December 24, 2009

More E531 on the way ..........soon



Well today I placed an order with ACE_of_Bicyclye for a Kato 4 car add-on set "A" 10-571 & Kato 2 car add-on set "B" 10-572. I get to finally complete my first commuter train in record time.

December 22, 2009

Added details to the Series E531

Well I couldn't leave well enough alone, I decided to detail my new commuter train will the antennas or whatever those things are on the front and end cars. I also added the number board to the light up portion of the front and end cars as well. Thank goodness there is only two cars that need that added. Im thinking about adding the other stickers as well someday. Now Ive got to look at pricing LED light sets as well. Stay tuned for my mis-adventures in detailing it should be pretty interesting to read. Oh I almost forgot to mention I got to try out my Kato double crossover switch and it worked like a charm, good old Kato no wonder Im a sucker for their products.

My first commuter train set Series E531 Joban

Well it showed up today, my Series E531 and Im very happy with it. I'll be happier when I see it running which may take a while, we'll see. Im very impressed by the level of detail on all the cars especially the pantograpgh car it's pretty amazing. I think Im going to go all out on theis model, like including lights adding details and stickers. I cant wait to order the next set. I think Im going to order the 4+2 set then order the 5 car add on set, hopefully thats the way it'll pan out. Below is a picture of the new set on my window sill, yes I know I need to paint lol.

December 13, 2009

Placed contract order for 15 car E531 trainset

Dont get too excited lol, I placed an order for a the Kato 10-571. Every other week I will place an order for the other sets need to complete a 15 car set. Yippe I finally pulled the trigger on a commuter set, its about time. But you have to admit that there's a lot of reasoning that goes into picking what may be your only commuter train. Therefore its not a easy choice to make, but I glad I finally made the choice.


Congratulations on post # 52

None of my other blogs have passed 49 posts except for this one which will be at post 53 soon. Congratulations are in order, have a drink on me.

December 05, 2009

E531 Series Joban Line - Finally

Yup after looking and looking and more looking Ive decide on a Commuter train. My choice of commuter train is the E531 Series Joban Line. It can be configured as a 5-10 or 15 car set depending on its destination. The E531 is also a suburban train as well a a express train which gives lots of different running possibilities.

Click on the link to Wikipedia to learn more about the E531 Series. Another reason I choose the E531 Series is because its less complicated to get than the E231 Series Yamanote to put together and I found it at a good price.

Although the E231 Series Yamanote will be the train I desire to own it'll have to wait until a E51 series is introduced or it becomes cheaper the E531 will do until that happens. This will kill two birds with one stone, I may put the nanny cam into the E531, Im sure that there is more than enough space for the cam to fit.

Who do I Sacrifice - Wireless Video Camera Project

Latley Ive been stuck on building a wireless video camera car. I dont want to use one of my current models as a donor train so I need some suggestions. I'd like this train to be a special train like a inspection train or MOW train, even a tram. Im looking for something that has clearance for a camera and a 9 volt battery. A single motorized E231 may work but Im not sure if the motor feedback would affect the camera or not.

December 01, 2009

Over my head - Kato Overhead Station

Yesterday I got a Kato Overhead station, Expansion set, several platforms and platform detail set. Ive always wanted one of these Overhead stations since I thought they are so cool.



November 28, 2009

To Commute or not to commute, that is the question.

Well you probably know that Im interested in putting together a commuter train, Im looking at the Series E231-500 Yamanote line that runs around Tokyo. Im pretty tired of Shinkasen's right now and think I have a varied collection of different kinds. The Yamanote E231-500 is a pretty recognizable train, its silver with a green stripe and a white face.

One thing that has prevented me from getting a commuter set is the price. The basic set is $104, the "A" set is $86 & the "B" set is another $76. so were looking at $262.00 not including shipping from Japan. I may take a look on Yahoo Japan and see what is on there, hopefully I can score a used E231-500 on the cheap.


