NANOCITY ??? Does anyone know where these kits came from? I picked this one up on eBay at a very respectable price. The footprint on it is 4”X2” and 14” tall. This is no small structure. You’ll note in the picture I took of the instructions, this kit is designated as an ART DECO building design, reminiscent of the Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building, and the Twin Towers. I’m curious if anyone is familiar with these kits and if they are still available? Although doubtful on the availability as I’m sure we’d have seen them elsewhere. This particular building is a bit tall for a smaller layout, but for a large one it has some viability. But you need several buildings of this nature to create a respectable city scene. But dang if they aren’t nice in appearance!
Wow! A skyscraper in Z scale! Sounds very interesting. Not usual at all to see a high rise building in 1:220. Joao
Absolutely nothing in regards to a date or even an address as to where it came from. The kit, came to me in a cellophane wrapper bag of sorts. No labels, no nothing. If you note, at the top of the picture I took of part of the instructions, the only thing that references a company is “nanoCITY30 TM”, with the TM to me standing for Trade Mark. Which makes me wonder if there’s a way to check out if that was truly a registered trademark and and address or manufacturer could be obtained that way. At first, I questioned if this kit was not N-scale, but with some measurements of the doors and all, it certainly demonstrates a commercial Z-scale building. Add to that, further on in the instructions, Z scale is mentioned, and that additional accessories should be sought such as rooftop piping, cooling units, and stuff of that nature. Maybe, like Indiana Jones, I discovered the holy grail of Z-scale buildings.
Here’s some additional pictures of the instructions. Note the handwriting on the far right hand corner. Tends to make me wonder if this was not some kind of demo kit. This kit did not come to me with the referenced “metal prototype roof” mentioned in the handwritten message.
Nice looking kit. Google search doesn't come up with anything like it. Btw, I would hesitate to do business with this Ebay seller. Some of his prices for z scale stuff are outrageous. For example, check out what he's asking for a Rokuhan round house: $107,44 through the bay $87,34 in his own webstore $58,99 is what a random trusted seller is charging... Matt
I even did a limited search on the trademark, if indeed, it is one, and nothing there either. Yeah, there’s just no information on who, what, when or why on this building. As for that EBay seller, nothing surprises me on there. I’ve been on it long enough to see the most stupid of prices being listed, to “yard sale” prices on other items that make it worth watching.
Indeed, but who made it??? Obviously if it was a kit introduction, we would see more of it. It seems like one of these, or a variant of it would have surfaced somewhere over the years. Interesting sidenote, but the brown panels appear to be some kind of rigid material but not laserboard. Also, they are painted with a very interesting brownish gold speckled paint and very well applied. You know, I may repost this also in the N-scale section and see if anything pops up over there. Maybe somebody made something similar in N-scale and they tried to scale it down to Z, but it never made it to mass production.
I know a producer who makes high-rise buildings in Z. Maybe he had given himself a different company name for America. Take a look here, maybe you can find the building: https://www.luetke-modellbahn.de/de/Spur-Z/Stadt-135/City-Fit-Center-BR-15-Geschosse-1493-1794.html
Otti, welcome to TRAINBOARD. I checked out that link you sent. They have some interesting products, although geared towards a European flavor. And the quality looks great. Hard to say if they had a hand in this kit or not. I guess I could contact them and see if they have any info. On another note, I reached out to Rob Kluz, Editor of ZTRACK Magazine, asking him to weigh in. He may have stumbled across something similar over the years.
Just wondering, Lance, is the kit to scale, that is, to Z-scale? Or maybe 1:200 and meant for other markets than modelrailroading? Matt
Matt, I thought the same thing, so I measured the front entry doors. Now generally, a standard Z-scale doorway is 8mm tall, and these measure 12mm tall, acceptable for a Z-scale commerical business doorway, especially for a big city based skyskraper. Although, even if this is scaled at 1;200, it's still within strking distance of being viable for Z, even with some minor modifications. Now the next clue is, check out the instructions sheet, right side, just below section #9 --- under the OPTIONS section. Note the wording references Z-scale. So clearly, this kit is directed at the Z-scale market. Nice guess --- but you don't win any 3D printed Z-scale goodies this time. Next contestant please........
Rob Kluz informed me that an individual by the name of Jeff Adamo is the designer/creater of this skyscraper. I guess he never went far enough to offer them for sale, and no reason given. Not sure if anyone knows Jeff. Would be interesting to hear his thoughts, concerns, ideas, maybe we could twist his arm to release these. Although Z-scale is growing, it's still a hard market for some to cater too. Generally you do it for the purpose of seeing 1:220 succeed, and to keep the interest going. But there are also economics to consider as well. Everything takes time to design, test, produce. And everyone may not be willing to spend the $$$ to make it worth the time. As Rob Ray and I say --- get your Z while the gettin's good!
