My Japanese N Scale Diorama - NEW Dinning Table Layout

[kvp]

And the second one gives longer track lengths (+1 and +2 cars), while also having a less 'done by the book' look.

[JR 500系]

Thank you Densha! Now why didn't I think of that ~~  :P

 

I like the 2nd one too kvp san, it allows a longer length for trains to park...

 

Meanwhile, making use of the May Day holidays, we have some progress on the layout.

 

Something which I have to do but dread to do, fitting up platforms with details and people, and lighting them up... Placing the people takes a tremendous amount of time... But well I guess the final result is worth it!

 

 

Here's how it looks like after fitting in all details, and just before placing the final LED light strip.

 

 

Placing the light strip on the roof of the platform slowly...

 

 

Attach back the roof and test it!

 

 

In the dark..

 

They look nice!

 

And on the layout:

 

 

Also, I have some end sections that are rather long, and without roof, hence lighting is kinda a problem. I've discover a solution that is quite workable, drilling a hole and adding a light bulb from beneath, and covering the entire bulb with something like a phone booth piece from Tomytec:

 

 

And in the dark:

 

 

 

Also, further to my trial on the moving bus running across the tram tracks, we try to fit in the moving bus tracks...

 

 

But there seem to be a problem with the curve pieces... I cannot get the right radius for the bus to turn into that funny angle to meet with the desired spot of crossing, and I cant shift the train tracks anymore...

 

So, I can only custom make a road to meet that angle... I used the Tomytec diorama piece:

 

 

It bears the same colour as the bus track:

 

 

I hope it is nice enough!

 

 

Now to fit in the metal piece and hope the bus can move along nicely....   :)

Edited May 3, 2016 by JR 500系

[katoftw]

22.5% complete?

[JR 500系]

22.5% complete?

 

Hhmmm 2.5% for the platform? I'm not so sure about that... There still seems to be much work to do, and my lazy bum is not co-operating...

 

 

Now that I got home I was able to try some things with Anyrail. I made these two plans using R541 curves for all turnouts and sidings. The red curves are R280, the orange R317, the yellow R354 and green R541. I think this will run and look much more smoother.

 

Version 1:

JR500_2016-04-08_v01.jpg

 

Version 2:

JR500_2016-04-08_v02.jpg

 

(Also, don't mind the black triangles, they're just a tool to get the track to appear in a certain colour.)

 

Hi Densha! Thank you so much for that! I had a look and believed the 2nd one is much better in terms of length and also suits the layout fine. Just one question, can you be so kind to please find out the length of the straight in the turnouts portion to the yard in the 2nd layout? Thanks in advance!

[Densha]

I don't understand what straight track you are exactly talking about. Can you maybe attach a picture with an indication of what piece you mean?

[JR 500系]

I don't understand what straight track you are exactly talking about. Can you maybe attach a picture with an indication of what piece you mean?

 

My bad.... The 2nd one doesn't have a straight piece, only the 1st one had ~ Thanks!

 

I think I may have enough tracks to change this ~ Let us try this tomorrow.

[JR 500系]

A little back track... We headed onwards to LED and lighting works now, and finally with some help generously offered by our members here I can now figure out about LED incoming voltage, current and resistance required. With my 12V incoming and having around 96 LED bulbs in strip and commonly rated at 3.3V and 20mA we get a resistor required of 120 olms. Hence it's time to get those resistors! 

 

I need some help.. Anyone who is really good at LED displays, can I know how to get this to work?

 

 

Like what are the items needed for it to work, and the programming of the LED board? I would love to get a LED board in the city, to display time or temperature ~ Thanks in advance!

[Pauljag900]

Jeez Sammy,you do nt do things by half do you? Ha ha

What's that digital display off?

[Pauljag900]

Sammy,

Check this out,I thought of trying to mount one of these to a billboard on top of one of the big high rise buildings but not sure how to illuminate it permenantly.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201450626106

[JR 500系]

Jeez Sammy,you do nt do things by half do you? Ha ha

What's that digital display off?

 

Yap I have this bad habit of jumping around various tasks before completing one...  :(

 

 

Sammy,

Check this out,I thought of trying to mount one of these to a billboard on top of one of the big high rise buildings but not sure how to illuminate it permenantly.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201450626106

 

This looks great! Im guessing it's battery powered? Since on the description it says 'Can stick to your dashboard by the double-sided tape supplied'  so I guess it should be paste and use type without connections...

