The Internet.....

I've been thinking about the many ways in which the internet, and in particular, the World Wide Webb (thank you Mr Berner) has made modelling so much easier.

In the old days the only real source of information was books, and magazines, or going to the place and seeing with your own eyes. The amount of information I have collected over the past 12 months about the Vietnamese rail system would have taken me years BI (before internet).

A case in point. Level crossing gates. Over the past few weeks I have been able to collect a number of images of verious types of level crossing protection to help me protect my own level crossing on my module. Some photos are stills and some are captures from video. From these I have been able to design and produce two types of flashing light protection as well as the gates themselves. When I get a chance, they'll be going onto the module. they will help the module look 'Vietnamese'.

For me the Vietnam Railways Forum has been a life saver. The members are happy to share their knowledge. Despite being for most part in Vietnamese language, the judicious use of Google 'translate' allows non Vietnamese speakers to enjoy the 'flavour' of DSVN though some of the translation are quite puzzling. For example why are there constant references to 'doctors'?

The combination of all these resources has made it possible for me to work towards the completion of my VNR module. The actual visits I have made to view the system are therefore 'icing on the cake'.

When I return to VN for my third visit in March next year, I will be armed with all the knowledge I have gleaned from the internet and so will be able to focus on my information needs as a modeller, as well as just enjoy the scenery and the people.

Weekends...

I got a little bit done last weekend. But don't weekends go so quickly! Never enough time to do what you really want to do.

I bought some 'DAS' which is a kind of modelling clay. I'm going to see if I can make some of those big pot plant holders they have around Vietnamese stations and work depots. Also hope to try making some banana trees as well. DAS dries in the air so no need to 'cook' it to make it hard, and it is paintable. I'm told 'Warhammer' people use it to sculpt figures etc. Worth a try.

Not a lot of 'physical' modelling going on but a bit of planning. Two areas I'm concentrating on at the moment. The first is the level crossing and the second is the road bridge at one end of the module. I've worked out that while the roads are tar, most of the level crossings are constructed of concrete 'planks'. I've bought a special paint by "Faller" to represent concrete so should make it more realistic.

I also have some thoughts on paper as to what my military monument will look like.

Now to actually do some work!

Slowly, slowly.....

I've been very busy over the past few weeks. Nothing to do with my modelling unfortunately. I have a new position and I'm working at a different location, so I'm learning. Also I have now purchased a netbook with wireless broadband so will be able to keep the blog up to date while travelling the 90 minutes to work every day (and the 90 minutes home in the afternoon).

I have been a bit worried about the on again off again level crossing on the module. Mainly I didn't know whether DSVN would have a level crossing across three tracks, but I've now found a video which shows exactly what I'm modelling, including one of those sets of crossing gates on wheels as well as the more usual crossing lights.

At the moment I'm waiting on a package from the US which includes a couple of 40' flat wagons and a couple of tank wagons both of which look very similar to Vietnamese versions. Once they arrive and are suitably modified and painted I should have 8-10 pieces of freight rolling stock. Now I need a nice green brakevan and to finish my D12E class locomotive. The brakevan will have to be scratchbuilt (maybe using an existing underframe).


I also have some plans to use the Life Like coaches I bought. I had hoped that I could 'fudge' them into VNR coaches but I think now I will remove the sides and scratchbuild new ones, as well as adding airconditioning units to the roof.

I might have some photos for the next entry so stay tuned.....

A bit of scenery....

Whew! Doesn't life sometimes get in the way of your hobbies! Too often I think!

Since my last entry I have been adding a few bits and pieces to the module. Here are some rough photos to give you an idea.

Note that after two three reversals the level crossing is back and being worked on! There are also a couple of cattle near the level crossing (I think one has fallen over and is asleep! The skinny houses back scene will be replaced by something more in scale.

