Hello all from southern England

[Quinn]

Hello all,

 

A little intro from me.

 

Most of my modelling has been dioramas. Recently I wanted to include rail. I have no layout (yet) but as I bought my first locos I acquired a circle of Kato track and controller to run them in (it seems a practice, so I learned elsewhere).

 

I cannot explain how my interest in the Japanese scene started. It just did, with Sankei’s Nagasaki House kit and an apartment kit to ease into understanding and working with those kits. I find them wonderful but not always easy. Space didn’t allow me to model the whole “Glover” garden but I did my best.  If I can find out how I’ll post a photo of it all lit up. It was the thing that cemented my interest in the region (and its railways).

 

Although I now work exclusively with Japanese buildings the dioramas are shifting from “anglecised” to more authentic rural scenes (I hope). And as I buy railway items the need for a layout grows. Space is always going to be a problem. 

 

Most of my efforts have been scenic so I have tons to learn both about the culture and railways generally let alone Japanese railways.

 

So I was very pleased to find this forum and hope in time to be able to contribute. Until then please excuse my naivety and sometimes dumb questions!

 

Thank you for that. 

:)

Quinn

[Yavianice]

Welcome to the forum Quinn! 

 

So I was very pleased to find this forum and hope in time to be able to contribute. Until then please excuse my naivety and sometimes dumb questions!

 

We all started somewhere!

[miyakoji]

Hi Quinn, welcome to the forum!

[Sascha]

Hello Quinn, and welcome to the forum!!!

[Drunkenclam]

Welcome Aboard

[scotspensioner]

Hi Quin

Welcome aboard I too am learning as I go but so far it's been a fabulous journey

 

Enjoy it!

[Kiha66]

Welcome Quin!  One of the great things about Japanese modeling is the popularity of diorama type layouts, or modules that join together to form a larger loop each with their own individual scene.  Can't wait to see what you come up with! 

 

Here's an example of the small diorama type layouts http://space.geocities.jp/popoya2008/menu.html

[cteno4]

Welcome Quinn! Glad you found us. Japanese trains are so fun as there are so many in prototype and model that you have a spectacular choice along with great quality and high bang for the buck! Trains are so prevalent in japan they can be put into just about any scenery idea that comes to mind! Look at some of the rail trip videos on YouTube and you can see the Wild variety of scenes just meters from the track. So almost too many options!

 

Ask kiha pointed out you may want to look at doing small modules you can pop together to run train on or display a few in a row on bookshelves. One of our forum members did a great set of these based on the link kiha posted

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/minimodules.html

 

Also another interesting idea is small scenery islands you can make and do temporary setups with sectional track with great effect!

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/tempoary.html

 

You can fit a lot in a small space as well even w.o using the shorties and just using 1-2 car trains or small flights with shorter cars in a more rural setting

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/btrainshorty-pt1.html

 

Have fun and keep us posted on your progress. No worries no dumb questions!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[Quinn]

ISIS would seem to have no chance whatsoever in setting up any sorts of states or enclaves in Europe.ISIS would seem to have no chance whatsoever in setting up any sorts of states or enclaves in Europe.Thank you all for the welcome. And plenty of advice already noted. It's a great place to be. 

 

The smaller modules idea is definitely appealing. The next diorama in the queue could be the start of that. I need a least 1.5m of track 

to show trains I hope to buy (one being the Shiki Shima if I'm lucky enough to get my hands on one) and it would be really nice to

run these things in a scenic setting rather than just my circle of test track.  

 

So, thank you in advance for accommodating any "dumb questions" I'll inevitably ask!

 

Cheers,

Quinn.

[Martijn Meerts]

The only dumb question is the one you don't ask ;)

[densha17]

That sounds interesting. I actually found ryokan kit in a thrift shop when I visited Taito.