Yūrakuchō

[Kamome442]

Thanks @kami_illy Honestly I had pretty low expectations for using glitter. I just figured it was worth trying because I already had the glitter. 

It is actually now the front runner and looking at it more closely the cellophane barrier left the resin surface with a satin finish not the usual gloss. It probably wouldn't need any additional work to complete the effect.

 

I did try sticking the glitter to sellotape, not individually with tweezers! just carefully sprinkling each colour to see if I could get a more accurate pattern. The results did not look any better than having just a mix so it wasn't really worth it.

 

The next test will be printing on waterslide transfer paper. I finished the test artwork in illustrator today. Basically I took a picture of the wall and using the eyedropper tool coloured rows or squares. Once I a 20x20 section I used copy paste create a full wall section. A little reflecting and rotating to stop the pattern looking repetitive and we are ready to go:

 

I will also grooved acrylic sheet over the top. As for metallic paint I only have a metallic blue. I think before spending money on more paint I will try this as a base coat and run a speckle pass with chrome. Hopefully I will be able to get an idea of how it will look.

 

@cteno4 I have seen pictures of the bakery. The floor looking stunning, I had no idea it was made brick by brick. I can imagine it did send her slightly crazy 🤣

I have just sent her some etched chairs she asked me to draw up and having made one up myself I think they could be just as stressful 🤭

[Kamome442]

Playing Around With Ideas

 

So I tested waterslide transfers on both silver and white backgrounds. Of the two white gave the best results:

 

It looks okay from a normal viewing distance however is just a little flat and dull close up. I also played around with spray painting speckle patterns in metallic and clear paints. These did not turn out great, probably more due to my painting skills than anything. The problem was speckles from each colour pass overlapping, it quickly became a hot mess. 

Honestly I think the glitter turned out better than expected, all subsequent tests left me a little underwhelmed. Having seen the waterslide version and getting a better idea of how small each of the little tiles should be, the glitter is heavily over scale. I wanted something that looked like glass finer than glitter. I did look for crushed glass but all I could find was either bigger than the gutter or crushed to a fine powder.

 

The answer was of course coloured sand. 

I first tried mixing it with resin but it just ended up as a mushy discoloured mess. 

For the second test I treated it like ballast and used watered down PVA glue and an eye dropper:

 

The photo doesn't really do it justice. It already looks much better than any of the previous tests. It was tricky to get the surface perfectly smooth and this test does have a few lumps. 

For the third test I wanted to see if I could get a perfectly flat surface. For this I simply poured sand on a piece of sellotape I then placed a block on top and applied pressure. Finally I brushed off the loose sand. I was expecting there to be lots of gaps but I was wrong it worked perfectly:

 

Hard to see the photo but there is a subtle sparkle as you move it around and it has a very consistent smooth finish. I will need to seal it somehow maybe with a clear glue or vanish. Also there was some noticeably finer sand, you can just about make it out near the top so I will probably sieve it carefully first to get consistent sized grains.

I am able to slide strips of paper behind this sample so that I can test the best background colour to use. 

For the finished arch I am planning use double sided sticky tape applied to the walls. Which can be dipped in sand and compacted.

[cteno4]

Joe,

 

wonderful set of experiments! Love to see the progress of what ends up working at scale to the eye. 
 

In the end on the tape are you going to hit it with some sort of fixative or just rely on the tape adhesive to work? Might look at using transfer adhesive instead of double stick tape as their adhesives are usually super, super sticky and very permanent. They also have little or no center membrane so it does well squishing the adhesive layer into smaller deformations and thus a better bond. Sand particles may sick into this better. Down side is it’s usually in thinner rolls and it’s more expensive than regular double sided tapes.

Again great work, Kudos!

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

Thanks for the tip jeff, I will certainly look into transfer adhesive the stickier the better and I like the idea of a thin membrane some of double sided tape is pretty chunky. 

[cteno4]

Warning transfer adhesive is sort of like using contact cement, once it comes into contact it’s stuck! It’s even been used to mount thin auto trim pieces where brackets would, be too tiny. Interesting stuff.

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

So you are saying there is a chance for comedy to ensue. Don't worry I promise to share pictures of me trying to remove the arch I accidentally stick to the end of my finger. 

