Luft46's Blog

After a break I’ve started in on a little modelling in assembling a 3D printed Tardis. I got as far as cutting the sides out and a bit of cleanup.

Another shop was Tam Tam and the usual Yellow Submarine. These were all in Akihabara or Electric City. Lots of nerd type stuff but with that slightly weird Japanese bent.

Just left Hiroshima and apart from the obvious visiting place also managed to go out to an island that was a Kaiten training base. Museum guide had very little English but was very helpful. It was supposedly no photography but as my partner assisted via Google Translate I was able to get a few photos.

They had a Kaiten interior that was built a bit overscale for a movie and a full one outside and there was also a more rusty one at the port we caught a boat out to the island from.

Below is the tunnel used to transport Kaiten out to the training facility including some docking areas and two pens that they would have sailed from.  The first run was 2kms out and back building up to circumnavigating the island.

Typical bullet train looking more like a fighter cockpit.

Yes folks I’ve been to Volks model shop in Kyoto. It’s unexpectedly hot here in Japan for autumn with 30 plus days the norm. I caught an Uber to the shop as it’s a bit off the beaten track.

What follows is lots of photos. I’ve got to say it’s the first model shop I’ve ever been to with two real aircraft engines and props from a 109 and a 190.

Inside is fairly heavy on being like a model show along the walls with lots of finished works on display.

Being Japanese there is an element of some fetishist figure hobbies which I’ll skip over with the other extreme being costumes for sale like this penguin one.

There were a lot of modelling tools for sale including the following – I’ll be picking up sone of the faux Tamiya tape when I get to Tokyo.

Next up is some of the display models

Size wise the store is broken up into two halves connected by a small corridor with the more serious models and trains in the back half and the tools etc in the front.

Most of the kits were Japanese with a thin sprinkling of European kits but nothing unusual I had to have.

I did pick up some thin masking tape, some guns for my SWS 1.48 Shinden and a model magazine and that was it. I hope to get more in Tokyo at the end.

I left there and on the way back discovered the Kyoto Train Museum so had a pleasant time before walking home after 14,000 steps. Glad I got the Uber one way at least.

And lastly …….