ICE: Kato or something else?

[chadbag]

Having said all that, the Lemke/ZIMO ones are supposed to have SUSI on them, so you should be able to use any SUSI compatible sound decoder to add sound.  ZIMO, D&H, etc make stand alone SUSI sound decoders you can add to regular decoders that support SUSI.

 

[Yavianice]

In the product specification it says

 

- Für Digitalbetrieb vorbereitet, Digitalset der Fa. Zimo (1x Fahrdecoder, 2x Funktionsdecoder) 61-10950-D1

 

I.e. If you want it digital, buy compatible Zimo decoders, if you want sound, buy the sound version. 

 

 

[chadbag]

2 hours ago, Yavianice said:

In the product specification it says

 

- Für Digitalbetrieb vorbereitet, Digitalset der Fa. Zimo (1x Fahrdecoder, 2x Funktionsdecoder) 61-10950-D1

 

I.e. If you want it digital, buy compatible Zimo decoders, if you want sound, buy the sound version. 

 

 

 

There is no sound version of the Zimo decoders for this train.  But the Zimo Decoders are SUSI compatible according to the listing.   So you can add a sound decoder extra (though I doubt there  is room set aside for that by KATO.  We’ll have to see 

[chadbag]

Amazon JP lists the KATO ICE4 as a release date of May 31 so it should be soon!

 

I'll be getting the ZIMO decoder sets from Modellbahn-Lippe for this.  If anyone wants to combine an order to Lippe for this (or anything else) let me know so we can share the shipping costs. (to the US)

Edited May 8, 2019 by chadbag

[Yavianice]

KATO has shipped the ICE 4 european stock (by ship) to europe. It is now assembling the stock for Japan. So expect it to be released in 3-4 weeks.

 

Meanwhile, Hobbysearch has listed the Arnold ICE with release in November. I guess it is delayed again (since the original release date was in July)

Edited May 16, 2019 by Yavianice

[chadbag]

As of right now, Amazon.co.jp has the (Japanese release) ICE 4 available.  I cancelled one of my pre-orders (I had a pre-order for delivery in Japan and one for delivery in the US and cancelled the Japan one just now -- I did not realize I still had the order open until I checked)..

 

KATO 10-1513  expansion set

KATO 10-1512  basic set

 

[Yavianice]

1 hour ago, chadbag said:

As of right now, Amazon.co.jp has the (Japanese release) ICE 4 available.  I cancelled one of my pre-orders (I had a pre-order for delivery in Japan and one for delivery in the US and cancelled the Japan one just now -- I did not realize I still had the order open until I checked)..

 

KATO 10-1513  expansion set

KATO 10-1512  basic set

 

 

If you look closely it is not available. Amazon.co.jp says "この商品の発売予定日は2019年5月31日です", so it will be available from 31 May.

[chadbag]

6 hours ago, Yavianice said:

 

If you look closely it is not available. Amazon.co.jp says "この商品の発売予定日は2019年5月31日です", so it will be available from 31 May.

 

What I meant was that Amazon JP had it available for preorder again.  For a long time Amazon itself no longer had them available (hence pre orderable outside Japan).  Sorry to not be precise.   

 

Btw you can set Amazon JP to run in English (or probably German or other language) so you don’t need to translate yourself.  

[chadbag]

Local Hobby Shops (LHS) in Japan have them and buyers are posting on Twitter about them.  They look nice.  The carriages are very long it appears.

 

My card was charged for my pre-order but no ship notification yet.

 

[bill937ca]

Hobby Search has it and has all week.

 

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10573079

[chadbag]

 

If anyone in the US is wanting to get the Lemke/ZIMO DCC decoders (instead of the KATO ones) that are specifically made for this train, let me know so we can combine the orders into one to save on shipping as the shipping from Europe is usually pretty steep.

 

ZIMO makes two different sets.   A motor decoder with 2 function decoders (basically their EM13 replacement and 2 of their FL12 replacements) and a separate motor decoder only made to be used with the motorized expansion set.

 

I have a reservation in with Modellbahn Lippe and can probably add more if others want some ZIMO ones as well.

 

 

[chadbag]

Lemke said the ZIMO decoders for the ICE4 will start shipping in about 2 weeks.

Edited June 4, 2019 by chadbag

[Kiran]

On 6/1/2019 at 1:31 AM, chadbag said:

 

If anyone in the US is wanting to get the Lemke/ZIMO DCC decoders (instead of the KATO ones) that are specifically made for this train, let me know so we can combine the orders into one to save on shipping as the shipping from Europe is usually pretty steep.

