Dressing up your Hokis

[nah00]

So a small weekend project, saw a pack of factory workers at my LHS and decided to make some railway workers for my Hokis. Little bit of paint with my smallest bursh and toothpick to give them orange safety vests, the ballast loads were made by cutting sheet styrene to the size of the car, sliding it down to where the ends taper in, and then just using the typical white glue and water to glue ballast. They technically are removable but likely they'd start to fall apart and I don't see any reason to take them off. 

 

Apologies for the bad picture, my camera is, well, awful. 

 

Edited October 19, 2016 by nah00

[cteno4]

Excellent nah! Nice job! Going to have to copy you as I wanted some workers on mine as well! Which tomytec set were these?

 

Jeff

[nah00]

Thank you! They're these guys: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10104765

 

They seem to be out of production now but the SDF troops use the same molds.

 

Inspiration came from this video which is actually a pretty good example of ballasting on a small line:

 

 

I took two of the reflectors that come with a Koki and glued them on the last Hoki too, can't myself ever having more than 4 of them.

Edited October 19, 2016 by cteno4
Fixed YouTube embed

[cteno4]

Cool, thought that was it. I got s few of those for the same reason as they looked like generic worker potential like loading docks, container yards, etc.

 

More koki mania here

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/9021-hoki-800-ballast-wagon/

 

[katoftw]

looks awesome. another project to add to the list.

[ToniBabelony]

Everybody should have one or two HoKi! Next on the list to get for rolling stock! Jyoshin also knows how to roll these bad boys in style!

 

[keiichi77]

I thought I would relax tonight modeling since the wife went out with the kids for a couple hours, I decided to put together the four Hoki 800 cars I bought a few years ago, what was I thinking, there was nothing relaxing about putting those cars together. To make me want to pull the remaining hairs left on my head after building the cars I decided to also converted them to TN couples and paint the wheels flat back.  I need a drink now, maybe even a therapist.  Round two of an aneurysm in a box should be here in sometime next week, I actually ordered 2 more boxes of Hoki800s a few weeks ago SAL shipping, not to often I want a package to get lost in the mail but I don't think I would mind if this one went astray....lol :angry5:

[nah00]

After I 'assembled' my first Hoki I vowed that I would not be that frustrated by the remaining three. I took a pin vise and widened the holes for the brake equipment and the hole for the wheels that open the ballast doors. I used the biggest bit I could that would leave the hole intact on the posts that they plug into. Also these post and the levers go in MUCH better if you use an Xacto knife to cut their mounting pegs into trapezoids - they'll still sit right on the car but it's much less labor getting them to fit in the holes in the car floor. Also CA is a must for assembling these.  

[cteno4]

Nah,

 

These are great to enlarging the holes a tiny bit at a time!

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6pc-Stainless-Steel-High-Speed-Hand-Drill-Large-Taper-Pin-Pulpectomy-Dental-Burs-/191653734532?var=&hash=item2c9f73e884:m:mlgnwRz1Taam6aAenKhaGAw

 

Jeff

[katoftw]

I only used glue for the number plates. Every thing else was jammed in good and proper.

[beakaboy]

I purchased 6 sets of these Hokis for my DE10. The first pair were like torture with bits flying everywhere. I managed to find them all which was surprising. After that I got a technique working and it was quite quick to disassemble , fit parts and reassemble. No glue required as parts are a firm fit. Number boards are the only thing requiring glue. I have three sets to do and I wish I had not stopped the production line as the first set will be a learning curve again. They look great when finished and I will definitely be fitting ballast and blackening the wheel sets. really enjoyed those videos.

[nah00]

I'm just paranoid when it comes to tiny bits and want to make sure the don't go missing. Dropped a Koki on the floor once and spent the next HOUR looking for where the railing went. Somehow ended up all the way across the basement in the corner.

 

They definitely are eye-catching as they're pretty unique compared to the lines of Kokis and Takis that make up most modern JRF trains.  

[Densha]

Here's some yellow HoKis behind motor car 226 from Ohmi Railway:

 

[velotrain]

Based on the proto photos that I've seen, Ohmi had more orange ballast cars than yellow - or, more likely, initially painted them yellow and then switched to orange.

 

They have added some additional structures and equipment on the non-wheel end of the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently they used the same tractor to pull their rail trains.

 

 

 

 

A well done model of an Ohmi ballast train - note how the track ends just behind the second car.