Tomix N700S Shinkansen Set Questions...

[VentureForth]

I've always considered Tomix to be slightly superior to Kato.  I bought the 98424 set as seen here: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10736956 from Yodobashi Camera last month.  There are red stains on the top of the train set which is weird because there is no red in the livery.  Anyone else notice this seemingly lack of quality control?

 

Another question: The set says that the interior lighting kit to use is the 0734 kit which is an older incandescent-color (warm light) light.  Is there a compatible white-light CL version that will fit this train set?

 

Otherwise, it runs spectacularly and I really enjoy it and hope to buy the 4-car extension (same price as the base with two cab units and a motor?!?).  If I can get advise on the interior lighting, I'll get it at the same time from Hobby Search.

 

Thanks!

[disturbman]

They have had a couple of quality control issues since Covid, but Kato did too. It happens. I suppose you bought the set while on a holiday, otherwise I would have suggested that you send it back/bring it back to the shop for exchange.

For interior lights, I recommend you use HKTILC or Densha.me lights with capacitors (anti-flicker versions). They are much better than any Tomix equivalent, same for Kato and MicroAce. OEM lights are terrible. HKTILC produces the light sold under Popondetta branding in Japan. I would use a warm white color (5000K) for the normal cars and a warmer color (4000K) for the green car.

Edited January 15 by disturbman

[Guest]

To answer your light question, use the 0733 kit (0737 6-pack).

 

Edited January 15 by Bob Martin

[VentureForth]

4 hours ago, disturbman said:

They have had a couple of quality control issues since Covid, but Kato did too. It happens. I suppose you bought the set while on a holiday, otherwise I would have suggested that you send it back/bring it back to the shop for exchange.

For interior lights, I recommend you use HKTILC or Densha.me lights with capacitors (anti-flicker versions). They are much better than any Tomix equivalent, same for Kato and MicroAce. OEM lights are terrible. HKTILC produces the light sold under Popondetta branding in Japan. I would use a warm white color (5000K) for the normal cars and a warmer color (4000K) for the green car.

 

Yes, I was on a short 10-day trip.  Wish I could have bought more stuff, but I didn't get a chance to inspect before I got it back to the US.  Never would have thought to use different lighting for Green Car.

 

Looking at HKTILC products, they offer wide and narrow.  Which would this train take?

 

 

4 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

To answer your light question, use the 0733 kit (0737 6-pack).

 

 

Thanks!

Edited January 15 by VentureForth

[disturbman]

41 minutes ago, VentureForth said:

Never would have thought to use different lighting for Green Car.

Green cars have usually a more yellower interior light than normal cars. That's why (some) modellers use different lighting for both. It also gives a certain character to the train.

 

43 minutes ago, VentureForth said:

Looking at HKTILC products, they offer wide and narrow.  Which would this train take?

From the product pictures, 0733/0737 corresponds to their Narrow lights. Wide lights are rather rare. @Wolf will confirm if he comes around.

[Guest]

Just stick to Tomix lights IMO, just easier in the long run. Only 2 choices and Tomix specifies which to use (and some sets will use a mix). I think I have about 500 installed in my Tomix trains at this point.

[cteno4]

@SuperAzusa did some nice reviews of the HKTILC lighting units here on the forum and on the JRM website. They are nice with 4 colors to choose from as well as smarter current regulation and anti flicker capacitors. More modern lighting board than Kato and Tomix offerings. Worth looking at.

 

jeff

[disturbman]

3 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

Just stick to Tomix lights IMO, just easier in the long run. Only 2 choices and Tomix specifies which to use (and some sets will use a mix). I think I have about 500 installed in my Tomix trains at this point.

You just need to know the equivalencies, it's really not rocket science. Tomix has only two types of spring distance. Light temperature are always users choice.

HKTILC and Densha.me lights are by far superior to Tomix. HKTILC has prototyped modular double-decker lights and has released large capacitor/battery types as well which offers persistent lighting after several minutes off the rails. It's quite neat.

[Odakyu]

I am also curious about the HKTILC lights and noticed that they have an "Advance" version and a "Supreme DX" version that apparently uses some type of supercapicitor. It appears that the Supreme DX is their newer light system, so wondering if these are the ones to get instead of the Advance version. Both versions seem to have the anti-flickering function which I am most interested in, but not sure of the advantages of one version over the other. Any info on these Supreme DX lights appreciated. Thanks. 

[disturbman]

The Supreme DX will keep the LEDs lighted for several minutes after the train was removed from the tracks. Afaik, if these are similar to the Densha.me lights, the batteries/capacitors takes a few minutes to charge up and will flicker until they do, so for a couple of minutes after being put on the tracks. The capacitors of the Advance version are good enough that it's rare to see any flickering when running trains. Though it can happen in extreme case.

I think the Supreme are most practical for people that do not use a PWM controller as the trains will stay lighted when stationary. I would recommend them for Greenmax trains and any trains that have slotless motors that cannot stay stationary with PWM.

If money is no issue, I would go for the Supreme lights. Though, if you haven't installed the lights properly, these capacitors makes troubleshooting a pita as you need to wait several minutes to check if you did the instal properly. But that's very first world problems 😅

Edited January 16 by disturbman

[Odakyu]

Thanks for the reply and info. For those who own the HKTILC lights, which color is closest to the indirect lights for Shinkansens recommended by Tomix and Kato? From the images, it appears it might be the Lite Yellow color. I like the orange colored glow of the Light Bulb color, but I suspect those are more suitable for older type trains. 

[disturbman]

@Odakyu Light temperature is really a question of personal preference. My own recommendation for modern trains would be to take 5000K for normal cars and 4000 for Green cars. Also, the color of the interior can play a lot on the perception we have of the temperature of the light when seen from the outside. When the interior is blue, if you don't want to repaint the floor, you might want to get a yellower strip than normal to avoid having the impression you installed some cold blue lights.

[VentureForth]

How reliable is HKTILC for shipping to the US?

[disturbman]

What do you mean? Reliability of shipping is dependant on the shipping company used and their local contracts. The shipper can't really do anything about it.

HKTILC normally ships EMS via HKPost. Not sure if they offer any alternatives like FedEx or DHL.

Edited January 23 by disturbman

[VentureForth]

On 1/15/2024 at 9:54 AM, VentureForth said:

There are red stains on the top of the train set which is weird because there is no red in the livery.  Anyone else notice this seemingly lack of quality control?

OK.  I'm old.  I'm playing with my trains at night in a dimly lit room.  These are prototypical markings on the top of the trainset.  Oops.

That being said, the plastic pantograph screams ick/cheap.

 

The couplers on this trainset is perhaps the most nerve wracking I've ever dealt with in my 40 years of playing with trains.  The electrical connector is pretty cool, but you almost have to connect these off-track, then set them on the track and adjust each bogey by hand.  A rerailer is almost pointless because the train has to be coupled completely before being installed on the rails.  This is irritating enough for a 4-car starter set.  What a pain if I go 8 or 16-cars!