My second Japanese layout

[Das Steinkopf]

13 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

Looks like the metal shed in front is a very recent JRK addition, where as your model repersents the shed anytime before a few the mid 2000's.
https://response.jp/article/2017/05/18/294872.html

http://mpv21hiro.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-2255.html?pc

 

 

I think the metal sheds were probably more from the 1980's or possibly the 1970's or earlier, I was there last April and the shed is presented more in it's original form these days, you can stil see some of the foundations of where the extensions were in front of the shed.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ianlaw]

First and second prize go to Kiha66  for guessing the location and Das Steinkopf.

As it's not intended to be an exact copy, I will be adding a corrugated iron roof to just one track, the track above the inspection pit, to add extra interest.

 

I've made a small control panel for the depot area. As you can see it's quite a simple affair made from 3mm card as I prefer to spend my time modelling. It just controls power to the track sections. The points will be controlled by manual rods to the front of the layout. Photos will follow once I've made these and got them working. 

[ianlaw]

I have got the backscene up and took some pics to check how it looks from various angles. It's a pic I found on internet years ago, printed on the A3 laserjet at the office.

[serotta1972]

wow, that looks great!  The background blends in nicely.

[cteno4]

Excellent job Lawrence! No one at the office wondered why blown up pictures of a Japanese town were coming out of the LaserWriter?  ;-p

 

you seamed them very well! The hedge row was a perfect to blend foreground and background in anvery short distance. Excellent! Kudos!

 

jeff

Edited April 21, 2018 by cteno4

[ianlaw]

Some ballasting and foliage planting.

[ianlaw]

A new arrival. After paying the ransom fee and fitting the detailing parts.

[Martijn Meerts]

Oooh.. Lovely train there 😄

 

[ianlaw]

Hello all,

 

It's been a while since I posted here because I have moved to new house. So I had to take my layouts apart and then reassemble the sections. They are now operational again, but still without fiddle yards.  That together with moving means that only this Christmas holiday have I been able to actually add to the layout.  My wife likes the green shinkansen.... in my previous layout room I didn't have sufficient space for the large radius bends required. I now have a very large model room and have added a shinkansen line to the rear of the layout. I have mainly focused on the superstructure for the shinkansen line and on completing the trees on the existing temple hill. I also added some height to the hill, so the shinkansen c ould also pass under the temple. The shinkansen is just a static holiday souvenir at this point in time. Also no back-scene yet.

 

Trees are made using woodland scenic armatures and foliage clusters.

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by ianlaw

[cteno4]

Excellent ian! Glad you are all moved and in a place with a bigger model room! More fun to come.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[ianlaw]

Using a photograph as example I weathered one of my kiha 187 coaches. What do you think?

 

[cteno4]

Nice, just enough to knock off the plastic look of some parts but still clean like most Japanese trains! It’s a subtle balance! Well done

 

jeff

[ianlaw]

Just arrived from the post office. Even including the ransom fee it's still very cheap compared to European price levels.

Also some more progress to the small station area, with a waiting room and a way to actually reach the station from the village. 

[ianlaw]

Been working on the water in the river last week. I used the "toilet paper" method I found on the Youtube video channel of Marklinofsweden and spent most of the week applying layers of gloss varnish. Took some pics to see if the subtle ripple effect would also be visible on photos... all depends on the lighting. I still need to complete the bridge piers etc.. The inter-local tram line is nearing completion. The mainline bridge piers in the background need replacing by wider examples to enable the OLE to be attached.

Edited January 26, 2020 by ianlaw

[ianlaw]

 

Kato kiha 58 from plaza Japan has entered service after applying stickers and weathering. Waiting for a kiha 65 to join it. Also waiting for a delivery of OLE masts which need attaching to the new bridge piers before I can glue them down in the river bed.

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by ianlaw

[Sheffie]

I do like your bridges. The surrounding terrain looks very nice. 

[Tony Galiani]

The recent posts prompted me to go back and read this thread from the beginning.  I really like the way you did the papercraft buildings and your solution to the printed fold lines.  I have a few to try out so I will give you technique a try.

 

And I will second Sheffie's comment on the bridges.  The scene is very convincing to me.  I have never done a water feature on a layout so that will be another technique to try out.

 

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

[ianlaw]

For those interested here is an aerial view of the bridges. The shinkansen bridge is a 100% card construction, clad in scalescenes concrete texture. Here featuring my wife's favourite shinkansen. Waiting for delivery of OLE for all lines and an additional controller so I can operate the shinkansen loop independently from the other lines. 

Edited February 8, 2020 by ianlaw

[ianlaw]

OLE has arrived and been erected. Foliage has started growing on the big bare mountainside. I also bought some thin plywood for the backscene. At the least it will hide the curtains...

 

[roadstar_na6]

That looks great, I really love those bridges, I‘d also like to have something similar on the layout I‘d like to build one day 😄

[ianlaw]

@roadstar_na6, Why not start today?😀 Piers are card with inkjet printed textures, shinkansen bridge is 100% card, tramway bridge has card longitudinal members. Old mainline bridges use plastic kits. So basically two out of three bridges can be built at no cost. The basis of all the landscaping is expanded polystyrene, which is also easy to find. 😄

[roadstar_na6]

I‘m lacking space and time for it at the moment 😄 

I‘d build it modular, too, so it can be run together with my club‘s layout and if I ever get the chance to have a designated hobby-room for such stuff I‘ll also get a similar layout as you got now. At least that‘s the plan for now 😉

[ianlaw]

It's been ages since I posted anything here. Most of the time I have been busy with my BR layout. Recently I turned my attention back to my JR layout. i rerouted the interurban tram, put in a dedicated diesel route and scratch built an onsen, suitably named after my wife 春麗温泉.  This is the first building with traditional roof I have scratch built. As usual I use printed textures. To get some depth into the roof I glued the texture onto 1mm foam board and then pressed vertical lines into the roof using a ruler.

[cteno4]

Ian,

 

excellent job on the onsen! Kudos! Any picts of the construction? The printed window shutters are really awesome and the roof texture really pops. Nicely done.

 

jeff

[Tom C]

@ianlaw

What a wonderfully inspiering layout. Quality workmanship with a great eye for detail make it come alive. Hats off 👍