Hello everyone, Kapinozuka here.
The other day, Tomeko asked "Oi You! How is the progress of that thing going, aye?" *not in those exact words*, so today I will show you what became of the Greenmax "Apartment Building" that
was featured in the blog on
23/01/2010 (Club of Mystery). I'm sure there are people that are or aren't interested,
But this is the current state.
The process is currently at a halt, after roughly painting the parts. I have separated each parts according to color to paint them. In the [
Club of Mystery], it was just bundled with a rubber band, as I needed to be able to take it apart for coloring, therefore couldn't have it glued together.
I had also colored the staircase and TV antennae parts too, although its not in the photo.
The colors weren't specified on the instruction manual, so its up to the constructer to pick colors to their liking. In my case, I've selected the following colors.
(1) The walls and rooftop tank: Greenmax Spray 21 Odakyu Ivory (Cream No.10)
(2) GSI Creos Spray 43 Wood Brown (semi-glossed)
(3) Greenmax Spray 14 Grey No.9
(4) Jades 092 Suede-like coloring Spray Dark Grey
Some of you readers may have noticed that some of these colors were used in a
past blog. I always try to use up semi-used
sprays quickly, so I've reused some colors here.
Now, there were a number of staff, starting with Gabas, who suggested making this apartment building into an
Ita-apartment by using
Character Decals, although there is no such plans this time. (*note that
Itai in Jap means pain, in this case
used to mean socially unaccepted)
Right then, lets take a look at representative apartment building models!
Apartment Building (2 buildings)
The "Apartment Building" from Greenmax, introduced just now. As an N-scale Structure kit, this is an early stage apartment building model. As it doesn't contain many parts, it is quite simple
to build. The painting is up to you; color it to your liking. If you build it straight, it will become a 3 story building with 3 units each floor, for a total of 9 households, but for those
that would like a larger apartment, it could be interesting to get multiple buildings and combine them.
Looking at the illustration on the packaging, the bonnet bus says [to Hon-Atsugi], and an aircraft in the air that probably is of the US air force, so I assume this is supposed to be an
apartment building set in Atsugi city, Kanagawa. The design is probably that of apartment buildings from around the 1955 ish.
Multi-unit apartments (White) 2 Building Set (Pre-painted assembly kit)
Multi-unit apartments (Ivory) 2 Building Set (Pre-painted Assembly Kit )
This is a model reproducing the apartment blocks that were constructed centering the city center, from around 1955. This is a very typical apartment building from that period.
The box is quite large, with the content having many frames, its packed with volume. Plus, there are two buildings, so it is well worth constructing. It's so large, that with its two buildings
from a single box, it could be big enough to make up a whole diorama. When making a railway diorama, this building will take up quite the space on its own, and adding the parking lot,
kindergarten and meeting area etc. will liven the atmosphere even more, so it would be recommended to plan with that in mind.
Star House (Ivory/Brown)
Star House (White/Pink)
The "Star House" were the Y shaped apartment building constructed between the 1955 to 1965 ish, and were also known as the star shaped apartment too. The buildings that were constructed around
this era have started being replaced recently, so they are starting to be sighted less and less. With a spiral staircase at the center and distinctive coloring, it has quite the characteristic
build, and there is a movement in some regions to preserve these for their values.
This item is a pre-colored, pre-constructed product, but the fence is to be attached by the users. Unfortunately, it lacks window parts, and the central spiral staircase hasn't been reproduced
etc. If you are confident in your model building skill, why not try making your own staircase?
Condominium (Light brown)
Condminium (Brown)
The "condominium" sold by Tomix around 1990s. I remember this being featured in the Tomix catalogue 1991 edition. This is one of the apartment building design from around the end of 1980 to
early/mid 1990, I believe. 5 story building with 2 units per floor, so it can fit 10 household, a relatively small condominium. Leased or sold as lots, the first floor looks cheap from the
security point of view, whereas the top floor seems expensive with the large balcony.
This is a fully completed product, but you can separate each floor, allowing you to adjust the height to your liking. So you could buy multiple and make it 10 story, or remove a couple and
make it 3 story to increase variation too.
The items I've introduced are all in N-scale (1/150). It doesn't have to be used for Railway models, you could use it in dioramas with 1/144~1/160 scales too, I would think.
However, there doesn't seem to be many large apartment models from between 1970~1980, or after late 1990. For those that would like large apartment buildings from this era, you will need to
make it yourself with a plastic board or something, or customize the items currently on sale. I'm just waiting for a company that will release them to appear.
By the way, the Japanese call these large apartment buildings made with concrete and steel frame as "Mansion", but its clearly doesn't mean the same thing in English, which means a large,
luxurious house. It seems that this word "Mansion" has become a Jap produced English word frequently used, as opposed to the word "Apart", which is short for apartment, and points to apartment
buildings with small number of floors... but I'm clearly not an expert here, so you might need to do some research for more details. Yes, Japanese is a mystery.
*for other apartment buildings, take a look at
this
search. I've linked it to a search result with related key words.
By Kapinozuka, who likes those miniature models of houses at show homes/open home.
~Today's Trivia~
Greenmax and
Pit-Road are relatives.
No wonder the GM structure kit has aircraft in the illustration on the packaging