I have another dellima, Im not sure I want the Series E231 or the Joban line E531 the E531 is the newest in design in the "E" series so Im conflicted as what I should do.In the end I think Im going to wind up getting the E231 Yamanote line commuter basic set then get the "A" & "B" sets.


November 19, 2009

A quick photo shoot

I wanted to put up a picture of my Japanese train collection. There is one set missing from the picture below which is the Kato Eizan Railway Type 900 "Kirara" Orange Tram.

November 18, 2009

Wow time travel is real!!!

According to EMS it is, my package started it's journey on Nov 16th and guess what showed up today. Yup thats right my used 100 Series Shinkansen "Grand Hikari" + 2 showed its pretty face. Thats some serious speed Japan to NYC in 3 freaking days I doubt Doc Brown & Marty could go any faster. I really dont need to post pics since it looks just like the pic in my other post.

November 17, 2009

A slow day in my Japanese railroad universe

Well there isn't much going on in my Japanese model railroad universe. My package from JAC has finally shipped out to me. It left Osaka International Branch on the 17th, I guess that means the Osaka branch of EMS. Ive tracked it from its last known location Osaka and that's it nothing else. Hmmmmmmmmm, I think its time to start looking at some commuter trains what do you think.

November 12, 2009

Japan Auction Center Proxy Fees

I thought Id post the fees that I was charged after winning my auction. Id rather a new user not be shocked by unknown fees. I didn't know there was a fee after you won an auction and local delivery fee what is that about lol.

Here are my proxy fees so far, I expect that to go up another $30 USD for shipping to me once the package shows up. So far so good and not bad for a rare item like the Kato Hikari + 2 car add on set that I won.


Bank charges for auction(s) - 300 ¥ 2009-11-10 10:14:24
Local delivery charges for auction(s) - 800 ¥ 2009-11-10 10:14:24
Fee for won auction[ The fee on won auction ] 1840 ¥ 2009-11-08 21:42:5
Actual ending auction - 13,000 ¥ = 144.00 USD 2009-11-08 21:42:5
Current Balance -2940 ¥ = $32.5416 USD


Enjoy Japanese auctions with 1 click!

November 08, 2009

Kato Series 100 Grand Hikari part 2

Well I placed a reservation for a Series 100 at Hobby Search with the expectation that It would ship in November, but it got pushed back to January. So I decided that I really wanted a Series 100 and didnt want to wait until January. Ive been searching Yahoo Japan Auctions and found a Grand Hikari with a 2 car add on set for 13,000 yen. I used a proxy bidding company to place a bid for me and won the auction. So I have to wait for the seller to ship it to the company then wait for the company to ship it to me. This is a great service if youre impatient like I am but it does come with a fee of course.




October 31, 2009

Kato Series 100 Grand Hikari

Isn't this train just simply gorgeous, yes it is that's why Ive reserved it. This is the first train reservation Ive ever made. Hopefully sometime in November this baby will be heading my way from Japan. What I like about the Grand Hikari are the sharp angles mixed with the smooth curves. This is one of few Shinkansen's I think earn the name Bullet train, I mean it looks fast sitting in its box doesn't it.




Heres a nicely edited video of several Series 100, Of course this isnt my video.

October 25, 2009

Ambitious Japan Video

While surfing Youtube I found this pretty cool video. This is the song that JR uses in its commercials. Im assuming the guys in the video are the singers. Anyway its a cool video.

October 23, 2009

The Mailman cometh with goodies

Today the mail carrier showed up with some goodies for me, first was a Kato Double Crossover and a Tomix Dr. Yellow 4 car add on set. I have to say Im pretty impressed by the Tomix casket, its made out of tough plastic. The Tomix inserts are really tight to put the cars in however, I guess that'll change over time though. Below are some pics of my new goodies. Sorry for the flash, Im a amateur photog lol.