 

ZIMO makes two different sets.   A motor decoder with 2 function decoders (basically their EM13 replacement and 2 of their FL12 replacements) and a separate motor decoder only made to be used with the motorized expansion set.

 

I have a reservation in with Modellbahn Lippe and can probably add more if others want some ZIMO ones as well.

 

 

Are the zimo ones better than the Kato decoders?

[Kiran]

Hobby Search has already shipped mine and it is at home while I am in Japan ;-). I could have saved on the shipping I guess. Looks great in the shops here. The Kato hobby center even has spare parts for the model...

[chadbag]

2 minutes ago, Kiran said:

Are the zimo ones better than the Kato decoders?

 

Depends on what you mean by "better"?    They support Railcom, SUSI supposedly, and other normal ZIMO functions, while the EM13 supports Digitrax transponding and Digitrax functions.

 

I am set up to support Railcom, though I don't have anything currently actually using it beyond the novelty of seeing it on the computer screen as things move.

 

[Kiran]

Kato ICE4 all 12 cars on my table top layout. Just using EM13 decoders for now until we figure out sound decoder situation. No one seems to have FL12 decoders in stock and so both head and tail lights are on all the time.

 

 

[jozasa]

On 12/18/2018 at 7:39 AM, chadbag said:

The KATO/Lemke ICE4 will be DCC compatible with the KATO EM13 motor decoder chip.    No sound out of the box.   For sound, you could use a function decoder with SUSI that will connect with a sound decoder (which will allow you to run interior lights off the function decoder plus sound) or a stand alone sound decoder in one of the non-motor cars.  (cab car or non-motor coach car).   I will do something like that myself, eventually.

 

To make it tidy you'd want to put it in a cab or coach car where the windows aren't  🙂

 

 

 

This is what I have done. Besides the Kato decoders, I installed an ESU Loksound micro in the restaurant car. Easy job and  works beautifully!

[Yavianice]

Arnold’s ICE 3 is now available for sale. It’s identical to the previous version and includes their stupid nailbreaking couplers. Only the box and the T-Mobile ads are added. 
 

The ICE 3M (NS) version it not available yet so I’m still not sure if they have the correct pantograph assembly. The AVE version is also not yet released. 

[gavino200]

Nice, but pricey. 

 

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/arnold-n-1-160-db-ag-8-unit-highspeed-emu-ice-3-class-403-light-grey-livery-period-vi.html

[Yavianice]

So, the international version of the ICE 3 (ICE 3M) has been released in NS colors.

 

And guess what.... it has the same door configuration as on the preproduction images which are INCORRECT

 

Which is utterly baffling to me because they do know how to make it with the correct door configurations, since the Forbach Lorraine did have the correct doors.

 

So they either forgot, or they didn't care.

 

It's the latter. European manufacturers no longer care. Shut up and consume.

[jappomania]

hi Yavianice,

too many doors ?  😂

btw, I saw that many shops declare "item available" but nobody put real photos, only the photoshopped original Arnold poster

instead the 403 released just a couple of week before has been correctly presented....

have you take photos of fake 406? (it's a merge from 403 and 406, maybe the new 404,5....) 

 

ciao

Massimo

[Yavianice]

@jappomania 

 

Yup, too many doors.

 

The real life prototype of the ICE 3M has a few cars that have 1 door (probably because of the extra pantographs). The ICE 3 has 2 doors on all cars. 

 

Hobbysearch has the item pictures https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10613312

 

The Forbach Lorraine that Arnold released before was correct.

 

Now I also know why Arnold evaded the question every time I asked them. I also saw it in real life in Nuremberg yesterday. Disappointing. Not buying it.

[Kiran]

Did anyone order this from Kato USA? 12 car set with ZIMO sound decoders in both motor cars + head and tail light decoders in end cars. Pricy but might be worth it if the decoders work well.

 

https://tonystrains.com/product/kato-k-ice4-zimo-n-scale-db-ice4-12-car-train-set-with-factory-zimo-sound-dcc

 

[GCS]

Hi all,

 

About to drop my wallet on a 12 car Kato ICE 4 (DC) so hoping for some advice.

 

Brand new in box including shipping to the UK for £255 / ¥35,500, is that a good deal? It seems to be...

 

Guy

[chadbag]

7 hours ago, GCS said:

Hi all,

 

About to drop my wallet on a 12 car Kato ICE 4 (DC) so hoping for some advice.

 

Brand new in box including shipping to the UK for £255 / ¥35,500, is that a good deal? It seems to be...

 

Guy

 

 

Yes it should be a good deal.