FastFranz Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Hi All, I'm Italian but, from about one and a half year, I live in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), modelling here is not easy: this is a 7.5 million inhabitants city where there's not even ONE toy shop! So for the layout I'm going to built I'll rely on supplies I got with me on arrival and few add-ons I manage to get from Italy (my or friends trips to Italy). I started modelling (ages ago ...) in H0 (Rivarossi 1:80) when N gauge was not existing at all; then after a long break I restarted with, you name it, N gauge: German trains to begin with, then US trains and, in the end, Japanese trains/trams (a small cm 30x60 tram layout, so far). Enough for now; here are - to make a long strory short - three pics of my efforts (the small US layout is still in Rome) so far... All the best Francesco PS: Forgive me for my - below the average - english!!! Link to comment
ozman2009 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Welcome Francesco. Your English is very good - in fact better than some native English speakers! Thanks for sharing those photos, and good luck with getting hold of modelling supplies. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Welcome Francesco! Nice little layouts, love the mini Japanese tram layout. Amazing what you can get done in a small space. I guess mail order is out of the question? Your English is very good! Cheers Jeff Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Ciao (italian for HI!). Thanks for the warm welcome, to begin with ... Then to reply to cteno4, yes mail order are NOTt the way to go: most on-line shop do not deliver here. Custom fees can be, under given circustances, as high as 42% of the billed amount (actual imported goods cost)!!! So the only way to go is make a shopping.list as accurate as possible (after all you have many months to one year to think about it), go home and buy what you need (and sometimes what you happen to find!!! :dontknow: ) and stay with it! If you're wrong/forget something, well ... TOO BAD! Next year you'll be more carefull! :laughing6: :laughing6: :laughing6: :laughing6: :laughing6: Francesco Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Francesco, Yikes a very challenging way to model! Also awful to watch new models come out and not get to order them! Can small "gift" packages get to you from friends with no duties? Maybe befriend an airline pilot! In the early days before you could buy stuff straight from Japan easily there was an airline pilot that flew to japan often and would bring back his extra satchel full of trains to sell on ebay. I guess if customs ever asked he could just say they were for his kid, a bit less suspicious than cameras or electronic goods! Please post some more Picts of your current project and start a thread on it in the projects forum! Ciao, Jeff Link to comment
Matteo_IT Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) Oh... from your topic title I was thinking you were terrone... :icon_blackeye: :icon_cheese: Edited February 9, 2015 by Matteo_IT Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 @cteno4: that's the way (modelling) it goes, like it or leave it!!! Yes you can rely on "gift" package but, as a general rule, "toy trains" are not the main priority when you ask for something in Italy! You may need books, computer items, medicine, spare parts for car/motorcycle, tools, and so on ... And travelling by plane the handling of "luggage room/weight" ... IS AN ISSUE! Needs to add, anyway, that I buy very few pieces a year (sharing them in my areas of main interest: Vintage Rivarossi/Lima "Made in Italy" in every gauge, US/Japanese trains/trams (mostly in N gauge) so I have one year - almost!!! - to choose my target and once back home ... make my bid! ... ;). As far as the (new) layout is concerned I will begin my thread soon! My first post will be the short explanation, as clear as possible, of the actual situation I'm living in (and thus modelling) otherwise someone could consider me ... "stupid"!!! ... ... ... LLLOOLLL!!! Francesco Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Francesco, No worries on being thought stupid, it's your layout! Anyone who considers it stupid is the stupid one. It's great to see others doing thier layouts with their own set of hopes, desires, likes, abilities, and limitations. It's the creativity folks do to creat their own unique blend on their layouts I find the most interesting even if it's not my taste and such. Those creative bits really help in my own modeling bits! Cheers Jeff Link to comment
Nick_Burman Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Then to reply to cteno4, yes mail order are NOTt the way to go: most on-line shop do not deliver here. Custom fees can be, under given circustances, as high as 42% of the billed amount (actual imported goods cost)!!! 42% isn't "all that bad"... I have to fork out 63%... Cheers NB Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Ciao @Nick_Burman: The problem are NOT the sellers on-line or not (where, of course, there's good and bad) but are custom fees applied by Ivory Coast at entrance in the country (BTW Abidjan is, probably, the greatest Harbour in all West Africa) and same is for cargo flighs at the airport If Yoy bring stuff with You - inside your airplane luggage - you shouldn't be asked to pay, at least from a theoretical point of view since corruption is (here) a really serious problem and the weigh's issue remain ... is't - in the end - a sort of "endless circle". @cteno4: probably my english is not good enough to fully explain what I think, I do not feel myself stupid (of course!!!), stupid are the problems I'm facing!!! I.E,.: I need, quite common to mimic japanese's landscape, a lot of clump foliage ... The solution is/should be simple: go to the corner shop and buy it! the "stupidity" is the fact I have - here - no chance to do so!!! I'll have to wait june/july when hopefully I'll return in Italy for holidays. If I, by any chance, skip this travel next one will be in six months or so! That's "stupid" ... ;) Francesco PS: I seel You live in Brasil. Lucky You I spent - between june 2004 and february 2005 - six wonderful months in Rio de Janeiro!!! Link to comment