October 21, 2009

Casco N-Gauge Storage Cases

Cascco is a Japanese company that makes aftermarket storage cases for N-Gauge model trains.From what I can tell by the item description over at Hobby Search they make window storage cases & inserts for Tomix & Kato storage cases as well as their own brand of storage cases.. They look really cool and Im looking to score one for my Dr. Yellow 7 car set.I think its really cool that you can remove the sleeve and see your trains without having to take your trains out of the box. Cases come in several different colors like Orange, Blue, Red etc, as well as 8 &,10 car cases, one fun fact is the word case translated from Japanese to English is casket lol.

October 19, 2009

Woot woot, Scored a Tomix Dr. Yellow 4 car add on set

Thats right you know Im a Dr. Yellow nut, I got a notification from ebay saying there were some matches to my request for Dr. Yellow. I thought it was a notification for the basic set but it was for the add on set, man thats a miracle. Soon as I got home I pulled the trigger on the add on set, good thing I hesitated on getting a Tomix track cleaning car phewwwwwwwwwwww. To tell you the truth Ive never seen an Dr. Yellow add on set on ebay and never on Yahoo Japan auctions, Ive just seen the full sets. I cant wait to run the full set when it shows up so stay tuned I'll be putting up a video asap.


October 12, 2009

My Roster

comming soon.

October 11, 2009

Ran some more trains today

Well in observance of Columbus Day and the MTA screwing up the transit system I decided to stay home and run some trains. I ran my Dr. Yellow, Super View Oridoriko, Nozimi Series 500 and American freight. Hopefully after I edit some decent looking video I'll post it but Im no Spielberg you know. Dr. Yellow ran like a champ today, it ran much better than I expected. I may pick up some more Tomix stuff in the future.

Im really taking advantage of this long holiday before I have to return to work. I ran some more trains although the footage of the american freight trains ended on the cutting room floor. I thought I came up with a nice minute clip of my Dr. Yellow and Eizan Railway Type 900 "Kirara" tram. Oh click the HQ button and throw me a comment or two lol.

Ive combined both videos into one just to make it easier to view.


October 10, 2009

Got to run some trains today, yippie!!

See above post please.

October 09, 2009

Old Yeller

Well here she is, here it is my new Dr.Yellow from Tomix. This sucker is bright thats for sure, the paint job reminds me of a highlighter, but Ive been told it should be that bright. Ive seen some videos of Dr. Yellow's and they kind of look like my model does. plus the color is growing on me lol.

One other good thing has come out of this purchase, I was never into the Series 923 Shinkasen but now Im planning on buying the regular version Series 923 from Kato pretty soon.

I have to say the packaging is certainly not Kato quality, no nice bookcase style packaging or hard plastic box. You get a color sleeve with your model packed in foam with protective plastic.The coupling system is a simple hook and latch type of deal, no prototypical couplers on this one.

The more I look at my Dr. Yellow the more the color is starting to grow on me. Im going to post a Youtube video of a Dr. Yellow and let you be the judge.

I haven't had a chance to run my Dr. Yellow yet but I will real soon.

Update 10/10/09

The strangest thing happened, I took another look at my Dr. Yellow this morning and I'll be a monkeys uncle if the color changed on me. It looks like the light in my room sucks. The color looks like Yellow and not my previous described highlighter yellow color. So be aware of your lighting sources when being critical of model painting.





Dr. Green?

no that's not Dr. Yellow cousin thats what I got in the mail yesterday. I was expecting a yellow train but what showed up was a fluorescent green looking train impersonating my beloved Dr. Yellow. The train looks nothing like the advertised picture Ive seen elsewhere.

October 02, 2009

Looking for Tomix Dr. Yellow

Hey guys Im looking for a Tomix Dr. Yellow set like the one pictured below. If you know where I can find this set at please let me know thanks.


