Who's just left the building ?

[signalmanson]

So having made the switch from North American to Japanese outline in N, I need some guidance with which buildings you prefer ?

 

 

 

Please help me with your thoughts on ease of construction  ( for the dexterity and optically challenged  ! )

 

Kato

 

Tomix

 

Greenmax

 

Thanks in advance

 

John

:confused5:

 

 

 

[JR 500系]

Hi there John!

 

There's a similar thread here: http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/9689-japanese-rolling-stock-and-scenery-which-choice/ with regards to discussion on buildings and scenery brands, and their pros and cons...

[katoftw]

Tomytec and Kato are pretty simple out of the box. Normally 95% assembled.

 

Greenmax have an array of models:-

Precoloured assembled model = Just like tomytec and Kato.

Precoloured model = assemble yourself.

Model = paint and assemble youself.

 

Fujumi you'll need to assemble and paint most kits. Some come pre painted.

Edited February 18, 2015 by katoftw

[signalmanson]

Hi there John!

 

There's a similar thread here: http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/9689-japanese-rolling-stock-and-scenery-which-choice/ with regards to discussion on buildings and scenery brands, and their pros and cons...

Many thanks JR500

[cteno4]

John,

 

The other thread has a lot but basically here is the scoop. All will do you well and mixing an matching works well, just some detailing and weathering to blend things a bit. I like them all and they all have their pluses and minuses, but rarely have I been diapointed! you want variety in your Japanese scenes as you can have the oddest things right next to each other in Japan! I'm sure others will have details I've left out or other opinions!

 

Kato

Mostly premade buildings in precolored plastics (some have some paint) with stickers to add. These look nice, but are a bit new and plastic looking out of the box and to be more realistic can use a hit of dullcoat and some weathering. They have a few kits that are again precolored plastic and pretty much snap together w.o glue and finish as above. Mostly it's the taller buildings and a few stations that kato is best with. Some of the 5-6 story city buildings you can pop apart and add more sections into easily if you want taller buildings.

 

Tomix

Pretty much the same as the kato above except their kits require glue. Not a lot of these around as tomytec is where they seem to be putting most all the effort. The tall office, apartment building and medium office you can make taller with sections from a second building easily by just popping apart and clicking sections in place.

 

Tomytec

(now the parent company of Tomix and the broader brand name, tomix is the brand name for mainly the trains and track now, confusing I know!) - these are preprinted and weathered very simple snap together kits. Takes 5 minutes to pop them together and made to not require glue. They use a bit cheaper abs plastic and can come a little warped or warp a little with time, but some careful bending and then gluing the parts can fix this. I've had some for 10 years now and they are holding up very well. They look very nice and have a huge vaiiety in small to medium buildings and are reasonably priced. Usually come with quite a few detail bits to go around the structure that is more than most others. A few of the medium city building you can easily make taller with more sections from another one. Small building not a lot of kitbashing can easily be done as preprinted and what they are.

 

Greenmax

These are solid color kits for the most part that you need to glue and paint. They have taken to doing some of the smaller accessories in a precolored plastic in one or two colors to make the base color and then just paint the details, but the buildings for the most part are plain gray plastic. These kits take a bit of work to detail as things like window and door details are moulded into the walls, inot separate parts, so if you want it super nice there is a fair amount of careful detail painting required. The medium to large buildings are easy to kitbash larger by sawing up parts and fusing together as most traditional building kit-bashing. They do have a couple of prebuilt buildings. They have been repackaging and rereleasing their kits over the last year or so and still in the process of this. Some of the older building kits have been oos for a long time and hopefully they will rerelease them in the future as the 4-6 story buildings were great for kitbashing.

 

Aoshima

Big model company and they have released tow larger 1/150 structure. One is a large parking structure and the other is a large apartment building. Nice very large kits, come in a few precolored plastics and then detail painting or custom painting.

 

Sankei

These are quality laser cut precolored chipboard models. Very nicely done and with a bit of careful weathering and a few detail bits they fit in quite well and have been producing small to medium building styles not covered as much by the others. They take some care to glue together as they layer the walls to stiffen them and give them detail depth on things like window and door frames. You just need to carefully layout the pieces first and write the numbers and orientations on them before starting. They take a bit of time and care to build but are not super tough to build. They also do some laser etchings roof materials, etc for detail. Kits come out very nice. They do need a bit of exterior details around the building to finish them off. Only downside is there are no rounded detail bits. But from more than 6" away you will never notice this. It is smart to try to seal them with dullcoat inside and out and larger structure brace a little internally on walls and roofs to help avoid warping in the long run with any changes in humidity. Sankei also does a range of laser cut detail bits like chairs, fences, bikes, etc.

 

Permil, flor verde, and a few others

Like sankei these are laser cut chipboard models, comparable to sankei. Usually a bit larger structures and more expensive.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[signalmanson]

John,

 

The other thread has a lot but basically here is the scoop. All will do you well and mixing an matching works well, just some detailing and weathering to blend things a bit. I like them all and they all have their pluses and minuses, but rarely have I been diapointed! you want variety in your Japanese scenes as you can have the oddest things right next to each other in Japan! I'm sure others will have details I've left out or other opinions!

 

Kato

Mostly premade buildings in precolored plastics (some have some paint) with stickers to add. These look nice, but are a bit new and plastic looking out of the box and to be more realistic can use a hit of dullcoat and some weathering. They have a few kits that are again precolored plastic and pretty much snap together w.o glue and finish as above. Mostly it's the taller buildings and a few stations that kato is best with. Some of the 5-6 story city buildings you can pop apart and add more sections into easily if you want taller buildings.