I also have an idea for a war memorial of some kind. I got a couple of 1/144 tanks to use (you can see one on one of the photos). I've also decided to go ahead with my Petrolimex petrol station. It will be on the corner next to the light coloured two story building. I'll have to make a 'site specific' concrete pad and then use the parts from the Tomytec kit.

I recently attended a model railway exhibition here in Sydney, Australia and got some ideas to add a 'circle' to the layout so that I can run continuous trains without having to build a full layout. And I haven't even started the planned 'corner' yet!

By the way, I haven't finished painting the sky board yet. It will be a lot smoother when finished.

Things don't move very fast do they, but they do move.

Have a look at this gentleman, at SaiGon station in August. I think he has the right idea!

Hmm. Maybe to much of that.

Progress....

It's been a while since my last confession, so here goes.

Some progress is now being made on the module. A backscene has been put in place and painted. It still needs a second coat. The first lot of scenery has been added, plaster soil, painted and covered in basic 'grass'. As well some minor changes have been made to the arrangement of buildings. The photo below shows the unpainted backscene in place with pillars in place for the overhead road/bridge. Notice the roads are still not 'in'! When the ground is complete I will then add lots more trees of various kinds as well as signs. I've also removed the cheap and nasty shiny plastic palm trees and replaced them with more realistic ones.

I have also bitten the bullet and started to build my D12E locomotive. This version will be the 'quicky' version (about as quick as the tortoise in the 'tortoise and the hare' I think!). I'm using a scaled down version of the card model, cutting out windows etc, and fitting it to the SW1200 chassis I have. Should look alright from a distance. This is a 'fudge' until I build a proper body in styrene. At least I'll have a locomotive!

Also notice in the photo above that I still haven't 'Vietnamized' the buildings. That's next on the agenda after the basic scenery (including the roads) is finished, as well as the completion of the overhead road bridge.

 

I know this sounds strange, but I've also been planning the next module. It seems to me that I need some sort of 'corner' module at the overbridge end. This would consist of a curved mainline, with the workshop/depot sidings branching off from this. Scenery would be much more rural I think. Rice fields etc. I might even move the pagoda there as it looks a bit odd where it is.

So what do you think so far. It's taken a lot longer than I thought but it is progressing.

Until next time.......

Slowly...slowly....

Things have been a bit quiet the last week or so. A bit of planning but not a lot of actual modelling going on. I'm sure everyone has these times where you look at what you've done so far and do some planning for the future but don't do a whole lot more.

I purchased a Bachmann 44 tonner. Lovely model and comes with DCC as well as the normal system, so not cheap for  such a small locomotive. I still haven't taken it's top off but the chassis measurement is around 60mm. If the Kato chassis are OK I might leave the top on and convert it to a New South Wales (Australian) 79 class, but your not interested in that are you.

I've also been eyeing off those  Japanese chassis you can get. They come in various lengths. The Kato 58mm one seems almost perfect for small locomotives. Unfortunately they only come with 4 wheel bogies can't be used for D18E's or D19E's etc.

I've also been updating my websites so what with time being limited (do you get the impression that they've changed the definition of an hour to 50 minutes?), I've not been able to put hobby knife to styrene.

I promise I'll try harder this week OK?

Back to the real world.....

I've been back in Sydney for a couple of weeks now. My trip is just a memory.

Once again I've made some changes to my plans for the module. After seeing Thap Cham and Saigon I've abandoned the idea of a level crossing across the yard. The level crossing will have to be on another module.

I came across a couple of city type buildings by Kato in a shop here in Sydney, very expensive but I bought them and they're on the module already. The idea is to create a small slice of a city skyline:

The Kato buildings are perfect as the modern tall ones, but I will have to scratchbuild the narrow 'Vietnamese' ones in between.

The good thing is I've actually seen DSVN in operation so have a better idea of basic operations and the 'feel' of the system. Some of my ideas were confirmed, and some not.

I have so many photos to add to my two websites and not a lot of time. But I will get there!

It was interesting to witness an integrated rail system with both passenger and freight. Here in Australia most freight has been sold off to private operators and the two functions don't have a lot to do with each other.

