Some HO (1/80, 16.5) Japanese Modelling

[Gora]

....................picking up from my bits of this thread on the forum:

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/7412-ho-wheelsets-for-hobby-model-kits/

 

.....thought I should do the right thing and open a thread in this area for modelling updates. 

 

I have just completed very minor detailing (they don't need much, they're a well detailed model), painting and weathering of two of Kato's Tora 45000's:

 

 

There's some more information on my Japanese modelling page if you're interested:

http://japanese-model-railway-ho-180-16.blogspot.com.au/

 

Cheers, Andrew

[marknewton]

Nice work, Andrew. Makes me feel a bit slack for not having painted and weathered any of my wagons!  :)

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[Gora]

Thank you and please fret not Mark, it's just a bit of a habit for me. Would be good to shake it, modelling life would be easier! :confused1:  I have managed to curb my ways a bit - My Japanese modelling is actually meant to be a bit of a tonic from the more stringent finescale work I have done for "Glenburn" so I am forcing myself not to handcraft every handrail, detail etc. Still want the work to be good, but not to a nutty level. Similarly, I will likely not be scratch building rolling stock (he says, now.....), though with the range available there is hardly a need!

 

Cheers, Andrew

[Gora]

2 x Hobby Model WAMU 5000's completed on the weekend, nice looking wagons! Am getting the hang of HM decals, near boiling water made the decals a breeze.

 

 

As always some more pictures and a little detail on the site if you're interested:

http://japanese-model-railway-ho-180-16.blogspot.com.au/

 

Cheers, Andrew

[Gora]

I have placed some pictures of the Tramway DD16 being run in on my other layout on the site, if readers are interested:

http://japanese-model-railway-ho-180-16.blogspot.com/

 

A good example of the importance of appropriate scenery, it looks quite out of place in Australian environs! (not to mention HO 1/87 environs.....)

 

Cheers, Andrew

[Gora]

Have just completed my first Sankei card kit, their Warehouse (2), one of their smaller/simpler kits hence the choice. A picture is attached and if you are interested further a few more and some notes on the build at my site (in signature at base as I do not seem to be able to load either pictures or links here anymore, load page freezes and the only cancellation is to go-back and hence delete the page, this my 6th try, and re-write, and I hereby give up..... )
 
Anyway, it brings up the issue I now face: I started this Japanese 1/80 endeavour as some light relief from my usual Australian modelling which is detail and scratch-building heavy, but now I have looked into and learnt a bit more on it find I will not be happy to build a basic model, hence face the prospect of two such layouts which I think is untenable. No idea what to do about this. Hmmm.....
 
In the meantime, best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year in 2014. :icon_santa:
 
Cheers, Andrew

Edited December 24, 2013 by Gora

[cteno4]

Andrew,

 

really nice job on the warehouse with the extra detailing, painting and weathering.

 

sorry to hear you are not totally satisfied with the Sankei kit. i could definitely see at HO where even laser cut card stock just starts showing to many odd flatness issues and with the detailing you can do at HO scale that would be frustrating. also the cost on the sankei kits goes up quite a bit with the HO scale compared to the n scale as the lions share of the cost of the kits is the material (goes up 4x with ho to n) and laser time (bet thats about 3x). other issues like warping go up with ho.

 

at n scale the sankei kits feel near the edge of things like 3d relief and warping are going to be a concern, but still feel very good to me and are a great addition to modeling. the 2-4 ply design of the chipboard feels like it will hold up well in n scale, but roofs of any size ive decided to beef up as i really could see them sagging. i may also just go ahead on some of the larger buildings and add a little internal bracing on walls to be ultra safe.

 

but with the ease these can be created by sankei (ie just scaling up and beefing up n scale kits) its probably the only way a lot of japanese buildings will be done for the small ho scale japanese market.

 

did you have any issues with painting the chipboard and it warping at all? did you seal it first with a dullcoat before painting?

 

your other modeling is quite impressive! always amazed at the detail that can be done in larger scales!

 

thanks for showing us your results!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Gora]

G'day Jeff,

 

Thanks for your kind words on the kit and my other modelling.