I am still finding glitter 2 weeks after using it.

[cteno4]

Yes think super glue meets rubber cement meets contact cement! Interesting stuff. We used double stick take a lot with chipboards doing 3/4” scale exhibit models but at times it did not have the strength to hold some parts well and gluing was a pain when working on these quickly. The head designer had me order a roll of it (from a local car supply place as he knew they usually stocked it to put trim back on cars in places) and it was great. But it took care laying it down and even cutting it at times as it could stick to the scissors or knife blade easily. It does peel off your fingers better than super glue! 
 

A friend went as I think it was a genie to a Halloween party and used a ton of body glitter. He said he kept finding glitter all over his life for a few months subsequently…

 

hmm transfer adhesive and glitter and Joe body decorations…

 

jeff

 

 

[Kamome442]

I'm Sure It Will Buff Out!

Well it is finally time to finish installing tubes to carry the wiring for street lights. I had already installed one end on the scenic side I just needed bring the other ends out off scene. I have been putting this off for a while as I knew it would be a big operation. I started by cutting off the side of the board:

 

This gave the room to install the lights that sit along the edge of the board. There are 3 to install however I did think I would only be able to have two working, more on that in a bit. It also gave me a chance to see where all the tubes had ended up after poking them through holes when installing the pavement. I was able to use a ruler to poke around and get them all facing in the same direction. The next step was to cut a large hole under the 7-Eleven arch where they will all feed into:

 

I also had to make a smaller hole under the Tokaido Main Line tracks (just visible above the big hole) for one of the lights further back. Now I need to construct some side walls to support tracks above. I will drill holes in the walls for the tubes to exit out of sight. You may notice the pavement at the front looks a little springy. There are three street lights along this pavement however I knew that the one on the very corner would drop into the solid corner block I had placed inside the board when constructing it.

For a while I thought about just having two working lights and one cosmetic light on the corner. I really wasn't happy about that idea so I figured I might as well keep cutting! There was no way I was going to try to lift the pavement as it took ages to make has a very intricate pattern of tiles that would be hard repair if I damaged it. I realised I could just cut board around the pavement and carefully lift it out of the way. 

The cover blocks hold board pins to connect to neighbouring boards on the ends and a channel for a hex nut along the front edge that will be used to hold a perspex screen when the layout is out and about. I have placed one of each on the block to illustrate their position:

 

As luck would have it there is gap or about 5mm between the two and street light is positioned perfectly in that gap. Lovely when things happen by chance!

I was able to use a chisel to create little trench and have 3 working lights. My job for this evening to start gluing everything back together.

Joe

[Kamome442]

Extreme Makeover Layout Edition

 

I started the day making the side walls for the pit of doom. This was pretty simple and just involved cutting strips of wood, then drilling holes where the wires would need to pass through. I glued brass tube into the holes for the tubing to attach to (top). On the side the wires will exit I sanded the brass flush and made sure there were no sharp edges or burrs that the wires could catch on (bottom). 

 

 

Once all the tubes had been connected I could then glue the wall in place. A glimpse behind the wall at the messy jumble of tubes.

 

With all the walls in place it was time to glue everything back in place (top). Finally time to move that bus, and see the restored scene (bottom).

 

I will need to construct some form of conduit to protect the wires but I will save that for another day.

[Kamome442]

 I made a very rough mockup of the night club arch to see how it would look in a scene using the sand.

It is just two pieces of card in the basic shape needed.

 

A closer look.

[cteno4]

Wow Joe, that came out great!

 

jeff

[Kamome442]

2 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Wow Joe, that came out great!

 

jeff

 

Thank you, the transfer adhesive worked really well. It wasn't too bad to use for the test piece, it did gum up the scissors a little however I was able to clean them really easily with a dab of acetone. I am dreading making the final version there are lots of little holes to carefully cut out 😬

[cteno4]

Yeah it does tend to stick to the scissors and knife blades a lot. Keeping the blades clean as you use them really helps as if there is a bit on the blade it can really grab a bigger piece on the next cut.

 

just realized it’s like watching a fine sushi chef that cleans the blade on each cut to the knife slides thru perfectly! 