I still don't have a locomotive so I'd better get going with that one. I noticed in the same shop I bought the city buildings an example of the N scale GE '44' tonner locomotive. I wonder if the chassis could be used? But my first loco will be a D12E as previously reported.

I also got some photos of the grey tank cars. There were two at Thap Cham, so that should make my tank car modelling much quicker.

Oh well.... on with the modelling...

On the way home.....

Well here I am back in Saigon due to return to Australia tonight.

On Thursday I had a wander around Saigon Station. Lots of different carriage types and yard shunter D9E 217 doing its thing.

On Tuesday I came from Thap Cham to Saigon by train (SE5). A very pleasant 6 hour journey, with a D19E (type 2) on the point. I sat up but no problem. The train was about 1 hour late (shades of the Up Melbourne-Sydney XPT!), Though since it had started two days before at Hanoi, no problem.

There was a D4H pottering around Thap Cham yard but it was labelled in what looked like Russian Characters and had a number in the 2000s. Don't know why.

The trains I saw both freight and passenger where all pulled by D19Es of both types. I presume other types are around.

I got some photos of tank cars and boxcars, as well as the station. Also interesting, a track vehicle (GM07) with a wagon behind. There was another one in Saigon (GM08) with a similar wagon. Looks like they use it to pick up rubbish or rubble around the track.

At Saigon I took 'walkaround' photos of the 141 class 2-8-2 steam locomotive displayed outside the station. So I now have plenty of detail shots. Enough to do some drawings? Maybe.

Oh, well back to the real world tonight. Lots of photos to work on and put up on my website.

In Dalat.....

Well here I am in Dalat. It's a very nice city up in the hills. Much cooler than Saigon!

Yesterday we went for a ride on the train which goes for about 5 km to Trai Mat city. Very bumpy! The locomotive was an old Russian(?) combined diesel and a sort of passenger section. Looks a bit rusty these days but still seems to work OK. There was also a Japanese C12 class 2-6-2, Vietnamese 131 class steam locomotive. It also has seen better days and I doubt it goes any more, but people like to have their photo taken in front of it.

There was also a D4H diesel locomotive which was painted a very faded green compared to the green I've seen in the photos.

I took lots of photos so I'll post them on my webpage when I get back.
It's a pity the line doesn't go further but maybe one day?

Saigon....

Well I made it!

I'm sitting here in the middle of Saigon at the Highland Coffee shop in Pham Ngu Lao St, watching the motor bikes pass by. It's raining a little bit but it's nice warm rain.

I caught a glimpse of the rail system as I came from the airport last night, but no trains unfortunately. I won't really have time to explore the DSVN for another week.

I'm trying to take some photos which show how the different styles of building are arranged. On the module I have planned to have thin houses next to the hotel. I've already seen examples of this so it should be OK.

Also I've taken some photos of the roofs of buildings. I'm on the 11th floor of my hotel so I can look down on them. Many roofs seem to have large silver tanks on the top. I presume they are hot water tanks but I could be wrong.

At least for this trip I know what I want to take photos of so I should be able to detail my module more accurately.

Won't be much modelling over the next couple of weeks, but won't I have a lot to do when I get back!

Preparations....

I haven't had a lot of time recently to do any actual modelling as I've been getting ready for my trip to Vietnam. My main advances are in the form of adding the pagoda to the module as well as working on the roads and adding a couple of other buildings.

I also have a second sheet of Vietnamese posters/advertisments to put up on the website. This sheet includes a couple of flags as well. Like any country these days, there are always plenty of flags flying, particularly on government and semi-government buildings, so any module would appear 'naked' without them.

I finally got to assemble the pagoda which wasn't all that difficult. The Japanese kits go together without any glue, they sort of just clip together, and as noted above I'm now adding them to the module. I think I've overestimated the space I've got for buildings on the layout, so I keep on moving them around to get the best effect.