cteno4 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Francesco, Ahh got you! For foliage if you can get any acrylic or latex paints you can grind up foam rubber (usually can get from an upholstery or fabric store) in a coffee grinder or even chopping it up finely with a sharp knife on a cutting board. Then put paint on it (diluted some, experiment) and once throughly mixed, squeeze out all the paint you can and sprinkle in small clumps on newspaper to dry. After dry you can break the clumps up in your fingers or knife or grinder to the size you want. Works pretty well. Sawdust of various sizes can also be used and stained with cloth dye. Pull the copper wire from an old lamp cord and those can make great tree armatures by U twisting and then retwisting into smaller limbs along the way and paint. Sure the forum folks have ideas to help with the can't go down to the corner hobby shop or jump on the computer to order problem! Will be great seeing the layout coming together under these conditions, sure new creative things will pop out! Cheers Jeff Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 @cteno4: For the foliage I did something that closely resemble what You suggest (got on YouTube) but results were poor, at least. I put, before departure, enough trees so this is not a problem (except for the Sakura: I made a try but was not that good, regrettably ...). Rest assured I will ask - alot - on the Forum (that's why, among the others, I'm here)! ;) Plans (mine) are to begin in the next days my thread on the construction of my layout. Stay tuned ... LOL!!! Francesco Link to comment
NJHA Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) Hi Francesco I don't have the problems you have in getting scenery materials but i do like to try out some "strange" stuff, or "out of the shop shelf" stuff. So i wandered about on the internet and found 2 guys that present a lot of interesting options for scenery materials made of natural stuff. (I made some ground cover from cooking herbs just to give you an idea) They also give ideas on techniques to make a lot of stuff. The youtube channels are these: https://www.youtube.com/user/terrainoob/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/RubbishInRubbishOut/videos Hopefully you can use some of these guys ideas :) Edited February 11, 2015 by NJHA Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Ciao, I will further check (gave a try to few suggestion from the second option but, likely, I did mistakes ...) to both. THX!!! Francesco Link to comment
Nick_Burman Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Ciao @Nick_Burman: The problem are NOT the sellers on-line or not (where, of course, there's good and bad) but are custom fees applied by Ivory Coast at entrance in the country (BTW Abidjan is, probably, the greatest Harbour in all West Africa) and same is for cargo flighs at the airport If Yoy bring stuff with You - inside your airplane luggage - you shouldn't be asked to pay, at least from a theoretical point of view since corruption is (here) a really serious problem and the weigh's issue remain ... is't - in the end - a sort of "endless circle". @cteno4: probably my english is not good enough to fully explain what I think, I do not feel myself stupid (of course!!!), stupid are the problems I'm facing!!! I.E,.: I need, quite common to mimic japanese's landscape, a lot of clump foliage ... The solution is/should be simple: go to the corner shop and buy it! the "stupidity" is the fact I have - here - no chance to do so!!! I'll have to wait june/july when hopefully I'll return in Italy for holidays. If I, by any chance, skip this travel next one will be in six months or so! That's "stupid" ... ;) Francesco PS: I seel You live in Brasil. Lucky You I spent - between june 2004 and february 2005 - six wonderful months in Rio de Janeiro!!! Francesco, I meant import duties - I pay 63% over everything I order (except books) from abroad. Since taxation is often by sampling sometimes I get my parcels without tax. But still, when compared with here 42% is better, even if still abusive. Cheers NB Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 @Nick_Burman: going a little O.T. (just in case reply me in pm): what is your opinion on (H0) Frateschi model trains? THX! Francesco Link to comment
Nick_Burman Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 @Nick_Burman: going a little O.T. (just in case reply me in pm): what is your opinion on (H0) Frateschi model trains? THX! Francesco Francesco, Frateschi = Lima from the 1970's. With a few exceptions, especially some of the "unavoidable" (because only they makes them) locomotives. Cheers NB Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Ciao, THX! Back on topic now ... Francesco Link to comment
FastFranz Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 (edited) Here we go!!! First step, the tunnel: A BAD IDEA!!! Because of the type of table in use I could not have any access from beyond and I had to do il "liftable" should anything go wrong inside! Morover having at hand only cardboard and styrofoam (non the "pressed" one, pls get me! ) it ended up with lot of tiny, white, particles wandering anywhere!!! The Whole structure - eventually - resulted a bit weak and strenghtening it has been anything but easy. If I could turn back time I'd preferer a "mountain" with track going around (to have trains out of sight); at any rate I managed to move trough the ordeal and that's the key point!!! ;). The "sky" (on the bottom) has been painted by mean of spray paints and resulted - in the end - too dark but that pictured hue has been the only one i got!!! Francesco PS: tunnel portals - at that moment the aim was still an "high speed" line - are those (DB) for the rail line used by ICE III. Busch I think to remember. Edited February 11, 2015 by FastFranz Link to comment
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