advice needed-best manufacturer?

[C62]

Some locos are produced by more than one manufacturer. Is there a difference in quality between Micro Ace, Kato, Tomix?

What DD51 and EF 58 to choose in terms of performance and detail?

All advice most welcome!

 

Thomas

[acousticco]

Hi Thomas,

 

I can't do a comparison for you, but I can tell you that the Kato DD51 is a really nice runner and has fine detailing.  And you can easily convert it to Micro-Trains #2001 (underslung) couplers without any fuss.

 

-Cody 

[C62]

Hi Cody!

Thanks for reminding me on micro-train couplers! I have not thougth of them but they should look much better than the standard rapido style couplers!

[Martijn Meerts]

I think they're all pretty similar quality wise. Although I've noticed that MicroAce often is slightly better. Especially their steam locomotives are nice and have better detailing. The disadvantage is that they have the motor visible inside the driver's cabin. The latest Kato C62 has the motor in the boiler, but from what I've heard it runs really bad.

 

I have 2 Tomix DD51's, and those are the strongest N-scale loco's I've seen so far. Kato's M250 super rail cargo is also an extremely well made set and great runner. Personally, I currently have mostly MicroAce it seems, although that's mostly because they've been releasing a lot of things that I wanted.

[angusmclean]

For detailing, all three major maunufacturers (Tomix, Kato, Microace) seem to be pretty similar with a high degree of detail and printing,  Some require sticker, transfers and detail parts, the former are a bit of a pain.  For mechanical reliability on a 0 - 10 scale, my experience is Kato at 10, Tomix at 9, Microace 8.5.  All are fairly good, but the occasional cleaning and adjustment (like a tiny bit of lube) may be required, even from new.

[acousticco]

And you can easily convert it to Micro-Trains #2001 (underslung) couplers without any fuss.

 

Correction:  That should have been Micro-Trains #2004, underslung couplers.

 

Sorry about that.    :-[

 

-Cody

[Azamiryou]

All three offer superb quality, but here are some things to look out for.  In particular:

 

Tomix has two quality standards, regular and High Grade.  Their HG locomotives are outstanding, and they do make an HG DD51.  But sometimes older models are re-issued without being updated, and they just aren't up to the same standards.  For example, I have a Tomix DE10 that is noisy and geared very fast, and has details that are... okay, but unimpressive next to my Tomix DD51.  Many Tomix motors make a lot of noise with pulse power (e.g., an MRC power pack).  Oh, one other OT point of interest: their Thomas locos are incredibly good runners, just amazing.  They should use those itty bitty motors in all their trains!

 

Micro-Ace are good, but in my opinion, not as high as the other two (except for their steamers).  Of course, MA makes lots of different and unusual trains, so they are often the only choice for the train you want.  As for steam - I've never seen any other N scale steam loco that runs as smoothly as my Micro-Ace locos.  Now if only they could keep that running quality while getting the motor out of sight...

 

Kato are good, high quality, and of the three, they are the easiest to convert to DCC and MT couplers.  Older models that are re-released without updating are not as nicely detailed as the latest releases, but it's all pretty  good.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Love my Kato.

[rpierce000]

There is just no one like MA for steam. They run beautifully, are lovely to look at and hold their value. The downside is the Rapidos.

 

Kato is the big boy on the block, quality, but I think they are slipping behind the NEW Tomix.

 

Tomix is my choice for all but steam when it is in the HG line. I am more wary of the other stuff. I also love their track, automation system, in car camera, etc.

[quinntopia]

I have neither Micro Ace or Kato steam, but a couple of train sets.  This is not a fair test (several years seperate the design, which could be important), but if I were to compare my brand new Kato Sunshine Express to my Micro Ace Rapit (which I love), Kato wins overall.  Not necessarily the detail, but the general fit and ease of accessing the train and cars is much better and easier with the Kato than with MicroAce.  Removing the coach body on the Kato's is fairly easy, yet they still maintain a firm grip.  The same experience with MicroAce feels like the shells are on way too tight and you fear for cracking the shell or bending the chassis to get it off.  Not a fair comparison, but a recent experience that sticks in my mind. 

[keitaro]

I do not think it is possible to compare them.

 

Several reasons maybe unfair to compare a xx model released by tomix in 2007 to xx model by kato in 2010 of course it's going to be better than the tomix. Because of better motors, detailing etc.

 

Then again it maybe be a model kato didn't do particularly well.

 

If you can find a model in similar time frame working 12 months of each other and they are the same c62 or dd51 etc as some variation exist between these in prototype.

 

It also comes to personal prefference.

 

I.e. Some people prefer kato simply because of the dcc friendly models.

 

Anyway odd to reopen a 3 year old thread hahah

[Hobby Dreamer]

Hi Thomas

 

Good question worth asking from time to time as it generates contemporary comments.

 

A side question I would ask is whether one might notice differences if you mix and match products, in terms of their overall look for example.

 

I have the same tram model from Tomix and Kato and see the visual differences but this might be because: (1) I knew they are different from reviews I've read; and (2) we look at N scale from above and these trams differ most in that area. There is a slight colour mismatch, but I wonder if one would notice this otherwise.

 

I have some HO and N scale from other manufacturers, but the Japanese stuff is impressive in both quality and detail.

 

Often I cannot tell, from photos at least, whether its N or HO with regard to Japanese product.

 

Cheers

Rick

[westfalen]

I think they're all pretty similar quality wise. Although I've noticed that MicroAce often is slightly better. Especially their steam locomotives are nice and have better detailing. The disadvantage is that they have the motor visible inside the driver's cabin. The latest Kato C62 has the motor in the boiler, but from what I've heard it runs really bad.

 

I have 2 Tomix DD51's, and those are the strongest N-scale loco's I've seen so far. Kato's M250 super rail cargo is also an extremely well made set and great runner. Personally, I currently have mostly MicroAce it seems, although that's mostly because they've been releasing a lot of things that I wanted.

My Kato C62 is a good runner as are the 9600 2-8-0 and the new D51 498 version of the D51.

 

I've been leaning toward Kato for the DCC reasons but my recent acquisition of a Tomix EF66 with the 34 car wamu 80000 set might sway me the other way occasionally. It has very good detail and runs like a dream but will need some filing/milling of the frame to get a decoder in.

[Martijn Meerts]

Westfalen, things have changed a bit with Kato's and Tomix's new steamers. Detail and running characteristics of them are better than the MicroAce ones. The main advantage MicroAce still has so far is that they just have far more steamers to offer than Kato and Tomix.

 

I still don't prefer 1 brand over the other, even when taking DCC into consideration. Some Kato are easy to convert, some are not. The advantage Kato has here is that many of the drop-in decoders for Kato's US trains seem to fit in the Japanese trains.

 

The EF66 does look like it might require a bit of work to make room for the decoder. Haven't opened mine up yet, so I can't be certain, but similar loco's have required some cutting/milling/filing here and there :)