Tomytec - Painted & Anything Model Bus Related

[JR 500系]

Since there's a painted trains thread, and there is not yet a thread dedicated for the beautiful buses that Tomytec manufactures, perhaps opening a new thread for TOMYTEC buses is good?

To start off and get the ball rolling, i have some good news for bus lovers like myself:

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/news/1307/11_event01.html

From tomytec website! If i was in Japan, i would definately go there to get this special set!

Info from the site:

【商品名】 小田急箱根高速バス ヱヴァンゲリヲンラッピングバス運行記念セット 【発売日】 2013年7月20日 【販売価格】 \2,000（税込み） 【販売場所】 小田急線新宿駅西口地上コンコース　特設会場 【購入制限】 ※数に限りがあるため、おひとり様5個限りとさせていただきます。
※品切れの際はご容赦ください。 【お問い合わせ先】 小田急箱根高速バス株式会社

It seems it's on the 20th of July, venue is the Odakyu station west entrance. And it seems it's only sold there.... Sad news...

I also reckon there will be a good long queue there, just to get this set. Although there is a maximum number of 5 sets that each person can buy, i estimate the buses turning up on Yahoo Auctions pretty quickly for those trying to get a quick buck out of them.. And i think they'll most probably succeed especially for those people stay FAR from Shinjuku... Luckily there is a limitation to the number of sets that each person can buy, if not the first few would probably sweep them all away...

It's a BEAUTIFUL set... What's better than the beautiful tomytec buses that i love is that it is printed with the anime that i love, Evangelion! Gotta get my hands on this set but it seems like a wild long shot....


Please feel free to share your comments and bus collections too!

I have the recently released Tomytec Perfect bus collection book, so if anyone is interested i can take some photos to share here ~~

[ToniBabelony]

Too bad I'm not an EVA fan and I'm flat broke...

[dabsan]

Hi, it's really good to see a thread about painted buses on here.

During my travels around asian countries I have often seen many beautiful painted buses and I wonder why there are so few models featuring these fantastic designs. Having seen some amazing designs on buses in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan.

It would be great to see some photos of both models and real painted buses on here.

 

One model I am looking forward to being released is the Girls und Panzer bus.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10226751

 

It's a shame the Eva bus is only being sold at Odakyu station, would be great to get hold of one.

:)

[KenS]

That's a cool bus dabsan (the GuP one), thank's for pointing it out. I just reserved one. Even if it's not for Tokyo, I'm sure if I can put it on the layout somewhere and have something other than a typical Tokyo bus. Ibaraki isn't that far away from Tokyo anyway, maybe I should broden my scope to the whole Kanto region. :)

 

I've been on a bit of a bus kick lately, trying to track down a bunch of different Tokyo-region buses to give my layout some variety.  I picked up the non-wrapped "Tokyu Bus (Tokyo and Kanagawa area)" set JB005 recently, and have the Bus Collection v18 set, which has a lot of regional bus types in it, on reservation.  Some wrapped bus models would make for a nice variation, considering how common advertising wraps have become in recent years.

 

At present these are all going to be static models.  I have a couple of the moving bus sets, and was working on a small tram layout with a loop of bus track but never got around to completing it. There's really no place on my main layout where I can put a road.  I need to find one.

 

The EVA one doesn't really speak to me though.  The bus design is interesting, simply because it's the more streamlined long-distance type rather than the boxy in-town kind of bus. But the artwork just looks like a typical movie poster.  It's not bad, but it's not really a "wrapping".  Perhaps if I was an Evangelion fan it would have more meaning, but I could never get into that series.

 

And great idea for a thread, JR!

[Guest keio6000]

im starting to sound like a broken record, but honestly, i'm sorry, but that evangelion bus looks awful.  for me, one of the big attractions of japanese trains and buses is the "pure" look that hasnt been cheapned by ads.  no designer in the world would put that evangelion stuff on a bus or lupin on a train.. this is done by some businessperson.  mind you, i have nothing against lupin or evangelion.   the former i like very much!  but i'm sorry, in my view this "consumerist advertisment" is basically one step away from graffiti, especially as the application of the evangelion billboard is not clever or interesting.

