Kato Mini Diorama Kit

[tossedman]

2 hours ago, Welshbloke said:

I have seen laser cut baseboard kits designed to fit Ikea "Billy" bookcases, which might be a solution if you can spare a shelf.

 

Sounds interesting. Any links to those laser cut baseboard kits designed to fit Ikea "Billy" bookcases? I like the Ghibli idea as well.

[Welshbloke]

Annoyingly I can't find the link now. I believe they were being offered by a chap named Tim Horn in the UK, he's still trading but his website is out of action awaiting an update. They were conventional laser-cut plywood baseboard kits (the sort you simply glue together with a few clamps to hold the joints square as they dry) but made to fit the standard Billy shelves.

 

My tunnels are from Busch, but they seem to be the devil to find any details from. I think two of them are the 8003 "Single tunnel with lake", but the sharper curved one appears to have disappeared without trace. I haven't seen another since buying mine and it doesn't appear in searches. It too is a single track tunnel with a lake, but more sharply curved which may be why it's NLA (as 150mm is a bit tight for mainstream N).

 

Porco is rescaled from this Thingiverse file: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3835254

 

I had to guess how tall he needed to be and may have slightly overdone it, he looks short and stocky in the anime. I think he and his HO brother came out ok though:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B73FxKJBMct/?utm_medium=copy_link

[tossedman]

Cool! Thanks. I found a bunch of Tim Horn's stuff online but not the Billy bookcase baseboards. I'll keep looking though.

 

Cheers eh,

 

Todd

[arkh]

I actually completed one of these mini dioramas a few months ago but only just got around to adding in some scale figures to complete the effect. I have to say that Kato has done an awesome job with this kit and I hope it or similar ones catch on. There's a lot you can do with these outside of what the kit gives you instructions and materials for. It's also very fun to do considering you can bang one of these out very quickly or just take your time over a week doing it little by little - it doesn't feel like a huger undertaking. I got one of these for my younger cousins along with one of Kato's STEAM train kits and hope this encourages them to do more than just stare at a screen all day, haha.
 

 

 

 

 

A few more photos and little blog detailing the build here: https://ameblo.jp/howlingoh/entry-12718186504.html

Edited December 28, 2021 by arkh

[cteno4]

Andrew,

 

been doing the same thing here using small wooden canvases you can purchase cheaply. First started with trying to do the same creating slightly larger modules to fit track, but then decided I liked the idea of having gaps between the module scene and doing a wide variety of modules shapes and sizes. Additionally I wanted to get away from constructing modules (I’ve built way too many modules in the last 18 or so years) myself and also coming up with a simple solution anyone could buy retail without any construction (real hurtle for many newbies even doing laser cut kits) and reducing costs.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[cteno4]

I had looked at trying to import a pile of the mini diorama but they would have been $20-25 by the time I shipped them to anyone here in the states, just not worth it. I made a template and was easy to make them out of 5mm ply using the router table but a pain again manufacturing and like you I wanted a bit more space for buildings. Then hit on the little wooden canvases as I really got into the idea of dreaming up a scene and choosing the size and shape base needed for the scene and where you wanted the track to go through the module. It’s made thinking about scenes much more fun for me from Ttrak. 
 

Jeff

[Meccano 2049]

Hi 

 

I have been looking at this post and have drawn up based on the size of the track two diorama shapes that i have lasercut into basswood .

Attached are the rendered key-shot files based on my lasercut files, that I used to understand the design and its potential

[brill27mcb]

Kato Mini-Dioramas receive love in Britain:

 

 

... as part of a discussion on how to get younger people interested in model railways. (See 4:40 into the video.)

 

Rich K.

[Andrew G]

To allow for clarity and focus, the discussion on Pocket Sized Modules, which are fully compatible with Kato Mini Diorama modules, has been moved to its own thread - thank-you to cteno4.
See:

 

Edited April 27 by Andrew G

[Andrew G]

The N Scale Pocket Sized Modules that I have been working on have now got their own Facebook Group. This Group also holds a draft copy of the Guidelines that you need to show the details of building a Pocket Sized Module according to the standards. N Scale Pocket Sized Modules are fully compatible with Kato N Scale Mini Dioramas.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nscalepocketsizedmodules

The draft copy of the Guidelines (27/05/2024) is also attached to this post. There is also a separate thread on this forum for Pocket Sized Modules.

Pocket Sized Modules - Draft Guidelines - 2024-05-27 -16 page.pdf