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.