cteno4 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Plazajapan has started stocking small etched metal car rack by RM models that is 2 cars wide by 2 cars high. nice little units, but not cheap at $20.80. I have been fiddling with doing these in styrene for a while now, but the detail on these is really nice (like you can get with etched metal). would be expensive to a larger set up with these, but very nice little units. http://cgi.ebay.com/Elevator-Parking-Garage-RM-MODELS-S127-1-150-N-scale_W0QQitemZ200359491467QQcmdZViewItemQQptZModel_RR_Trains?hash=item2ea65b378b&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A30 These small car racks are used in many countries where parking space is a premium and lets you park a lot of cars in a small alley lot. they are around japan quite a bit (along with the big multistory car elevators that look like buildings). some of these just pancake the racks on the ground (ie you have to remove the cars below to bring down the upper cars), but others have a pit under each rack where the whole rack will drop into the pit to level the right rack with the ground. cheers, jeff Link to comment
Bernard Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 They think of everything, I never would have thought anybody would have make those car park elevators. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 these are the really wild ones! basically huge conveyer belts. many have sides on them and look like tall skinny buildings w/o windows. greenmax has a model of one. http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/blog/2009/03/05/japanese-elevator-car-park/ http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2137/1873101808_5202369d35.jpg?v=0 http://image22.webshots.com/23/2/57/16/203225716FVUVLu_fs.jpg there are systems for very automated garages for apt buildings with very tight spaces http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/projects/Nolita-parking/images/4-parking-garage.jpg http://twistedphysics.typepad.com/cocktail_party_physics/images/2007/12/08/volkswagen_autostadt_580x.jpg here is the pit style, looks like in the base of a buidling http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/kalsi_kaur/1/1227263340/img_1984.jpg/tpod.html pit style (assume so) http://www.pbase.com/selsadek10/image/70559102 http://www.pbase.com/selsadek10/image/71524529 non pit style with an elevator and the racks slide horizontally on tracks http://pictures.kylereed.com/China/Japan/ParkingElevator.jpg non pit style just up and down http://www.pbase.com/selsadek10/image/70502336 ive seen the free standing racks w/ and w/o pits in nyc in various small lots in the city. Link to comment
Bernard Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 The 5 link is surreal. Jeff - you've done a lot of interesting research here in such a short period of time! Link to comment
cteno4 Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 Bernard, well, ill admit it, i have been doing research on these car parks for the last couple of years. when i find something interesting to model i usually do some research to get a bunch of ideas and then put them away to percolate. then when scenes start building i can pull the ideas out and start adding them in and adapting as needed. just did a quick google search to pull some of the images out for posting links to. cheers, jeff Link to comment
to2leo Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Interesting find. I was in awe when I was in Japan seeing the parking structure. Still at $20, the cost is kinda prohibitive. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted July 13, 2009 Author Share Posted July 13, 2009 yeah most of the pro-hobby etched metal kits are more like $10 for something like this. was hoping something like this would come along at a more reasonable price or with a few more units in it for this price. that being said i just had to order one to check it out! did pickup some more styrene stock to try my hand at doing one scratch built. wont get the nice diamond pattern and such textures on the styrene one, but then at a few feet detail like that is not seen anyway! cheers jeff Link to comment
SubwayHypes Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 about time they released something like this, but 20 is kinda steep for a plastic kit! there was one of these right near my grandmas old house. Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 They're etched metal, not plastic =) Link to comment
scott Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I had one of these for Hot Wheels cars about 36 years ago! Link to comment
cteno4 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 I had one of these for Hot Wheels cars about 36 years ago! LOL i remember those! Scott, we are dating ourselves... cheers jeff Link to comment
Bernard Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I had Matchbox, I'm really dating myself. :icon_compress: Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I think I may still have some Matchbox left somewhere ;) Link to comment
cteno4 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 ok, i had quite a few matchbox before the hot wheels came on the scene. ok how about sizzlers... going down toy nostalgia alley... cheers, jeff Link to comment
scott Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 ok, i had quite a few matchbox before the hot wheels came on the scene. I was always more of a matchbox than hot wheels kid. Back then I guess I was uptight about being prototypical or something. (Actually I just never liked the freaky warped hot-rod thing.) Link to comment
serenityFan Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I remember matchbox cars, and I believe I also had some from corgi ... Link to comment
Guest ___ Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I remember matchbox cars, and I believe I also had some from corgi ... There was also Majoprette which were like Tomy's Pocket Cars which both were often scaled to 1:87. There was Fast-One's by Kenner, they had no scale and all had the smae bumper but each had a different license plate on it. Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Wasn't it Majorette that also had this whole system of sidewalks and accessories you could snap together, and have zebra crossing in between the side walks etc.. I had some of that stuff, but can't quite remember if that was Majorette or not. I also had a couple of Tonka's, which used to belong to my older brothers. They were collectibles even back then ;) Link to comment
Tenorikuma Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Yes, Martijn, that was Majorette. I had a whole pile of it when I was a kid — the cars, sidewalks, lampposts, traffic pylons, etc. I seem to recall a gas station too... all the pumps were labelled "essence" since it was a French product. I also liked Matchbox, and didn't care for Hot Wheels. They made bizarre crap that didn't even look like cars. I was into realistic cars and industrial/construction vehicles. Link to comment
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