Yūrakuchō

[Kamome442]

Ohh Great photo @JR East, thanks for sharing it. I have seen that space used for a few things while researching it, never for displaying a helicopter until now. Maybe I will have to make a little model and recreate that scene! 

[cteno4]

Joe, I’ve got the helicopter if you want it for that bit!

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Very kind of you Jeff. It will be a few years before I reach the station. Once I do I will need to I will need to work out what to put in the that space.

Maybe I could be different for every exhibition. Sometimes empty other times with an event. It would be fun to have a helicopter on loan from DC for a show.

[JR East]

1 minute ago, Kamome442 said:

Ohh Great photo @JR East, thanks for sharing it. I have seen that space used for a few things while researching it, never for displaying a helicopter until now. Maybe I will have to make a little model and recreate that scene! 

According to the EXIF, it was shot on 09/09/2021 at 23:45.

 

I was in Tokyo for the famous AutoID & Logitics fair. I've no clue why this helicopter was there and it's the sole photo I shot. My hotel was the Mercure Hotel near to Yurakucho. 

 

I prefer sitting in Shimbashi now as it direct to the Tokyo big Sight by the Yurikamome line. 

[JR East]

16 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Joe, I’ve got the helicopter if you want it for that bit!

 

jeff

The famous https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBB-Kawasaki_BK_117

[Kamome442]

22 minutes ago, JR East said:

According to the EXIF, it was shot on 09/09/2021 at 23:45.

 

I was in Tokyo for the famous AutoID & Logitics fair. I've no clue why this helicopter was there and it's the sole photo I shot. My hotel was the Mercure Hotel near to Yurakucho. 

 

Thank you for the information, I am glad you there to catch it there. 

 

23 minutes ago, JR East said:

I prefer sitting in Shimbashi now as it direct to the Tokyo big Sight by the Yurikamome line. 

 

I totally understand, I found Shimbashi an incredibly convenient station while I was there. My hotel was in Asakusa we found taking the Ginza line to Shimbashi and changing got us to most spots. I also loved using the Yurikamome line to get around. I picked up a kit not after getting back.

 

21 minutes ago, JR East said:

The famous https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBB-Kawasaki_BK_117

 

Oh no! @JR East why would you do this, you know I am going to have make sure it's the right helicopter now 🤪

[cteno4]

I think I may have that air ambulance, one of the f-toy series.

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

1 hour ago, cteno4 said:

I think I may have that air ambulance, one of the f-toy series.

 

jeff

 

It's like it was meant to be, I better get building. on which note,I did get 4 stores wired up today.

 

Now the sun has gone down I can get a night shot. 

[JR East]

BK 117 is also known as EC 145 from Eurocopter so finding it at 1/160 scale is quite easy

[Kamome442]

5 minutes ago, JR East said:

BK 117 is also known as EC 145 from Eurocopter so finding it at 1/160 scale is quite easy

 

👍 I found a few Youtube videos of the event, there was an ambulance there too. Looks like I will be watching TomyTec's re-releases!

[cteno4]

I have a f-toys bk 117 dr heli if you decide to do the scene. I’m pretty sure I have the blue police version, somewhere there is another box of helicopters I got cheap off ebay years ago. Like Tomytec vehicles I should have grabbed more of them as they are not cheap on ebay! 

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10488218/20/2

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

More Roads

 

I have been making progress on the road along the front of the alley. For the most part it pretty basic with a thin pavement in front of the arches and some cambered drainage at the edge of the road.

 

The first board join is now largely complete with just a little gap to fill in on the first board (left).

 

Road laying in progress. I don't think I have mentioned this before, some of the curb stones are coloured. These have gaps for drainage, I colour the styrene strip with a marker pen then as I scrape the hole, with a scalpel, it removes the marker and makes it easier to see the profile I am carving.

 

Now that I am around two thirds of the way along the board I have reached the bridges and the things are getting more interesting. The bridges for the front four tracks have legs separating the road and pavement. To make sure I have built everything to the correct dimensions I printed the position of the leg supports on paper. I added measurements in mm on either  side of the legs. This allowed me to move the paper left and right until the road was perfectly centred. I could then use the measurement to get the exact width of the path on either side.