 

jeff

[UnfinishedKit]

I found this topic because I was searching for ways of doing 7.1mm Nj and have been absolutely blown away. What an incredibly inspiring piece of work. I await the next installment with bated breath. I have learnt so much from this thread 
 

@Kamome442 I’d just started down the path of designing a reguaging  tool and some track gauges, but I wonder if you have drawings for yours you could share? I want to continue learning from the master. 

[Kamome442]

Hi @UnfinishedKit Thank you for saying hello. 

I should be posting an update on making track between Christmas and New Year's. I will try to give plenty of details that might be useful to you. 

 

This thread might be of interest:

I do need to add some info about converting wheels on motorised cars.

There are also some useful posts from @Englehart about their experiences making track.

 

Please do ask if you have any questions, I do my best to help.

Joe

 

[Pashina12]

I just discovered this last night and I'm still working through it from the beginning, but I'm lost for words. Beyond phenomenal!

[cteno4]

@Pashina12 have you seen his etchings? It’s not a come on line, he really does have an amazing line of etched brass parts he sells! You will be further speechless as there you can own his work.

 

jeff

 

 

[Kamome442]

@Pashina12 Welcome and thank you for such kind words!

I hope you enjoy reading through my progress to date. You will probably notice that I tend to get a little too focused on micro details! 

My plan for 2025 is to focus on track laying to finally get Yurakucho up and running. That way I can take it out and about to hopefully make more people aware of the project.

 

@cteno4 Thanks for the link!

[Pashina12]

1 hour ago, Kamome442 said:

@Pashina12 Welcome and thank you for such kind words!

I hope you enjoy reading through my progress to date. You will probably notice that I tend to get a little too focused on micro details! 

My plan for 2025 is to focus on track laying to finally get Yurakucho up and running. That way I can take it out and about to hopefully make more people aware of the project.

Nothing to thank! In a way I guess I can live vicariously through you - micro details are what I *want* to be focussed on, but my skills aren't there yet, and I want to develop them first and save that level of time and effort for when I can finally start my "serious" project.

 

I really look forward to seeing your project develop. Everyone who gets to see it at shows will be in for a real treat.

[UnfinishedKit]

10 hours ago, cteno4 said:

@Pashina12 have you seen his etchings? It’s not a come on line, he really does have an amazing line of etched brass parts he sells! You will be further speechless as there you can own his work.

 

jeff

 

 

 

 

Thanks, I was unaware of these I I can definitely make use of some manhole covers on my mini dioramas right away. 
 

@Kamome442 if you ever wanted to take the trouble to release your bridge decks through this channel I’d be interested. 

[UnfinishedKit]

13 hours ago, Kamome442 said:

Hi @UnfinishedKit Thank you for saying hello. 

I should be posting an update on making track between Christmas and New Year's. I will try to give plenty of details that might be useful to you. 

 

This thread might be of interest:

I do need to add some info about converting wheels on motorised cars.

There are also some useful posts from @Englehart about their experiences making track.

 

Please do ask if you have any questions, I do my best to help.

Joe

 

Thanks I have read with interest. I’m doing a lot of thinking about this right now. I’ve been reading up on the Templot system and I know you used the chairs from the fine tracks system but found them unsatisfactory and moved, I think, to etched chairs like the ones from the 2mm timescale society. 
 

I’ve been scouring booth.pm to see if anyone has built a solution, but no such luck (some good tight radius HO unitrack

compatible prints is the best I found)

 

This guy isn’t specifically doing 7.1mm track but I like the solution he has of basically engineering his own unitrack to take a more realistic ballast. Once weathered and ballasted it looks really good and a lot of the kit bashing I’m doing is based around the kato b-shorty power units. Small and tight radius is what I have the space for. 

 

They’ve got a really nice jig for building his bridge track as well. 

 

You’d mentioned 3D printing sleepers was too expensive for the scale of model you had but it might work for me. 
 

For point work, modifying these Nn 6.5mm points might be an option. 
 

https://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/narrow-gauge-shop/nn-e-me55-r100-l.html

 

I’ve also been interested in this laser cut pasteboard tram track system and seeing if that could be adapted or used as an inspiration for 7.1mm

 

https://www.1zu220-shop.de/N-tram/Strassenbahngleise-Spur-Nm/N-Tram-206-314000P-Nm-R1-Radius-91-4-mm-22::141419.html

 

Lots to think about; so I’m just going to mesmerize myself with this Shorty Kiha doing spirals

 

 

[UnfinishedKit]

Apologies, I’m not sure what the etiquette is around here but I’m fairly sure I should start a new thread for my 7.1mm musings. 