[JR 500系]

Thanks guys for supporting this thread! I just love the Tomytec buses and glad to find people here with the same interest!

 

@ dabsan: Cool! Yes I have also ordered the Panzer bus, and it seems it is compatible with the moving bus system ~ Whats better than a painted bus is a moving painted bus! Here is Sillypore, the buses are, well, boring so to speak. There are double-deckers and 'bendy' bus (buses with a centre diaphragm, like a train), and commonly commercially painted by advertisers. Some ads are nice so the bus looks nice, while others dont look so hot. I have shared herewith some photos from the Bus Collection Perfect Manual i was talking about and recently got it. It features ALL the bus variations released by Tomytec to date, including the secret variations! Now that's cool!

 

@ KenS - Thanks! Please refer to some pictures of the book that illustrates some buses that run in the Tokyo/ Kanto region which you may be interested in, although alot of them are already out-of-production and hard-to-get. Yahoo Auctions will be your best bet, but they aren't gonna be cheap after service charges and shipping~ Love the Enoshima bus that will definately compliment perfectly the recently released Enokun-Skip-Go Enoshima Tram Modemo NT-133 ~

 

@ keio6000 - I understand the Eva bus might not look so cool, being the fact it is like a banner stuck on the bus instead of being totally painted like the Tomytec Evangelion Train set (http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10222621). However, being a true Evangelion fan (Eva is my favourite anime, along with Super Robot Wars), this bus is a must get! It's a long distance type of bus, and the painting of the models on the bus just appeals so much to me~ I'll get it if i could, but i guess it's not possible for me to get it until someone list it in Yahoo Auctions for a 'hand-&-leg' price. Come to think about it, there is quite a number of Evangelion-related Tomytec merchandise... Perhaps they got the license and decided to flaunt it ~~

 

Enjoy the pictures! Let me know if anyone wants more pictures from this delicious book!  

 

 

[JR 500系]

Off-Topic abit, but still on the buses, there is another manufacturer, Kyosho, that makes very nice 1/150 scale buses.

Here's the website: http://www.kyosho.com/jpn/products/diecast/lineup.html?series_index_id=100106&series_group_id=1&s1=&s2=&s3=&s4=&s5=&s6=&sx=&page=1

Tasty! The Kyosho buses come with attachable side-view mirrors, for that additional touch of realisticsm~ They also come with their own display stand. They're quite hard to get though, and so far i could only come across them being sold online is at Popondetta, but a very limited range.

Edited July 15, 2013 by JR500 のぞみ

[Guest keio6000]

@JR500: the Kyosho are nice, and, it is worth mentioning, are made of metal.  In addition to the long distance coaches your links point to, there are also city buses -  I have a very nice Kyosho Tokyu city bus sitting here, but unfortunately without my reference material I cant tell you exactly which one it is, since the plinth just says "Tokyu Bus"

 

That's a very nice Bus collection catalogue!  is it a catlogue?  I never saw one like this.  Poor girl in the 2nd photo trying desperately to appear interested in boys toys.

 

Speaking of collections, my biggest complaint is that there is a MASSIVE gap in the 'car collection' series, which is a lack of modern taxis. I have about 60 buses and 200 cars / other vehicles, but almost no taxis, which are very important for any modern japan colleciton (or did they make one and i missed it?)  I refer to N scale, not 1/87.

[Densha]

Ooh that's nice! I really like that tropical diorama. They even have prototype examples of bus stops in the book!

 

@keio6000

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/car/basic14.html

And many car collections also include some taxi's.

