Sankei - "Paper" Kits

[cteno4]

Its a Woody Joe 1/150 5 story pagoda wooden model at Horyuji Temple. you may have seen his larger castle models in the recent hobby show pictures. i think they are only out for a short period as i have not seen these two

 

very nice. not too hard to assemble if you want to have just the wooden model. would be a bit more work to try an paint up well. they are meant to be very clean wooden display models, not necessarily layout models, in addition to the pagoda i have a Horyuji Kondou inner temple building as well (similar to the larger tomytec one) that i might part with as well. looked like fun models to maybe put out in the living room, but not sure when i will get to them so rather some one have fun with them...

[scott]

Now this one is funny:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10117293

[cteno4]

LOL that is a hoot! wonder what sparked that production?

 

scott, looks like you have been converted to a sankei lurker!

 

jeff

[rankodd]

 

Now this one is funny:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10117293

 

- This product is non-scale hotel.

HO, N, Z Scale and enjoy both.

- Size: 48 × 48 × 20mm

 

It's a Hotel! Honest! :)

How confused does a machine translator have to get to confuse Hotel and Flying Saucer. (All bets are off if the translator is hosted in Las Vegas, though...)

[scott]

scott, looks like you have been converted to a sankei lurker!

 

It seems like they always have something new popping up on the HS site... 

[cteno4]

Actually i think these guys are pretty smart. once you get a building system worked out for layering, then its pretty straight forward to lay these plans out in CAD and do very rapid prototyping cutting them out on the laser cutter, so their development cost are very low and revision turn around really rapid. this means someone could be spitting a new design out like once a week (which it seems like they are doing)

 

then production is also dirt simple as you just need a few laser cutters cranking these out. i bet you could buy a few of them for the cost of just one buildings die set if done in plastic! plus you can just make a small run really easily to test to see if it sells. if its a big hit then just job out a larger run or buy more cutters. Materials are dirt cheap in bulk im sure for good high density chip board they use.

 

packaging is dirt simple as well just using acetate pockets that they just heat seal a hang flap in the top and then the pieces pocket below with product picture folded over them (to protect the bottom edge/corners of the parts some as well!) with the barcode on the back and then the adhesive flap to seal it up on the bottom.

 

really is a low cost production system that lets you do design new product fast and cheap and do low runs at relatively low costs compared to doing plastic models!

 

Plus they hit the papercraft/origami spot with the japanese market as well.

 

always figured this would be the way to do T gauge structures really fast as they would require even less layering to get enough detail to look interesting.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[marknewton]

LOL that is a hoot! wonder what sparked that production?

 

Someone at Sankei is a fan of George Adamski? 

 

Mark.

[cteno4]

LOL that is a hoot! wonder what sparked that production?

 

Someone at Sankei is a fan of George Adamski? 

 

Mark.

 

OMG mark you just brought back a lot of neurons from the 70s when i had a short spell of interest in UFOs when i was a kid! project blue book flash backs happening...

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Kabutoni]

 

"Someone from ancient times influenced Sankei. Someone from out of this world" - E. von Däniken

[cteno4]

no no no chariots of the gods!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh

 

jeff

[disturbman]

ok who is going to step up and try this one?!

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10092427

 

Well, that doesn't seem harder to tackle than their JR Nara Station model. But, for the price, I won't try one of these lightly.

[marknewton]

OMG mark you just brought back a lot of neurons from the 70s when i had a short spell of interest in UFOs when i was a kid! project blue book flash backs happening...

 

Hahaha!  Jeff, I went through that exact same phase, at the exact same time! Woowoo!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[clem24]

Anyone else pre-order Mei and Satsuki's house? Now I just need to find some miniature Totoro's for a neat little scene..! It's one expensive kit bit I am sure it'll be worth it. Plus I'd also think a nice part of that is going towards paying the licensing fees.

[Martijn Meerts]

Anyone else pre-order Mei and Satsuki's house? Now I just need to find some miniature Totoro's for a neat little scene..! It's one expensive kit bit I am sure it'll be worth it. Plus I'd also think a nice part of that is going towards paying the licensing fees.

 

pre-ordered it the very day they put it up for pre-ordering =)

[cteno4]

Just occurred to me, I wonder when Sankei will get the idea to make modular walls so folks can kitbash their own structures. easier to cut up than plastic buildings are! they could offer a very wide selection though as they have not production set up costs or minimum run numbers and can experiment to see what sells. also they can quickly develop all the templates from their current models in a snap! distribution is the nightmare here with a wide selection of parts though, not sure if distributors or especially dealers will want to carry a huge selection of these. but they could put more parts in a single card so you could easily cut them out to what you need as well to cut down on the variety needed to be supplied.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[WuZhuiQiu]

Partially thanks to this thread, I've ordered some HO-scale Sankei building kits. However, I'm already thinking about how to modify them, by using a textured material for thatch, and a moulded (or scratchbuilt-and-cast) material for tiles.

