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My Japanese N Scale Diorama - NEW Dinning Table Layout


JR 500系

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15 hours ago, Philphil said:

Hey, so how did you make all the markings and characters on the road?

It looks really cool!

 

Thanks! They are those 'print on' decals made by Tsugawa and Kobaru, really easy to apply, simply rub on them wherever you want them to be! 

 

The roads are made from black paper, mounted on thick foam paper using glue.. I didn't want the table to have anything attached to it hence everything has to be removable, hence the need for the foam papers... 

 

 

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9 hours ago, gavino200 said:

Great work! I love this layout. Some day I want to have a table like this!!

 

Thanks! The layout is pretty small in size though, as it is limited by the size of the interior of the table... There is also some disadvantages to it such as having a strict height limit and that heavy glass top to remove each time I wanted to work on it... 

 

The advantages are great though, such as really good dust control, a permanent layout, running trains as and when I like, running trains and eating dinner at the same time, and the awe of visitors! All in all, I felt it was a good job done by my carpenters! Also, anytime in the future if I needed to move house again, all I need to do is to move the entire table altogether without the need to dismantle or re-build the layout again!  🙂

 

7 hours ago, chadbag said:

I come here just for the Paul and Sammy show!

 

Haha thanks! Paul is doing a much better (and faster) job than me though, just look at his impressive all lit up layout!

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18 minutes ago, JR 500系 said:

 

Thanks! The layout is pretty small in size though, as it is limited by the size of the interior of the table... There is also some disadvantages to it such as having a strict height limit and that heavy glass top to remove each time I wanted to work on it... 

 

The advantages are great though, such as really good dust control, a permanent layout, running trains as and when I like, running trains and eating dinner at the same time, and the awe of visitors! All in all, I felt it was a good job done by my carpenters! Also, anytime in the future if I needed to move house again, all I need to do is to move the entire table altogether without the need to dismantle or re-build the layout again!  🙂

 

 

Haha thanks! Paul is doing a much better (and faster) job than me though, just look at his impressive all lit up layout!

Hey Sammy,thanks buddy.

we all have problems to overcome mate but that’s part of the fun and your table is superb mate,height restrictions maybe but you ve managed to overcome that with smaller buildings and you ve done it superbly mate.👍👍😀😀😀

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More work on... well.. more roads! haha

 

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This time we have a T-junction, with one end joining to the straight road that runs behind the station, and the other end to the city centre with the tall buildings. The branch off goes straight into a railway crossing to get into the Tram arcade city centre 

 

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Creepy streets when that's nothing there... 

 

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That's much better!

 

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I seriously do not like that left turn.. looks too tight 

 

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Not much space on that right turn either... but we have to make do with the space we have... 

 

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Not exactly the best of merging lanes but... 

 

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These Kato signs are so much more detailed over the previous GreenMax ones! The printing is crystal clear!

 

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And an overhead view 

 

 

One thing I found strange, I have both the Tomytec and GreenMax traffic lights, and shown here is the GreenMax ones (Tomytec ones are also t the same) 

 

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What's strange is why do they have the pedestrian crossing signals at the same direction as the traffic signal? This makes it so hard to use!

 

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So I did my own modification, changing the crossing signal to an right angled one... so that:

 

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It can be easily used with the traffic signal and the pedestrian crossing signals each pointing at the right directions... 

 

 

Next step is to move it into the layout ~  🙂

 

 

 

Edited by JR 500系
  • Like 8
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Das Steinkopf

I think the main reason would be due to the mouldings, if you have a look everything is contained within the sprue, having the pedestrian lights set at the correct angle would add to the complexity of the mould. I think the logic is that it is better to provide them on the model than not at all and that most modellers would cut them off and then glue them back on in the correct position.

 

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More road works on the layout... 

 

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Placed the new road onto the layout... good, it links!

 

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What's a road without vehicles?

 

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Though the road doesn't seem to like my older town square road and now it doesn't join... oh well...

 

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Ran out of the same type of pavement paper... sucks...

 

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I really like the KKK bus livery!