 

[Pauljag900]

Yap I have this bad habit of jumping around various tasks before completing one... :(

 

 

 

 

This looks great! Im guessing it's battery powered? Since on the description it says 'Can stick to your dashboard by the double-sided tape supplied' so I guess it should be paste and use type without connections...

 

Yes mate it is,I m guessing the front clips off for battery replacement.I did find one that operated from the ciggy lighter In the car so i m guessing it's 12v which means you could just connect it to the controller but it was a bit too big.

I m the same Sammy,I ve got about four kits half finished,a platform to finish and fit lights,ground scenics to do and I m doing the Center of the tram track on the other board!

Edited May 10, 2016 by Pauljag900

[cteno4]

Sammy,

 

You can get little temp probes that would show the current temp, but even on tiny ones they are like 10-12' high numbers at scale.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-Indoor-Outdoor-Probe-Blue-LED-Temperature-Monitoring-Meter-E0-/281972950733?hash=item41a6e5c6cd:g:WCAAAOSwHxVW7iE7

 

Or clock

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-0-4-Digital-Clock-Time-Blue-LED-For-Car-Motorcycle-Motorbike-Scooter-Bike-/121717974565?hash=item1c56f4e625:g:fLkAAOSwu4BVvzfC

 

Led digital watch would be smaller but most of those are programmed to only be on for a few secs to save battery life and doubt they could get overridden.

 

To roll your own led board is going to take some electronic work and programming. I've seen folks do a ot with them with ardunio and pic processors (there was a great example posted here by mrp I'll look for it), but I've not found a simple off the shelf solution for this other than those little novelty badges you can get with a small led array and you can punch in a few words it will scroll across the matrix over and over (i.e. I am not a looser!). Few years back I had a few to mess with but never really looked right for scale use, all too big and klunky.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Programmable-Scrolling-Name-Message-Badge-Tag-Digital-Display-English-OE/121770545006?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D7c23fcd0a6114a33843b32fb207ac55c%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D201327765573

 

You can also find these with USB where you program text from computer rather than punching buttons on it like setting a digital watch.

 

One last option I've noodled on but not experimented with yet for doing this sort of thing is to use the little MP4 video playback units and mask the display down to the appropriate size (but you would need the setting where you could hide the masked off area) and then produce what ever graphics, text animation etc on the computer and produce it to play on the desired area of the little masked display.

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

[kvp]

I need some help.. Anyone who is really good at LED displays, can I know how to get this to work?

 

Like what are the items needed for it to work, and the programming of the LED board? I would love to get a LED board in the city, to display time or temperature ~ Thanks in advance!

Imho you should get its datasheet, but i see power, reset, clock, data, ground legs, so it's probably got a shift register in it that could be filled with a binary datastream containing the encoded graphics. It seems to be daisy chainable. You'll need a microcontroller to drive it with the right program. Also you should check its voltage. Usual ones are 5V and 3.3V. The microcontroller you choose should match this to avoid voltage level shifting. If you use an arduino, then you could have a pc connection and even scroll some 7 segment based text on it.

[JR 500系]

Imho you should get its datasheet, but i see power, reset, clock, data, ground legs, so it's probably got a shift register in it that could be filled with a binary datastream containing the encoded graphics. It seems to be daisy chainable. You'll need a microcontroller to drive it with the right program. Also you should check its voltage. Usual ones are 5V and 3.3V. The microcontroller you choose should match this to avoid voltage level shifting. If you use an arduino, then you could have a pc connection and even scroll some 7 segment based text on it.

 

Thank you kvp san! It sounds so complex enough to give me, the electronics idiot, a headache! I guess i'll stick to pre-programmed ready to use ones...

 

 

Onwards, we made great progress yesterday:

 

 

The ground level platforms are installed and lighted!

 

 

Along with accompanying structures like the maintenance shed, signal boxes, offices, power stations etc...

 

 

Views at night! I REALLY need a resistor for that LED. It's melting!

[Eurostar25]

Looking good JR500, I'm really keen to light my modules in the future, so I'm watching your thread with great interest!

