Hot day for items coming available!

[cteno4]

Wow great day for new items coming into stock at hobbysearch!

 

Platz Construction set (already sold out with reserves!) http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10089438

 

car collection vol 7 (already sold out with reserves!) http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10086013

 

trailer collection vol 3  (already sold out with reserves!) http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10087896

 

built for sale house A  http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10086010

 

They also started carrying a bunch of Sankei Paper structures in N scale. they look nice from the pictures it will be interesting to see one. there is mention they are laser cut so hopefully that means most of the fiddlie detail cuts are made. also hope it means its out of a heavier stock to look nicer than the thin cardstock models!

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[scott]

They also started carrying a bunch of Sankei Paper structures in N scale. they look nice from the pictures it will be interesting to see one. there is mention they are laser cut so hopefully that means most of the fiddlie detail cuts are made. also hope it means its out of a heavier stock to look nicer than the thin cardstock models!

 

Those look really nice, and there are lots of different buildings; I'm very tempted by Station C. But I wish there was a US supplier; they're not all that cheap to begin with, and shipping could add up, so they could be a bit expensive to experiment with.

[cteno4]

yes being from HS you have to send them ems. but if you are ordering something else it probably wont add a lot to the costs.

 

it looks like they use the color impregnated chip boards. these make great materials for laser cutting. i have a friend out west with a lasercutter and its great the things he can do with it for making architectural models. wish i still lived near him to play with it and cut my own stuff out!

 

i did order a few of their stock parts from HW like bamboo fencing to play with.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[scott]

i did order a few of their stock parts from HW like bamboo fencing to play with.

 

That could be fun--could you post some pictures once you've tried it out?

[disturbman]

Jeff, tell me, how were the Sankei's products you order. I'm quite interested myself to get some for my Project but would like to have some feedback before taking a leap forward.

[cteno4]

Vincent,

 

I got a couple of the fence pieces and have popped them out and they are very nice. much closer to scale than plastic ones are. not cheap at $4 for two 3" sections, but nice if for something that you want a really nice scene that is in close view. these are laser cut chipboard that is fully dyed all the way through. the alignment looks great. only thing that could make finer detail would be etched metal. prohobby does some details like this, but not the fence types sankei did, so i think they just tried to fill some holes in prohobby's line.

 

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/SKE84327.aspx

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/SKE84324.aspx

 

I got the small police station a few weeks back and have not had a chance to put it together. very simple construction and looks like the fits are tight. the police station was cheap, but maybe not the best to try for a paper kit like this.

 

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/SKE84344.aspx

 

I broke down on my last hw order and picked up two more that were a bit more expensive but looked like ones that may be very interesting and a bit different from other structures out there.

 

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/SKE84299.aspx

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/SKE84314.aspx

 

and i got the kids play sets, it will be interesting to see how they look next to the prohobby etched metal ones

 

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/SKE84352.aspx

http://www.hwjapan.com/sh/SKE84351.aspx

 

the laser cutting is nice as they can cut lines part way in to make some indentations and texture. the laser can also go over a partial cut a few times and it can make a dark recess as well (a friend has a laser cutter to make architectural models, wish he did not live all the way across the country!).

 

ill try to put the police station together soon, but bit busy around here with two bathroom remodels going on...

 

cheers

 

jeff

[cteno4]

ps forgot to mention you need a serious magnifying glass to read the instructions, they are tiny. like 1" x 2" total!

 

jeff

[cteno4]

Ok i started cutting out the police station last night. parts are cut very nicely, just a tiny tab in the corners holding things in place you need to slice through with a new xacto blade to remove. hard part is cleaning up any raggy edges as its basically thin chipboard. careful chopping with a clean razor blade or very light sanding with 400grit sandpaper works, but you have to be very gentle.

 

ill see if i can start glueing tonight. the set even has a desk and chair to put inside! its going to be fun assembling the chair, its 3 pieces at like 5mm tall overall!

 

HW just posted more Sankei bldgs coming in late sept.

 

3 story modern bldg much like greenmax modular series

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10098309

 

bath house like tomytec's, but looks like it may have some nicer lines to it

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10098310

 

im starting to warm to these. the tell will be when i get this little police station done and then the two larger kits i ordered. they do take some time and care to assemble, but may be a really nice alternative to all the other stuff out there to mix things up some! wish they were a tad cheaper. i expect mass producing laser cut stuff like this is slow unless you go big scale. they seem to be rolling out a lot of kits here quickly and also in HO as well.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[disturbman]

I'm really enjoying your feedback. I will definately order some. I'm not sure I'm cut out for this type of tedious job but it can't be worst as making masks to paint N scale japanese wooden house.

[cteno4]

cool, glad it helps. ill snap some picts of the steps and how they layer pieces as well and post.

 

they are not all that tedious really, about the same as plastic models probably, just a few more steps as you layer things. the nice thing is that with the thinness of the chipboard things are a lot closer to scale for some relief detail.

 

it will be interesting to see how the final buildings look. the pictures look nice, but we all know the item almost never is as good as the picture on the package! also be interesting to see how they look mixed in with other plastic buildings. i think the best thing is that they already have a good sized line of buildings to add onto the stuff that is already out there for more variety overall! right now i got things that are not done by other manufacturers and may be on their own more in a scene so wont have the problem if the construction style looks a tad different. we shall see!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[disturbman]

Ok. I just build my first Sankei today and I must say I'm really impressed by the result. The kit is real nice and sturdy. No need to paint, which is always a plus for me, but you really have to look closely at the instructions and the pieces. The layering makes everything better but also harder. You can't just look at the instructions sheet, cut and glue things. You really have to think the steps through. A simple mistake can have dramatic consequences. Unlike plastic kits, there is no return once cardboard is glued.

 

I'll be buying more for sure but I will also pay a lot more attention to little details. I made enough stupid mistakes with my first kit.

[cteno4]

Whoops im sorry i thought i had posted about the really fiddly prefitting of all parts on the sankei, but looks like i didnt! you really do have to pre fit everything carefully and then mark the pieces well so that you can keep them all in alignment when you glue them as you say with paper, when its glued its glued. i screwed up one inner wall on the police station i have, but with a tad of trimming i was able to fix it luckily. the instructions for the police station were about 0.5" square, even with a magnifying glass they were hard to see!

 

i do like their layering of walls they do and usually leads to nice rabit joints on the wall corners for nice, sturdy assembly. the thin chipboard layers does give a very fine and close to scale dimension to most details, very nice. my police station colors are nice as is as well. i have 3 more kits that are more complex to tackle when i get some time, glad i practiced on the cheap, small police station first! have not built the desk and chair yet, will need to do that on a very calm night!

 

cheers

 

jeff