the only part about this that I'm not thrilled with is the way I built the box cover for the lights for the stairwells. Being the anal monkey that I am, I wanted to be able to get to at the LED strip lights if they were to ever burn out, etc so the top is loose and the sides bow a little. I'd love to be able to glue that sucker on there, but not what I wanted. So, the gutters don't really insert into the roof and look wonky - at least to me - but small price to pay for longevity. Here's how I built the inside - it provides a backing to the stairwells so the light won't bleed out into the rest of the building, and like I said, is made so if I ever need to get at the LEDs I can. Sorry for the blurry one, but you get the gist.
That is very impressive. It shows the biggest advantage of N scale, the ability to model accurately scaled scenery.
I could get out the Outlands that I have for my Akiba row and start on them, I could start the beast building, I could paint and put together this pedestrian crossing to see if it really is too big for where I bought it for like I already know it is, but to be honest...? I don't wanna. To all of it. Stuff I ordered from Shapeways to finish my station hasn't even shipped yet, and am waiting on an order from overseas before I'll know how much space I have left to work with before I can start cutting up foam, so yeah - we're just going to hang out for a while now. I might even get some stuff done around here now lol
One of the places I get my euro train stuff just announced the arrival of some vollmer building that might fit in your layout. "gift shop" Bank
that top one, 7728, is what I just bought lol the other side of the stairway structure has a really interesting window to it. I have plans already.
I'm going to have to have a word with this most recent Ebay seller. Bought his building for sale Thursday on my lunch, then said I was going to be a bum for a while and not work on anything for a bit. Just came home and there it sits on my porch. Maybe 50hrs from purchase to delivery. I was pretty intent on watching TV and playing video games all weekend and this dude is out here trying to break landspeed records when most sellers wouldn't have even sent it yet. Going to stick this thing in a drawer and do my best to ignore it hahaha am amazed, definitely going to have to give some good feedback for sure. That's crazy.
woke up in the middle of the night bright-eyed and wide awake for no reason whatsoever (luckily am off today, or else I likely would have had to burn a PTO day!). Decided to get a couple of the little things done after all, since you can't do a whole lot else at 4AM in a town that rolls up the sidewalks by 9 every evening. I painted and put together my tram stops - some of the paint rubbed off while I was reassembling but that can be touched up plenty easily. They were facing backwards for where I decided I wanted to place them, though, so I cut the railing sections off at the base and glued them on the opposite way so they sit right. I'm pretty happy with this solution. Then I got to work on painting and putting together my pedestrian overpass, and you guys will never believe this, but... yeah, it's way too big for where I wanted to use it. In fact, it's too big to use -ANYWHERE- with my current building plan, it's essentially an entire Maryland blue crab, sprawled out in all directions. This thing chews up a ridiculous amount of real estate. It does, however, solve a problem I don't have any other viable solutions for, so now I'm trying to redevelop my entire downtown around it. My city as a whole suddenly looks way different than how I'd been envisioning it, but this is the part of this hobby that I like the most - the creativity and big picture stuff. Just have to reinvent the wheel a little. I already have a pretty good idea of how to move forward, just going to take a lot of planning and way more cars/lights/who knows what else. Thank goodness it worked out that this way before I built the full benchwork and all, eh? Yikes!
...and yes, that red Bible you keep seeing in all these photos is there for a reason - was the perfect size for one of the buildings I need to make so using it as a footprint!
...did not want to hijack someone else's thread, so moving the discussion over here! What I have been really considering lately is that instead of having my E259 come into the rural station on a turnout, have that be a full outside loop and have my festival happening around a railroad museum instead - it would make sense since the Otaru Museum is literally feet from the coast and I could still incorporate my Toro Nagashi that way. I can use the Bachmann as a stationary display, have it roped off out front, and do a smaller steam loco with a couple passenger coaches on a loop from the station/museum. The ride at the Otaru Museum is very short, so even a 3ft oval would be adequate, esp since it would be mostly covered in the first place. The entire loop would probably cost less than just the two #6s anyways hahaha I would just have to add a roadway in and out, since taking a skylift in and out can't be the only way to get there lol I like this idea, have been playing with it for quite a while, just haven't decided 100% if is the way I want to go with it or not tbh
Ah, Pfunk-san, I was literally just testing locomotives on the Unitrack 249mm radius curves and the D51 from Kato handled that radius with ease. That could be a fine contrast for the festival.
