Diorama Advice/Help Thread
Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 5:42 pm
EDIT: I've renamed this to the "Diorama Advice/Help Thread", per your requests!
Hello all, this thread is to discuss building and diorama models available to create scenes with kaiju figures of various sizes and scales. I'll be updating this post with new information and new brands that people suggest. At the time of this post, I am largely unfamiliar with many of the brands available, so I unfortunately cannot provide accurate measurements beyond what is available online. I can however point people towards where these models are available, and what they look like when set up.
1/150 Scale Companies
Tomytec:
Tomytec is a Japanese company that produces buildings and other items in the 1/150 scale, which appears to be the standard scale for other Japanese companies that produce building models. Naturally buildings vary in size by type, but as a 'standard' example, the Tomytec "Showa Office Building" has measurements as follows: size 16.1 x 12 x 6 cm. At the links below you can see pictures of this model and read a review of how it is constructed:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10114269
http://www.quinntopia.com/2010/11/tomyt ... lding.html
The Tomytec website is in Japanese (linked to below), which can be daunting to navigate. However, if you search for Tomytec buildings on ebay you should be able to find a pretty good range.
http://www.tomytec.co.jp/item/index.html
Kato
Kato is another Japanese company that uses the 1/150 scale, and appears to go well with the Tomytec buildings (though I have read that even at the same scale there might be some small differences in measurements, doorways, etc.). As an example of this company's production, I present the "DioTown Metro Series 6 Floor Department Store, Blue", which you can view at the link below. The measurements for this building are 21.5 x 12.2 x 10.5 cm:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10038041
I should mention that I can only provide measurements that I have read online, as I do not currently have these buildings on hand to provided more precise scaling (though I have ordered both of the above models and will be measuring them with various figures once I am able). However, in the Monsterarts thread user cmdmstudios posted a picture of the Monsterarts 94 Godzilla next to the Kato Department Store, providing a useful comparison which you can view below:
http://www.tohokingdom.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=524356
As you can see, the building is approximately the same height as the 6 inch figure, making it inaccurate for the 100 meter Heisei Godzilla. However, smaller-scale kaiju may work with the 1/150 scale quite well. A more detailed exploration of scale is something I intend to do for the purpose of this thread.
The Kato website is linked to below:
http://www.katomodels.com/index_e.shtml
Greenmax
Another company that produces models in the 1/150 scale. You can see an example of a Greenmax model, "Station (middle size)", at the link below:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10007608
There are likely other companies that produce buildings in this scale that I am unaware of. For more examples of how they scale with 6-7 inch figures, I link to the Statigram gallery of "The Bazookaman" below, which shows Monsterarts and NECA's Pacific Rim figure next to Tomytec and Kato buildings:
http://statigr.am/thebazookaman
1:450 Scale Buildings and Miniatures
Yeswac's T Gauge Models are a selection of railroad models in the 1:450 scale that can be viewed at the link below:
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/mepc
"Tgauge" also produces models at the 1:450 scale:
http://www.tgauge.com/product/139/5/office-block
Non Scale/Small-Scale Buildings
Buildings of smaller scale than the 1/150 scale can be difficult to come by. However, one option for very small-scale city sets are the "Monsterpocalypse" buildings, created for the miniatures game of the same name. You can see an example of these miniatures at the link below:
http://www.monsterpocalypse.com/
It should be noted, however, that because this is a miniatures game the buildings are not all strictly to scale with one another.
Tamashii recently announced two new effects packs for the Monsterarts line, which include ruined buildings appropriate for the Heisei scale:
http://importingmonsters.blogspot.ca/20 ... set-2.html
http://importingmonsters.blogspot.ca/20 ... tures.html
Papercraft Buildings
Tamashii released a papercraft diorama for free on its website, for use with the Ultra-Act figures. I have not assembled the set, so I don't know how the buildings actually scale with the figures in question. It is available at the link below:
http://tamashii.jp/t_item/img/201105_ul ... ru_jio.pdf
The website "Skyscraper World" offers papercraft buildings in the 1/1889 scale:
http://skyscraperworld.weebly.com/paper-models.html
"Hawk Wargames" offers a "Cityscape" set of cardstock buildings in the 10mm scale, which you can check out at the link below:
http://www.hawkwargames.com/products/cityscape
"Pokara Papercraft" has a set of free papercraft buildings on their website, all in the 1:450 scale:
http://www.faltboat.net/pokara/paper_t/papert01.html
Other Resources
Those who wish to make more detailed calculations as to scale may find The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Height Calculator of use:
http://www.ctbuh.org/TallBuildings/Heig ... fault.aspx
Please feel free to post more suggestions and advice on building up kaiju-scale model sets.