 

Any ideas about how to model in-scale thatch?

 

Also, there used to be a small Japanese manufacturer of scale sheets of traditional-style tile roofing (hongawarabuki, as opposed to Edo-era sangawarabuki), but I think that he has stopped selling - is anybody here aware of another source? I could try cutting plastic tubing and casting my own in resin, but...

 

Finally, what's the consensus here on varnishing paper or card model buildings?

 

Thanks!

[ShinCanadaSen]

Has anyone built their Mei and Satsuki's house yet? It doesn't look too complicated, but I dare not take it out with my son around (he's 3 and loves to scrunch up paper!!!!)

[marknewton]

there used to be a small Japanese manufacturer of scale sheets of traditional-style tile roofing (hongawarabuki, as opposed to Edo-era sangawarabuki), but I think that he has stopped selling - is anybody here aware of another source? I could try cutting plastic tubing and casting my own in resin, but...

 

Are these the tile sheets you mean?

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10138125

 

I've got some on order, so I can't comment yet on how effective they are.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[cteno4]

man, wish they would do those in n scale. the roof ridge is the really nasty part! nice sets in ho!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Has anyone built their Mei and Satsuki's house yet? It doesn't look too complicated, but I dare not take it out with my son around (he's 3 and loves to scrunch up paper!!!!)

 

I've been sorely tempted to put mine together, but I really need to take measurements of every single part and make a digital 3d model of it for future use/reference :)

[marknewton]

Any ideas about how to model in-scale thatch?

 

I've never considered doing it, but I know of some blokes who have, very effectively!

 

http://www.elmetimages.co.uk/photo_7299055.html

 

Many of the buildings on the Pendon layout have thatched roofs that look superb, so whatever method is described in this book is probably worth learning.

 

Finally, what's the consensus here on varnishing paper or card model buildings?

 

I don't think there is one. If you live somewhere humid, varnishing/lacquering single-layer card models definitely helps to prevent warping. But I doubt it will be necessary with the Sankei kits, as they are made from a material that is more like very fine chipboard, and they are made up of a a number of laminations.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[scott]

man, wish they would do those in n scale. the roof ridge is the really nasty part!

 

Seriously--I've been puzzling over how to scratch-build a ridged, tiled roof, and so far have gotten nowhere.

 

It looks like Green Max sells section of roof tiles, but without the ridge.

[cteno4]

man, wish they would do those in n scale. the roof ridge is the really nasty part!

 

Seriously--I've been puzzling over how to scratch-build a ridged, tiled roof, and so far have gotten nowhere.

 

It looks like Green Max sells section of roof tiles, but without the ridge.

 

i got stuck on this as well with that one tomytec that was missing a small section of roof. i tried carving up some green max tile strips to try and make a ridge but that did not work. even thought of trying to use wire insulation bits or bits of styrene tubing to make ridge tiles but that would not be as uniform as the rest an laying n scale tiles is a bit of carving angels on the heads of pins, but i have been know to do that... ;-p

 

cheers

 

jeff

[cteno4]

IMPORTANT TIP!!

 

with sankai kits make sure to write in light pencil on the back sides of pieces the number of the pieces. many of the wall sections they use to layer their walls up to make them thicker and create corner dado joints are almost the same size and easy to mix up once you cut them out of their piece. also good to pre assemble as much as possible w/o glue to make sure you have the right formation, then just do some light pencil marks again to remind you of the orientations when glueing. first one i did (the little police station, pretty simple) i just winged it and found a few times i flipped a piece as i glued it and did not realize it until pressed into place! no insert tab A into slot B or nice little dimples to get your orientations!

 

I also learned to scan the instructions and blow them up as they are tiny and minimal so hard to look at quick and you do need to do some thinking while looking at them... would be good if they just posted the pdfs of the instructions on their site! btw rick this is a great use for the ipad, just dont superglue a part to the ipad...

 

cheers

 

jeff

[clem24]

I also learned to scan the instructions and blow them up as they are tiny and minimal so hard to look at quick and you do need to do some thinking while looking at them...

 

Nah that's just old age... Even I have noticed huge loss in dexterity with my fingers and end up fumbling and dropping many, many tiny parts.