Firewood Osaka Station Building

Rios Tam passed this cool link along to me - the Firewood Osaka Station Station Building. It's basically a complex, GREENMAX kitbash with some great details and elements. It has a nice feel to it - large and busy. While it may not be a "proto-style" building, it shows a lot of work and creativity.

From the site:

It was produced by inspired by the works of the master's of GM kit.

The large station, big station building! ...

GM kit on the theme, we used the one overpass eight medium-sized station ×, and six Kuruma-jo Station ×.

If you use CHROME, you can use the translation feature to read more.


MORE IMAGES HERE:
http://railwaymemory.web.fc2.com/track4/1st_layout/A3_1.htm

August 27th ramblings

Progress has slowed in Shizuka and Soyokaze of late. Work and family commitments have taken over a bit of the hobby time.Well...a sizable amount, really. :::grin::: However, I slink along here and there - adding bits and bobs to scenes.

As I play around with this, it's becoming very clear that people will really start making this layout pop more. The areas that feature people and interactions are far more interesting and alive. I'm working out a plan of action when it comes to the people side that will most likely involve using TOMYTEC and KATO (among other brands) for "hero" people featured and going with a self painted group for the mid and background people. This worked really well for my buildings when I used the self painted people for the inside and more name brand people for the folks up front and center in my scenes.

This truck needs a driver! LOL Just noticed.

You can see the difference in a scene that looks like it should have people, but that doesn't have them placed as of yet. Same with sidewalks - I really need to look into sidewalk options and get some of them in now that I have the City headed in the right direction.

There are going to be a TON of people walking this bridge in the future.

The scenes are coming together with a deepth that is really working in many places.

I still get blown away looking at everything together. I need to listen to the MODEL RAIL RADIO episode I first appeared on the hear about everything I wanted to start doing - I hit many of the marks I set for myself back in 2011! I'm pretty proud of that. It's good to keep in mind when I start getting down about not having hobby time! HAHA

PAGE LINK:

Model Rail Radio #44: Layout Planning and Figures and Bears! Oh My! [September 10, 2011]

Direct MP3 link

http://www.archive.org/download/ModelRailRadio/mrr_080611.mp3

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In other news...

I made a stop at BERKELEY ACE HARDWARE today and saw these cool little kits. 1/144 tanks and rail equipment items. Now, I'm not really into German or Nazi war machines :::grin::: but, I do like sci fi and heavy equipment items like this. I was thinking that if the German markings were left off and a more WARHAMMER-like paint scheme were done, these might be fun little photo op items to slap on the tracks and take photos of. DRAGON does a really nice job with details. Maybe on day.

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I was also thinking about Christmas time and the train tradition. N scale around the tree just isn't grand when you have a 4 year old and 1.5 year old in the house. However, something in a larger gauge might work out nicely. Add a little snow, a Christmas tree or three and a house with people singing out front and you have yourself a nice little roundy-round the tree item. ((Especially if you add another $60 of track into the mix.))   :)    Now, to get a few hundred acquired before December.....

Oh...and I'm TOTALLY serious about that. :)    I think it would be a fun little item to break out and run around during the holidays. We could even have a "Haunted Railway" during Halloween with a little planning and bashing.

Something along these lines.....

We'll see what the future holds. It might be a CHRISTMAS 2015 item. Most likely a better fit seeing the kids will be closer to 5 and 3 by then.

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I might be putting together a little shelf scene for my sister-in-law similar to my Soyokaze River shelf I put together. I need to talk to her about details and what she'd like to see. It would be a blast to be able to build shelves for folks, get paid for the materials, take photos when they were done and just pass them along. I would get the fun of building, I wouldn't have to pay and I wouldn't run out of shelf or wall space! :)


All in all, there's one thing for sure. I love model railroading. :)

Subway planning

I've been putting in more time planning of late - a subway area under the main deck of the layout.

I already have the train picked out. I've had it picked out for years now. I had originally given up on the subway section thinking that it was too much in too small a space. Then I was looking over my layout and thought, "Why can't I just hang another track from the bottom?" So...yup...gonna do it! :)


I have a a look that I want for the area itself. It's simple, modern and has a nice design element to it.

It will be a fun addition as long as I can keep my kids away from it. :)  The advantage of the layout bench work as it stands now is that the kids don't have access to it. However, if I go under the deck, they'll be able to get to it. I'm going to place a front of the scene so I can keep them away from it. It'll be covered with plexiglass, so you'll still be able to see in. Should work nicely. Even keep more dust out.

I want to detail things up a lot. One thing that's always bothered me is the distance between the train and the platforms. I need to work that out, but...you know..if I don't I'll still be ok. heh  I want lights, signage and all the small little details in the subway area including the grime found near the tracks. It'll give me a lot to work on, that's for sure.

Permil (M`s Craft / $34) has a subway platform, but i think I'm going to build my own. It does look nice, however. It might be a good start to planning - breaking down what they did and emulating it.

I'm also going to have a entrance to the subway as well, of course. I might go with the Tomytec version, but - again - I might just make my own. It's a rather simple design and I should be able to do something cool with it. However...I'll pick up this $7 item as a safety.   :)

I'll only be running one train, but I might go with double tracks anyway. Jury isn't out on that one yet. Honestly, that's one detail I may skimp on - going with a single track instead of double. Half the work, really. :)

There's a guy I follow on GOOGLE+ who's done a pretty cool tunnel. I like the look of it and will shoot for something like it. It's a cool construction and the overall feel is working really well, though I think he's still struggling with lighting. I thought it looked fantastic, but he's still tweaking.

So...the plan is in place. Now I just need to wait for funding for materials.   Hello FREELANCE! :)

Michael Wolf: Tokyo Compression

Another detail for Japan model railroaders to add - compressed and patient faces. Whew!
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FROM: http://www.designboom.com/art/michael-wolf-tokyo-compression/

‘tokyo compression’ by michael wolf
all images © michael wolf

For more on Michael Wolf, visit:
https://artsy.net/artist/michael-wolf

‘tokyo compression’ by german-born hong kong-based photographer michael wolf is a collection of images showcasing local commuters through the aperture of foggy subway car doors. at once a snapshot of the capital city’s density, urban infrastructure, and societal makeup, the voyeuristic series captures subjects ranging from sleepy indifference to dazed confusion.

More scenic photos and madness

I'm not going to bore you too much. Just more scenic photos. The game plan is to keep adding more and more foliage and the like to build things up to the level of some of my reference photos and favorite rail videos.

This 42 minute one has been downed and watched MANY times. :)


And so....onward! :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Loving this little area. Can't wait to get people in the scene.

For posterity. :) I realized that I didn't have many photos with me AND the layout.

Progress. Again, needs more layers.

I think I might actually be to a spot where I can safely lock the Naze bridge down. Well...in a bit. :)

While I like how things are progressing on the scenic side of things, I'm still seeing too much space in the Village area. I might have to compress the buildings I already own - scrunching them up a bit more and adding other scenic elements...or...purchase a few more buildings. :)

I'm thinking the compression is the way to go. I have some scenic details that I'd like to see in the village area. It's close, but not quite what I'm going for. Both the Village area and Town area need another re-vamp and re-org. Close, but....no.

And, in other news....

I'm adding this to the ever growing list of details I'd like to add to my layout. It's a little wall area I found here in Oakland that I really enjoy. I think it will add some interest. 

I also still have my heart set on some pedestrian overpasses, a bridge spanning from Shizuka up to Soyokaze Hill and a skywalk walkway between two buildings. I just need to stop moving things around long enough to make some of these happen! :)