Personal Project No. 3 - Keikyu Type 1500

[disturbman]

Now that I stall a bit with my other project I decided to take a peek at the big green box I received with the little one.

 

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Then, I lift the upper pannel. Everything it's in there, neatly packed in boxes. I can see a cupon for 700 Yens, but where can I use it?

 

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Nothing left to except getting the parts out of their boxes and to line them on the cutting mat.

 

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And take a look at the notice. I'm totally amazed to see that everything is just printed on the two sides of A3 sized page of paper. That's ecological and economical.

 

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I can't help noticing that I will have to paint some parts. I do know now that I will have to find the colors for:

- the seats inside the cars

- maybe other things as well. I do wonder if I need to paint the roof (I don't think so since it's in a special color) or the A/C

 

I just begin the project and allready feel confronted to deep misteries.  

[Martijn Meerts]

Looks interesting (just checked the images in the gallery), tempted to order some greenmax kit as well now ;)

[Bernard]

I can't see the photos on your page, they are coming up as those little red X.

 

But having looked in the gallery, I have one of the Greenmax color kits also and they are great and easy to assemble. What I especially like is that everything you need is in one box. Enjoy the kit!

[disturbman]

I know. I think there is a problem with the new gallery software and direct linking of an image. You have to check here for the moment. I'm sorry.

 

@Martijn: yes, it look prety interesting. If I could I will build the train right now. But I need more research, feedback and possibly materials.

[disturbman]

Ok, so I tried a bit to get further than just looking at the parts and started to work on one roof. The A/C is still not glued to the roof and the pantograph just cliped itself into position. Errr... I should say "the second pantograph cliped itself" since the first one I tried didn't wanted to go inside the designed holes.

 

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I still don't know how to decipher Japanese and I can't decide wether I should paint some parts or not but my guts are telling me hat I should. This itch is really becoming annoying and I would like to make it go away. So, questions (I'm really sorry to bother you like that but I really don't have any other alternative):

- how can I spot "paint" or anything like that on the notice?

- does the notice say anything (i'm sorry for the quality of the picture, my scanner is still in Paris)

 

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One another thing, I bet GM produces the necessary colors for painting the model but I looked at HS and HW and didn't see any paint. Does someone here have an idea on how to find them?

 

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origin: funini.com

 

Until the link problem is not over you will have to go here to see the pictures.

[CaptOblivious]

Rainbowten carries some of the GM line; you might be able to email them and ask about specific colors.

 

I think Doug (redracer) can get them too?

[disturbman]

Yes they do but just those four:

- Light Green

- Dark Blue

- Seibu Yellow

- Hankyu Maroon

 

I'm afraid they don't fit in.

 

On the other side, the images are back in the posts.

[disturbman]

Ok, I think I found where the color are indicated on the notice. They are shown at the top of page one and then are referenced with circled numbers. For exemple on the close up I linked before the A/C as to be paint in color number 8.

 

Now If I go on GreenMax Website, I know that color 8 is Silver (thanks online translation). Then I can maybe buy local colors in my HobbyShop.

 

Strangely enough more colors are written on the notice (and on the front of the box too!!!) but the area of application is not shown on the schematics, or I didn't find it for the moment.

 

@ Doug: Beside being a perfectionnist I do hate plastic and I really don't want things looking cheap. I know that I will want to paint the floor and the seats of the train as well as the conductor cab and the A/C. Thanks for the warning.

[CaptOblivious]

Perhaps you need only paint the entire part indicated? Being pre-painted kits, I would expect they wouldn't demand too much of the modeler, like masking things off or being real careful with a brush.

[disturbman]

Of course, there is not so much to paint. The shell is allready painted inside out the same color (that's a bit...) and the roof is allready painted too. I'm not sure if the body parts are although I'm pretty sure the boggies are. But the interior is not at all pre-painted. It's just plain borring gray plastic whereas in real life the seats has to be blue or somekind of violet (fushia?) and the floor orange/yellow/sand. Same goes for the cab. But here they indicates only one type of color, the one for the special seats (the blue ones).

[disturbman]

Very good point, very very very good. I never thought of that. I don't even look at it so much. They come put together so I don't think about it. But the kit, I kind of have the impression that I should do everything. Even the thing I don't pay attention to normally... Maybe I'm stupid and I do feel spanked right now.  :angel10:

 

Also, Doug, I wanted to ask you: what kits did you made?

[disturbman]

That's a nice list, as long as my arm or allmost.

 

Now, I understand why you say that many of them are in an unfinished state. Man, these kit are not so easy! It took a lot of energy working on them. I know, it's must not be the main reason why you didn't finished them (I heard you have a very nice and detail layout to attended to ;) ) but it's nerve consuming.