 

Using these dimensions I can now create an accurate template with all the details. I will use this to mark all the points that need to be drilled. For ease of reference I have coloured the image (green=bridge supports, cyan=street/traffic lights, red=fences/bollards).

 

The same image with a bridge and track overlay. This gives a sense of you will hopefully see looking down through the gaps in the bridges.

 

I need to add the positions for the remaining bridges, these will include entrances on either side to the passages that run under the tracks.

Joe

[JR East]

Looks really great. Whaou effect

[Kamome442]

Time to finish up some of the last jobs needed to complete the arches on the second board.

Last night I removed the rendered stonework from the inner edge of each arch. This was removed in real life during the renovation in 2019, revealing the bare concrete reinforcement added in the 1970's. I was hoping that they would reapply the plaster and engrave the lines to represent the separate stones (really only so I wouldn't have to update my model). However it seems few coats of paint over the concrete was deemed as sufficient. 

 

Today I have been replicating the various cracks and holes on each arch. Below is a work in progress, in some areas I got a little too excited with the scalpel and will need to gently fill in the gaps a little. Other areas need a little more digging out.

 

From there it is on to the final job and my least favourite part of brickwork. Adding in all the little corbels that support the overhang at the top of the wall.

 

It is nothing more than three strips of styrene layered and then cut into separate little pieces.

 

It is however very repetitive and tedious. Time to find a good film to put on in the background!

 

[gavino200]

That's really incredible work. It truly blows my mind. Do you have any thoughts yet about how you're going to paint it?

[Kamome442]

Thank you @gavino200, actually I am planning to get some primer on it tomorrow, depending on the weather. It will just be the arches and shop fronts for now with the road to follow next week. It is about time these arches were red!

[Kamome442]

Well rain stopped play last weekend, today the sun is shining and there are lots of parts to get painted. 

I have started with some of the 3D printed and etched parts. I am using an etch primer for both of these as I found in the past some printed resins don't take paint very well. An etch primer gets the best results as it keys to the resins surface, leaving a nice durable surface to work on. 

 

The first batch of parts, retaining walls.

 

I will probably airbrush these parts tan to get a warm base colour to work from.

Shop fronts and the arches are next on the list, this will be followed by the bridges, street lights and roads.

[Madsing]

Are you using a specific etch primer? The same as for photo etched parts?

[Kamome442]

@Madsing I am just using a can of Jenolite universal etch primer, the same as I use on etched parts. I have had lots of trouble in the past with paint chipping from resin parts. Enamels seem to work a little better than acrylics in my experience but they can still chip occasionally. When I picked up some etch primer for doing the metal parts I figured I would try it on a print and I have yet to have any issues.

[ED75-775]

Looking good so far! As this rate it will be hard to tell the difference between the real thing and the model once ‘finished’...😉

 

Any luck landing the elusive 251 Super Odoriko?

 

Alastair

[Kamome442]

Thanks Alastair, fingers crossed it will be hard to tell the difference once some colour and a few little details are applied. 

I haven't been activity searching the second hand market so the 251 is still needed to complete the roster, hopefully there will be a re-run some time in the future. I do have a E261 Saphir Odoriko and a couple E257's so if I should exhibit the layout before one turns up I can just run an up to date timetable.

 

While I had the spray can out I did splash some paint on the line monitoring box.

 

I had a quick play around, it is not really a thin beam of light but I will continue to tinker.

 

Joe

 

[gavino200]

Holy crapoli, it's already pretty damn good!!! Can't wait to see it when you think it's ready!

[cteno4]

Light never scales well. I expect getting the slot/slit thinner ma result in more diffraction and thus dispersion.

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Thanks @gavino200, I am going to try and cast a concave lens, in resin at some point to see if it would actually focus the beam a little more. I also want to revisit the print, I am really happy with the sides but because of the angle there is some nasty stepping.

 

It might just be a case of changing the print orientation, failing that I will print the hatch covers separately and stick them on. Seeing as this is a procrastination project it might be a while before complete the next iteration.

 

Did somebody say procrastination? Well I did have some time this weekend waiting for paint to dry, it would be rude not too! 😉

     

[Kamome442]

I guess it must be time to choose a shade of red!