man, what is it with German model makers? why do they hate everyone? This kit is not going together well at all, either, and it's the exact same problem - nothing wants to stick to the textured parts. Big problem here is I can't just glob on the super glue and paint over it nearly as easily because it's not all the same color like the last one. Are those Snap-Tite models still a thing? I did a couple of those when I was a kid - they were cheesey as they were out of the box, but really easy to dress up. Had a couple of cars that looked great when I was done. I think we should pool together and start a company to make snap-together N scale buildings like that. We'll retire to the Poconos in like 2yrs, all from guys who have tried to put together German-made scale scenery models. (to be fair, I'm part German with a very German last name, worked for a German electronics company, have been there many times and is a beautiful place - am not taking pot shots at German manufacturing. Am just lobbing sarcasm to vent some serious frustration )
I think that the 'joys' of assembly of buildings may be part of the reason of the growing popularity of 3D printing. The advances in quality and detail is quite impressive in the last 5 years.
Germany-wise I've only built Brawa and Fleischmann kits where train stuff is concerned and both were done very well with the nod going to Fleischmann. I'll be sure to avoid vollmer which kind of sucks because they do have some interesting subjects. Curious if the vollmer is made from styrene plastic which is typical for these kits? Seems strange if so that model cement doesn't work. I now pretty much use Tamiya super thin liquid cement because it sets real quick but it's downside is the mating surfaces need good contact for it to wick in and make a bond. If on test fit I can't get that then out comes the sanding sticks and hobby knife to make the necessary adjustments.
meh, I wouldn't go so far as to boycott an entire brand, it probably presents the right kind of obnoxious for some modelers. It will definitely test your patience and methods! The corners are 45deg beveled, smooth, and not notched at all so getting them to set correctly without gluing your fingers is a challenge, lots of clear plastic that has to be edge glued and haze is real, and I think the problem is that there just isn't sufficient surface area on the textured parts for adhesion without using a ton of glue and making a mess. That Faller house gave me fits and turned out pretty well, though, so will just have to ride it out. The other big factors are that 1) I can't find a year, but would be shocked to find out that at 46 I am older than this thing LOL so who knows what it's made of, and 2) I can already tell I'm likely not going to use it. I wanted it for another apartment building, but it has a much smaller overall footprint than the 7-Eleven underneath the tracks. Weird to me that a convenience store would be more spacious than an entire apartment building? Is only half together and who knows, it may be completely different when done, but it just doesn't feel right so far. I'm a big fan of Kibri, another German line, but it just feels like Faller and now this Vollmer both were made more for top-tier hobbyists than someone who just wants the aesthetic on their layout. They're kind of a b#$%h to put together, to the point it feels very intentional. The details are fantastic, but I guess I am not so into it that I want to spend 20 hours on a 3.5 x 1.75 inch building (already in for 6 btw - and as per instructions, is not a bash).
You might want to try elmers white glue for the windows to avoid "crazing" from the CA. I know several modelers who swear by that for gluing clear parts. Personally I like canopy glue because it is more rugged but that stuff isn't as easy to come by as elmers but it is an option if you are inclined to search it out. The beveled edges are fairly common for most plastic structures but I can appreciate it being more of a challenge when using CA since there isn't much forgiveness with adjusting after the two pieces make contact. Gel CA which you can get just about anywhere does give you more time as it doesn't set as fast as the liquid does.
if you run a file across the beveled edges - just a pass or two to rough it up - it really helps, the problem is keeping it steady while it sets. I like Starbond but no way you can hold teeny-tiny 45deg edges together perfectly and steady for long enough for it to set. I like the little squeeze-side bottle of Gorilla CA for the really annoying stuff but like you said - better have it in the right spot the first time lol The Gorilla seems to residue like mad most of the time, too. I don't think I have the patience to use Elmer's on this project, but will look around for canopy glue. I've been brushing a tiny bit onto the edges with a cheapo detail brush so far. Only a couple of places have fogged, but it's just annoying considering how much work it is to get them to stick at all. Have read Vaseline can take CA residue off clear plastic parts, might try a little on a Qtip next one that is out in the open.
