Below is shown my glue assortment. I have ACC but stay away from it except in rare cases. The Same Stuff is my go to for a plastic welder and it works on most everything and that includes old European kits. My go to for clear plastic windows is the Micro Kristal Klear and I use it by itself to make window glazing. All my ships portholes use just the Kristal Klear. It can also function as a glue for plastics. 100_0021-1 by John Moore posted Aug 22, 2022 at 8:46 AM
+1 on the Kristal Klear, it is wonderful for small window panes. Just a drop on the end of a toothpick is perfect.
I actually spent about 4hrs swearing at it all again this morning hahaha and have come to two very real realizations: 1. I will be cutting plexiglass to use for windows because there's just not enough room. And 2. I purchased this as an open box and like a genius I did not check very well before I started and am missing a couple full sprues of parts. Beauty. (in my defense, the "instructions" are two exploded-view diagrams and that's it). So, was not planning on going all Frankenstein on this turkey, but guess what lol I watched a YT vid of a guy putting this together, and his had gluing tabs for the corners and everything fit together nice and ez, so am guessing somewhere along the lines Vollmer realized their kit was a real PITA and modernized it. I am pretty sure this existed for the people back in the day who want to be able to step back and say "look what *I* did" when it was completed, who really enjoy intricate and uselessly complicated modeling. I want it for another building on a layout, could care less about the trophy. Have a few days off coming up so will get it finished then, I just have to fabricate the rest of it. Maybe I'll personalize it a tad while am at it
I wonder if back in the day vollmer used vinyl instead of styrene for their kits. That would explain the model cement not working. Good to know at least that they have modernized. Acetate sheets are wonderful for glass. I keep a few on hand just for these types of jobs. A while back I bought a resin cast building for my layout which you would appreciate the amount of work it took to get it to look decent. Normally I am very careful about resin cast because the quality can be so sporadic and mostly unsat. There is a Czech company that makes some really outstanding resin up kit parts (airplanes/cars) but overall my experience has been less than positive. Anyways the structure part count is really small like 12 pieces with paper decals and acetate for window glazing so no prob but had to do quite a bit of sanding to get it to come together without visible seams. As much as I paid for it I was expecting better quality. Resin does require CA but fortunately the gel and getting everything prepped made the assembly part easy. Everything on the roof, window treatments and fire escapes had to be purchased separately and all visible surfaces had to be painted. The good part is the relief for the brick work is amazing and very crisp details overall so the end result was worth it except the price I paid for the kit lol.
yeah, that does look fantastic. Nice job! I have one resin cast for a project, and it too needs a ton of help. Print marks and seams all over, burred edges, etc. It looks how I want it to look, but was a little let down with the quality. Hope it turns out as nice. I keep meaning to order some acetate sheets - have to drive an hour+ to get somewhere to buy so I haven't yet. I really need to, though.
There it is! I'm officially on vacation until next Friday, 9/2! I originally took the time off to get some work done on the house finally, but also I think I have my new downtown building arrangement figured out and I want to get started on that as well. Mostly, just happy to not have to go into work for a whole WEEK. Last time that happened was when I got laid off 2 days before Christmas in 2020 and it's just not as much fun when you don't know how you're going to live lol
So given my propensities for off-center and possibly wacky, I couldn't pass up the chance to put the Phil Collins Mushashino on my layout. Not the most well-known of landmarks in Japan, but fun that I could include it (basically, back in the 80s when Phil Collins was *HUGE* in Japan, they built an apartment building and slapped his name on it. No reason, just 'cause lol) It's just random as frick. Very Japan. I don't think I can get a waterslide to stick to the textured sides so will probably have to coerce someone into 3D-relief printing me a couple of sigs, but even though is not 100% done yet I bet I laughed a good 25-30x today putting this one together. Looks like it totally belongs where I was envisioning it, too! Score. Bashed two Outlands together, came out great. Fun stuff!
Some days it just pays to get out of bed. We do not carry the premix grout in the color that I wanted so made a quick trip to Lowes before work this afternoon. They didn't have it either but managed to get these cabinets for a song. Sure, they're a little (to a lot lol) beat up, but for what a tube of Liquid Nails and a handful of deck screws will run, I think $34 for some layout room cabinets - maybe even one side of some benchwork - is a pretty good day!
SCORE !!!!!!! I paid 1000.00 for 10 new base cabinets at Lowes for THERR RV to build my layout on. I thought I got a pretty good deal. But you got a steal !!!
am guessing yours were in slightly better condition, though hahaha These are a mess, but not exactly expecting Parade of Homes to come do a spread on my basement. With a little redneck ingenuity should do just fine.
