Hankyu 9300 - Questions about the model

[CDOT]

I am looking to purchase a 4-car Hankyu 9300 set. Does anyone know if the set was molded in Maroon or if the Maroon is painted on there. I ask because I am looking to repaint the shells and I am wondering if they have to be stripped or not before painting. Also does anyone know how long an individual car from this set is?

 

Also - I should probably put this on the DCC forum, but to avoid two posts, has anyone had any luck getting these DCC ready with the passenger car lighting installed. I have never tried to put decoders in Japanese passenger engines and wouldn't know where to begin since the functions are in almost every car (end cab lights, passenger lights in each car, motor car functions). I saw some older posts on here about DCC and this particular model, but they seemed inconclusive.

 

Thank you for any help!

 

John

[katoftw]

What manufacturer?

 

Paint q - all completed and painted models from manufacturers are molded abs white plastics and painted.

[Kanpai Keith]

If they are ABS the solvents will destroy your models.

 

I doubt you’ll need to strip them of their old paint.

Edited July 13, 2021 by Kanpai Keith

[CDOT]

They are Kato. If they are painted, I was going to soak them in isopropyl alcohol to get the paint off. If they are just molded in burgundy I can prime over the shell.

[Kiha66]

Kato models usually are painted, I find using IPA works great to get the lettering off, and then you can just paint over the base coat.  

 

Regarding DCC, some kato models are DCC ready using drop in EM13 and FL12 decoders.  For older models adding DCC to the motor cars is usually quite easy, while adding DCC to the cab car lighting is more tricky but can be done.

 

[chadbag]

1 hour ago, Kiha66 said:

Kato models usually are painted, I find using IPA works great to get the lettering off, and then you can just paint over the base coat.  

 

Regarding DCC, some kato models are DCC ready using drop in EM13 and FL12 decoders.  For older models adding DCC to the motor cars is usually quite easy, while adding DCC to the cab car lighting is more tricky but can be done.

 

 

The KATO 9300 is not EM13 compatible.   However, the motor car should be pretty eas except no real place to hide the decoder as the windows are nice and big.  I'd use the "bi-polar" NGDCC decoders for the cab cars.  I've not done my 9300 set yet but that is what I plan on doing.