Some new pictures

[Martijn Meerts]

Just some fairly random things. I recently received (yet another) not so common trainset, I did some quick pre-vis of how to continue with my railroad crossing diorama, and I took some pictures of event trains since that topic got discussed a bit not long ago. Pictures aren't the best, but here they are ;)

 

Series 583 "Kitaguni". Saw this one in the Tomix catalogue, and I just really loved the colors. The picture here is a bit too blue actually ;)

 

 

Close up of the "Kitaguni", the colors here are more correct.

 

 

Very quick mockup of where I plan to take the diorama. The tree is an H0 scale one, but I needed a large old tree. The torii is an old one, that's leaning against the tree. Around the roots of the tree there will be tiny little shrines. To some this might sound familiar, it's a scene from Studio Ghibli's "Spirited Away". The only difference is that I'm using a living tree rather than an old stump.

 

 

Bit closer. Obviously the torii will need to be painted, and plenty other things still need to be done.

 

 

Some of my steam locomotive event trains. From left to right: "Chichibu Paleo Express" pulled by C58-363, "Yamaguchi-go 2nd version" pulled by C57-1, "Banetsu Monogatari" (old color) pulled by C57-180 and "Niseko" pulled by C62-15.

 

 

Frontal shot of the previous picture.

 

 

The "Niseko" again, this time pulled by C62-2, C62-3 and C62-15 in a triple header. This was done in the mountains where a single or even double header wouldn't be able to pull the train up the slopes. MicroAce was kind enough to not only release the car set, but also all 3 C62's. My bank account didn't like it, but a triple header steam train just looks way cool ;)

 

 

Frontal shot of the previous picture.

[Bernard]

I really hope you get that area from your co-worker to set up your layout, the diorama is beautiful! I like what you did with the tree, it's different and you really examine it, you want to know the story behind it. The great thing about trees is that they can almost be any size.

What is the dimensions of the diorama?

[Martijn Meerts]

I still need to play a bit with the tree with regards to positioning. It's a bit close to the tunnel entrance right now, so I may need to trim it a bit. I also don't like the colors all too much, I'll likely redo it a bit. I'm thinking the diorama might look good in early autumn colors with still lots of green leaves but also some reds and yellows. With some of them on the floor under the tree. The nice thing about this tree in particular is that it's big compared to the whole diorama, so it really does draw attention immediately.

 

The diorama is 30x20cm, so it's really small. It's intended to be used to take pictures of branch line trains (mostly railbusses) and steam engines. I've also already ordered various items for my 2nd diorama, which will be 40x30cm and include an elevated double (shinkansen) track with a station entrance below it, and a double tram line running underneith. And of course there'll be the necessary small urban details ;)

[CaptOblivious]

I never noticed the baseboard in the photos before...what is your diorama based on? It looks like a very sturdy wooden frame of some sort. Could you say more about it?

[Martijn Meerts]

The base plate is 12 or 14mm plywood, can't remember exactly. The frame around is made of 8x25mm (something around there) hardwood (fir tree or something), usually used to make lists for painting and such.

 

I added the frame/lists mainly because that way I have space underneith the diorama for wiring and such. In the case of this diorama, only the tracks will be powered most likely, but in other diorama's there will be interior lights in buildings and working traffic lights etc.

 

I'll post some pictures and more details of the things I use when I start on the 2nd diorama. That will have the same base construction.

[Bernard]

I had the same thoughts as CaptO. The base is a fine piece of wood, something you would find on a nice coffee table, etc.

 

Martijn--is your plan to connect your dioramas into a layout in the future?

[Martijn Meerts]

The base isn't that nice really, it's your standard plywood thing, although I did get lucky since I got one of the better sheets they had. Sort of pointless of course, since you won't be seeing it anymore once I'm done ;)

 

The diorama's won't be connected to anything. I'm making them for 2 reasons really. First of all, it's a good way of testing different ways of making landscapes, plus it's good practice for detailing. Due to them being so small, you can really work on all the little stuff without it seeming there's no end to it. The 2nd reason is so I have various scenes I can place trains in to take pictures.

[Darren Jeffries]

There is something about dioramas in general that i really like. It is good to see the fine detailing without being overwhelmed by the sheer size.

 

Excellent work Martijn

[Martijn Meerts]

Some more pictures. I got a couple of new toys today (with more on the way too, it's like xmas every month for, until I check my bank account balance anyway ;))

 

I have to complete Twilight Express set, and one of the cars is a dining car. In the Tomix catalog I noticed a picture of the dining car with lit table lamps. Of course, I immediately had to contact Mr. Stoll at Japan Model Railways to get more info. Today I got the following in the mail:

 

 

It's the same dining car, but with lit (and more accurate) table lamps. The problem is just that they're too white, so I need to check what I can do about that. Some clear orange paint will likely fix quite a bit. I might also install a decoder for the regular interior lighting in this one, so I can dim the regular interior light and turn on the table lamps for example ;)

 

Here's a picture of the actual Twilight Express Dining car. The lamps are a bit on the big side in the model, but they're not that far off. As you can see though, the real ones are much more orange. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ja/1/1b/Sleeping_Limited_Express_%22Twilight_Express%22_dining_car.JPG

 

 

Also in the package, the main attraction of my planned servicing terminal modules, the Tomix turntable. It feels very sturdy, seems extremely well built, but the bridge looks quite plastic (easy to fix), and there's a lot of visible screws. It makes sense though, considering it's designed for temporary layouts. Haven't tested it yet, I haven't a clue how to connect as I don't have a Tomix TCS ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Other things coming up are a rather rare and funny train, as well as a fairly large package from Japan Model Railways (no idea what, I've got too much stuff on pre-order ;)), as well as another package from Germany which has nothing to do with Japanese trains or N-scale, but it's still fun. I'll post picture here once I get it.