[JR 500系]

@ Keio6000:

 

U mean Kyosho also produces 1/150 scale CITY buses? Couldn't find that on their website... That would be very interesting indeed! The book is published by Neko Publishing: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10230213 and it's called the Bus Collection Complete Manual. It used to publish quite often, but this issue is the special 10 year celecbration series book that features all the bus collection models to date. It's definately a must-get book for Japanese Bus lovers like myself! If one can't get the models, at least one can drool at pictures of them~~

 

Regaring the taxis, i made a post sometime back here: http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/443-new-table-new-layout-pics-video/?p=80571 on Subway's thread, which also had alot of pictures of his taxi collection... Actually there's way too much taxis, especially in the later car collection series like the 12R and the 15th, so much so i had more taxis than i had normal cars. I wish there were more commercial vehicles like Trucks and Vans, like the Car collection 5. Too bad they're sold out and really expensive to get... Would there be a Car Collection or Truck Collection or Trailer Collection Perfect Manual like this? Haha ~~

 

Not to forget the girl looks just way too cute ~

 

@ Densha - Yap it's a great book and i'm so treasuring it... They have photos of real life bus stops, and photos of Tomytec factory on the 4th picture of how they made the bus models. Amazing it's still hand-made!

[ToniBabelony]

Just leaving this here:

 

[3railgreg]

Glad to see this thread started. I am just now getting into buses for my layout, and will continue to add as I can. Great video Toni!! Thanks!!

[cteno4]

wonderful diorama! thats the great use of the more small and less used roads for the tomytec busses. i think this is where they really shine is in scenes w/o a lot of traffic and on windy streets. on city blocks the regular tomytec curves just dont look right. even when i tried out doing a custom block corner with the faller bus with wire, it was hard to make it really look like a bus going around a city corner well. plus its just too weird to have the bus street w/o any other vehicles on it in a city scene. only way i have thought around that is to use an express bus lane to try to visually explain the one open lane, but even then it just looks odd to have one vehicle moving and the rest static. so these kinds of scenes are perfect for the tomytec busses!

 

nice job!

 

jeff

[Guest keio6000]

@JR500 - if you want to sell some of your taxis, by all means let me know :)  I will take as many as you can offer, especially the orange ones.  I would gladly take a whole 'car collection' 12 x 3 box of orange, yellow, and green taxis if such a thing were available!

 

[JR 500系]

@ Keio6000: Nice picture of the taxis lining up!

 

Yes i do have 2 boxes of the yellow/ orange/ black taxis that belong to the Tomytec Taxi collection that Densha has pointed out before: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10188825 sold out at HS, but still available at PJ: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Collection-Basic-Set-Checker-Cab-Tomytec-1-150-N-scale-/200941243401?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2ec9080c09.

 

There is an alternative to that, the Kato taxis:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10191887 sold out at HS, but still available at PJ: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Taxi-Car-Set-1-Kato-23-519-N-scale-/200826145115?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2ec22bc95b#ht_1791wt_1255

 

Here's the Car collection 12R and 15 that has taxis in them: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10170040 and http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10209227

The 12R is out of stock at most places, but PJ still has the 15: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Collection-No-15-24-vehicles-Tomytec-1-150-N-scale-/200935158346?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2ec8ab324a

 

Here's another smaller set that has an exclusive Nissan Elgrand MPV VIP taxi available at PJ: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Collection-Basic-Set-H2-Tomytec-1-150-N-scale-/121136214347?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1c3447f14b#ht_2817wt_1255

[JR 500系]

@ Toni: Ahah! That was the layout that the book featured! Very nice to see a video of it in action! Video has now been downloaded and converted into my phone for viewing at leisure anytime anywhere... Very wonderful job done! Gotta laugh at the last bit of the 'moving boat' system !!

 

Here's more of the lovely buses that i wished i got my hands on... The Enoshima 2-bus set that comes with a beautifully painted cartoon bus that will definately compliment the Modemo NT133 Enokun-Skip go tram... And the secret Variation of Bus Collection 14, the Kobe express bus!

 

@ Keio6000: Found a box of Kyosho City buses series that you mentioned on sale at Yahoo Auctions! Was tempted, but got turn off by the ratio of the older bus models to the newer ones... Can't fit them both on one layout without looking too weird...