 

So today I went to a art supply shop to get some paint. I buy a Metalic Silver and midle blue pot. I was going to aim for plain silver but was unable to find some. So I consider buying the metalic one. I knew that type of paint is not easy to spread but I thought it will be shiny like a knight armor. I was wrong, it was really a nightmare to use and at the end I decided to wash the thing away. I even decided to try not to paint the innards of the train for the moment and to see how it will appear. Yeah, I'm a very consistent person.

 

Anyway I work on the roof and manage to break three of the four antenas (this things really are fine). And, since, I need two of them to complete the set I choose to glue a broken one on the roof I was working on. But ok, I finished the roof and will try to glue the broken part later

 

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Then I shifted my attention to the lower body. I glued the under-carriage and the seats together without forgetting to put in between the small weight. I put the details under it, they didn't really wanted to fit but I manage to convinced them after a small panic or anger attack. Lastly I glued the wall of the cab and saw that I forgot to break the coupler under it. There one should have just a boggie, the coupler is a fake scharfenberg that you need to glue on another part or you need a special Tomix coupler.

 

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back on the shell I started to put the windows in. No problem with the big ones. It was really an easy fit but the small ones, positioned at the end of the shell, were another story. I struggle a bit before I found of doing it. Put some glue on the part then make it "fall" not far away from the designated hole and push it in place with a stick or anything that could work. Results are okay but not so great. I put a bit of glue on one of the windows. It was surelly the most horrid action of the day.

 

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Finally I started to work on the front of the carriage but was taken away from my pray by lunch. I'll be back!

 

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But before I will have to document myself about the stickers. What goes where, what's the meaning of the color (green: express, red: local )...

[disturbman]

Thanks Darren for the images. :)

 

Anyway, I worked a little bit today. Half an hour tops and I finished two carriages.

 

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I suppose I learned yesterday's lessons which were... I don't know... cut your finger in order for them to match N scale. That would be practival, N scale fingers...

 

Back on track, the hardest thing to do was again to glue down this little tiny car end windows. As a matter of fact they were even more smaller than yesterday and I messed up completely a side of one car. Glue everywhere on one window panel, red color (remember? I'm building a Keikyu kit) on the other one. But after that, I tried to be more precise, to push the panels more gently and to put less glue... Amazingly it worked.

 

After I finished the first carriage I passed on the second one, the one with the motor and this one was even more easy. The window pannel were long enough to be manipulated with fingers. Glorious! And they had a door in the middle, I don't know why but I'm guessing they are designed to hide a bit of the big black mass (aka Motor).

 

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That's all folks, no more model work today.

[disturbman]

Ok, the train is more or less finished. I still have to fix the broken antenna, I have to wait for Tomix TN couplers for the train ends, I have to find  one A/C part (the paint killed the first one I run a test on) and I have to understand some stickers in order to know which one I can use or not.  

 

I layed some track and run the train... Oh boy, this one is a growler! And a big one, I think is angry at me or something. Maybe I need to run it a bit more, see what happen.

 

I would have show you the, allmost, finished train ibut I can't remember where I put my camera.  

[Bernard]

Oh boy, this one is growler! And a big one, I think is angry at me or something. Maybe I need to run a bit more, see what happen.

 

 

 

Vincent - That is surprising. It couldn't hurt to oil the points on the motor and the gears in the trucks and then run it to let it break in.

[disturbman]

Now, after lots of running the motor make the sound of a diesel car at slow speeds and the one of Formula 1 at high speeds. I shall say, it's the most noisy train set I ever have. But, it did get a little better. I guess I will have to buy some oil in the future.

 

I also found my camera and made a little video. Not a great one but none the less, it's the first one I ever edited. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEXuhr03Q0o

[Bernard]

The Greenmax kit I made had the motor unit with drive shafts connecting to the gears in the trucks is fairly quite. Compared to my Tomix Furano Express with a spring worm, that's a loud train you need ear plugs when it runs.

[CaptOblivious]

Do the pre-painted kits come with headlights, or at least provisions for fitting headlights?

[disturbman]

The Greenmax kit I made had the motor unit with drive shafts connecting to the gears in the trucks is fairly quite. Compared to my Tomix Furano Express with a spring worm, that's a loud train you need ear plugs when it runs.

 

At first I would have liked to have earplugs.

[disturbman]

Oh boy, this one is growler! And a big one, I think is angry at me or something. Maybe I need to run a bit more, see what happen.

Vincent - That is surprising. It couldn't hurt to oil the points on the motor and the gears in the trucks and then run it to let it break in.

Not really - the old Greenmax mechanisms aren't the best in the world 

 

So I've seen a couple of videos showcasting some Greenmax Kit and I might say, I recognize the sound quite well. I think indeed that's a usual probleme with (some) Greenmax mechanisms.