Questions about scratch building using Greenmax Japanese Tile set

[Ronincat]

Hello all,

 

New to this forum, and quite in awe of some of the work that has been done. 

 

I recently picked up some of the Tomytec buildings on a whim (basically - they reminded me of some of the places I visited while in Tokyo).  One of these was the Buddhist temple - well one thing led to another, and I am seriously contemplating builing my own miniature layout of a typical Japanese city. 

 

Having checked out HLJ and some of the other on-line sources, I am quite in love with the Sankei Shrine Temple Wall.  However, to get enough to properly fence in the temple grounds would be rather pricy.  I figure I can replicate it using sheet styrene and strips, with one exception - the small section of tiled roof at the top of the wall.

 

My question is this - has anyone out there used the Greenmax Japanese Tile (http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10007597)?  How thick is this - would it be thin enough to be "in scale"?  I am not worried about the actual cutting, as I am used to working with plastic and other materials (avid aircraft/ armour modeler).  Alternatively - any other options for tile?

 

Sorry for such a long winded question, but any assistance would be appreciated. 

 

Grant

[brill27mcb]

Well yes, if you have a temple, you might as well have a whole city to go with it! Welcome to the group -- you seem to have the right sort of mindset to fit in well here...

 

Rich K.

[CaptOblivious]

I haven't used the GM sheets, so I cannot comment on their thickness, but I wonder: Does Plastruct make a terra cotta tiled roof sheet? Their textured sheets are usually quite thin, and terra cotta roofing might be a viable alternative.

[bill937ca]

On one of my earlier layouts I used one those Greenmax tiles.  Its around here somewhere, but I don't know where.  I recall it being about the thickness of a heavier Evergreen styrene sheet, maybe .040 or thicker. The sheet is 200 x 60 mm and there are 2 in a package--much smaller than Evergreen styrene sheets.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Tiled-Roof-Kawara-Greenmax-No-20-1-150-scale-/120571899904?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1c12a53000

[Ronincat]

Thanks everyone!  That was quick!  I will order a set of the Greenmax tiles, and will have a look at the Plastruct line as well to see if there is anything that would work.

 

This can be quite addictive.  I've picked up a bunch of the Tomytec buildings - was fiddling around with adding floors to the 5 floor apartment block, as well as to a couple of Greenmax buildings that I picked up.  Now I'm contemplating lighting everything!

 

Please tell me hat this can be cured easily!

 

Grant

[KenS]

I'm sorry, but you've contracted an incurable disease.  It can be kept in remission with a steady supply of new models though. 

 

Welcome to the forum.  I don't have much to add to what's already been said by others.  I was looking at some plastruct roofing tile sheets the other day, and while the tiles seemed a bit large, they might do.  I think that was the HO version since it was a large sheet, and the N-scale version is apparently both thicker and sold in 3" (75mm) squares, which doesn't make much sense (but I've seen similar dimensions on other sites, so it's probably correct). If you can live with the thickness, perhaps the N-scale would be more suitable.

[Darklighter]

The Greenmax tiles are approx. 1.4 mm thick. Therefore, I would sharpen the edges, like it is done with the roof of the Greenmax "Two-story Gabled Merchant" kit (see third image below). The second image below shows the back of the sheet.

[Ronincat]

Darklighter,

 

Great shots - thanks!  I've got 3 sets on the way from Plaza Japan, as well as one of the Sankei Shrine wall sets to use as a model.  I agree with you about the edges - I had already thought that, depending on the thickness, a bit of sanding to reduse the overall thickness of the Greenmax pieces would probably be in order.  The pics really help, as well as give me an idea on how to best cut the strips I'll need.

 

If there is any interest, I will post pics once I get everything and get started.

 

Grant

[cteno4]

Grant,

 

only problem with the tile for roofs is how to do the peak tile covers. i ran into this when i was trying to replace the tile roof on one of my tomytec houses which arrived missing a small gable. i have some green max thats close, but could not easily make the peak caps well. cutting thin strips of the green max could be a challenge w/o use of something like a mini table saw. also doing the cut back on the edge you would probably need to do by sanding the angle back at the edge to make it not appear so thick.

 

I have wanted to do a longer temple wall like this as well. one of those things i kept hoping tomytec might do as a visual scene collection.

 

also plastruct has 0.05" grid sheet (usually expensive). about the right size and 020 styrene that would cut easy with a hobby knife and not require angling the edges.

 

http://www.plastruct.com/Pages/OnlineProductDetail.lasso?-op='eq'&CCode=PS-40

 

the smallest green max is 1/16x1/16 grid at the smallest and in 040, bit harder to cut in small strips with a knife.

 

also might think of using a printed texture for the tile. if it has the right shading it works well for this as the actual relief is pretty tiny at scale. sankei actually does this on the little wall gate modules.

 

cheers

 

jeff