Hello all, this thread is to discuss building and diorama models available to create scenes with kaiju figures of various sizes and scales. I'll be updating this post with new information and new brands that people suggest. At the time of this post, I am largely unfamiliar with many of the brands available, so I unfortunately cannot provide accurate measurements beyond what is available online. I can however point people towards where these models are available, and what they look like when set up.
1/150 Scale Companies
Tomytec:
Tomytec is a Japanese company that produces buildings and other items in the 1/150 scale, which appears to be the standard scale for other Japanese companies that produce building models. Naturally buildings vary in size by type, but as a 'standard' example, the Tomytec "Showa Office Building" has measurements as follows: size 16.1 x 12 x 6 cm. At the links below you can see pictures of this model and read a review of how it is constructed:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10114269
http://www.quinntopia.com/2010/11/tomyt ... lding.html
The Tomytec website is in Japanese (linked to below), which can be daunting to navigate. However, if you search for Tomytec buildings on ebay you should be able to find a pretty good range.
http://www.tomytec.co.jp/item/index.html
Kato
Kato is another Japanese company that uses the 1/150 scale, and appears to go well with the Tomytec buildings (though I have read that even at the same scale there might be some small differences in measurements, doorways, etc.). As an example of this company's production, I present the "DioTown Metro Series 6 Floor Department Store, Blue", which you can view at the link below. The measurements for this building are 21.5 x 12.2 x 10.5 cm:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10038041
I should mention that I can only provide measurements that I have read online, as I do not currently have these buildings on hand to provided more precise scaling (though I have ordered both of the above models and will be measuring them with various figures once I am able). However, in the Monsterarts thread user cmdmstudios posted a picture of the Monsterarts 94 Godzilla next to the Kato Department Store, providing a useful comparison which you can view below:
http://www.tohokingdom.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=524356
As you can see, the building is approximately the same height as the 6 inch figure, making it inaccurate for the 100 meter Heisei Godzilla. However, smaller-scale kaiju may work with the 1/150 scale quite well. A more detailed exploration of scale is something I intend to do for the purpose of this thread.
The Kato website is linked to below:
http://www.katomodels.com/index_e.shtml
Greenmax
Another company that produces models in the 1/150 scale. You can see an example of a Greenmax model, "Station (middle size)", at the link below:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10007608
There are likely other companies that produce buildings in this scale that I am unaware of. For more examples of how they scale with 6-7 inch figures, I link to the Statigram gallery of "The Bazookaman" below, which shows Monsterarts and NECA's Pacific Rim figure next to Tomytec and Kato buildings:
http://statigr.am/thebazookaman
1:450 Scale Buildings and Miniatures
Yeswac's T Gauge Models are a selection of railroad models in the 1:450 scale that can be viewed at the link below:
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/mepc
"Tgauge" also produces models at the 1:450 scale:
http://www.tgauge.com/product/139/5/office-block
Non Scale/Small-Scale Buildings
Buildings of smaller scale than the 1/150 scale can be difficult to come by. However, one option for very small-scale city sets are the "Monsterpocalypse" buildings, created for the miniatures game of the same name. You can see an example of these miniatures at the link below:
http://www.monsterpocalypse.com/
It should be noted, however, that because this is a miniatures game the buildings are not all strictly to scale with one another.
Tamashii recently announced two new effects packs for the Monsterarts line, which include ruined buildings appropriate for the Heisei scale:
http://importingmonsters.blogspot.ca/20 ... set-2.html
http://importingmonsters.blogspot.ca/20 ... tures.html
Papercraft Buildings
Tamashii released a papercraft diorama for free on its website, for use with the Ultra-Act figures. I have not assembled the set, so I don't know how the buildings actually scale with the figures in question. It is available at the link below:
http://tamashii.jp/t_item/img/201105_ul ... ru_jio.pdf
The website "Skyscraper World" offers papercraft buildings in the 1/1889 scale:
http://skyscraperworld.weebly.com/paper-models.html
"Hawk Wargames" offers a "Cityscape" set of cardstock buildings in the 10mm scale, which you can check out at the link below:
http://www.hawkwargames.com/products/cityscape
"Pokara Papercraft" has a set of free papercraft buildings on their website, all in the 1:450 scale:
http://www.faltboat.net/pokara/paper_t/papert01.html
Other Resources
Those who wish to make more detailed calculations as to scale may find The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Height Calculator of use:
http://www.ctbuh.org/TallBuildings/Heig ... fault.aspx
Please feel free to post more suggestions and advice on building up kaiju-scale model sets.