 

Sorry if I didn't explain it properly, I don't think there is anything wrong with the Sankei kits at all, I reckon they're an excellent kit, go together well and come up really well even with no painting/weathering. I only painted to help close some of the gaps (but wasn't entirely successful and will be dealing with this with filler next time before painting), and also wanted to see what weathering would do to them. There are many surfaces where card is a better material than the typical styrene/plastic and Sankei use this to good effect. Their cutting is precisely and finely done and it is nice also to be able to assemble without nasty plastic glues. I think the price is pretty good too for what they are also - I took advantage of Rakuten's free postage period to order four of them so it came out quite well.

 

My problem is actually quite the opposite, the Japanese modelling I have done is interesting and rewarding enough that it deserves my trying harder and getting it as good as I can, rather than as a light distraction to my primary modelling (Australian). Only problem with that is I do enjoy my Australian building also, but need a break from it at this time (6 years non stop wears one out somewhat....). Hence the question, is it possible to build two detailed layouts at once? I am not sure on this, much thought required as to what to do next.

 

To your question, I didn't prime the card at all, just applied the acrylics directly on and dullcoted after to remove any sheen. there is no warping at date, time will tell whether there is any longer term but the card is very good quality so I doubt it. I also used little water when painting so the paint is quite thick which should reduce the chance of warping.

 

Sorry, many words, but hope that clears up my admiration for the Sankei kit, and also my modelling conundrum! :dontknow:

 

Cheers, Andrew

Edited December 24, 2013 by Gora

[cteno4]

Andrew,

 

Cool, thanks for the full explanation of your experience with them. yeah i much prefer the card stock texture over styrene. even priming styrene gives it a better texture than the usual smooth surface. heavy use of matte paints on the n scale tomytec buildings really helps make them pop as much more realistic looking. im surprised there was no warping with the paint application, very good to know! the layering they do (how many do they do on the walls of the HO structure and i wonder if its the same thickness as the n scale chipboard) really helps, creates their own plywood.

 

glad to hear you are happy with sankei kits in HO for their detail and fit. i would expect the joints would need a bit more than in n scale to cover up being longer and probably a little more noticalbe. they do a great job of fitting, but ive found you have to be very careful in your alignment of the layers to make all the joints go just right. ive noticed they seem to have done a bit more of finger joints and such with later kits which allows some easier alignment of the layers to make joints easier. they are quite fun and zen like to put together! i keep wondering if they ever might do 3D printed plastic details for them or a third party as addons. if selected properly the two could really compliment each other well. seems like more the future of kits than styrene with how easy it is to design and produce them.

 

Guess its if you have room and time for both? how about doing something modular with the japanese that you might be able to pop into club stuff or your own little modular layout? doing something different will probably help get you new energy!

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[cteno4]

Jimmy,

 

Nice sankei structures! Yeah the instructions are not great, its their weak point. Also th n scale ones are pretty small and very lightly printed.

 

One thing I have also done while assembling is to make sure to lightly (on what i think is the backside) write the part numbers. Then after I test fit and make sure I have the right parts in the right orientations I make a small mark on each to make sure that after I spread the glue I put them together correctly. I've found some of the wall assemblies have madden lay similar sizes that are easy to mix up!

 

They do take some patience, but once I get into one they are a little zen like.

 

Jeff

Edited December 26, 2013 by cteno4

[marknewton]

G'day Andrew,

 

I like the way your storehouse turned out, that's very nice. What glue did you use?

 

Thinking about your layout conundrum, just how committed are you to keeping Cudgewa? You could do something quite interesting in that space in HOJ. Given the high quality of most Japanese RTR and kits, you could concentrate on the other aspects of layout building. If you were to model a rural location you wouldn't have to devote a huge amount of time to building structures, and could use other kits from the Sankei range for most of them. You could almost build a JNR version of Cudgewa, at least in concept. Anyway,something to consider.

 

All the best for the New Year,

 

Mark.

[Gora]

Thanks Jeff, Jimmy and Mark for your responses.