The roads are being made using a dark grey card I found at my local art supply shop. After the sections are glued in place I'll paint the surface with a 'dirty' grey mix of acrylic paints.

Once the roads are in place I can work on other scenic bits and pieces such as vacant land, the work area around the workshop/engine shed and finish ballasting the track.

And of course I still have a locomotive to build and more rolling stock.

It never ends! Being away for a couple of weeks is going to cramp my style a bit but I hope to get some good pikkies to help with making a more realistic module, so it will be worth it.

I'll try to keep the blog going while I'm away, when I can access a computer... mainly comments about my trip.

So, if you live in Saigon, and you see me wandering around with camera in hand in the next couple of weeks, say hello...

Monday morning coming down.....

I finally got the card models up and 'downloadable' on my website. You can go to the site and download them. I have converted them to JPEGs from the original photoshop files so more people should be able to use them.

I also added the billboard page I referred to in the last  blog, so you can download that too.

Progress has been slow on my module again. I've been getting ready for my imminent trip to Saigon, booking hotels etc, so not so much time (so what's new?).

I've decided not to use the large petrol station. Too many hassles moving track and redesigning roads. I did notice another smaller petrol station available so I'll order one of those and use the bigger one on my Aussie layout.

I planted some more trees on the weekend. Still figuring out the best way to use the bamboo. If anyone knows where to get n scale banana trees I'd appreciate that too (does anyone read this blog besides me?) I have some instructions on how to make my own but they will be fiddly things to make I think! Oh well, I got myself into this!

I hope to get to Saigon Station  to get some photos, as well as catching the train from Thap Cham back to Saigon in the afternoon. (I'm travelling from Dalat to Thap Cham by bus) I'll try to take as many 'detail' photos as possible and create some more poster sheets.

Lazy Days...Dream Away....

I have to admit that despite all my plans for the weekend, not a lot happened! The most exciting bit was getting into contact with the owner of the paper models I mentioned in my last ramble. I have now downloaded a D9E, D11H, D12E, D13E, D19E and D20E. I've printed the D12E in approximately N scale and will assemble it and see what I get. I add a photo to the blog when it's ready.

The drawings are very good, and if nothing else they will make excellent plans for my styrene bodies. The owner has allowed me to make them available for download at my Modelling the Railways of Vietnam website, so as I said, they can be used as plans, or just to produce quick card models.

I think they are approximately HO scale (1:87) but there does seem to be a problem with the D19E and D20E, where they seem to be too long (or perhaps a bit squashed?) when printed on my printer.

I also tried printing a page of various posters, advertisements etc from Vietnam. They look pretty good, so I'll make them available on the website as well.

Give me a couple of days to get them up. I'm really hoping our benefactor will be able to do some more models, perhaps passenger cars or freight wagons?

So I suppose I did achieve something over the weekend. Just not what I had originally planned!

Weekends......

It's the start of another weekend and I've got so much to do! All those kits to assemble and place on the module, plus roads to finish and a track to move! Oh well.... I got myself into this!

BTW I found some fuzzy photos of three different VN diesels made of paper on the VN railways forum.

There's a D13E and D9E (shown above) as well as a D19E (not shown). I presume they are in HO 1/87 but who knows?

I am trying to find out where I can get them from, but no luck yet. The links on the forum don't work, so that's no good. If anyone knows where I can get them from please let me know. I'm sure if they are in HO they can be reduced to N.

In the meantime I'm continuing to plan for my D12E model and hope to start construction this weekend.

By the way I'll be visiting Vietnam (mainly Saigon area) from July 24 to August 7, so I hope to get lot's of photos and details when I'm there (as well as have an excellent holiday!)

Steady as she goes.......

The bits and pieces I ordered from Japan have finally arrived. Very exciting! It was like Christmas in June! So now I have some building kits to put together and 'Vietnamize' (is there such a word?) with appropriate signage, details etc.

