Prototype for everything (scenic edition)

[railsquid]

Not strictly a train subject, but I don't think we have a thread for "implausible scenic items".

 

Japan's shortest crash barrier: https://goo.gl/maps/Lk2BrRhrrTYAtL9Y7

[cteno4]

Also probably shortest full curb section!

 

jeff

[railsquid]

(Almost) two-storey cactus anyone?

 

 

Picture from 2008, I'll have to remember where this was and see if it's grown since then.

[railsquid]

Building kit went all wonky? No problem:

 

 

(Location: https://goo.gl/maps/EAfFU92Jw2Fp6Cpv6 , building since demolished).

[railsquid]

Not enough space to park your car? Just let its posterior dangle over the river:

 

 

Car has since vanished (picture is from 2009), but the property owner seems to have some issues with various authorities related to road and land usage: https://goo.gl/maps/CGNc1byaNXd6EpnE9

[chadbag]

2 minutes ago, railsquid said:

Not enough space to park your car? Just let its posterior dangle over the river:

 

 

Car has since vanished (picture is from 2009), but the property owner seems to have some issues with various authorities related to road and land usage: https://goo.gl/maps/CGNc1byaNXd6EpnE9

 

Figures it was a BMW owner 🙂

 

[Cat]

We have a cactus in our parlour that would be 2 stories if the window went up any higher!  We've had this for decades in a shallow pot where it never should have survived, but we don't dare re-plant it, or even try to move it since claimed the window as its own city-state.

 

[gavino200]

7 hours ago, Cat said:

We have a cactus in our parlour that would be 2 stories if the window went up any higher!  We've had this for decades in a shallow pot where it never should have survived, but we don't dare re-plant it, or even try to move it since claimed the window as its own city-state.

 

That's a fascinating book collection in the background!

Edited May 14, 2020 by gavino200

[JR 500系]

8 hours ago, railsquid said:

Not enough space to park your car? Just let its posterior dangle over the river:

 

 

 

Don't forget anything in the car trunk when reach home!  🙂

[cteno4]

Looks like you could just hang out the window above to get your stuff from the trunk.

 

jeff

[Cat]

It's just a short bungee-jump away!

[railsquid]

Xxxtremely Tight Parking in Kyoto: https://dailyportalz.jp/kiji/kyoto-giri_giri-parking-collection

[Yavianice]

I heard that, when you buy a car in Japan, you must prove that you have a place to park it, which will be verified/measured by a policeman. I guess they  do these measurements accurate to the millimeter!

[cteno4]

More ideas for the layout!

 

jeff

[railsquid]

21 minutes ago, Yavianice said:

I heard that, when you buy a car in Japan, you must prove that you have a place to park it, which will be verified/measured by a policeman. I guess they  do these measurements accurate to the millimeter!

 

I've never owned a car in Japan, but I  suspect the police have better things to do unless an actual infraction is involved. From the way bureaucracy works in general, I imagine when registering a car, one would submit a rental contract for a parking space or property plans which show the size of the available space, and presumably the people who administer this stuff have a reasonable idea of what cars fit in what space. That doesn't seem to stop people using part of their parking space for other things (bicycles usually) and having the car jut out into the street a little.

 

17 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

More ideas for the layout!

 

 

While I'm at it let me reiterate for anyone modelling Japanese roads: THERE IS NO ON-STREET PARKING IN JAPAN, apart from the occasional metered parking spot. I'm sure there must be some exceptions somewhere but I have yet to see one...

[cteno4]

5 hours ago, railsquid said:

THERE IS NO ON-STREET PARKING IN JAPAN

yes it’s the creative “off street” parking I love! Last thing you want to waste modeling space on is for a parking lane! Or an absurdly wide street!
 

meff

[Yavianice]

@railsquid I heard it here. 

 

[railsquid]

44 minutes ago, Yavianice said:

@railsquid I heard it here. 

 

 

So he didn't actually see anyone come by and measure then.

 

I seriously doubt that actually happens for every single vehicle that is registered. I can imagine they might do it if there's some doubt with the application (e.g. someone wants to park a Hummer on a 60sqm plot with a house on it) but otherwise it'd be a waste of everyone's time.

[roadstar_na6]

At least for Kei-cars you don‘t need to have proof of a parking place. That‘s why they‘re so popular.

[gavino200]

8 hours ago, railsquid said:

 

While I'm at it let me reiterate for anyone modelling Japanese roads: THERE IS NO ON-STREET PARKING IN JAPAN, apart from the occasional metered parking spot. I'm sure there must be some exceptions somewhere but I have yet to see one...

 

Wow, I didn't know that, but now it's another thing I love about Japan. On-street parking is a pet peeve of mine. I think it's the dumbest thing ever. Residential roads here are near impassible with parking on both sides of the road while most people have pointless tiny manicured lawns that would make great little parking pads. I don't think I've ever met more that one or two people who agree with me on this. I guess now I have a whole nation on my side. ☺️

Edited August 14, 2020 by gavino200

[cteno4]

I think it’s one of the things I love about modeling japan, narrower roadways not clogged with parked cars! our house in Oakland cs years ago had narrow little streets with parking on each side that was stuffed with cars in a residential neighborhood. Only left a lane just barely big enough for a car to squeez thur and forget a full fire engine! I was always shocked at this. All the houses had driveways down the side of narrow lots to usually an old single separate garage in back but few used their driveways and if they did just one car there...
 

no o street parking also means you don’t have to buy 10x more cars to fill all those street parking spaces! more fun to cram a few in in odd little places, and makes for finding some fun little scenes.
 

There was just a discussion on one of the yahoo groups about prototype widths of roads in the us thru time and you realize how wide you have to make them prototypical and I always find this just does not look right on a layout and especially a ttrak module where the roadway takes up a huge percentage of the scene space. I realized that roads just look too wide to the mind’s eye on a layout as we view @nd perceive roads either driving down them but at 4’ off the ground or from the side walk at 5-6’ off the ground so we see them so obliquely we don’t really feel the visual depth to them as we move thru then or right along them. Rarely do we look at them let along experience them (interactive experience with visual bits is what really drives things into our visual memory/database) at any elevation and distance like we look at them on a layout or module.

 

jeff

[Cat]

Here's a video that popped up on Facebook of a small vehicle in Japan that is great for creative off-road parking.  Here in the US, most states allow tracked vehicles if they have rubberised treads that won't chew up the road.  A Kettenkrad would also be very handy for doing creative end runs around Boston traffic jams...
https://www.facebook.com/esowder/videos/10223560352825056/

 

[roadstar_na6]

Wouldn‘t want to drive this around in Germany 😄

[cteno4]

Here you go for your convenience store parking lot on the layout! 
 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/LA6SBWNEQ/sd-kfz-2-kettenkrad-2-pack?optionId=58995518&li=marketplace

 

https://hobbyterra.com/product/resin-model-kit-1-144-sd-kfz-2-kettenkrad-armory-m14202.html

 

jeff

[Cat]

1 hour ago, roadstar_na6 said:

Wouldn‘t want to drive this around in Germany 😄

After the war, the many surplus ones were treasured and used as farm tractors.  Might give the wrong impression driving around town nowadays though.

Wargaming 12mm figures are c.1/144 scale and inexpensive.  Ah well, I just got an order from Pendraken for some tanks to use for N scale Girls und Panzer gamin in Oarai; hadn't realised a Kettenkrad would have been appropriate!
https://pendraken.co.uk/search/kettenkrad/