Update: 10/4/09
I got in contact with a store called Popondetta and they had the Doctor Yellow set I wanted in stock. I may pick up the add on set if I find it for a good price someday. I should have my Dr. Yellow sitting on my tracks in a week or so. This is my first Tomix purchase as well so we'll see how this goes. I forgot to mention that I got ti cheaper than where I was originally going to buy it, cant beat that.


September 28, 2009

Yippe Super View Odoriko Add-On arrives

Ive wanted an add-on for my Super View Odoriko for the longest and now its here for me to drool all over.


September 06, 2009

Unitram, Portram, Flim Flam

Unless youve been living under a rock or someplace you've probably heard of Katos new Unitram. Unitram is a new system of interlocking track for their new Tram system. POrtram is the type of tram that Kato has introduced, although Portrams are not new it is new for Kato. Tomix has been marketing Portrams for several months now but does not have a interlocking track system.

Although not a fan of Portrams the seem to have grown on me. Im currently considering ordering a set of Tomix Portrams.


ect>

September 02, 2009

New track plans from Kato and track sets?

Wow Kato must be doing some serious stuff in the Japan headquarters. First we get Unitram stuff then Portram stuff and track planning software now new track plans.

Kato has a new V14 set, this set has a smaller radius than the V11 set so you can make use of smaller spaces which is my guess.Im not sure how old the V14 set is but the place where I get my sets from doesent have this one in stock as of yet.

The v14 set must be really new since I dint see it mentioned on the Kato usa site. Well it looks like I'll be getting a v14 because the v11 is pretty big for my space.

I like the look of these new plans, they look very exciting and well thought out.






August 29, 2009

Kato moves into the 20th Century

Kato has arisen in the 20th Century, the are planning on rolling out track planning software called Play Track. I dont know about you but I think the world is about to end good thing my Kato V12 set showed up early this morning lol.

The software looks like it subscription based (YUCK)Id buy track planning software from Kato in a heartbeat.


August 28, 2009

Lots of stuff got done today

like doing some landscaping for the building, I made a podium for the Buddha that will go on the grounds of the hotel.I installed sidewalks, pathways whatever you want to call them.

I got to use some Woodland Senics grass mat stuff as the base for my landscaping. Next week I need to order some figures, park benches, assorted vendors, trees etc to populate the landscape.

August 26, 2009

A way to get in?

Well my bout with procrastination was a short lived one. Ive been experimenting with different lobbies for my hotel. The first lobby was just a roof wrapped around the lower portion of the building.

My second and hopefully final lobby is 8 columns sandwiched between two sheets of styrene which will fit underneath the building and be connected to the building. Its not my best work but I may refine it a bit in the future.

I have to say the lobby aint too shabby and Im taking a real liking to it. I may have to figure out how to spice it up a bit one day.

Where did all this inspiration come from you ask, well on eBay lately there have been some old Atlas High Rise buildings up for sale. So I took some creative licenses from the old Atlas stuff that Ive been seeing, thank you Atlas.

Pics to follow


August 24, 2009

Going Up, then Down & Around

Yesterday I broke down and purchased a Kato 20-871 V12 Variation set. This set is an add on to other sets in the Kato series. The V12 is a perfect compliment to the V11 set that Kato offers, instead of your layout being flat on the floor it lifts it up off the floor and brings it down again. I get bored pretty quickly and this set gives me numerous options for different layout configurations based on Kato track plans some of which are posted below.