I got a petrol station which takes up a lot more room than I thought it would, so now I have to decide whether to look for a smaller one (I did see one on the Plaza Hobby ebay site) or move a piece of track to allow enough space to fit it. Decisions... decisions....! It does look very nice though.

I also got some more palm trees and would you believe N scale bamboo! Now where am I going to put that? I also got my 5 level pagoda which will look really good on the module I think. Now where can I get some safron robed monks? Japanese monks seem to dress quite differently from Vietnamese ones so aren't really much use on this module. All of the kits are Tometec, while there is a fully assembled Japanese restaurant by Kato as well which will need a few changes.

I've started laying some roads, but may have to modify one because of the petrol station problem I described above. Also I finally got the top off a LifeLike SW9 (they don't make it easy!) so I now have a chassis ready for when I start on my first locomotive, which will be a D12E. I'll probably have to make new bogie side frames at some point but I think I'll leave that to last.


I also got a nice model of a brick church for my Australian N scale layout, but that's another story.

Slow but steady.....

I haven't updated this blog for a little while. I have been doing some work though. I've found an older US boxcar which looks vaguely like some older Vietnamese ones. Possibly introduced by the Americans in the 60's. I've painted it boxcar red, though I have a suspicion that they might have been some sort of light grey or silver colour when delivered.

I've also done a little bit of work on the module, planted a couple of trees and started planning the roads, particularly the level crossing.I have also added a wall between the repair facilities and the main line, but it still has to be painted. There are a couple of photos below (I really must finish the gondola!).

I've also been on my usual search for 'Asian' style buildings (see photos). Some of the Japanese Kato, Tomix and Tometec will be useful. I have actually ordered some from Japan, because the retailers in Australia don't seem to be interested unless the buildings can be fitted into Western style layouts. Though I did get the two smaller ones as seen in the photo above at a local Sydney hobby shop. They are from one of those Tometec 'collections' where you don't know what's in the box. But they are available very randomly. I have some more palm trees on the way as well as some n scale bamboo and a petrol station which will be converted to a Petrolimex one and a 5 level pagoda which will definitely make the module look more 'asian'.

I'll report more on these buildings etc when they arrive in the next few days.

What makes a layout 'look' the part?

As I add some bits and pieces to my module I have to keep on asking myself what will I need to add to make it clearly a segment of a city in modern Vietnam?

Now that the basic track is laid I need to start thinking about all those little touches that clearly tell a viewer that this is Vietnam, not China or Japan or Sydney, Australia. Part of it is the vegetation of course, so I'm trying to find out a bit more about that aspect of Vietnam. But I also need to consider items such as road signs, walls, fences, footpaths, other public signs, posters, advertising and railway signs as well.

I can get a lot of this information through looking at images found on the web and through my own observations. But it's not easy. If I wanted to see road signs in Australia I'd get a driver's handbook, but what is the equivalent in Vietnam, and is there an English version?

I've recently been surfing the net (do people still do that?) to find typical outdoor posters etc. to be displayed on the module. One thing you notice when you go to VN is that despite the rapid move towards a market economy Vietnam is still a very political country, so many of the posters, statues etc are of a political nature. Still if the module is to be accurate I need to have to place a couple of political posters beside the roads, as well as Vietnamese flags, which are quite common on buildings.  My only concern is that if I ever display this module to the public here in Australia, it might cause a problem when viewed by those who are less enthusiastic about the current Vietnamese Government.

Oh well, I'll worry about that if it ever occurs.

The problem is that I can find plenty of political posters but not so many advertising type posters. When I go to Saigon at the end of July I'll have to take many photos of advertising posters so that I can select a few for the module.

I will also need to construct a typical level crossing as well, as I have one crossing three tracks! I'd really like to build those gates with wheels on the bottom, that are rolled across to stop road vehicles. I have some photos so at some point will 'have a go'. I've started to build up a collection of motor bikes and bicycles as well as other road vehicles, but still need a lot more.

Mmmm. Maybe that's what makes the scene Vietnamese. All those motorbikes!