 

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The crossing. I would imagine the traffic lights would be directly connected with the train crossing to avoid pile ups. Need to do something about that crossing over the tracks though...

 

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This steep merging lane is getting to me..

 

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I'm sure even policemen needs a canned coffee!

 

 

 

Enough of road buildings, time for some attention to the yard... 

 

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Build the pantograph inspection bay from GreenMax

 

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And stuck it into the yard... now looks like the pantograph can be inspected and maintained!

 

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The height is about perfect eh?  🙂

 

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And a little more work on the layout, this time, the famed 'in front of station' rotatory...

 

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As the space is really limited... I can only do as much... It looks very tight, especially for buses...

 

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Adding in more details, and a centre piece with light 

 

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Looks pretty good at a certain angle ~

 

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What's a road without vehicles eh...

 

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Not so safe to be on that centre island, but added some guard rails to make it a little better, and a tax stand for shelter 

 

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No parking, except loading and unloading. Police car is there for enforcement and a nearby 'Koban'

 

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Parking only for 2 taxis... sad.

 

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Challenging drive for bus drivers 

 

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Thinking of how to create those turn lines one can see especially more so on turning roads... 

 

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Into the layout it goes

 

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The connecting pieces don't look so nice... 

 

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A certain city feel to it ...

 

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Adding in the vehicles 

 

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Gotta be tight, but Japanese bus drivers are excellent 

 

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A small loading and unloading bay in use 

 

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Fits in pretty nicely!

 

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A nice busy street feeling... 

 

 

More work to be done on the rest of the layout!  🙂

*I'm inching on my progress... need some motivation like our buddy Paul!

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30 minutes ago, JR 500系 said:

And a little more work on the layout, this time, the famed 'in front of station' rotatory...

 

cwDQANO.jpg

 

As the space is really limited... I can only do as much... It looks very tight, especially for buses...

🙂

 

 

This is Japan, nothing which can't be solved by a couple of old guys with whistles and illuminated batons 😉

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A little more work, this time on the entertainment street...

 

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Spicing up the boring souvenir shop first

 

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And the entire entertainment street...

 

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From the other end 

 

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What's an entertainment street without some yakuza and punk and some policemen? 

 

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I love this view! Those different lights are nice!

 

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Red and Pink really works!

 

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That purple though...

 

This whole street will be in the layout right in front of the tram station... Now, to create a nice billboard for the covered walkway, you know, much like the Kamurucho sign board perhaps? 

 

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  • Like 11
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Switching over to a smaller project, I decided to build a 'Daiso case' diorama to place on my new work desk... To spice up my working life and surely generate more conversations amongst colleagues… (good for the new guys in the company!)

 

The lights are 3V, while the tracks are powered to 12V so that the train is lighted up when sitting on it... (no motor in the train car) 

 

Once I buy a 3V battery pack for the batteries and hook it up, then it's ready for the work desk!  🙂

 

 

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  • Like 8
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Das Steinkopf

Great to hear that you are now back to work Sammy.

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Congrats Sammy on the new job! Don’t stir up too much conversation at your desk! One of our club members realized 98% of the paper in his office was not needed so got rid of all of it and had space to set up a track loop. Got everyone coming to his cubicle to play, but shut down after a few weeks by the boss!

 

jeff

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Typical,do nt bosses have just a little sense of fun in them anymore?👍👍😀

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4 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

Switching over to a smaller project, I decided to build a 'Daiso case' diorama to place on my new work desk... To spice up my working life and surely generate more conversations amongst colleagues… (good for the new guys in the company!)

 

The lights are 3V, while the tracks are powered to 12V so that the train is lighted up when sitting on it... (no motor in the train car) 

 

Once I buy a 3V battery pack for the batteries and hook it up, then it's ready for the work desk!  🙂

Hey sammy,check out this 3v supply,I m sure you can get one for your country,this one comes from China and costs just a little more than a battery pack👍👍😀

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F381256616144

Edited by Densha
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Thanks guys! Finally back to the grinding board... but I guess the upside is more money for trains!  🙂

 

17 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Congrats Sammy on the new job! Don’t stir up too much conversation at your desk! One of our club members realized 98% of the paper in his office was not needed so got rid of all of it and had space to set up a track loop. Got everyone coming to his cubicle to play, but shut down after a few weeks by the boss!

