Hello, Kapinozuka here.
The "Miyazawa Model Exhibition" was held the other day (9th Nov), so I will present the Railway Model items that were exhibited.
★Little Japan Models
The first booth we will be looking at will be that of "Little Japan Models", familiarized for their N-Scale car plastic kits. There were displays of the constructed samples of the kits that had been released so far. As their
packagings are generally illustrations or black and white photos, I’m sure this will be of great assistance to those that doesn’t know the coloring of the actual train, or is stuck on mixing the colors, so please feel free to
have a look.
*Click to Enlarge
Looking from the left, I think the models are the Kumoha40(Half-Streamline Type), Kumoha61, and Kumoha42 kits that had been constructed and completed. These 3 format kits are ones that currently have their renewal version scheduled.
I think it was about 7~8 years ago, that the Little Japan that had just been founded announced their 1st volume of their train car kits as the Kumoha40(Half-Stream). I don’t know if saying that the company had been given the
acknowledgement of GreenMax would be correct, but they have certainly been passed down with the flow of GM kits, yet utilizing the modern technology to improve the level of precision of the old type JNR Electric Cars as plastic kits,
which I’m sure had greatly surprised many.
The sharpness of their molding is unquestionable, they had even reproduced details down to the rivets with fine molding, and the passenger door can be selected from multiple types, as well as the fact that even if you don’t fix
down the roof, the ceiling parts will hold down the body steadily, and the fit-in windows being a standard equipment etc. just made their product no different to a completed model, once the kit had been assembled and colored, I have to
say that was just epochal. When you open the packaging, there are so many frames of parts included, the fact that so much volume had been packed into constructing a couple of cars really had me astonished. Plus, they had structured the
kit so that the cut edges of parts off the frame would end up in a position that won’t stand out when assembled, making the construction that much easier.
To Kapinozuka that had just joined the work force back then, this kit seemed relatively expensive in respect to the number of cars it makes, but when I actually bought the kit and opened the box, I soon realized that it was worth so much
more that value on the price tag.
Anyway, although you refer to cars of the type simply as the Kumoha40, the actual cars varied with each car. And with this kit, the selection of parts used changed which number of the Kumoha40 you will be able to reproduce. When it came
down to actually constructing the kit, I’m sure some researched the actual cars deeply to decide which parts to choose, where as some others may have paid little attention to the minor details and just went straight onto
assembling, that option is all up to the assembler. The easiest car to research would be the No.074 I would think, the car that stayed in JR East and is currently at the Railway Museum.
Alright, so the story got a little long, but after the Kumoha40, there were also the Kumoha61 and Kumoha42 etc. including the limited edition items, and they had all disappeared from the market without realization and had become out of
stock. As mentioned earlier, they are under plans for renewal. According to the info given by the manufacturer, the machinery parts under the flooring are being improved. Also, it seems that there will be 3 options for the resistors this
time, allowing you greater range of reproduction. The release period has not been decided yet, so please spend the time while waiting for the official information, on researching the actual cars and looking for photographs or documents
of the former Japan Railways Electric cars etc.
The pages of the old products(?) are listed below.
•
JNR Kumoha40 Half Streamline Total Kit (2-Car Set) (Unassembled Kit)
•
JNR Kumoha42 Rivets of Hem : 2 Lines Total Kit (2-Car Set) (Unassembled Kit)
•
JNR Iida Line Kumoha61 / Kumoha40 Flat 1st Type Total Kit (2-Car Set) (Unassembled Kit)
Little Japan Models had released Old type JNR Electric car kits, passenger car kits, Keikyu Line electric car kits, etc. but recently, kits with especially great variety is the Meitetsu electric car kits. And in actuality, there were
many Meitetsu electric cars they released that were active during the Showa 40~ 50s (1965~75), the AL-cars equipped with standard gutters. If you collect them all, it will be like a small museum for sure!
*Click to Enlarge
This is the sample of the Meitetsu Series3550 that had been assembled and colored. This kit is popularly on sale at the moment.
The Meitetsu these days has scarlet red as their standard car color, but there were periods before, that they were using other colors too. The kit content is very fulfilling, just like the old type JNR Electric Car kit mentioned
earlier.
•
Meitetsu Series 3550 1st Model (Mo3550+Ku2550) (Unassembled Kit)
•
Meitetsu Series 3550 2nd Model (Mo3550+Ku2550) (2-Car Set) (Unassembled Kit)
How about giving it a challenge, using the completed sample image as a reference? Oh and by the way, one of the points to distinguish between the 1st Gen and 2nd Gen cars, apparently you can tell them apart by looking at the corner of
top part of the window and see if its round cornered or sharp edged.
*Click to enlarge
Starting from the left, I think these are the completed samples of Series3600 (No.3601), Series 800, Series 3600 (No.3603).
Apologies in advance, if I got them wrong.
I would think it is rather nostalgic to see these, if you are familiar with the Meitetsu from the period these electric cars were running. These are also popularly on sale.
•
Meitetsu Series 3600 Formation No.3601,2,4 Updated Body Car (Unassembled Kit) (2-Car Set)
•
Meitetsu Series 3600 Mo 3603 + Ku 2603 (Unassembled Kit) (2-Car Set)
•
Meitetsu Series 800 Mo800+Ku2310 (Unassembled Kit) (2-Car Set)
•
Meitetsu Series 800 Mo831+Ku2501 (Unassembled Kit) (2-Car Set)
At Meitetsu, there were many cars that had been carried over from the private rails it had absorbed. There were also some cars that had their car numbers changed due to customization etc. For the trains of Meitetsu from this period,
there were cases where each car would vary, even when grouped as a certain series, so you need to be careful with that.
With Meitetsu, they had the tendency to "Update" cars by placing a newly made body onto a used under parts etc. so if you follow the roots of their history, it’s very interesting. (btw. Tobu and Seibu also did similar
things too.)
By the way, the
Meitetsu Mo3502 + Ku2654 (Mo3503 + Ku2655) (Unassembled Kit) (2-Car Set) comes with a booklet including the reference material of the Meitetsu kits. So this
is a must for those that are aiming to complete the collection of AL Cars released in the Showa 40s~50s!
And lastly, this isn’t specific for the kits of Little Japan Models, but it is important to collect reference materials properly when making old railway car kits. If there is the actual car remaining, you can observe that, but
there are many cases where that isn’t possible. For those that had seen the trains in the period they were active, you have great reference material called memory to rely on, so it may not be a problem, but for the younger
generation that hadn’t rode or even seen them challenging these, you would require materials such as photographs to perfect your model.
The path to completion may be rather difficult, but I’m sure that once getting over such obstacles and complete the kit, it will become an irreplaceable treasure for sure.
★New Product Information
N-Scale Car Kit
Meitetsu Series 3900 Slated for release in Feb. 2011
We are expecting detailed information on this to arrive later, but it will be produced with brand new mold. The difference in high/low driving stands, difference in ventilator etc. will be reproduced for each number group.
The parts structure will be the same as the existing Meitetsu kits.
Plus, the Meitetsu Series 3850 with great variety are scheduled to be gradually released too!
All you Meitetsu fans, I’m sure you will need to keep your eyes on the Little Japan Models!
Alright, that will be the conclusion of the report for the booth of Little Japan Models.
By Kapinozuka (Honestly, if you take interest in the 4 companies, Kintetsu, Meitetsu, Tobu, and Seibu, you will be addicted!)