 

Track and All that Jazz....

Have you noticed how odd the track (particularly the metre gauge) is in VN? I don't think I've seen anything quite like it anywhere else. The sleepers (ties) seem to be some sort of composite steel/concrete arrangement where the rails are supported on concrete blocks which are tied together by a relatively thin piece of steel.

Traditionally sleepers are made of timber of course, but many tropical countries found that they rotted too quickly, so steel sleepers have been the go for at least a hundred years. In Australia a number of branchlines (particularly in Queensland) went the steel sleeper way. Of course in some parts of Queensland there weren't a lot of trees to make into sleepers.

Over the past 20 or so years of course concrete sleepers have been rapidly replacing wooden ones. They last a lot longer and seem to take todays heavier trains with less damage and provide a smoother ride.

But in Vietnam we have this 'composite' variety. I'm not even going to attempt to create track like this particularly in N scale. I have never seen model track like this, so short of building my own track, I can't see it happening on my module in the near future. I know lots of modelers build their own track, even in N scale, but they don't have to create what appears to be a quite unique style of sleeper.

Building railway models is often the art of compromise. Our NZ120 friends operate on the principle that if you're standing two feet away (60 cm) and it looks OK then that is acceptable. Standing two feet away from ballasted, weathered track in N Scale you'd be lucky to see some of the sleepers at all, right?

So why worry? Because we are supposed to be recreating reality and until DSVN replaces those unique sleepers with the more common fully concrete variety, they will sit there crying out to be modelled.

Who was the man who said that 'model railroading is fun'?

On another note, over the weekend I did some more work on the module, planting a couple of palm trees as well as some other trees and started planning where the roads will go. I have the ballast ready to be added to the track when I get round to painting and weathering the sleepers and rails. Most people ballast etc before they start adding scenery.  I always do things backwards! As well my tank car is nearly complete as is my gondola (open wagon). And I've been playing around with some ideas for the body of my D18E class.

So, progress is slow but steady but there is progress. How long this all takes only time will tell.......

Structured Thoughts.......

I've been thinking about how I'm going to build all those Vietnamese structures that I'm going to need for the module. Apart from a Tomix small office building I'm going to use for a 'boutique' hotel, I've got very little to fall back on in the way of kits or ready built models. I have got my eye on a couple of other Japanese N scale buildings including one of those thin tall pagodas with multi levels, and a small petrol station which looks pretty close to some of the smaller establishments I saw in Saigon and Hanoi. (A slight change to Petrolimex signage and a couple of hundred motor bikes and we're away). The problem here in Oz is that while there are plenty of hobby shops dealing in Japanese N, they tend to only carry models that can be used on lots of different kinds of layouts, so mainly modern stuff. The models are also available fairly erratically. So if I want a pagoda as mentioned above it's not something that they carry. Looks like I'll have to get stuff from overseas.

I did think about the possibility of using French inspired colonial type buildings as well, there are certainly plenty of them left in most Vietnamese cities, but I'm still trying to find a source of French N Scale structures.Unlike the Germans, the French don't appear to be into N Scale in a big way, so there aren't any major manufacturers with French structures in their catalogues. If you know of any please let me know!

The alternative of course is to scratchbuild.and as I've got to scratchbuild or kitbash any rolling stock or locomotives that I want, this is going to be a slow process. In addition most Vietnamese houses, despite being very close to the house next door, are 'stand alone' structures, so no cutting corners and leaving side walls etc out. I still haven't decided whether to use styrene or card. The card sounds good, nice and cheap, and I've seen some fantastic models built out of card. But it may be difficult to recreate those fancy fronts in card I think.

Oh well, I suppose I'm going to have to bite the bullet at some stage and 'have a go' to use an Australian expression. My hotel is looking very lonely at the moment standing there all by itself with only the loco shed to keep it company.

Progress.......

