Red and Paint_Black. The lettering decals are separate objects in the Decals collection, so they can be hidden or replaced.
Other software: use the FBX or GLB in the export folder. In both exports all modifiers are applied and the hidden helper objects are left out.
Game engines: the model is made for rendering. For real-time use, reduce detail as needed, for example on the bogies, cab interiors and ballast-level parts.

Accuracy and known simplifications

The model was built from published dimensions, drawings and photographs of MZ 1413 and its sister locomotives. Where no photo showed a detail clearly, a reasoned choice was made:

The door in the cab back wall is centred. No photo of the back wall was available.
The cab desk follows photos of the same desk type in other Series I to III locomotives. The panel labels are blank tags, because their text could not be read.
The U-shaped lifting eye on the hood roof was located from a single photo, so its distance from the roof edge is estimated.
The lettering uses the Inter typeface as a stand-in for the original DSB typeface.

Source scripts

source_scripts/ contains the Blender Python scripts that generated the model, numbered in build order (00_setup.py to 12_cab_interior.py, with mzlib.py as the shared helper library). They are included so you can study and reuse the techniques. They were written for the author's own folders and reference images, which are not included, so they will not run unchanged. You do not need them to use the model.

Credits and licence

Model, textures, renders and scripts: Darren Wilden, dwinnovation.dk.
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). You may use, change and sell work made with this model, including commercially, as long as you credit the author. Suggested credit: "DSB MZ 1413 model by Darren Wilden (dwinnovation.dk), CC BY 4.0", with a link to https://dwinnovation.dk where possible.
The DSB name, lettering and livery are trademarks of their owner and are not covered by this licence. See NOTICES.txt.