Martijn Meerts Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Boiler, I have a lot of European N-scale, and overall they're quite a bit more expensive than the Japanese stuff. The reasons for that is fairly simple, the Japanese stuff is manufactured in much higher quantities than European stuff :) I've found, with the exception of special models, that Japanese stuff is as good, if not better, than what the European brands release. Every once in a while The European brands come out with a very nice train, but the same can be said about the Japanese brands. As for steam specifically, MicroAce has the most models available and have been to go-to brand for Japanese steam for a while, but the recent Kato and Tomix models have surpassed the MicroAce ones. There's also RealLine which do the more uncommon locomotives (and are also more expensive), as well as World Kougei, which do both completed models as well as kits. Those trains are all brass, and a completed model can set you back close to 1000 USD, whereas the kits are around 350. Detailing on them is exquisite though, museum piece quality :) Link to comment
giguchan Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Hey Jeff, thanks for the reply.... I have a situation with my email notification i have to check it or something else... either way... I had the chance to go to Tenshodo today in Ginza.Once i got past all the great looking women i stumbled into the shop.I was amazed at how much stuff they had. I gave the entire place the once over before finally resting at the N gauge area.I asked so many questions the Gentleman behind the counter handed me last years catalog of Tomix and Kato trains. This will make for great reading on the plane ride home. I believe there is another shop in Akiba or Akihabara i think i saw it it looked big...I think i saw a shop that sold ham radios too... i might have to stop in ther too..I'll check back later on and let you know how i did. One thing though... i noticed that Kato sells the green box with no trains.. just track and accesories and the Blue box as a complete kit.One guy i was talking to said to buy the trains by themselves and buy the track the same way...better quality is what he said. sound right to you? Link to comment
ianlaw Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Hello everyone, I thought I might be the only one modelling Japan outside of Japan... Maybe not . I'm Ian, Brit, living in the Netherlands with my Chinese wife who lived in Japan for 7 years.... I restarted my modelling hobby after a 6 year break. Coming from HOe gauge I started a small Japanese Z-gauge layout this June. To give you some idea what I'm up to I include a shot of my scratch built convenience store. Link to comment
Bernard Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Ian - Welcome to the forum. You have make a really nice "7/11 Store"...is that in z scale and did you scratch build it? Link to comment
Densha Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Well hi there Ian! More people from the Netherlands! That's some nice convenience there as well! I don't often see people doing Z gauge (or HOe). Link to comment
Kabutoni Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Hi Ian, you're not the only one in the Netherlands! There are at least four people here on the forums that are quite active who live here (one of 'em is even an Admin). It's cool to see someone do a Japanese Z-gauge layout. You don't see that too often. The 7-11 looks very impressive! Scratch built I presume? Also, I want to go for H0e as well in the near future (next to N-gauge), since it just offers so much diversity and flexibility. Link to comment
Boiler Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Thank you Martijn, I'm going to AllAboard over the weekend to see what they have. I'm not going to buy anything for a month or so. This is a research trip. Apparently there is a Tulip festival nearby, so we shall see that as well. In the meantime, I've discovered a plethora of other trains, etc. that really interest me just through reading the forum and browsing the HobbySearch website. Things are clearly more complicated than I expected. Warmest regards, Boiler Link to comment
cteno4 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Lanlaw, Welcome! Happy to see you are not alone?! Wonderful job on the 7-11. Great interior details. What did you do for the bins in front? You should post a little scratch building workshop here! Jeff Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Ian, you should join our little Dutch Japanese model railroaders club :) 4 of us got together a while ago, talking about doing some Japanese modules with which to go to some shows. We haven't actually gotten around to building much (any?) modules yet, but there's some talk about a meeting again sometime soon-ish. Some of us should also be able to start on some modules soon (Finally... Gotta hate when work messes up with your hobby, then again, no work, no finances, no hobby ;)) Link to comment
ianlaw Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Thanks for the words of welcome everyone... @Jeff, The bins are simply a small piece of card with a ink jet print of the bins wrapped and glued around it. I use card and paper for most components of my z-scale buildings. I'll open a thread in a different part of this forum presenting my layout and maybe also showing some of the techniques used. Ian Link to comment
cteno4 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Ian, wow great job on that. at z scale those come out quite nicely. the smaller the scale the better printed cardstock/paper works as the relief detail cant be seen anyway. yes please do on both! we have had a lot of discussion on cardstock modeling and there are a lot of laser cut cardstock structures in n and z from sankei. jeff Link to comment
POMU Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Hi All, My name is Richard. I've recently been introduced to Japanese trains, culture, and food by very good friends and they recommended this forum and I'm glad I joined. The knowledge and posts here are phenominal! Hope to learn more and become more active in the future. Richard Link to comment
Matteo_IT Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Hello everybody! I'm a new user, my name is Matteo and I live in Turin, Italy. I'm train driver. I have many italian models in H0 scale and few of them in N because in Italy N scale does not exist I have a lot N models but not italian. I love USA models so I have a very big quantity... I have also european models and british models. Since few years I collect also some japanese trains, and I'm loving them. My favourite japanese train is the Cassiopeia night train. I hope I will enjoy in this forum and also I hope to know more enthusiast to meet somewere in the world! Regards! Link to comment