[dabsan]

@Toni That video is great! I was smiling so much after watching it :)

 

@JR500 The Enoshima 2-bus set looks good, I recently recieved the Modemo NT133 Enokun-Skip. I didn't know there was a bus with this design also.

[Densha]

That video is really nice! Indeed very good use of the bus system. Also, if only they'd lowered the boat on the bus chassis and lowered the speed it would look actually pretty good.

[KenS]

Did anyone else notice the brake lights on those buses when they stopped? Did Tomytec add those when I wasn't looking, or is that a homebrew addition?

 

And motorized boats...dang, I need a larger river.

[JR 500系]

Did anyone else notice the brake lights on those buses when they stopped? Did Tomytec add those when I wasn't looking, or is that a homebrew addition?

 

And motorized boats...dang, I need a larger river.

Hi KenS - The lights are from the original Tomytec moving bus chassis that has the motor on it. I dont know how it works like a charm, but it will light up green when the bus is in motion. It will turn RED once the bus reaches the bus stop and the bus stop is in 'STOP' position. It will then turn green again about 15secs later and the bus moves off from the bus stop. If the bus stop is in 'GO' position, the bus will not stop, but you can see for about 1sec that the light turns yellow from green, and then back to green again and the bus continues moving. It's a wonderful system that always puzzles me...

 

 @ Dabsan: There's alot of two buses sets that various companies engage Tomytec to produce for them. I've attach some more pictures from the book to show some more of these sets. These sets are hard to get as they are produced only in limited quantity and usually you have to go to their event to buy it, much like the recent Evangelion Bus Odakyu will release tomorrow in Shinjuku... Which i can't get my hands on..... :cussing:

 

Here's more picture from the book:

 

There's good news! There will be a Moving Bus Chassis number BM-03 somewhat end of 2013, for those long distance buses! Now that's nice!

 

Also, the book shows how to modify your CITY bus collection buses from all series, 1-17 (Long distance bus types are yet to be able to motorise till end of the year), to convert them to moving buses! Some sanding work to the wheel arches, what type of motor (32mm or 35mm) and additional pieces to add to the bus, cutting of the top connector etc. Very informative! I'll be trying some of the techniques once i get my hands on my second BM-02 chassis!

 

Some pictures from the book also shows the layout belonging to the video Toni has posted, and the original scene it was modelled after.. A work of genius!

[Bri]

JAPANESE BUSES HOBBY GUIDE VOL.5, PICTORIAL BOOK (2009) Used copy on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAPANESE-BUSES-1-150-SCALE-PICTORIAL-BOOK-NECO-PUBLICATIONS-JAPAN-/300711161940?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item4603c83054

[Densha]

Ha they even included the prices of the limited edition! You can't get it new anyway so why include it? Though for the sake of completion it's nice. :)

I just can't get enough of that layout either!!

[KenS]

Hi KenS - The lights are from the original Tomytec moving bus chassis that has the motor on it. I dont know how it works like a charm, but it will light up green when the bus is in motion. It will turn RED once the bus reaches the bus stop and the bus stop is in 'STOP' position. It will then turn green again about 15secs later and the bus moves off from the bus stop. If the bus stop is in 'GO' position, the bus will not stop, but you can see for about 1sec that the light turns yellow from green, and then back to green again and the bus continues moving. It's a wonderful system that always puzzles me...

 

I have that set, and I never noticed the light, but you're right.  I guess I don't look at them from a low enough angle.

 

There will be a Moving Bus Chassis number BM-03 somewhat end of 2013, for those long distance buses! Now that's nice!

 

Cool.  I'll have to think about getting one of those.

[JR 500系]

Aahhh yes! More news from Tomyytec:

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/index.html

More pictures of the Panzer & Girls bus... Very nice indeed! BM02 compatible!

 

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus_zenkoku/index.html

全国バスコレクション series 3... Also BM02 compatible...

 

Can't wait for the BM03 to be released KenS! I too have much tour buses to 'move' around~~

[Densha]

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/bus/index.html

More pictures of the Panzer & Girls bus... Very nice indeed! BM02 compatible!

Aaarghh.... I have to resist... but... my money...