How did you improve your rolling stock?

[tripel7]

Oh hi, it's my from reddit 😂

[lighthouse]

Hi,
Unfortunately, I don't know when I last received a train set where the factory-fitted parts fell off just by looking at them... After I was able to do a small part, like the snow plow, at a meeting with friends, I sat down last night to do the final steps. The following work was done:

 

- new loose parts were fixed with wood glue
- vehicle numbers rubbed on
- green decorative stripe rubbed on the "Green Car"
- hose imitations inserted and color-matched (Revell Aqua Color 09 Anthracite)

 

What still needs to be done in the near future:

 

- highlight contours with diluted black paint
- weather the roof section
- install interior lighting with power pack
- color-match the interior

- find decal set for the car number and car signs... 

 

So there's still enough work to do for the 6-car "Karikatsu" train. Another KiHa 56-0 railcar is to follow next week to complete a 7-car train named "2601D" from 1965.

 

Cheers!

[Nozomi329]

A bit of stickers, jumper cables, and painted ceramic insulators

[Kamome]

Gotta love those 581/583s.

Had a picture of one of these in a deck of Super Top Trumps (Super Trains) as a kid. Still my favourite JNR era multiple unit. Using blue for a sleeper instead of the usual red/cream livery just looked smart. I’m sure these were actually pretty horrible to sleep on. Beds were 3 births high and probably with an aroma of body odor, alcohol and stale tobacco. 

[lighthouse]

On 11/17/2024 at 8:06 AM, Steve said:

Modified the KATO Set 10-1893 (JR West Event Train) and turned it into Mid Showa-Era JNR Rolling Stock.

 

 

What exactly did you modify to bring it into the Mid-Showa era?

[Kamome]

Had a bit of hobby time, well time to set up the airbrush and extractor booth and finally got around to painting up the Aru 9 DE601 kit I bought at Jam2024. 

 

The relief details on the etch were pretty good although I wanted to create a sort of custom diesel unit for a little limestone facility I’ve been toying with, based around a Walthers coal mine loader kit. The body side etches do contain drill holes on the inside for the grab rails but don’t have these in the kit. I used 0.3mm brass wire but my bending consistency isn’t up to much. 

The kit goes together quite well. The biggest issue was actually getting the chassis set up as there’s a few fiddly parts. This needed a separate chassis kit for very little money and uses a Kato B train chassis which also need some plastic removing. 

I went for a simple industrial/private freight line blue (Rinkai Railway) with yellow ends. The blue was actually mixed from 2 Mr Color shades, one dark blue which I liked and a lighter grey blue which I think was from a Gundam range. My initial intention was to paint wasp stripes but this seems incredibly fiddly at this scale. The last headache was getting the side handrails into the positioning holes. These fitted easily before painting but had a few bend issues on the last few pillars. My last expectation was to add a white stripe, reminiscent of the actual loco in Hokkaido but I decided against this. I may still create a fictional mining company waterside decal on some printable paper and apply at a later date. 

The roof etch has a fan modelled but this is covered by a large roof panel. I decided to omit this and add a fine mesh panel I found, actual intended for a 1/48 tank model.

The mesh is very fine so sort of works. I also added Microtrains couplers to the chassis and bent some 0.3mm wire into a speedometer cable from one of the wheel axles.

I also made an asymmetrical cab section with an engineer sat sideways. This is glued to the chassis and sits on the right side, thanks to photos of the real thing.

This does mean there’s a slight technique to putting the body shell on. The real loco was American made so I assume that’s why drivers seat is on the right. 

 

Glazing was just some clear acetate applied with tamiya clear glaze cement to avoid any frosting. I also found the best way to paint the number boards was to paint with silver acrylic, then once dry, add thinned red/orange enamel paint, of which the excess can be cleaned up once dry to expose the silver numbers and edging. 

 

Total cost - ¥5060 inc tax

 

Aru 9 Body kit ¥2680

Aru 9 Chassis Modification Kit ¥880 (required due to narrow body, 2 supplied in kit)

Kato chassis ¥1500

 

Edited Thursday at 11:24 PM by Kamome