[Kamome442]

 

12 hours ago, Pashina12 said:

Nothing to thank! In a way I guess I can live vicariously through you - micro details are what I *want* to be focussed on, but my skills aren't there yet, and I want to develop them first and save that level of time and effort for when I can finally start my "serious" project.

 

For sure, good to have you along for the ride. I totally understand, there are a number of times I have had to go back and rebuild parts of the layout such as adding lighting something I had not allowed for when constructing the baseboards. When I started out I had only a small amount of experience to draw on. It led to a lot of failed attempts at making parts. This has been disheartening at times when you have spend hours making something to find it didn't turn out the way you imagined it.

I will say I have leant something from every failure , I have a better understanding of which materials to use for each project, which materials can be bonded together successfully, etc.

 

As an example way back when I made brick arches I used layers of thin styrene glued to a 2mm Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) base, this has been a nightmare ever since as I did not realise at the time thin styrene tends to curl when layered.

This forced me to cut grooves on the back through the MDF and use a hairdryer to soften the styrene to pull it all back into shape several times in places it continues to curl. 

I have now started drawing up a replacement wall to be 3D printed in PLA plastic.

At some point I am going to carefully cut the styrene arches off the MDF and re-apply it to a PLA base. Not a project I am looking forward to 🫣

 

I can be somewhat soul destroying to go backwards but it is all part of the hobby and having people cheer you along really helps to keep you motivated.

I'm really looking forward to following your endeavours when you feel ready to get serious 🤭

 

Joe

[Pashina12]

4 minutes ago, Kamome442 said:

As an example way back when I made brick arches I used layers of thin styrene glued to a 2mm Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) base, this has been a nightmare ever since as I did not realise at the time thin styrene tends to curl when layered.

This forced me to cut grooves on the back through the MDF and use a hairdryer to soften the styrene to pull it all back into shape several times in places it continues to curl. 

I have now started drawing up a replacement wall to be 3D printed in PLA plastic.

At some point I am going to carefully cut the styrene arches off the MDF and re-apply it to a PLA base. Not a project I am looking forward to 🫣

 

 

Yeah, the styrene lesson I learnt quite a long time ago - it can be a touchy material to work with. I noticed also that it doesn't like it if it can't breathe, so I learnt that when layering it, I only apply cement where it absolutely needs to be - along the edges. If several sheets are going together, then to cut holes in the middle of the inner sheet(s), if the structure allows for it. But as you said, it was a lesson lernt... usually needs to be the hard way.

 

If those are the arches I'm thinking of, those are amazing work, and I get why you're not looking forward to it!

 

Quote

I can be somewhat soul destroying to go backwards but it is all part of the hobby and having people cheer you along really helps to keep you motivated.

I'm really looking forward to following your endeavours when you feel ready to get serious 🤭

 

Joe

 

I've been planning, or at least doing the heavy research, for my "serious project" for close to 8 years now - a recreation of certain parts of the Aizu Line in the late 1960s (Initially I was planning to do the latter days of steam in 1973-4, but in the years of research I've narrowed it down to around 1965 for various reasons - both DCs and loco-hauled passenger trains still, the mine at Aizu-Takinohara still operational, etc It's a fascinating line and I've learned an immense amount about it, but I don't know the difference between Akibahara and Shinagawa... if you're ever bored, this thread is 9 pages of stuff I've discovered about the line, and tangential tidbits (the harvesting of riverine gravel for ballast was banned at some point in the Showa 30s, for example). After having been off in Africa for a year, at the start of this month I decided that since I'm still a ways away from having the space to do the Aizu Line project justice, that I'd commit to building an Aizu Line-inspired shelf layout with which to both keep motivated and to hone my skills: a fictitious spot named Warauchi Onsen Station. (Actually, reading your posts about how you made the bridges actually has already inspired me, to think about using brass for the frame of the filling station sign, and using 3D print only for the actual signage part...). This being my first attempt at a layout of any sort, one thing that I've already realised is that despite having been modelling for a long time, I've still got an immense amount to learn about things specific to railway modelling!