This set includes:
(2) Kato 186mm 7-5/16" Concrete Tie Double Straight Track
(2) Kato 124mm 4-7/8" Concrete Tie Double Straight Track
(1) Kato 62mm 2-7/16" Concrete Tie Double Straight Track
(6) Kato 248mm 9-3/4" Concrete Tie Double Straight Viaduct Track
(1) Kato 186mm 7-5/16" Concrete Tie Double Straight Viaduct Track
(2) Kato 124mm 4-7/8" Concrete Tie Double Straight Viaduct Track
(1) Kato Double Track Truss Bridge (Black)
(4) Kato 381mm/414mm Radius 45 Degree (15" - 16 3/8"): Concrete Tie Double Track Viaduct Super Elevated Curve
(2) Kato Concrete Tie Double Track Viaduct Super Elevated Easement Curve Left
(2) Kato Concrete Tie Double Track Viaduct Super Elevated Easement Curve Right
(2) Kato 186mm 7-5/16" Concrete Tie Double Track Incline Track Straight
(2) Kato Double Track Incline Pier -A1
(2) Kato Double Track Incline Pier -A2
(2) Kato Double Track Incline Pier -A3
(2) Kato Double Track Incline Pier -A4
(3) Kato Double Track Pier
(2) Kato Double Track Concrete Pier No. 5 for Truss Bridge
(23) Kato S-Joiner for Piers
(1) Kato Rerailer / UniJoiner Remover

August 21, 2009

Going to new heights

I wasnt really planning on adding roof details however I saw a Walthers N scale roof details kit and purchased it.

It's a nice little one day project with lots of rewards at the end. You wind up with 3 different sized air conditioners and several smokestacks vents blowers etc.



Below are my pic of the roof details that I built. (Coming soon)...

August 18, 2009

Procrastination is making me wait.

Im getting a bit tired of working on the building, but I do want to start work on landscaping for the building. I think I want to do a triangle shaped base to compliment the triangle shaped tower.

Ive added more windows to the front & rear of the lower and upper towers. I have some spots to fill in & not sure how Im going to do that. Pics will be posted shorty,there will be a Panoramic elevator on the support/elevator shaft. I need to whip one of those up some day.

I still yet to do a lobby for the building which sucks big time, what kind of building has no lobby.

August 07, 2009

A leg to stand on or Going up!!!

Well I posted my latest work on my building and it was suggested that the building looked kind of funnie with the upper tower just hanging there without any support.

I decided to use some round pvc tubing as a support. I think it looks pretty cool and it could double as an external elevator for the upper tower.

Below are some pics of the support/elevator.





August 05, 2009

The Marriot Golden Pagoda, well almost

Ive been on the fence about displaying my latest project since Ive made some additions to it. I got the mirrored mosaic tiles and added them, I kind of thought that they were too small but I may get larger tiles for the front of the building. I still need to order more mirrored mosaic tiles (the company that makes them went out of business, that sucks big time).The tower portion of the building now stands straight (I stopped messing with it lol) so Im happy about that . I purchased a red blinking strobe for the top of the tower to keep away those pesky airplanes and helicopters. Below are some pics of what Ive completed so far. Let me know what you think of it, Im really looking for feedback on this project.








July 30, 2009

Weve got a problem in the tower

Well if youve read my post on my building you know Ive been toying with the idea of adding a tower. Ive gone ahead and fabricated a triangular tower that will be attached to the side of the building. What Ive noticed is that due to the weight of the tower It leans away from the building. To fix this Ive cut slots into the bottom of the triangle addition with the majority of the weight resting on the roof of the building. So far so good, it looks much better now.

Ive also been playing around with different configurations of the triangle and the rectangle shapes. My goal is to create a different looking building than what you normally find. Below are some photos of the problem Ive been dealing with and sketches of the configurations Ive been playing with.




Below are pics of the tower before the slot modifications.



July 28, 2009

Today I built a skyscraper

Well kind of, I was in the mood to build something & it was a skyscraper for my ever growing n scale Japanese empire. I got inspiration seeing a post on JNS basically the building was covered with mirror mosaics tiles. So I sourced some gold rose color mirror tiles as well as smoke colored mirror tiles. Im not sure what type of pattern I'll do but hopefully it'll be interesting. Now I need to work on details like the entrance to the building, roof details and if I want an addition on the building or not. I added a couple of the internal bracing I used in my building.