Just a couple of photos to show that I've finally laid all the track on the module. Sorry photos aren't very good but they do give some idea of the layout. The track on the right is the main line.The other tracks are all part of the repair/loco yard. That's my one piece of DSVN rolling stock sitting outside the Tomix engine shed! The lonely building is the future hotel. It does have a Vietnam Airlines sign on the top!

Now for some ballasting!

A Quick One...

Just a note to celebrate my almost completing my first piece of rolling stock! No, not the gondola, but rather the first container wagon. See the image below. The under body still needs to be painted matt black and details and lettering needs to be added, but it exists! The model is a modified NSW (Australian) kit I had in my workshop. Unfortunately not available any more, but I have several more, so at least one more container wagon can be built.

I'm also progressing with the oil tanker. Should have a photo in a couple of days, all going well.

Also I've come across a second DSVN steam locomotive in N Scale. It's a Micro-Scale model of a Japanese C12 steam locomotive. This is the DSVN 131 class. It only seems to come as a set with coaches unfortunately. I was alerted to this by Paul Ingram.

The Never Ending Story....

I've been a bit remiss and haven't updated the blog for some time so here's a few more thoughts and ideas. I recently received an email from the co-ordinator of a group called AsiaNRail located in the US which is actively modelling various Asian rail systems. His email gave me a sort of kick in the behind to get some work done. There was an article in the US 'N Scale Magazine' about this group and the great work they are doing. The modeller's name is Paul Ingram. Thanks for your message Paul. They model Japanese, Taiwanese,  Korean and Filipino railways and are planning to have a go at Thai and Vietnamese. They model in N scale using the Japanese 1:150 scale just as I am.

At the moment I'm concentrating on getting the track finished on the module I'm building and in the process have swapped the viewing side from one side to the other and slightly modified the track layout. I should have some photos up on the website this weekend. As well I found a Tomytec (Japanese) modern 2 track loco shed which should stand in for a DSVN one, at least until I get to scratchbuild a more accurate version. So many public buildings in Vietnam are painted that yellow ochre/'poo' colour that I'll have to have the same.

The houses are going to be interesting. No other country has houses that look anything like Vietnamese ones, you know the ones, about 6 feet wide and 5 or six floors (at least!)tall, with almost invariably a shop on the ground floor. I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and build my own from photos.

I plan to visit Sai Gon and surrounds at the end of July so should get some useful photos in the process. last time I visited I took nearly 500 photos! I'm aiming for a lot more this time.

Currently I have a part finished DSVN gondola/open wagon sitting on my workbench, as well as a US single dome tank car to be converted into the similar DSVN one, and also two types of Vietnamese container wagons. I also have a can of Tamiya 'French Blue' spray paint for that pretty container flat blue colour.

Soon I will have to bite the bullet and start scratchbuilding a locomotive, probably a D18E, which is quite big as metre gauge locomotives go, and is basically all flat sides and ends. Even my lousy scratchbuilding skills should be able to tackle that one! I'm going to have to produce some N Scale drawings first. I have some outline drawings, so will use those and add details from photos.

 Wish me luck!

Planning a Layout

I mentioned in my last blog that I plan to build a 'diorama' type layout to display any models I build. I'll use this blog to provide a little more information about my plans.

The diorama is being built on a board 4 ft x 2 ft (1200mm x 600mm), N scale of course. The intention is to use the 'stage' type of arrangement where the layout is viewed through a frame which makes it look like it's on a theatre stage. This then accentuates the idea that things are happening 'off stage' as well as the activities you can actually see.

The layout depicts a small workshop/locomotive shed, somewhere in the Hanoi area. There is a single track main line towards the back of the layout, which will see trains 'passing through'. Trains will enter the work shop area from behind several buildings. This style of layout is quite popular at the moment. For more information on this and other 'micro' layouts visit The Micro layouts site at http://carendt.com

The back scene will be a combination of photos of buildings and actual model buildings with little more than the front wall actually constructed. There will be a level crossing (there seem to be very few road bridges crossing VNR tracks)and hopefully I can squeeze in one of those Petrolimex petrol stations, and lots and lots of motorbikes and bicycles. Anyone know how to make a cyclo in N scale?

