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!