Building a TomyTec Hot Springs Hotel

Seems like I'm building most of the buildings for the Hot Springs Junction module before I really have the module ready but that's OK.  I've now moved on to starting the hotel which I plan to have toward the opposite end of the module from the station.  TomyTec offers 3 different Hot Springs hotel buildings in their extensive line of pre-painted kits.

The one I choose was No. 66 shown here. This is a great kit. Easy to put together, the instructions are clear, and like the Aoshima Apartments kit, everything is pre-painted. I built this kit without modification but may add a different foundation to it depending on exactly how it gets positioned on the module.

The sheet below came with the kit and shows the other buildings that are available along with a complete scene.  In my experience of sometimes having stayed at places like this, they are most often not close to a train station and are serviced by taxis or or buses and that is what is shown here.

Finishing the Green Max station

After adding the window glazing to the inside of the station building, the building and the outer walls got glued to the base.  Also a few figures were added to the scene.

I was happy with the results so far but was concerned that after the roof was put on the scene would be lost in the shadows so decided some lighting was needed.

I used 3 small surface mount LEDs to light the open areas under the station roof.  The inside of the station building is not lighted.  I used copper foil tape to create the contacts and built the whole assembly on the top of the ceiling before installing it.  The red and black 22 gauge were will go down through the building and module base.

So here is the finished station with the lights on.  Not too bright, just enough so the details show.  This station is now ready for the module.  Platforms will be needed and I am planning to scratch build or kit bash those to fit the space.

Stickers for the Green Max station

Japanese train models and building kits come with stickers, not decals as I have been used to working with.  At first I found these hard to work with but after repeated attempts and trying different techniques, I have been getting better results.  These stickers are colorful and add quite a bit of realism to the finished structure.

This is the set of stickers that came with the Green Max station kit.  In this set there are many of the types of signs you would expect to find around a train station plus some advertising signs.

After figuring out exactly where you want to place a sticker, it time to cut it out from the sheet.  I have found the best way to remove the selected sticker from the sheet is to use a straight edge and sharp hobby knife on a hard surface.  Press lightly so that only the thin sticker film is cut and not the backing paper.

The sticker film should then be peeled off using the tip of the hobby knife.

The back side of this particular set of stickers had a foil look to it.  Later an accidental scratch on the front of the sheet revealed the same foil look suggesting that this is a foil sticker.

To apply the sticker, orient the hobby knife so as to give the desired angle to best place the sticker on the model as shown in this photo.  In this case, there was a raised frame around the edges of the sign location so size and positioning was more critical.