 

Tomix

Pretty much the same as the kato above except their kits require glue. Not a lot of these around as tomytec is where they seem to be putting most all the effort. The tall office, apartment building and medium office you can make taller with sections from a second building easily by just popping apart and clicking sections in place.

 

Tomytec

(now the parent company of Tomix and the broader brand name, tomix is the brand name for mainly the trains and track now, confusing I know!) - these are preprinted and weathered very simple snap together kits. Takes 5 minutes to pop them together and made to not require glue. They use a bit cheaper abs plastic and can come a little warped or warp a little with time, but some careful bending and then gluing the parts can fix this. I've had some for 10 years now and they are holding up very well. They look very nice and have a huge vaiiety in small to medium buildings and are reasonably priced. Usually come with quite a few detail bits to go around the structure that is more than most others. A few of the medium city building you can easily make taller with more sections from another one. Small building not a lot of kitbashing can easily be done as preprinted and what they are.

 

Greenmax

These are solid color kits for the most part that you need to glue and paint. They have taken to doing some of the smaller accessories in a precolored plastic in one or two colors to make the base color and then just paint the details, but the buildings for the most part are plain gray plastic. These kits take a bit of work to detail as things like window and door details are moulded into the walls, inot separate parts, so if you want it super nice there is a fair amount of careful detail painting required. The medium to large buildings are easy to kitbash larger by sawing up parts and fusing together as most traditional building kit-bashing. They do have a couple of prebuilt buildings. They have been repackaging and rereleasing their kits over the last year or so and still in the process of this. Some of the older building kits have been oos for a long time and hopefully they will rerelease them in the future as the 4-6 story buildings were great for kitbashing.

 

Aoshima

Big model company and they have released tow larger 1/150 structure. One is a large parking structure and the other is a large apartment building. Nice very large kits, come in a few precolored plastics and then detail painting or custom painting.

 

Sankei

These are quality laser cut precolored chipboard models. Very nicely done and with a bit of careful weathering and a few detail bits they fit in quite well and have been producing small to medium building styles not covered as much by the others. They take some care to glue together as they layer the walls to stiffen them and give them detail depth on things like window and door frames. You just need to carefully layout the pieces first and write the numbers and orientations on them before starting. They take a bit of time and care to build but are not super tough to build. They also do some laser etchings roof materials, etc for detail. Kits come out very nice. They do need a bit of exterior details around the building to finish them off. Only downside is there are no rounded detail bits. But from more than 6" away you will never notice this. It is smart to try to seal them with dullcoat inside and out and larger structure brace a little internally on walls and roofs to help avoid warping in the long run with any changes in humidity. Sankei also does a range of laser cut detail bits like chairs, fences, bikes, etc.

 

Permil, flor verde, and a few others

Like sankei these are laser cut chipboard models, comparable to sankei. Usually a bit larger structures and more expensive.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

That's a HUGE help !

 

Many thanks Jeff

[cteno4]

You are most welcome john!

 

Thought it would be good to do a summary of a lot of the things said in a number of threads on the forum.

 

We tried to do a wiki for stuff like this but got too daunting so I try to do some summary posts like this one now and then for stuff folks seem to always ask about.

 

If you poke around you will find threads with more details on thingsl like sankei assembly, greenmax kitbashing, tomytec reviews etc.

 

Forgot to mention that greenmax had a modular wall high rise system (sorta like the Walters one) with three different window types to scale up to very large buildings if you wanted (and could afford!), but they unfortunately abandoned it, guess it did not sell well.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[katoftw]

Forgot to mention that greenmax had a modular wall high rise system (sorta like the Walters one) with three different window types to scale up to very large buildings if you wanted (and could afford!), but they unfortunately abandoned it, guess it did not sell well.

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

They still sell it. "IF" it is the one/s I'm thinking of. Came in brown and tan 2 and 3 floor packs that you could mix and match?

 

It now comes as a 5 floor basic and 4 floor add on sets. They are unpainted. But still have all the pieces to make the 2 floor windows, and multiple fronts for the ground floor, etc.

 

old ones:-

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10084231

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10084233

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10084235

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10084237

 

new ones:-

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10193663

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10193665

Edited February 18, 2015 by katoftw

[signalmanson]

Other than Kato and a bit of Greenmax it looks as if I'll need to look further afield for the likes of Tomix/ Tomytec etc.

[Mudkip Orange]

If you're gonna kitbash then greenmax kits are the way to go, a lot of them are uncolored.

 

If you want something that looks awesome right out of the box, you want Tomytec. The Tomix & Kato buildings are molded in solid colors that can look a bit toylike out of the box, but the Tomytec buildings are hand-painted by an army of sweatshop laborers so you get a pre-weathered and realistic looking kit.

[Lawrence]

John I have found some of the greenmax kits don't take acrylic paints so good, sometimes they need a wash in warm soapy water first.  A lot of the buildings come with preformed bases and they vary in thickness and size depending on the brand, they can be useful (once trimmed) to act as pavements though.

As with all things model railway, it is a suck it and see what suits you best.  The Sankai kits are pricey and I'm not sure if there is a UK supplier, but they are very good quality and if you are used to making these type of kits, very much worth the effort.