 

On the questions:

Jeff - Now you have me thinking - I think mostly two layers

Mark - Just ye good ol' PVA white glue

 

Thanks Jeff and Mark for your comments on the conundrum, time is part of the issue, the other one is whether I can handle the creativity required for two layouts. Jeff, am not part of a modular club so that's a no go, and tend to be a bit of a lone modeller in that regard. Mark, good observation, indeed "Cudgewa" may well have seen its last train. Cudgewa only takes up half the middle deck of the layout room so thinking was fit the Japanese ambition into the other half for now, and if it got legs Cudgewa would indeed give way. The thing I am trying to get my head around is whether I have enough creative capability in me for two layouts. I am scanning magazines at present for instances where modellers have done multiple layouts at the same time. It is more common where the two layouts are the same theme (typically one for home & one for exhibition), haven't found one yet with two totally different prototypes.

 

Cheers, Andrew

[marknewton]

I've heard of a few people modelling different prototypes, sometimes in different scales. There's one bloke, John Flann - an English expat living in the US - who models a 1930 Great Western Rly branchline in 00 and a modern US shortline in HO.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/60526-hintock-gwr-oo/

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/76431-providence-river/

 

There's another very well-known Englishman, Iain Rice, who at one stage had three layouts based on UK, US and Dutch prototype.

 

Andy Gautrey is a third English modeller who has a layout based on a US traction/interurban line, and is building another based on the Hershey interurban in Cuba. I'm following his progress with great interest.

 

There are others, but I'm about to head off to work so I'll post some more comments and links later.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

G'day Andrew,

 

Some photos of Iain Rice's UK prototype layout "Trerice":

 

http://www.uckfieldmrc.co.uk/exhib09/trerice.html

 

his Dutch prototype layout "Bodesmeer":

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.lane/S4/Main%20Event/s4um05main-3.html

 

and his US layout "Roque Bluffs"

 

 

Thinking about your question a bit more, I reckon you'd have the creative capability to sustain two layouts. Cudgewa is so conceptually different from Glenburn it may as well be another prototype. And if you can plausibly freelance a 2'6" gauge version of a VR branchline, I'm sure you could build a convincing little bit of Japan as well.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[cteno4]

Adrew,

 

you could always do what one of our club member did for his home layout. its a large (like 18'x20') room layout shaped like a G. one end is Zurich and the other kyoto with a little bit of philly in the middle. he likes modeling places he has ridden trains in and also tend only to buy trains he has ridden on. he was a very big traveler so has a lot of stock luckily. pretty interesting arrangement, but probably not for you!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Gora]

G'day Mark & Jeff,

 

Thank you for the considered responses.

 

Mark - Iain has modelled more than I knew. thank you. I am a fan of his Roque Bluff's layout (thank you for the video link - actually have a print out of the series out for reading at present), but considered him a "professional modeller", though I'm not so sure he is now, rather just quite prolific perhaps..... Thank you also for your confidence in abilities   , you're right you know, Cudgewa is more different than I had thought. I have the Japanese concept sorted and have actually planned out the first stage for the potential layout, to the extent of drawing it out in baseboard size, so am good there. Like you (I think?) a further challenge will be non-modelling, I have two young ones and a third on the way, quite time consuming - in a good way!

 

Jeff - interesting thought, one I had had also with my current layout and some other areas of Victoria I might incorporate. I would keep the Japanese seperate as I can (have a two level layout room) but also the clearances may trouble with larger stock in future.

 

Thanks again both! I think the Japanese layout will be a slow burn, but I am committed to getting something together even if only small.

 

Cheers, Andrew

Edited January 6, 2014 by Gora

[Darklighter]

What couplers do you use for Hobby Model kits? According to the instructions Kadee #8 couplers are required but those were discontinued...

 

And do you use Kadee #5 for the PRUS kits?

[marknewton]

On the HobbyModel and Endo Prus kits I've built so far I've used Kadee #5s with no problems. I didn't know that the instructions called for #8s - I can't read them!  :)

 

On a few models I initially used the scale-sized #58s, but I replaced these with #5s, as the #58s look undersized to me on 1/80th scale models.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited May 10, 2014 by marknewton

[Darklighter]

I'm currently working on a HobbyModel Wara 1. Although the instructions recommend #5 or #8, the draft gear boxes of the #5 don't fit without modifications.  :(