[Bernard]

Very nice dining car. It reminds me of a dining car that Minitrix made in HO scale (I think it was the Ludwig??) and the table lamps also lite up. Do you plan to use the turntable on a diorama or for your future layout?

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, I'm not actively planning a static layout, at least not in N-scale. I'll mainly be doing modules. The turntable will be part of a set of 2 modules which will have a small storage yard for locomotives and things like coaling stations, sanding towers etc. It'll really be a steam era servicing terminal with a 6-stall roundhouse or something along those lines, it'll also have space to store a worker/rescue train.

 

Using the turntable for a diorama would make it an expensive diorama ;) I think we may have different ideas of the term. What I think of when I hear diorama, is a tiny scene with no real functionality. For example, the current one I'm building now is 20x30cm, nowhere near enough to be meaningful for a layout, or even a series of those small diorama's. It's also not really functional, apart from the track that I can make live. The only reason I did that, is so I can take pictures of trains with the lights on. A diorama can also be part of a module (such as the idea of the house from Totoro being both a diorama and a part of a module)

 

Modules on the other hand, I think of as parts of a larger layout. The modules I'll be making are 112cm (4 x a Tomix 280mm straight) by 70cm. Some modules will be longer, some will be corner modules, but there'll always be 2 sides that are 70cm where I can line them up. Or at least, that's the idea, whether it'll work I'll only know after building a few modules =)

 

 

Oh, and minitrix only does N-scale. It's a bit confusing there though. You have Minitrix for N-scale, Trix for 2 rail H0 and then there's Trix Express for 3 rail H0. The whole lot is now owned by Marklin.

[Martijn Meerts]

As mentioned when posting the previous couple of pictures, I had some more things underway. I picked up one of them today:

 

 

 

 

It's the 781 series "Doraemon Train". It used to run around like that for a few years taking people to the Doraemon museum.

 

When I saw that one (purely by coincidence actually), I just HAD to have it. Luckily it was in stock, I believe it's not that easy to get hold of these days. Sorry for the somewhat blurry pictures, it's way hot over here and I really couldn't be bothered trying to find my tripod and set it up ;)

[Bernard]

Who makes the train and how many cars are in the set? It's an interesting paint design, is it a special character in Japan?

[Martijn Meerts]

It's MicroAce A-0317, set of 6 cars.

 

The character is Doraemon, who's very popular in Japan, more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doraemon.

 

The train looks a lot better in real life than on the pictures. I'll post up some better pictures at some point which show all the details etc.

[Martijn Meerts]

Yet more new stuff (it's like christmas comes every month here ;))

 

Modemo's "S.K.I.P. go II", one of the Enoden line trams. Both this one on the earlier "S.K.I.P. go" have some really nice paint schemes. First picture is the front half, second picture the rear half.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is the MicroAce "25 years Tohoku Line" series 200 shinkansen. It's a 6-car base set and a 4-car add-on to create a prototypical 10-car "K-set". For the occasion it was repainted in it's original cream and green colors. The nose is somewhat of a cross between the 0 series and 100 series, and looks real nice. In fact, the whole set was a real surprise, it looks very good and feels pretty sturdy. Pantograph area also has some good detail, although the pantograph itself seems a bit fragile.

 

 

 

[Darren Jeffries]

I have a Homer Simpson Donut drool going on here!!!

 

Very nice... I especially like the new tram.

[Bernard]

What a difference in the 200 Series by Micro Ace in detail. I have an early version of the O series by Kato and doesn't have half the detail this train has.

 

Martijn - I keep forgetting to ask you, what camera are you using to get your macro shots of your trains? They come out sharp and clean.

[Martijn Meerts]

I have a 0 series by Tomix, which actually looks quite okay as well. It's also an older version (25th anniversary set), and the plastic feels a bit thin at parts, but overall a nice model. My shinkansen collection is growing though, I now have a 16-part 0 series, 16-part 100 series, 10-part 200 series, 16-part 500 series, 8-part 700 series hikari rail star, 6-part 800 series (2x), 7-part 923 Dr. Yellow, and on order are a 16-part N700-3000 and a 10-part 0-2000 ;)

 

Bernard, I use a Sony Alpha 100. Most pictures posted here are taken with the standard kit lens (it's not a macro lens, but it does okay-ish). I do have a macro lens as well (sigma 105mm), but I only use that when I feel like putting up the tripod and softbox etc. The depth of field is pretty bad on macro shots (as you can see in those above), and with a macro lens it's even worse. You can fix that by increasing aperture, but that means it can take up to a minute (and even more in bad light) to take a picture. Without tripod and remote it's impossible to take those kinda pictures, as any movement during that time will cause the image to blur.

 

Once I move into a new place, I'll likely buy a second camera (Sony Alpha 700) which will pretty much be set up in a room where I can quickly take good pictures with correct light conditions etc. By that time I should also have some diorama's done, so I can take pictures of models in an actual setting rather than on my desk or with a boring white background (although the white background is great for making thumbnail images =))

[Martijn Meerts]

Another couple of pictures of new arrivals. Also posted some in the "silly Japanese trains" thread.

 

MicroAce A8512 - DD18-1 single track snowplow:

 

 

 

 

 

The models are very detailed and look great. Lots of detail and several movable bits on the plows themselves as well. Both loco and plow have light amber lights. The only problem is that the plows are really light, so I'm not sure how well those lights will work, or how well the thing will travel on turnouts.