At this stage I've given it the name 'Doi Moi', the legend that appears on most of the D19E class locomotives, and which according to my Vietnamese dictionary means innovation or new way. Whether that's the name of the non existent town, or whether it's the name of the layout I'll leave up to you.

The trains will be assembled off layout possibly using some sort of cassette system (not decided yet). I will need a fiddle yard on both sides to allow trains on the main line to enter and leave. An alternative ( and probably easier) would be to have a circle of track running around behind the layout with a fiddle yard. Decisions, decisions...

I have laid all the cork underlay for the track and have laid some track. I hope to have the rest finished tomorrow (I've got the day off). Hopefully I can put some images up on my website.

When I've finished this module I plan to have a go at a second module depicting a more 'rural' scene. Any ideas on how to depict rice paddies gratefully received.

BTW: I got hold of some additional photos of DSVN freight vehicles and I discovered a slight error in my DSVN gondola, basically with the doors on the sides. I need to make the doors go right to the top rather than have them under a continuous side. This will mean a slight delay in completion but nothing major. I'll have a go at that tomorrow too and I'm hoping a can put photos of the wagon in it's final red colour scheme up on the website as well. I'm still not sure how I'm going to letter the wagon, there being no commercially available decals, particularly as in most of the images I have a lot of the lettering is a bit 'fuzzy'.

Where do we go to from here.....

You might be aware that I am attempting to model aspects of the trains and railways of Vietnam.

I'm currently close to completing my first 'kitbash' of a DSVN gondola (open wagon) and have the plans to build a D5H and/or D13E class diesel locomotive. I have suitable chassis for both. One is a LifeLike SW9 for the DH5 and the other, an Atlas RSC4/5 for the D13E. As well I have a couple of US coaches that I plan to us as the basis for two of those green 'Chinese' coaches that DSVN still uses. Unfortunately my diorama hasn't advanced very much with track laying still to be completed.

All this is in 1:150 'Japanese' N scale. By using 1:150 I can use chassis which were made for the bigger US locomotives.

I realise that N gauge 9 mm track is wider than the metre gauge of most tracks in VN, and that I should be using 6.5 mm Z scale track, but that's the track I've got and it means I can use reasonably priced N scale chassis rather than the extremely expensive Z scale ones (if you can find them). Many Japanese railways are of course 3 ft 6 inch gauge and they use 9 mm track.

My primary modelling interest is modern Australian railways in N scale (1:160) and I have a layout to complete for that prototype as well. Not to mention that I collect Australian outline HO scale diesels as well, so there's not a lot of money to spend on the VN models. So scratch building and kitbashing appear to be the way to go.

There aren't any DSVN models to buy anyway, apart from the models of the German BR52 steam locomotives (TE class) which made it to VN but never ran anyway. A$450.00 is a lot of money to pay for a model that will just sit rusting on a siding somewhere!

I've also hunted out a couple of flat car kits in my shed which will pass as container wagons with a coat of light blue paint and a container on each.

My Kato Japanese boxcar is still as it was when I bought it, but I plan to attack it soon. Basically I'll file the details of the side and replace them with more Vietnamese style ones. Again it won't be a exact scale model but it should look OK. I still have plans to scratchbuild one of those green DSVN boxcars with the yellow stripes on the side. I'm in the process of creating some drawings, based on measurements from photos.

Until next time....

Welcome

Welcome to my Modelling the Railways of Vietnam Blog. This blog is intended to complement my Modelling the Railways of Vietnam website which has been in existence since the beginning of this year.

I am still at a very early stage in my adventures, sort of just left the base camp, but I am progressing.

I will be adding my thoughts and ideas at regular intervals and I hope others will contribute as well.

I still get the impression that I'm the only person in the world taking modelling the railways of Vietnam seriously. If I'm not please let me know.