2.08.2010

Future Building Projects

As my city begins to take shape, I've discovered I might not have enough room for everything, but I still have several buildings and structures yet to be completed and make their debut on the layout.  In addition to my procrastination and delay with my attempt at my second skyscraper scratchbuild, I've also picked up a lot of kits, both old and out of production, as well as new, that will house the residents of Quinntopia.  I thought it might be interesting to share some of these if for no other reason that its interesting to see some of the building options out there.

Although this building from Heljan is advertised as HO, only the ground floor is really HO, with all of the upper floors more appropriate for N Scale people.  Strange, but not unsurprising given the somewhat liberal interpretation of 'scale' often found in model buildings.
Next up are a bunch of classically kitschy bunch of boxes from the fine folks at Faller.  First up is Faller 2291, which is a 'boutique' with apartments on the top level.  As it is, I'll probably hold off putting this one together until I can find another one like it to give it some extra height versus the existing 4 floors.  I do admit, I really love the 1960's style 'boutique' lettering that make up this buildings marquee.
I picked up this nicely modern looking building about 6 months ago, but once I recieved it, it seemed more appropraite for Z scale than N!  The floors are just way too short to look good sitting next to other N scale structures.  I like its general appearance, and I plan to give each floor a little more height by replacing the 'blue' sections with higher sections of styrene.  As I picked up the first one pre-built, I wasn't even sure as to its manufacturer, but came across this unbuilt kit of the Faller 2293 so that now I'll be able to give this building several more stories as well, which should look pretty sharp:
Speaking of 'doubling-up' buildings to add more height, I also now have 2 unbuilt "Columbia Hotels' from Faller (2294) which will be interesting with the right lighting and a fresh paint job....

One of the unbuilt kits I'm most excited about putting together is the Faller B-905 high rise...they just don't make them like this anymore!  It looks great on the box, and the built examples of it I've seen from other modellers look really good.
 
And just to show that not everything this big is out of production, a building that they apparantly do still make, are these Skynet/Aoshima apartment buildings from Japan.  I was amazed at just how big the boxes are that they come in and, in a case of possible overkill, I ordered 2 boxes of these, which could mean for some very high apartments in Quinntopia!

Another building that is apparantly an older kit now back in production (although seemingly impossible to find) is this Kibri 7120.  I'm debating on whether or not its 'high' enough or if I should hold out for a second kit to give it some more height.

Some future kit bash/ modifications include taking this already built (again, another building picked up for cheap on ye olde eBay) modern German train station, and combining that with my Kato Overhead train station.  While I like the Kato Overhead station, the 'entrance' (just a couple of covered stairways) was somewhat underwhelming (although I expect entirely prototypical of these types of stations in Japan) and the combination of this modern station with the Kato overhead might actually be quite cool. 

A couple of more buildings that I am thinking of 'combining' are these two.  I don't know the catalog numbers, but its almost possible with some trimming to make the large building the 'top half' of the shorter shops building.  In this way, I bring to the people of Quinntopia even more retail space and living room at the same time!

For the time being, that's my list of building projects, which will be fun and keep me busy at the workbench for a while!  Seriously, some day I will get back to running trains!!!! 

I should also send out a huge thanks to "Scaper" whose been giving me a lot of great tips on where to find these buildings on eBay! 

UPDATE - A late arrival from Germany....
This is an interesting kit, and a very retro-looking cafe with a definite unique look!  I came across this on eBay without any knowledge of Herpa's history of making N scale structures.  So here is a Herpa B605.   From the package design, this looks like it was 1960's era.  Quite cool, not sure if I even want to build it if these things are as rare as they seem to be!

9 comments:

  1. The two store building in the last photo, on the right: It looks an awful lot like the Keio department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Only several stories shorter. Any way to build it up, and make your own Japanese department store?

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  2. Don: I think it would be somewhat easy to build up, but I don't think it looks very Japanese (of course, I'm not familar with the prototype you are referring to so I could be wrong). The third/top floor is sort of recessed walk way with what looks like apartments on that floor. Hard to tell from the photo, but up close I don't think it would look Japanese. Although with certain modifications its possible to convert it!

    La Saucisse (someday I want to know about your alias! And yes, I have translated it! ;-) ) These old building kits are pretty cool. I think some day these kits in their original packages should be quite collectible. Unfortunately, I will be using them the way that they were intended (I will be saving the boxes becuase I really like the old fashioned packaging of the Faller boxes!).

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  3. I like these buildings a lot - brutalist / international style from the 1960s that you could see in any modern city in the world. They also remind me of the Captain Scarlet sets, which is always a positive association.

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  4. "la Saucisse!" I love it! It does sound good, and I love the irony of it!

    Sudsana...you're right! The old Captain Scarlet models were amazing! Glad to see there are others that are familar with those old shows! I also am a fan of the old Japanese cities that Godzilla would famously destroy! I think these shows from my childhood are part of a subconscious motivation for my interest in building a 'city' myself!

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  5. Vincent, I had no idea that was you. I should have guessed before today's obvious hints. Also: Currywurst, that just sounds yummy.

    Jerry: You are right about the open third floor of that set being somewhat odd. The Keio Department store (just do a Google Image search) is a great example of a low and long building in the International style. I got lost in the bowels of Shinjuku station once, and I emerged to daylight in the middle of a ginormous bus station at the base of the Keio Department store. The building completely overwhelmed me, despite being not very tall at all, and I immediately retreated back into the bottomless cave to find another exit point. (Also, I was trapped by the bus station, with no escape but to cross dozens of active bus lanes with no ped crossings.) So the building sort of stuck in my head.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&view=map&ie=UTF8&t=k&hq=&hnear=4229+Botanical+Ave,+St+Louis,+Missouri+63110&ll=35.691736,139.699018&spn=0,359.997589&z=19&layer=c&cbll=35.691766,139.699246&panoid=c60qD9bkBZ_ndEtLF_ya6A&cbp=12,167.44,,0,-14.22

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  6. Oh, my. The building I was thinking of was not the Keio department store, but the Odakyu department store, directly next door. They look an awful lot alike, though.

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  7. I like that new building. Looks like something you might see in Harajuku.

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  8. Jerry,

    Thanks for the plug to my flickr account and the appreciation. It's been mutual. I'm jealous you found this building...

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cS71XS-i_2A/S2505kk7ScI/AAAAAAAABZk/SDWah5oqxtM/s1600/potential%2Bhybrid.JPG

    The one on the right... I still want to find it. :D That said, I seem to be hunting a few same kits as you hahahaha.

    Anyways I'm sure we'll be able to find enough for the two of us. Great work. I love your blog too.

    Keep up the good work! - Bob - aka Scaper. :D

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  9. Hi, Jerry--I like your collection of old building kits! We have a few, too, including some already-built ones that will get hacked up into...something. (What do you call kitbashing when the kit is already assembled?)

    That Herpa cafe is cool--that's a nice find.

    --scott

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