 

jeff

 

That's funny Jeff! I can only imagine everyone going to his table and playing with his trains instead of working.. and someone on the phone for a business call and the train is making whirling noises in the background haha ~

 

Mine will be just a static display with lights... kinda a mini street to always remind me of Japan... 

 

16 hours ago, Pauljag900 said:

Hey sammy,check out this 3v supply,I m sure you can get one for your country,this one comes from China and costs just a little more than a battery pack👍👍😀

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F381256616144

 

Thanks Paul! I will take a look at that mate! Cheers!

 

And the final product is almost complete, minus the 3V lights for the street lamps... I kinda like it!  🙂

 

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  • Like 12
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Really nice sammy,great idea.

i had a similar idea for when my 500 packs up,to mount it on tracks with platforms etc in a case on the wall,only trouble is it would be 8’ long!”😂😂😂

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Staff Comment: Removed Unnecessary Quote
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Really nice Sammy! Always amazes me how justmthe right few things just screams japan and gets you imagination going. I think this is why I like doing japanese modeling so much as it’s so rich to trip the mind’s eye into action and makes the scene really sing!

 

cheers,

 

jeff

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18 hours ago, splifdfx said:

Could you also tell us the reference of the Rilakkuma Bus ?

 

Sure! It's the limited edition Tomytec Rillakuma bus   very cute little 2-bus set!

 

 

Ok this might be a noob question, but is it technically possible to use my 12V input to power both my 12V tracks and the two 3V street lamps without frying the latter? I know resistors are required, and heard about chain resistors in a circuit but don't really understand enough to know what to do with them... If it works, it's gonna save me tons of effort and money on batteries! 

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Jr,

 

do you need the full 12v for the car to light up? Would it look ok at like 6v? If so don’t have to use a 12v transformer. 

 

Basic resistor equasion is V = I x R

 

V is the voltage drop you need between your power source and your led. This would be 9v if 12v input and 3v led.

 

I is the amperage you what to limit the circuit to for your led. With most all small leds this is 20mA or 0.02A. This is the max amps for running and usually best to run 20% or more less than this to increase life of your led, point heat at the led (smd leds don’t have much inthe way of heat dissipation so can concentrate heat in some situations) and help make it not look too much like a mini sun. I usually run at 50% max as in most situations higher is just way to bright for most scene situations. Also good to leave a safety margin as the cheapo Wall wart transformers can sometimes be higher than stated voltage when they are not under much load like this.

 

R is the resistance of the resistor needed.

 

so if you solve for R you get R = V / I 

 

so if you use 0.015A and 9V you get 600ohm resistor (standard resistor value is like 680 to use)

 

you can wire your power supply to the tracks then the power supply to each street lamp wit a resistor in either of the leads to each led. You want a resistor for each led circuit. While you can run leds in serial, best not to as if there are any minor differences in the leds in the circuit it can cause a burn out. Led strips run 3 leds in serial but they are using matched leds.

 

Increasing the resistor value will keep dimming the led. You can get a pack of various value resistors to play with or use a variable resistor in series with a max current resistor (for when the variable resistor is set it 0 and letting all the current thru).

 

when you put two resistors in series together (ie one after the other) the total resistance is just the sum of the two. So a 270ohm and a 330ohm resistor in series will give you a 600ohm total resistance. Handy if you don’t have any of the value you need but smaller value ones you could use in series.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/300PCS-Set-30-Values-1-4W-1-Metal-Film-Resistors-Resistance-Assortment-Kit-Set/183275097741?epid=17016148642&hash=item2aac0c0e8d:g:pwsAAOSwstxVSIcD

 

variable “trimmer pot” resistor, 2k value gives good dimming range

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2K-OHM-Trimpot-Trimmer-Potentiometer-Pot-Variable-Resistor-RM065-202-x10/182762208248?hash=item2a8d79fbf8:g:ReEAAOSwkGVZuMxo

 

cheers

 

jeff

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