I worked on odds and ends in the weeks leading up to the show.
I wanted to add a perimeter fence along the tracks to protect the festival attendees, and the Atlas hairpin fence looked great. But it was delicate and would be prone to breaking on my module as I took it to shows. So, I instead used some white plastic fence pieces I had bought years ago on Ebay. They were oversize and came with giant light bulbs (which I didn't use), but it was certainly sturdy enough. I cut off the ornamental trim from the top and sprayed them black. Then, tacky glue and temporary toothpicks held them in place.
The tents and food stands were then glued down in a pattern that faced the layout's viewer, even though logically it might have made more sense to have some face away from active railroad tracks. I spent so much time painting them that I wanted people to see them! There is a large area in the front for perhaps a stage or dance area or something (which I haven't decided on yet).
Then, I added more N scale figures. I really like the Tomytec ones because they are only about $1 each, come painted, and are available in multiple time periods and styles which match my eclectic Japanese module. I need many more figures to make it a "Festival", but I ran out of time.
My road crossing needed gates. Japanese gates are yellow and black, in contrast to American style ones which are white and black. I first bought a Green Max brand kit (#2153) that came unpainted, but unfortunately the masking and painting of the yellow and black stripes put an end to the project. I now see they sell a painted kit (#2642), so maybe I should have bought that. I then discovered that Tomytec sells a painted kit (#114-2) for less than $20. They looked good so I ordered them.
Assembly consisted of gluing the gates to the posts. When I went to install them, I realized I made a mistake when I designed my layout. I assumed that they would be located to protect cars driving on the right-side of the road. I later learned that Japanese drivers use the left-side. There was plenty of room for the gate in front, but the one in the back is very close to the building and I had to remove the crossbucks as they aren't visible. Only the gate is. I also had to shim the ones in the front up with stripwood, and cut down the base of the one in the back right. I then painted the wood black.
Another cameo I wanted was an old Japanese trolley or tram or engine set up for public display on a plinth. What I didn't have was a junker Japanese trolley or engine that I could use, and I sure didn't want to buy a nice new Kato model just to have it sit there. So, I reached out to another American modeler with a Japanese N scale module named Brad (see his blog here) and it turns out he had acquired a pair of old trolleys for the exact same purpose. He graciously gave me one of them (THANK YOU!) and I incorporated it into my module.
It was an unpowered tram that came with a molded display base of sorts representing cobblestone. It was missing its pantograph, though based on the picture in the instructions it looked so clunky that I would have chucked it anyway. I don't speak Japanese so I can't tell you what brand it is, but the bottom of the base is molded with "F-Toys REO". So who knows?
I securely glued it to the cobblestone base, and then that was attached to the layout. I added some scenery around it, and also refreshed the scenery along the front of the layout by the tracks and along the retaining wall on the left.
I asked a friend to reprint another resin Shinto shrine gate ("Torii") to replace the one I broke, which I painted. I attached pieces of cut-off nails to the bottoms of the legs because I don't like drilling resin. It is too prone to crack. Then, I drilled matching holes in my scenery. The gate isn't glued down but instead just sits there, and it is easy to remove for travel if necessary.
As I was putting away my supplies, some of which I hadn't touched in several years, I discovered another two packages of figures (about 20 more)! So, I adding them. A few were left in reserve for when I get the "performance stage" area finished, as well as the area behind the buildings on the right-hand side which would presumably be people's backyards.
Some glamour shots. The Inn and forest path:
The farmers' market and festival:
The road crossing and tram on display (with a woman getting her picture taken by it):
The full module:
With that, it was ready for the show. It performed well and people really liked it. I did discover that my backdrop was several inches taller than most of the other people's, and it turns out that the club tended to prefer 10" tall backdrops (mine was 12). I didn't like how my module didn't fit in, and I also thought that the extra height drew people's eyes up and away from my models. So, when I got home I trimmed the bottom off by 2" and resinstalled it.
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