Tokyo Train Station - minified

[papermodelfan]

And then there is the structure within the base. I was wrong - it is not a ship model type egg crate form. It is a series of flying girders, that glue up against against the underside of the base. At this scale, it is sort of ueber engineered, but it does make it strong. Each girder is mounted at either end by a special little bracket - all very fiddly.

[Kevin WS]

Interesting approach!

[TLUN]

Nice build Rob, it is already a beautiful boutique!
And it is the size in 1:1000?It seems large already
It must be really gigantic in 1:500
Look forward to it=3

TLUN

[papermodelfan]

The girders in place, one folds up the tabs and starts to attach the main walls of the structure to them. They are in several pieces, and wrap around. Halfway down the main front facade is a little inset alcove (viewed from behind in the first photo, and close up from in front in the second.) - looks like it will be over the main front door.

The construction is straightforward, except that the cornices fold over so that front and back are covered, there are curious tabs that insert into slots cut into the based plate, and extra little structures tacked on here and there.

[papermodelfan]

Here is the start of the structure at the South end (there is a compass conveniently printed onto the base - what a great idea!) This whole end of the building angles toward the tracks. You can see how this piece gets a little more complex. I am just setting it into place in the second photo. the panel in front is a bit of a mystery to me. It is a wall, and has a tab that glues along the base, but it is cut free of the rest of the walls, as though it would hinge down like the door of an oven. This piece even has a colored backing to give it some thickness.

I cannot make out the purpose from the drawings - a hinged hatch to peek inside?? There are more mysteries to come.

I would note that the parts are printed very densely on the page, requiring surgical skill to separate them, so there is little white space, and there are tiny construction drawings printed in that little white space, and sometimes on the parts themselves, along with very helpful numbers on each tab that indicate what piece that tab glues onto. Those are all also characteristics of .... tatebanko, where every tab has a symbol on it that corresponds to a symbol on the target where the tab glues. I feel like I am tapping into a whole different set of conventions with this model

[günter]

Hi Rob,
I got exactly the same book. I tried to build the model, but had the feeling, that some parts are missing! Did anyone built this model?

Günter

[romanmodels]

Nice work Rob

[Don Boose]

Beautiful work, Rob!

I figured you would eventually connect this Japanese prototype with tatebanko.

Don

[papermodelfan]

The level of "engineering" in this model is impressive. Here is just one little piece, that forms a rounded addition at the south end of the terminal building. All once piece, that forms up with a little square roof deck on one side, atop a square (stair?) tower. Cut out, assembled, and in place. Hard at this small scale, would be hard even at original 1/500.

[papermodelfan]

Now the mystery of what lies behind that opening hatch. It is like a jewel box - a three story office space, with floors, ceilings, and walls. There is a little drawing to show how all the parts go together. Trickiest is the single piece of paper that forms all the partitions on the third floor. This takes a while to get into the correct place. This is pretty nuts at this scale - hard to even see the little chairs and tables drawn onto the floors.


then you can see the way this hides behind the hatch door that is the three story brick wall. Still need to clean up the joint between the building walls and the little jewelbox. Making sure everything fits is a challenge.