Starting the subway construction scene

One of the central features of the Musashi-Koyama module set is all the construction going on in the area around the station for the new subway.  Up to now this had only been represented on the modules as an opening in the surface and a few trucks parked behind some construction fencing.  I thought it was about time to start to make this scene more complete.

A box was made from .030 styrene to fit into the hole. This can be removed as needed to work on it at the bench.  One of the  be two climbing tower cranes on the site is also seen in this photo.  More on those in a future post.

Across the street from the subway station construction site I am creating a support area  This would be a fenced in area where materials could be stored, vehicles and equipment parked.





The subway station construction scene will be a large project that has several aspects to it.  This is just the start and there will be follow-up posts as it progresses.

Paint & weathering for the Station

With everything settled on the platform I have gone on to painting and weathering the scratch built station along with the 3 modified Kato covered stairways. 

Here's a view from the other side that shows the weathering applied to the roofs of the station, the stairways, and the platform awnings. 

Notice the fence and walkway leading away from the stairs.  This will be right along the front edge of the module.  There will be passengers walking along there a perhaps some food cart vendors.


These station signs on the platforms were made on the computer and printed on white decal paper.  They are attached to the existing sign boards that hang down from the platform awning.

At this point the station and platform areas are done except for adding details and of course populating them with passengers.

Paint & weathering for the platform

It's been a productive weekend.  After finishing the ballast on the track I weathered and re-installed the already painted station platforms.

This photo shows the colors I used on the platform structure, the asphalt platform deck, the awning support columns, and the safety stripes.

Kato platform kits come with a set of stickers which include yellow stripes to simulate the bumpy yellow safety stripes that run along the length of the platform.  I could not get the results I wanted with those so I masked the platform and airbrushed the stripes.


Bragdon Enterprises powders were used for weathering.  This station is being modeled at near the end of service life so it should look a little worn and I really like how weathering brings out the details. Later the awnings will also get weathered.

Continuing with station & platforms

With the station and its stairways and supporting structures finalized I turned my attention to the platforms.  I had already cut the platforms to the desired length and installed them on the modules prior to installing the station.  Now I needed to go back and customize the platforms for installation of the awnings as I was not placing them in the pre-drilled holes on the platforms.

The photo on the left shows the "asphalt" surface of the platform removed from the concrete platform structure.  Notice the screw showing near the right end of the platform.  These attach the platform to the module and is hidden by the surface piece.
Kato does not offer a tapered awning to match the end platforms so I had to make my own by modifying a standard awning.  After cutting the angle with a razor saw, I cut the edge off a scrap piece of awning and glued it to the cut edge of the angle part of the awning to give it a finished look. 

Some white styrene was cut to match the cut end of the awning. 

Here's a look from the other side.  On this side the stairway between the station and the platform goes through the awning.  I still need to complete the tapered awning on this end of the platform.

This is how the right end of the station platform looks right now.  Once all of the structures are just the way I want them, they will come off of the module and go to the spray booth for painting before being re-installed.

Starting the station

The most important structure on this module set will be the station itself.  At this point it would be good to take a look at a screenshot of a Google satellite photo.  The photo is a few years old because the station no longer there.

From the scale given on the photo it can be determined that the dimensions of the station building are about 60ft x 80ft and that the platform is about 450ft long.  Also the covers over the platform are a close match to the ones that come with the Kato platforms.

The Kato overhead station is a close match to many of the overhead stations in Japan that serve two tracks.  I had one left over from the T-Trak module and had started to modify it to more closely match the original Musashi-Koyama station but in the end decided to scratch build the station and support structures and use the stairways from the Kato station. Another thing that makes the model of this structure critical is that it sits on the seam between the two modules and will need to be removable.

This is how the model of the station structure looks right now.  The basic pieces are complete and I came up with a way of attaching the stairs and the structure to the module so that they can be removed.   It still needs an additional set of columns that will attach to the platform and of course paint and detailing.