Martijn Meerts Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Hello everybody! I'm a new user, my name is Matteo and I live in Turin, Italy. I'm train driver. I have many italian models in H0 scale and few of them in N because in Italy N scale does not exist I have a lot N models but not italian. I love USA models so I have a very big quantity... I have also european models and british models. Since few years I collect also some japanese trains, and I'm loving them. My favourite japanese train is the Cassiopeia night train. I hope I will enjoy in this forum and also I hope to know more enthusiast to meet somewere in the world! Regards! Careful with the Japanese trains, before you know it you'll end up selling all the other models to buy more Japanese N-scale ;) Link to comment
Bernard Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Hi Matteo, You live in Turin...the "chocolate capitol of the world!" I was there covering the Olympics in 2006 and they have some of the best chocolate! Hello everybody! I'm a new user, my name is Matteo and I live in Turin, Italy. I'm train driver. I have many italian models in H0 scale and few of them in N because in Italy N scale does not exist I have a lot N models but not italian. I love USA models so I have a very big quantity... I have also european models and british models. Since few years I collect also some japanese trains, and I'm loving them. My favourite japanese train is the Cassiopeia night train. I hope I will enjoy in this forum and also I hope to know more enthusiast to meet somewere in the world! Regards! Link to comment
Matteo_IT Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Yes... I know we are in the chocolate capitol of the world! There are any italian in this forum? Link to comment
Bernard Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 You bet there are Italians here......one of the biggest collectors is a member of the forum....when he puts in an order the Japanese retailers have a small celebration! Yes... I know we are in the chocolate capitol of the world! There are any italian in this forum? Link to comment
Matteo_IT Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Oh... that's good! It's possible know them? Link to comment
westfalen Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Hello everybody! I'm a new user, my name is Matteo and I live in Turin, Italy. I'm train driver. I have many italian models in H0 scale and few of them in N because in Italy N scale does not exist I have a lot N models but not italian. I love USA models so I have a very big quantity... I have also european models and british models. Since few years I collect also some japanese trains, and I'm loving them. My favourite japanese train is the Cassiopeia night train. I hope I will enjoy in this forum and also I hope to know more enthusiast to meet somewere in the world! Regards! From one train driver to another, welcome aboard. Link to comment
Girish Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Hello everybody, I'm Girish from Bombay, India. I came across this wonderful site after extensive research. My interest with trains started when I was a kid and used to draw and paint different Indian locomotives. I'm also a member of Indian Railways' Fan Club Association. However my interest with model railways started recently. Since there are few model railway's manufacturers here I look forward to take advice from senior members of this forum before placing any online order. Also shipping cost is another matter that I need to consider. Nevertheless I'm happy to be part of this wonderful forum Thanks Link to comment
CaptOblivious Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Hello everybody, I'm Girish from Bombay, India. I came across this wonderful site after extensive research. My interest with trains started when I was a kid and used to draw and paint different Indian locomotives. I'm also a member of Indian Railways' Fan Club Association. However my interest with model railways started recently. Since there are few model railway's manufacturers here I look forward to take advice from senior members of this forum before placing any online order. Also shipping cost is another matter that I need to consider. Nevertheless I'm happy to be part of this wonderful forum Thanks Welcome, Girish! I think you are our first member from India (at least who has identified himself as such). From what I understand, model railroading is enjoying a bit of a comeback in India, yes? Anyway, welcome again and thank you for your kind words! Link to comment
The Next Station Is... Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hi, I've been lurking as a guest for a couple of years and have finally decided to join up as a member. I've had an interest in model railways most of my life (starting early a little ironically with a Tomy train set) and in the last few years my later interest in Japan rekindled the interest in model railways. I'm still a casual collector though, mainly a few Kato trains and a bit of Unitrack, currently dabbling with trams and Tomix track. Pride of my collection is the full 16 car set of Kato's M250 freight EMU, N700 and 500 series Kato shinkansens. Not too long ago I started up a Tumblr blog, http://tsugi-no-eki-wa-desu.tumblr.com/, so if you've come across it I'm the guy responsible for it. Hopefully I'll be able to make a contribution here too and I look forward to being a member now! Link to comment
disturbman Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Ah! It's you! I was wondering if anyone here was responsible for it. :) Welcome home! I hope you'll like the forum's spotlights as well as the dark alleys of lurking. Link to comment
Densha Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Ah! It's you! I was wondering if anyone here was responsible for it. :) Same here. Welcome! Link to comment
CaptOblivious Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Ah! It's you! I was wondering if anyone here was responsible for it. :) Same here. Welcome! Only just discovered the blog after someone posted a link to your discussion of the Evangelion SHIKI freight cars. Very glad to have you as a member! Link to comment
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