new construction set

[cteno4]

New construction set coming in oct from Fujimoto Service/Pro Hobby.

 

set of 10 of a box. looks to be 5 models

 

• show blower

• garbage truck

• crane

• heavy fork lift

• steam roller

 

cheers,

 

jeff

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10096570

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10096570a/20/1

[Hobby Dreamer]

Thanks Jeff,

 

I'm grateful to have found this forum as I have learned so much. Moreover, there is a real cooperative feel, so much so that I am committing myself to an N-scale layout. I've always wanted a small layout and trams were a main interest. The new Portams and soon to be available track trumps anything in HO. I like the Modemo 300 trams but the ride height is such that you need platforms.

 

I'm just going to freelance my layout, initially.

 

Regarding these (and other) vehicles, are they generally as good looking in real life as compared to photos? (I'm referring to photos from the Tomix etc site of small scenes etc).  I have only ever held an N-scale Herpa vehicle and the quality was significantly better than the American N-scale vehicles I have seen. My only exposure to N-scale has been N-track at model train shows and the vehicles, structures etc always seemed really low quality, although this may reflect the fact that the modules are at least a decade old and that they bring/use lower quality for mobile displays. 

 

Vehicles (such as construction) can make a nice vignette in a layout.

 

I guess most photos /Youtubes etc one sees don't get close enough to see the detail.

 

Thanks

Rick

[cteno4]

Rick,

 

Uh ho, sounds like jns has become your pusher/enabler! LOL. glad you found it and are getting into doing a small n scale layout. the trams are perfect for this as you can do some great scenes in tiny spaces and get away with very tight radius curves to save space and compress scenes. you can start small with a little one to cut your teeth on so to speak and try out how you want to do things and always grow to a larger one later. Ttrak is also another option as the standard spacing is perfect for trams (actually designed for that purpose).

 

in general the tomytec vehicles are remarkably detailed and a very good price. just about the best quality vehicles out there in the world (there are some nicer, but no where near the price of the tomytec vehicles).

 

on the construction vehicles they come from three different producers now. first was Maruka (hyper construction sets 1 and 2) then Platz came out with one and now pro hobby. for the most part they are ok in their detail and look. the first set of maruka have nice detailing, but not much in the way of movable parts and paint job is a bit blah. the second set that just got released looks to be a bit cheaper looking and glossier (should have mine in a few days to review). the platz are nice on detail, but lack a few important details in a few places. the heavy equipment trailer is really nice. will be interesting to see what the pro hobby will look like.

 

platz

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10089438a/20/1

 

Maruka

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10078245a3/20/3

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10088460a2/20/2

 

love these construction vehicles as they do provide you with a lot of great ideas for scenes to do! i want to do a road repair, road construction, building construction scene. already have the construction scene of the full size gundam in tokyo going together.

 

think you will find there is a lot of great quality and detailed stuff in the japanese n scale trains to have a lot of fun with!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Hobby Dreamer]

Thanks Jeff, you are great guy for helping me out!

 

There is a lot to learn in this hobby as well as a lot of product to learn about.

 

Thanks for those photos (and info about manufacturers) - really nicer than about 80% of the HO stuff. There was an article that I wish I had bookmarked that discussed what is important when scaling down. But it looks like Tomytec etc have really achieved this. (one factor was colour as some colours look less in scale such as chrome).

 

Your posts on vehicles really helped inspire my move to N. In fact, I have been dreading that Kato would produce no additional tram track but then it hit me that you don't need a turnout as long as you can fake one! And you fake it by having a repair crew building one! Its also a nice way to transition from tram to Unitrack or to Tomix track.

 

I'm taking your advice by working on a shelf sized layout (but still keeping an old door for the main layout).

 

Thanks again for your posts on construction vehicles. I really would not know how to find these without trustworthy and sound advice.

 

Cheers

Rick

[cteno4]

well shucks [blush]... Thanks for the kind words and glad its been a help!

 

Doug Coster mentioned over on the jrforum list that he had dinner with mr Kato and that he could not provide details, but the surprises from kato may keep coming. the unitram track and portrams were in development for a few years and not just a fluke thing popped out. makes me hopeful that trams will be coming in more and more!

 

you might want to check out the RU2-1 controller for your trams. its a auto reversing unit that also has 5 stops you can also do. uses little photosensors you mount in the track for the reversing or stop locations. you can even use it w/o the reversing and just have 5 stops in a loop. even does a momentum/break on the start/stops so not lust a hard power off. powersupply built in to boot!

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,1255.0.html

 

have fun!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Hobby Dreamer]

Thanks Jeff, for this....

 

It has to be that more is to come from Kato. The track & street pattern suggest it as does the demo of tight radius curves. Plus, people would eventually want to expand beyond an oval.

 

Yes, I saw your link to the auto-reversing unit. That is extremely impressive because it would be difficult to control more than a very few trams even with DCC. The stopping and momentum parts are also terrific. It also seems very well priced compared to other momentum power supplies.

 

I am beginning to realize one thing and that is that there is a ton of product available in N-scale, or can be used in N.

 

The other thing I learned from your link is that Hobby Search is a great place to start because they carry a vast amount and its all in English. I'm staring a spreadsheet of items and plan to go through every page of HS' site.

 

Thanks

[cteno4]

Rick,

 

Yes HobbySearch is a great site to start with and the old standard catalog to drool over! they have the most organized and very complete catalog of most of the main stuff out there that you can get ahold of and even a good chunk of the stuff recently out of circulation (but can still be found sometimes in the odd places in japan, yahoo jp auctions or ebay).

 

ill pm you my japanese train buying guide info here.

 

yes N is the 800lb gorrilla in japan and the japanese train market is much bigger than the US one, so its a nice place to play! also in the last few years there has been a big explosion of great structure and scenery items from tomytec that has really made life grand for japanese n scale modeling!

 

I hope that kato is trying to take the tram track market back from tomix, would be nice to have more options in the tight radius items and the street track makes life a lot easier (especially on the curves!) to fill in your streets around tracks! I really like the 25mm standard ttrak spacing (basically standard unitrak roadbed butt up against each other) for streetcar as it seems to be the perfect prototypical fit and even enough room for a thin center street platform that you seen in japan in some places (thought i would loose the toes on my size 14 feet on a couple of them!).

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Hobby Dreamer]

yes N is the 800lb gorrilla in japan

 

 

Jeff has kindly sent me ton of info on product and stores, which is really appreciated! Its amazing how much is out there! And there is quite a bit that is ready to use, such as ready-made structures, so you don't have to spend time to get things up and running.

 

I just received one of MicroAce's snow plows, amazing detail and it runs too!

 

Have a great weekend guys!