Toddlea's Free model contest #5 - UHU's Tokyo Tower (simple version)

**Rubenandres77** · #1 04-16-2017, 11:21 AM

This build is for Toddlea's contest here:
Free Model Contest #5

I really don't know if I'm able to finish my other entry ( Free Model Contest #5 - Moekami's "Princess of the Crystal" )
It happens the Princess is much more difficult for my current level that what I initially thought.

As a break from it. I decided to tackle a project with less parts, and entry it to this contest just for fun.

The download:
One of UHU's recent kit (actually, the most recent at the time of writing this lines).
It can be found as a free download here:
UHU's Tokyo Tower (simple)
The PDF files contain parts for the simple version of Tokyo Tower, as well as a very famous kaiju: Mothra.

My intention is to build Tokyo Tower. If time and interest allow it I may or may not build Mothra to add a little charm.
In any case, this is a subforum about architectural models, and the main subject will be the tower.

I printed on white cardstock at double letter size. I enlarged the kit a bit to avoid very small details.

A couple of assistants. They both had a relationship with Tokoyo Tower in their respective animes, so I thought it was just natural to hire them to help.

Powerful wizard Sechiro, and Magic Knight Hikaru approve this project!

Cutting the parts is easy. No need of any magic so far. But a sharp blade is certainly useful.

The main body of the Tower is simple and straightforward.
The fitting is very precise. I made a very small mistake and misaligned one of the faces, and the top is a bit skewed.
I plan on correcting that later on.

So far so good.
Tokyo Tower is taking shape.
It will be twice as tall as it is currently is.
Still to build: Upper part of the tower, the base with the building and surroundings.

Thanks for reading

**Rubenandres77** · #2 04-19-2017, 05:59 PM

The observatory is quite simple at this size.
And the upper part only required a bit of attention to get it right.
It is also a simple sub-assembly.

What I fear the most are the very small details on the building underneath the tower.
Too many small cuts and milimetrical folds for my taste.

Until next time!

**wyatt** · #3 04-19-2017, 08:42 PM

Nicely done Ruben. Can't wait for the finish.

**Rubenandres77** · #4 05-02-2017, 12:45 PM

"Foot Town", as the building under Tokyo Tower is called, is almost finished.

It is a delicate small structure, with some tricky small details.
But is very attractive once finished.

Since this version of Tokyo Tower was designed by UHU to represent the structure as it was in 1963,
the colors of the Tower and the building are different to the ones today.

The Tower shoes were also assembled.

This is how we are:

Next will be to add some small details to the roof of Foot Town, and to build the base.

Thanks for reading, and until the next time!

**rjm** · #5 05-02-2017, 05:14 PM

I'm using Google thru Safari. It won't let me download some of the files from uhu02's site. Some of the files are 60Megs! What should I be using?

Bob

**Rubenandres77** · #6 05-03-2017, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjm

I'm using Google thru Safari. It won't let me download some of the files from uhu02's site. Some of the files are 60Megs! What should I be using?

Bob

Be patient. Those files are full of detail and very heavy.
He also offers the complete set not as vector graphics, but as JPG files, all pages in a single PDF. That seems to work better.

Now, Foot Town is finished. And the base is complete.

As you can see, I glued the base to a piece of thin plywood to give it strength, and painted it black.

I seem to have made something wrong.
On a first dry fit there's a huge gap between the elevators and the "platform".
That shouldn't be. And I already pushed the legs of the tower as far as they can go into the shoes.

I'll fix that printing a new set of elevators, and making it taller so that it reaches the platform.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time

**Rubenandres77** · #7 05-04-2017, 08:37 AM

Fixed the problem with the elevators reaching the Tower.
I really don't know if it was my mistake not pushing the tower down enough. It probably was.
Fortunately that part is difficult to see, so it is not so noticeable.

Tokyo Tower is finished.

At 37 cm in height, the scale of this model is 1:900

Some general photos: