How did you improve your rolling stock?

[Tony Galiani]

This is sort of sad but this is the extent of my modeling efforts for the past several weeks.  With the start of the Fall semester I have been crazy busy at work - everyone is stressed to the max due to Covid and lots of things that should be routine just don't seem to work well nowadays.

 

Anyway, I felt that the roof weathering on that Ecoliner container was a bit over the top (so to speak).  Looking at the few videos I could find with views from above, I decided I wanted to tone it down a bit to better match the weathering on the sides.  So I removed as much as I could from the top and redid it with a new flat coat.  Any input appreciated.

 

Hopefully, I can get a bit more modeling done in the near future.

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

[disturbman]

On 8/25/2021 at 3:23 PM, disturbman said:

It makes the set look a lot better, less toy-like.

Wanted to add a comparison picture. The difference is quite striking, I can actually see the shiny wheels from the other side of a room.

 

[Kamome]

On 8/27/2021 at 12:22 AM, Tony Galiani said:

This is sort of sad but this is the extent of my modeling efforts for the past several weeks.  With the start of the Fall semester I have been crazy busy at work - everyone is stressed to the max due to Covid and lots of things that should be routine just don't seem to work well nowadays.

 

Anyway, I felt that the roof weathering on that Ecoliner container was a bit over the top (so to speak).  Looking at the few videos I could find with views from above, I decided I wanted to tone it down a bit to better match the weathering on the sides.  So I removed as much as I could from the top and redid it with a new flat coat.  Any input appreciated.

 

Hopefully, I can get a bit more modeling done in the near future.

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

Hi Tony

 

Weathering containers is a great way to practise before you gain confidence to do your nice shiny rolling stock. 

 

I would say it’s not a bad go at weathering but looks still a little heavy for my taste. The different colour tones give it some depth although the level of weathering would suggest the container was in need of retirement. It’s certainly not a bad effort. I have seen some old Seino kangaroo character containers looking like this but have a generally layer of grime and old rust patches in addition to the damage.

 

Nippon Express being a large haulier keep their containers in pretty respectable condition. They do however get a layer of dust from the journey.

I would always say add weathering sparingly especially on n scale stock. A little addition makes a big difference and I would say here a big addition makes an enormous difference. 

 

I’m not sure what medium you’re using, perhaps acrylic paint. Although the most accessible of paints it’s not the easiest to correct. Enamel or Oil paints would be the way to go and if you do get a bit heavy handed, you can practically take off all of the weathering and start again. Or just keep working into the weathering to remove the excess. 

 

For the roof, i don’t know if you have an airbrush or have access to one. All the tops of containers get a layer of dark brown, grey grime. Some of those that are close to the locomotive would get more diesel soot or a tan brown dust from the pantograph wear, same as seen on most of the electric JRF locos as they don’t get washed as regularly.

 

Keep going and you’ll find some techniques that work for your taste. 

 

As for my improvements, I found a little 1/144 tank model to at least get some idea for the military train. This is a type 60 self propelled 106mm recoilless gun used by the JGSDF until about 2008. The model is from the Kaiyodo World Tank Museum series 4.  It’s in winter camo but I’ll probably paint in green and add the Japan flag on the side as they were used before their decommissioning. It also needs some sort of loading pallet to protect the wagon getting chewed up by the caterpillars. It looks a bit small but they were pretty small tanks. It came with 2 military figures so it gives a better idea of the size of the tank.

 

The chap who runs YSK models who produce the more prototypical military loads has said on his Twitter feed that he has contracted Covid-19 so will be stopping production and sales while he’s recovering.

I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery and then I will have some business to put his way. I have also preordered the Type 16 in 1/144 from Pit Road thanks to @nah00heads up. Again I don’t think these were carried by rail, or at least haven’t been yet, but keen to see what they look like.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Kamome

[Tony Galiani]

@Kamome - Thanks for the input.  Thinking I will have another go at this one at some point.  I have also been looking at ogogogjew's videos from Hokkaido and that helps demonstrate you point about the tops of the containers.

