Hello

[Petey]

Brand new to model railway. It's not an easy subject to master, especially when time is short. Nevertheless I am enjoying the learning curve.

Edited September 1, 2022 by disturbman

[cteno4]

Welcome Petey!

 

glad you found us. What are your train interests?

 

jeff

[Wolf]

Welcome Aboard Petey!

Looking foreward to hearing about all your experiences ^^

Cheers from Germany

Stephan

[disturbman]

Hi Petey, welcome aboard!

Always a pleasure to meet new members. Don't hesitate to join the discord, https://discord.com/invite/NKrCbxp.

[Petey]

4 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Welcome Petey!

 

glad you found us. What are your train interests?

 

jeff

Currently interested to start N-gauge modelling. However I have a quirky nature and like to branch away from the norm. I really like the idea of creating my own sci-fi shells to put on motor chassis.

[disturbman]

I for one am interested to see what you come up with. There are quite a few people kitbashing trains and making sci-fi or invented trains on the Japanese side of Twitter. You probably need to give a look at Tomytec and Greenmax motorized chassis. These are the most easily available without having to buy a full train for experiment. I suppose you will try to 3D-print shells for that kind of projects?

[Petey]

18 minutes ago, disturbman said:

I for one am interested to see what you come up with. There are quite a few people kitbashing trains and making sci-fi or invented trains on the Japanese side of Twitter. You probably need to give a look at Tomytec and Greenmax motorized chassis. These are the most easily available without having to buy a full train for experiment. I suppose you will try to 3D-print shells for that kind of projects?

No, I will not try to 3D-printing shells. I prefer to use chance and intuition; for me, it's more fun that way.

 

Thanks for the tips and referrals. I have seen the Tomytec before but, because I am just a newbie, I was not sure they were the equivalent chassis as the ones used in fully manufactured models. I am glad to now realize that they are.

 

The one I want to use needs to have screws, such as the Kato 11-104 (see photo), for securing the shell. It seems that other chassis look as if the shells 'clip' into place (where a 3D printer would come in handy). What do you think?

[disturbman]

In N, the bodies are made to clip to the shells. Clip placement is often very standardized for each brands, but since rolling-stock comes in diverse forms and length (train length varies between 16m and 21m in Japan - more or less, I'm not counting the outliers like Shinkansens), they all have a few different chassis.

Tomytec chassis are produced for their Railway Collection, a series of cheap trains that need many parts to become proper (running) models. You could play with some to figure out their clips. A two-car set cost usually between 3500 and 4500 JPY (Hobby Search price) without any add-ons.

Greenmax chassis are better quality than Tomytec's, they use a coreless motors, and are widely available. Their chassis fit their kits and finished models. GM chassis will give you the possibility to fit a floor plate. Price is about 4500 JPY per unit.

The chassis you want to use depends on what vision you have for your train. The Kato 11-104 have only two axles, whereas most (all?) Tomytec and GM chassis will have two bogies of two axles, with all axles powered. The Kato one you selected is more recommended for a small locomotive.

If you want to make an EMU or DMU, I would recommend to use the others. And for multiple units, you will also need a non-motorized chassis. Either kitbashed, 3D-printed or sourced from normal models. I know at least of one aftermarket part maker that offers 3D printed chassis for Tomytec Railway Collection; that could be a perhaps cheaper solution.

I myself had considered 3D-printing underfloor and interior plates for some Microace trains that I want to run in separate multiple units. It wouldn't have been difficult, just a lot measurements and tryouts.

So, depending of what you were imagining, I would start first with buying a Tomytec model and the associated parts to see how they are made, and then build from that. You wouldn't invest too much money. Don't hesitate to open a thread on your progress and thoughts, or talk to us on Discord if you have questions. Somebody might be able to help, though not so many here have done what you are about to undertake.

Edited September 2, 2022 by disturbman

[cteno4]

some of the old galaxy express 999 train models are right around n scale and I have a couple I got cheap on ebay years ago but have not gotten around with trying to make into running models.
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/331811982699?hash=item4d41890d6b:g:tAEAAOSw-jhUKH5a&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsIlAdklNRjcDXp540uP1B9GfEbtTGY79bwd6lpmSo2cBU%2F4TcJHtKQ865%2FRsdE1IlCdinSkAqglSyJ%2BeBvV3dwyzmtVkDusYZ4UAJ80eIED2TWvbhZv6bLfbzcCCleWbHP9DKpajt%2BXN2T8gGI88ZcmF29yV44yCjxPIMjvSIkLKQVL0JFyGeyI5XxuvcKBQDrxrsGjrxeTBshAfwGc87SErbe6i0Ff8%2F1Om5zPNCbip|tkp%3ABk9SR_SR66PfYA

 

as disturbman notes might be a good place to start getting an inexpensive Tomytec 2 or 3 car train and then chassis and wheels to see all the parts and how it all goes together. Also Btrain shorties that use the Kato pocket chassises as well.

 

3D printing is very fun, but there is the overhead of learning cad and it takes time to develop skills on laying things out right to print the best. N scale is just big enough printing stuff needs support in many ways while printing, but small enough that it’s near the limits of getting decent details out of cheaper printers.

 

papercrafting can be super fun and cheap way to do this sort of non traditional stuff. But it does take a bit of practice/experience time to get your skills in designing, cutting, and assembly down to create new stuff from scratch. It’s probably the most inexpensive way to do modeling! Also just takes patience with a lot of xacto blade cutting! But I did that part pretty zen thing to do, but others just find it tedious. Tons of free or inexpensive PDFs of printout templates for all sorts of papercraft scifi stuff out there learn on and maybe adapt from. There are inexpensive stylus cutters now for under $200 as well to do serious cutting with and some smaller inexpensive laser cutters.

 

keep us posted, love to see what you come up with!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Petey]

@disturbman, thank you for all the information, it will get me started in a more productive way.

[Petey]

@cteno4 Jeff, thanks for info and link (Cool). Lots of stuff to think about. I will start a thread elsewhere in forum to get me started.

[miyakoji]

Hi Petey, welcome to the forum!