[beakaboy]

Ditto! Looks great. I actually like the amber light in one of the buildings. One thing I have used at shows for my city layout is a set of 3 spotlights with blue coloured spotlight bulbs . It gives the effect of moonlight and highlights the shadows on layout. This is an old photo from one of the  shows to illustrate. I also used a dimmer switch on the spots to vary the amount of light. Hope you don't mind me placing this here JR500 

 

Edited May 16, 2016 by beakaboy

[cteno4]

Beakaboy,

 

Great idea with the blue spots! Wish I was still in touch with one of the lighting designers I worked with decades ago with model and product shooting,mould,love to mine them for secrets! They use to so the most interesting things to get these subtle effects. The kookalorises were the most interesting. Kind of funky mobiles with white and colored tissue paper in different shapes and forms hanging in front of the lights to break it up in very interesting ways. I would be facinated watching them look thru the camera and then reach up and bend, move or crumple a piece and voila the light changed very magically. It was a true art and the results when they were brought in for a shoot was spectacular!

 

Jeff

[JR 500系]

Looking good JR500, I'm really keen to light my modules in the future, so I'm watching your thread with great interest!

 

Thanks! The lights really make the layout stand out, especially in the night!

 

 

Ditto! Looks great. I actually like the amber light in one of the buildings. One thing I have used at shows for my city layout is a set of 3 spotlights with blue coloured spotlight bulbs . It gives the effect of moonlight and highlights the shadows on layout. This is an old photo from one of the  shows to illustrate. I also used a dimmer switch on the spots to vary the amount of light. Hope you don't mind me placing this here JR500 

 

P10208711.jpg

 

That looks really great! The high rise buildings are awesome! Did you make them?

 

Sure feel free to post anything up here to share!  :)

 

 

Beakaboy,

 

Great idea with the blue spots! Wish I was still in touch with one of the lighting designers I worked with decades ago with model and product shooting,mould,love to mine them for secrets! They use to so the most interesting things to get these subtle effects. The kookalorises were the most interesting. Kind of funky mobiles with white and colored tissue paper in different shapes and forms hanging in front of the lights to break it up in very interesting ways. I would be facinated watching them look thru the camera and then reach up and bend, move or crumple a piece and voila the light changed very magically. It was a true art and the results when they were brought in for a shoot was spectacular!

 

Jeff

 

Indeed Jeff... I'm still looking to dim that hideous platform lights before all my citizens die of radiated heat-strokes!

[Eurostar25]

JR500 do you mind me asking what the gap in the Tomix red wing cars when they are coupled together looks like? I'm in two minds about getting this set, but as I saw you had one arrive the other day I thought I'd ask first! All publicity shots I've seen are 3/4 shots hiding the gap between the cars

Is there a coupler addition that can be fitted to bring the gap closer together rather than using the rapido couplers? (if that's what they're called)

Thanks in advance!

[JR 500系]

Sure no problem! You reminded me to post my query for the Red Wing! Thanks!

 

Here's some photos:

 

 

The set I got was the 3-car basic and 3-car add-on, which means there were 4 end cars and 2 middle cars. There's a big hole on each side of the cab by which the red-wing piece is to be attached.

 

 

The basic set comes with the red-wing plates to be attached yourself (here's where the problem is, but more on that later), and the destination boards that is often common to Tomix cars. A very good advantage to be able to change the destination boards whenever you like! It also comes with diaphragm pieces which you can attach to the cab for connections.

 

 

The front view after attaching the red-wings. Here's the problem, the wings are very difficult to attach in my case, and they look like they are jolting out at the sides... Unless of course I do some cutting and modifications to the red-wing, but then it would be more difficult to fix it in without glue and will fall out very easily. The only other option is to glue it in permantly, which I did to the left red-wing

 

 

Here's the Red-wing on the left side. We can see it's more 'flushed' with the train. This piece was modified cut and glued in.

 

 

Here's the right Red-wing. We can see the wing jolting out to the side. This piece is the default piece without glue attached.

 

Would anyone else with the Red-wing share some in-sights on installing the wings? I did search youtube but couldn't find anything closer that this regarding the wing installation:

 

 

Not much was emphasized on the wing installation and looked pretty simple. Am I doing something wrong here?

 

Of course, the set could be fitted with the TN couplers that Tomix offers, in this case, the Tomix 0337 Grey TN couplers (0336 is black TN couplers), like the video shows. It only applies to the middle connections only, as the front cabs are already fitted with TN couplers for easy coupling.

