My description that Tenshodo Book says “Bakelite” is wrong, and correctly says “Ebonite.” My friend Nukina, Eich found it to be "Celluloid" by infrared absorption analysis, SEM-fluorescence X-ray analysis, gas chromatography and microscopy.
On the other hand, Tenshodo's products with integral-mold-body manufactured until the 2000s, including the NYC 70' heavy weight coach and baggage cars released in 1953, are also described as "Ebonite" in the book. He found them all "Bakelite" by similar inspections. It is well known that Rivarossi used "Bakelite" for 0-4-0T Dockside from 1947 (Rivarossi Memory).
BN7150The Tenshodo Book states that the open-end classic passenger car kit released in 1952 is made of Bakelite. A friend published a study in the September 2019 issue of the Japanese magazine "Train" that this was Celluloid mistake. Sides and ends are Celluloid castings, not hot-presses.
This is starting to veer in strange directions, apparently fueled by people with 'compromised' understanding of plastic materials.
Bakelite is a thermosetting material, and could never be used for 'hot pressing' of any kind; it is a very distinctive resin material.
Celluloid is basically dissolved guncotton; it can be cast in a variety of ways depending on the solvent, and while it can be pressed I have to wonder whether forming it in molds represents a better solution than pressing 'blanks'. It is reputed to be a God-awful fire hazard and its likely solvents are little if any better for your health.
Careful investigation of the castings should reveal both the material used and the techniques used to form it. I have gotten the impression in discussion, perhaps incorrectly, that the ends are a different material from the sides. They look much more like Bakelite than celluloid to me in the pictures.
I cannot see the 'backs' of the side and end castings, but suspect they are flat (no inside detail), and probably show some evidence of rippling or bubbling on that side. It would be highly beneficial to see this detail in good pictures, as it would help distinguish one-sided casting from a closed mold with one side a flat plate (which is what I suspect given the flash patterns visible in the side windows).
It is technically possible that Tenshodo changed production methods over the life of this offering, or that one method was used to make the ends and another for the sides (although I think the latter would be unlikely). Note that in either case the tooling requirements for the molds are minimal and the use of expensive production equipment minimized, which in that era of Japanese history may help explain why these materials were chosen. Note the great difference in technology between this era and the RTV/epoxy systems available to Clouser.
Thank you for your replies. In particular, Dave's information almost confirmed that this model was not exported commercially from Japan.
Tenshodo started thier model business in 1949, selling handmade steam locomotives and NewOne freight cars to US troops stationed and Japaneses. And they started to export to PFM in 1954. I don't know the export of the period from 1949 to 1954. According to Tenshodo advertisements in a Japanese magazine, they worked on mass production of FT units and shorty streamlined passenger cars after 1951. These models are also listed in the 1954 catalog of IMP (International Model Products = a brand name of International Models, Inc.). However, the export start year is unknown. Perhaps you can find it in the RMC magazine, where IMP always posted ads at that time.
Kuriu, Kotaro /Kyoto
I think I just found a photo of the car in an old Model Railroader!
"Trackside Photos" in the January 1953 issue, page 25, shows three photos of models built for an Ohio modeler named Stan Karp "custom-built for Stan by Japanese craftsman." The first was a handmade Santa Fe 4-6-4, then a South Shore electric, and then the passenger car "with sides of molded plastic." The locomotives were built by a named Japanese modeler and a particular model shop in Tokyo. No mention of who built the car but it appears someone built it - very nicely - from the Tenshodo kit. All details including the number of windows appear to be identical. The car in the photo has the same Baker couplers shown in the photo of all the kit parts.
So my take away: the kit was not imported into the US but enterprising modelers with good contacts in Japan could get someone to build it for them.
Dave Nelson
It would be interesting to see examples of the trucks given in that instruction sheet -- there have been several discussions on RyPN about the design of truck with this style of equalizer, with no real consensus yet.
Not that I have been able to trace, and I have done a bit of looking. My understanding is that for some time Tenshodo did pretty well by marketing to Americans (mostly GIs) living in Japan and did not have American distribution. By the mid 1950s Pacific Fast Mail claimed to have an "exclusive" US distribution for Tenshodo, and yet other firms sold Tenshodo track, which I do not think PFM ever offered (just the switch motors, in addition to the brass locomotives etc.). A Canadian firm had the exclusive for Tenshodo in Canada but again, for brass locos and no mention of these passenger car kits.
I cannot rule it out that the kits were imported - the fact that PFM advertised an exclusive relationship with Tenshodo that evidently excluded track suggests that others could have brought out this kit without PFM caring very much. There was so much opposition to plastic in the early 1950s however, some and perhaps most of it unreasoned, that I wonder if a kit that included Bakelite or celluloid would have been high on any importer's wish list.
It's a darn neat looking kit however.
The Tenshodo Book states that the open-end classic passenger car kit released in 1952 is made of Bakelite. A friend published a study in the September 2019 issue of the Japanese magazine "Train" that this was Celluloid mistake. Sides and ends are Celluloid castings, not hot-presses. The roof and floor are wooden. The manufacturer is "New One", whose name is engraved on the back of the sides. Do you know any other examples of using celluloid as the main structure of the model? Are there records that this passenger car model was imported into the United States?