Today has been a day of massive changes to what I had in mind. I came across a steal on a much larger shrine model that I originally wanted but decided was going to be too big and planned around a smaller kit. But, given the price... well, you know what happens! Am not anywhere near that part yet, but already need to completely change it. I also decided to get out all the Outland buildings for my Akiba strip - they're all bashes, probably a good 5+hrs on each of them which cracks me up because they snap together but I can't leave well enough alone to save my life sooooo... and yeah, the way I had planned to rearrange my downtown won't work because the buildings are just too tall to see the one behind it if I do. No bueno. So, now I'm back to about where I started. I either ditch the crossover bridge altogether, which I don't want to do, or I have an awkwardly open space in the middle of my city fashioned after one of the most densely populated metro areas in the world. My options are either cram it all in on top of each other so it looks genuine or spread it out so all the little details I've been working to create don't get buried but it looks hinky. It's probably a pretty easy call for some people, I'm kind of struggling here.
Cram it all in there ! Make it look like it should. Even if YOU have to crane your next or be a contortionist to see them...or not...you will know those details are there...JMO
Cram it all in-especially if that’s what you want-it’s your railroad. I don’t know what it really looked like when you were out here, but everything is still stacked on top of everything else here. I think spreading things out makes sense in modeling American prototypes. But you’re doing Japan-and that’s going to lead you in a different direction. Plus when the major buildings are finished, if you are cramming stuff in there you can just keep modeling by packing stuff in. Keeps you to a small space if that’s what you’re limited to. You don’t have to add a couple of feet of track to serve an industry that you build once you’ve been but by the “structure bug” a year or two from now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the comments, is pretty much where I was leaning to begin with, just needed to talk myself into it. After thinking about it for a bit, I realized my Achilles here - have been choosing and doing buildings that I can fashion to be similar to ones that already exist. I'll see one and think "Oooh, I can make THAT with it" but then after all the work that I know it will take to finish, I'd want it to be fully visible. What I need is a few mindless structures to throw in for no real purpose other than to create a skyline. I think that way I'd be less inclined to obsess about the little stuff and can just make the scene. Not like there isn't still A TON to do, so plenty of time for adding personality after the big-picture stuff is in place.
You have a GOOD problem. You have challenges to overcome with good options. When you start pointing out a couple of details to visitors, they will keep looking for more "Easter Eggs" on your layout. Would the smaller shrine work in an open area with your plans?
@DeaconKC the irony of it is that it's going to work so much better, both in building and in portraying reality. I've been thinking for a while that I need to change my ocean inlet to a river because it seems far more likely for how I have things set up. I've also been shying away from trying to do Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu for my shrine, because for all it is fascinating and such a unique place, it would... well, it'd be a tremendous pain lol Would have to get all the stone lanterns 3D printed, have to make a bajillion pine trees, and it's incredibly hidden irl so not like festival-goers would be sauntering over to it in a yukata. I'm in love with the place, but that doesn't always make it a good fit for a layout - it'd be very cool but also very difficult. I originally wanted to use the Fujimi kit of the Byodoin Temple, easily one of the most beautiful in the entire country imo, but it takes up such a huge footprint that I decided not to. However, the Byodoin happens to sit right on the banks of the Uji River. It's NOT remote, there are Kyoto houses and storage buildings right up against it so it actually would take up less space to incorporate and would work far better on my layout. It's very open in design and landscape, and infinitely more people would be visiting even when nothing was going on. It all just works better. I just hadn't put those things together until I found one for cheaper than expected and started mulling it over. All I have to do is move it across the water and it works so well, am actually a bit upset I didn't see it before. It solves a couple other work-arounds I've been trying to figure out, as well, like road access to other parts. I was really only going to use one small building from the whole Tomytec kit that I have (#162, Shinto B), so I don't know if or where I could find a spot for it now, but I may just raid it for scenery pieces. If not, I'll probably box it all back up and put it on our swap board for someone else to enjoy, will have to see. Like I said, am not even close to where I can start that part yet. Going to be so much fun when I do now, though!
My shrine and temple at Friday Harbor. For me space was a consideration as to what I could fit up on top of the cliffs. A combination of two kits. 100_0232-1 by John Moore posted May 12, 2020 at 6:15 PM
It's called "selective compression," and you get to select. You have the advantage of modeling an environment where real-estate is very limited, so crowding is realistic. Would that glorious mountain scenes be so compact! The eye will lead the viewer into those narrow streets and alleys automatically, so I would not worry about it. It may not be as photogenic as a more spread-out layout, but that's our loss, not yours. Besides, you are modeling a rather crowded environment in the first place! If you design your buildings to easily lift out, then even photography can explore the nooks and crannies of a crowded scene (at high f-stops).
I can certainly appreciate the beauty of both those scenes. I look forward eagerly to see them as they progress here.