 

Hoped that helped!

 

Cheers ~

Edited May 18, 2016 by JR 500系

[Eurostar25]

Thanks very much for that JR500, Just what I wanted to see!

Now to find out if they stretch past Hiroshima towards Tokuyama, I vaguely thought I saw one pass the station, but it was late at night so couldn't be sure. Interesting arrangement the 3-3-2. Like you say there are lots of drivers cars!

[JR 500系]

Thanks very much for that JR500, Just what I wanted to see!

Now to find out if they stretch past Hiroshima towards Tokuyama, I vaguely thought I saw one pass the station, but it was late at night so couldn't be sure. Interesting arrangement the 3-3-2. Like you say there are lots of drivers cars!

 

No worries Eurostar25! Glad to help! I think the 227 goes as far as Iwakuni only... Doesn't seem to go till Tokuyama though...

 

 

 

I made a little experiment with my recent electronics shipment:

 

 

These China cars look horrible, but that's not what I wanted them for. The Tomytec taxi beside it would be a hint...

 

 

Here's the circuitry inside. Pretty simple, but looks really fragile...

 

 

Here's the entire circuit stripped out from the china car...

 

Now here's the problem, I tried to get it into the Tomytec car but it seems VERY difficult, and I have unluckily, with my poor skill, broke on of those LED connections and now it doesn't work...

 

Until I get more courage and skill to try it again... I have to get it right.

[railsquid]

Interesting, so that's how they do those lights. Did the break occur between the led and the wire? If you have a reasonably fine soldering iron, patience and preferably a third hand, you might have a fighting chance of repairing it. I say this as an electronics n00b, these leds are not quite as easy to damage with inexpert soldering as you might think.

 

Does the Tomytec car have suitable apertures for the lights to shine through?

[cteno4]

jr500,

 

the tomytec cars have a pin in the front and back that holds the chassis onto the car body. first pop out the wheels by pulling one wheel away from the bottom clip (towards the open space in the axle clip). then slip a small screwdriver blade in on of the front wheel wells and pry the chassis down and out. sometime then have to do the same on the rear as the body and bumpers can interlock a tiny bit. 

 

tomytec vehicles dont use clear plastic for the head and tail lights, they are painted on details. so if you want to light them you will need to drill holes in them where the lights are. then you could use something like gallery glass which is a clear acrylic to make pho stained glass or even just a semi transparent fingernail polish or clear or tinted acrylic to fill the holes.

 

https://www.plaidonline.com/gallery-glass-window-color-2-oz/84/product.htm

 

once the leds are in place you can seal them in with a dab of clear acrylic or clear nail polish. then light seal that with some thick black paint, like tee shirt dimensional paint (ie used to make raised designs). this is the stuff a lot of modelers that do a lot of model lighting use to seal up light leaks with. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Tulip-Dimensional-Fabric-Paint-Slick/dp/B004BQ01CQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1464041192&sr=1-1&keywords=tulip+dimensional+black

 

the older tomytec vehicles had virtually no interior (the chassis is just the chassis floor basically) like the cheap chinese ones and you could easily transplant the led circuit in there if there is room (interiors of most of the tomytecs are maybe 20-40% smaller than the largish chinese cars). many of later tomytec cars started to have full interiors moulded

 

its just resistors and leds in there nothing fancy! you can get smaller resistors in SMD form that will fit better in many of the tomytec spaces if you want to roll your own. small strands of uninsulated wire would probably work best to do the wiring from the resistors to the leds if you plan out the circuit correctly. pairs of smd leds could be wired in parallel to the resistor for the head and tail light sets.

 

Do think the power needs to be reduced to the chinese ones, the set i got to check out were really bright at 12v and not realistic at all. tail lights especially need to be muted more. just dropping them to like 6v could help a lot!

 

soldering this stuff is pretty simple but very tedious and will just take practice. plus since the parts are so close to each other its easy to unsolder one part as its so close to the iron or a connector gets hot enough to melt the connection at the other end. ive been meaning to look at some way to maybe make the whole thing easier using a light pipe and single led for head lights and one for the tail lights. It is still a chore to try and pack all that into the tiny space! Not easy but doable with some work and i think a bit of practice!