[Kamome442]

9 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

Thanks I have read with interest. I’m doing a lot of thinking about this right now. I’ve been reading up on the Templot system and I know you used the chairs from the fine tracks system but found them unsatisfactory and moved, I think, to etched chairs like the ones from the 2mm timescale society. 

 

I did play around with Templot a long time ago, from what I can remember it was a little tedious to set up but you can do a lot with it. 

I am using the Finetrax flexi track for the Shinkansen lines I picked it because it is designed for code 40 rail. They use individually moulded track ties that push fit into a milled base for their turnout kits. I contacted the owner to see if he would sell me the ties separately. I used those to make the 3'6" gauge tracks push fitting them into sleepers I had laser cut. 

The individual ties work well on a crossover however I am now changing these to etched brass ties. This was because over a meter long section of track expansion was causing some of plastic ties to snap. 

 

9 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

I’ve been scouring booth.pm to see if anyone has built a solution, but no such luck (some good tight radius HO unitrack

compatible prints is the best I found)

 

It might be worth searching Nj Scale I know there are a few blogs online where people share what they are making. Most modellers use Z guage track but I can recall at least one blogger cutting a 1.9mm section from the middle of each sleeper then gluing them back together. 

 

9 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

You’d mentioned 3D printing sleepers was too expensive for the scale of model you had but it might work for me. 

 

Absolutely, the only reason I did not continue with 3D sleepers was because I will somewhere around 12000 of them.

At the time I did not have my own printer and was using Shapeways it would have been several thousand pounds to get all the sleepers made that way. 

The work B作 is doing with printed sleepers has really inspiring. I would actually consider revisiting the idea if Yurakucho was a home layout, only reason I haven't is because resin prints tend to be brittle and I am worried I might accidentally catch a rail, moving the layout from show to show, and sheer off a bunch ties.

 

9 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

For point work, modifying these Nn 6.5mm points might be an option. 

 

One of the reasons I picked this location was not having to worry about points on scene. I have seen others modify existing points and it seems to work. I imagine it takes careful planning to make sure you keep everything in alignment. The benefit is not having hand make all the switch rails, flanges, etc. If you are considering etched chairs anyway you could use Templot to design all your points anyway and not have to rely on designing your track work around the dimensions of existing points.

 

9 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

if you ever wanted to take the trouble to release your bridge decks through this channel I’d be interested. 

 

I am not planning to at the moment. The bridges I shared the building process of on this thread are also systematic of the 'finding out the hard way' message above. I made one hideous mistake with those bridges due to not having enough experience with etching. Similar to the issue with thin styrene a half etching a piece of metal over a large area will cause it to curl. I made the walls using two half etched faces back to back this was so I could have all the rivet details etched a little raised bumps. The curling meant that I was fighting with each part while gluing it together to stop it twisting. Once all the parts were glued to each other it did stabilise but it was an irritating build.

 

I have changed the process for making bridges now but it is no less taxing. For the bridges going forward I am etching the main structure as solid sections with no etched detailing on them. This gives a really strong base with no warping. To this I am adding an extra layer of detail.

To compare old at the top new at the bottom:

 

The ribs between the walls were parts glued back to back with etched details. The new one is just flat with a layer of vertical rivets placed onto of a layer with horizontal ones.

 

 

A similar treatment here on the side walls. I had long strips of rivets etched that I cut to size and glue in place. These strips are around 0.5mm wide and very fiddly. 

If I were to make a kit for the bridge I would probably make them as one piece that could be placed on top of the main structure. It is possible I could have a go at something like this in the future, it would be a large etch even when simplified. 

 

 

8 hours ago, UnfinishedKit said:

Apologies, I’m not sure what the etiquette is around here but I’m fairly sure I should start a new thread for my 7.1mm musings. 

 

I am more than happy for you ask questions on here any time you like. I would say this conversation would be easily lost among other posts now we are up to 23 pages. A new thread on 7.1mm or posting in the 6.5mm vs 7.1mm thread might be easier for future modellers to find useful information than wading through pages of me waffling on 🤣

 

Joe