I have been using acrylics but maybe it is time to try some enamels as well.  Or maybe oil as I can "borrow" some of my wife's paint to experiment.

 

Tony Galiani

[Kamome]

So had a go and modernising the Type 60 SP gun with a darker green tone. I don’t have an exact JGSDF green but a mix of gunship green and German dark green from Vallejo Model Color acrylic got close enough. Panel lines done with Tamiya enamel black heavily diluted with enamel thinners. 

 

I also made a loading pallet using some plastic card, scored to give the impression of planks. Added some 1mm plastic beams to look like wooden chocks between the caterpillars. Painted with Vallejo acrylic pale sand and desert yellow mixing the 2 for various shades. Lines completed with Tamiya panel line accent dark brown again diluted with enamel thinners.

 

I want to added a Japan flag to the sides of the tank as they were seen like this during peace keeping operations. If I can’t find suitable decals, i’ll have a go at masking and painting it in. 

 

It's amazing what the camera picks up that you miss. I need to go back in and clean up some of the wheel highlights as some look a little blotchy with magnification.

 

 

Update:

I found some information on dimensions of the Japanese flag to get an accurate depiction. The flag is 2 units high and 3 units wide. The sun disc is central and 3/5ths of the height of the flag. Colouration should be a crimson red rather than a bright red.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Kamome
Added Flag facts

[Tony Galiani]

Some additional weathering thoughts .... ogogogjwe's video this morning of a freight out of Engaru gave me additional inspiration.  He often takes several views of the same train from different angles and you can see the container roofs.  They mostly seem to be somewhat faded in comparison with the sides though not particularly dirty.  I occasionally using a fading technique which I read about on-line - add a little white to clear flat and the finish is now flat with a slightly faded look.  I think this would be good for the container roofs.

I plan to try that and see how it works.

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

[bill937ca]

Today's project is to replace the power chassis in my Kato 14-501-2 Pocket Line Series Tram, Nissin Chikin Ramen (Chibi-Den `Chicken Ra-men`) with a Kato  11-108 Pocket Line Tram power chassis with a coreless motor.   After this change the tram should run slower than before. Kato has not reissued the 14-501-2 and with licensing issues this may not happen.

 

I just slipped the body off the old power chassis, removed the drawbar between the motor tram and the trailer.   The new power chassis just slides back into the tram body.

 

The fourth photo shows the old power chassis at the top and the newer power chassis at the bottom.

 

Note this is a tram power chassis with the lifeguard fender at the front and a drawbar tab at the back.  There are no coupler pockets.  There are other Pocket Line chassis for locomotives and EMUs.

Edited September 5, 2021 by bill937ca

[JR East]

Quick improvement performed on my newly acquired Tomix Tobu 500 ... Make the pantographs more realistic (I'll do better picture later on). Basically, it's to stick a fine adhesive copper on the pantograph to mimic the real copper strips. 

 

 

it doesn't appear agressive and if this doesn't please you anymore, as it's adhesive copper, you can easily remove it and revert to the original look and feel

 

 

 

to be clear, for less than 6 euros the 20 m roll (6mm width), it's a good compromise.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2021 by JR East
typos

[Kamome]

I tend to use the Tamiya metallic acrylic dark copper for pantographs but this looks a really nice way to add a little more realism. 

[JR 500系]

The more i look at the REvalty, the more i am tempted..... 😞

[disturbman]

Your mind is weak, young Railwalker.

[JR 500系]

1 hour ago, disturbman said:

Your mind is weak, young Railwalker.

😆

 

I find your lack of faith (in me) disturbing....   😛

[JR East]

Same sticky copper ribbon applied to my RAPI:T ... really looks great now.

 

 

of course, with a so close focus, you can see all the very small defects

 

 

 

 

But believe me, when it's in operation, it really mimics the real copper strip. 