 

Solering itself is not tough at all. just takes practice, practice, practice. Get an ok soldering iron with a fine tip and you can play. the components are dirt cheap on ebay so get some and just play, we can help you with the circuitry stuff. you tube has some great videos on soldering and soldering smd components as well. give it a whack!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

Interesting, so that's how they do those lights. Did the break occur between the led and the wire? If you have a reasonably fine soldering iron, patience and preferably a third hand, you might have a fighting chance of repairing it. I say this as an electronics n00b, these leds are not quite as easy to damage with inexpert soldering as you might think.

 

Does the Tomytec car have suitable apertures for the lights to shine through?

 

Yap I thought so too. They were listed with 12V in voltage so I guess they should be great for my layout, which uses 12V input voltage for all buildings.

 

Unfortunately, I really suck at soldering... I think it can be easily mended, since it only broke off at the connection between the SMD and the wire when I pulled too hard to try to get the whole assembly into the car... The Tomytec cars will require holes to be drilled in at the head lights and tail lights section for the lights to go through, which is also what is being done to the China cars...

 

 

jr500,

 

the tomytec cars have a pin in the front and back that holds the chassis onto the car body. first pop out the wheels by pulling one wheel away from the bottom clip (towards the open space in the axle clip). then slip a small screwdriver blade in on of the front wheel wells and pry the chassis down and out. sometime then have to do the same on the rear as the body and bumpers can interlock a tiny bit. 

 

tomytec vehicles dont use clear plastic for the head and tail lights, they are painted on details. so if you want to light them you will need to drill holes in them where the lights are. then you could use something like gallery glass which is a clear acrylic to make pho stained glass or even just a semi transparent fingernail polish or clear or tinted acrylic to fill the holes.

 

https://www.plaidonline.com/gallery-glass-window-color-2-oz/84/product.htm

 

once the leds are in place you can seal them in with a dab of clear acrylic or clear nail polish. then light seal that with some thick black paint, like tee shirt dimensional paint (ie used to make raised designs). this is the stuff a lot of modelers that do a lot of model lighting use to seal up light leaks with. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Tulip-Dimensional-Fabric-Paint-Slick/dp/B004BQ01CQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1464041192&sr=1-1&keywords=tulip+dimensional+black

 

the older tomytec vehicles had virtually no interior (the chassis is just the chassis floor basically) like the cheap chinese ones and you could easily transplant the led circuit in there if there is room (interiors of most of the tomytecs are maybe 20-40% smaller than the largish chinese cars). many of later tomytec cars started to have full interiors moulded

 

its just resistors and leds in there nothing fancy! you can get smaller resistors in SMD form that will fit better in many of the tomytec spaces if you want to roll your own. small strands of uninsulated wire would probably work best to do the wiring from the resistors to the leds if you plan out the circuit correctly. pairs of smd leds could be wired in parallel to the resistor for the head and tail light sets.

 

Do think the power needs to be reduced to the chinese ones, the set i got to check out were really bright at 12v and not realistic at all. tail lights especially need to be muted more. just dropping them to like 6v could help a lot!

 

soldering this stuff is pretty simple but very tedious and will just take practice. plus since the parts are so close to each other its easy to unsolder one part as its so close to the iron or a connector gets hot enough to melt the connection at the other end. ive been meaning to look at some way to maybe make the whole thing easier using a light pipe and single led for head lights and one for the tail lights. It is still a chore to try and pack all that into the tiny space! Not easy but doable with some work and i think a bit of practice!

 

Solering itself is not tough at all. just takes practice, practice, practice. Get an ok soldering iron with a fine tip and you can play. the components are dirt cheap on ebay so get some and just play, we can help you with the circuitry stuff. you tube has some great videos on soldering and soldering smd components as well. give it a whack!

 

cheers

 

jeff

 

Oh wow Thanks Jeff! I liked how you provided advice and insights to our queries. Thank you sir!

 

Well, like above, my soldering sucks... I have tried soldering before and ended up burning almost everything... haha... I think I should REALLY get to trying it out... Since there are SO MUCH things that I want to solder, on my long list of projects... such as installing headlights and tail lights on moving bus chassis (yes I found suitable SMD that only uses 3v, the same as the moving bus chassis!), or installing lights into Tomytec Tetsudo collection series trains... etc...