 

I'm enhancing the technic, then I'll make a detailed "How-To"

[ianlaw]

I just wondered if anyone has replaced the standard couplers of the kato 0-series Shinkansen with kato 11-702 knuckle couplings. It looks like this would reduce the spacing between the carriages by 2-3mm which is approx the remaining space in the minimum curve... Did it work and was the improvement in the appearance worth the effort.

Edited September 21, 2021 by ianlaw

[Kamome]

I changed out the standard rapido couplers on my zero to the 11-703 Shibata style couplers with air hoses. This does reduce the spacing between coaches considerably. I’ve also got some spare 11-702 so I could fit and post a comparison image when I get a chance.

 

I’d definitely switch out the rapido couplers though. 

[Kamome]

 

As promised

Actually the 11-703 Shibata style has a slightly wider gap than using 11-702 knuckle. I thought it would be the same. If you wanted to retain the air hoses then you could also use 11-721. 

 

Rapido

 

 

11-702

 

 

11-703

 

 

And just for fun, here is a combination of 11-702 and a 28-187 short knuckle. It is impossible to use 2 of the short knuckles and you’d need some pretty sweeping curves for this to navigate. 

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Kamome

[railsquid]

43 minutes ago, Kamome said:

11-703

 

 

 

I think I tried these a few years ago on the Kato 0-Series, and gave up because the air hoses or whatever tended to bind on 280mm curves, leading to derailments.

[disturbman]

If you want to use knuckle couplers, Greenmax medium length shanks are probably the better answer.

[Kamome]

45 minutes ago, railsquid said:

 

I think I tried these a few years ago on the Kato 0-Series, and gave up because the air hoses or whatever tended to bind on 280mm curves, leading to derailments.

I’ve only run on a minimum of 381mm with this set up so yes i’d imagine not great on tighter curves.

 

41 minutes ago, disturbman said:

If you want to use knuckle couplers, Greenmax medium length shanks are probably the better answer.

Not seen or tried these. Do you have some or images of them applied? I did my 0系 coupler change about 10 years ago and options were much more limited. I’d be interested in other options.

[disturbman]

They are smaller and better proportioned than Kato's. The only "issue" is that they do not automatically couple, you have to hook them together, but it's easy to do.

I had posted a few pictures here: https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/18362-coupler-tinkering-rapido-pocket-knuckle-coupler-bible-ish/

 

[ianlaw]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I borrowed a few 11-702 from other carriages to try them out. It reduced the distance by 1-2mm compared with the rapidos (as shown by Kamome) and the carriages just touch in katos recommended minimum radius bends which I have "off scene" at a both ends of my "dogbone" style layout. The other option I was considering was gluing a close coupling mechanism to the bottom of the carriages, but I don't have any spare. I've done this in the past to form Tomix and Kato "junk bin" carriages into a complete DMU.

[ianlaw]

Hmmm.. after measuring the distance between other carriages with these close couplings it would be reduced from 4 to 3mm, So no great gains. Maybe adding some gangways between the carriages to fill the void would be the best optical solution. Anybody done that? Here's a quick and dirty mock up using a 1mm thick piece of card and the 11-702 couplers versus the rapido. Two pieces touched so I need a slightly thinner card so I can have a gangway on both ends. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by ianlaw

[Kiha66]

I use Kato 11-703's on my 0 series.  If you look closely the gap is still there, but it makes a very impressive train and I think the air hoses really add a lot.

[Dinosbacsi]

On 9/22/2021 at 3:58 PM, railsquid said:

I think I tried these a few years ago on the Kato 0-Series, and gave up because the air hoses or whatever tended to bind on 280mm curves, leading to derailments.

Really? I use 11-703 shibata coupler on my B Train Shorties and I run them on 150mm and 117mm radius curves and they work just fine.

 

Though maybe it's because they're shorties and the overhang is much less, even on the tight curves.

[railsquid]

Indeed; I have plenty of normal 20m stock which uses these with no problems on the 280mm radius curves (and my Shinkansens otherwise have no problems with them) I think it was just the combination of this particular model, coupler type and curve. If memory serves correctly, it was fine on 317mm curves.