Are Greenmax Kits worth it?

[mrsteveseag]

Hey all! 
 

I was recently scrolling through Buyee.jp, and came across some Greenmax kits that come with motors. They do seem to look cool to build and some are pre painted. I know they 100% do not come with head/taillights. But before I purchase, those who have built these kits, are they worth it? I’m still pretty new to the hobby and it just seems like some nice projects to do when I’m not busy.

thanks!

[disturbman]

What do you mean by "worth it"?

The pre-painted one are relatively easy to do and wouldn't take long if you don't go building your own lights or paint the interiors. The non-painted ones obviously require a bit more time and efforts. Susukuma made a couple of videos of him making these kits. You can also get upgrade parts for them if you want to invest more time.

Greenmax still make those and you can also buy them at your usual online dealers. If you go the buyee route, you might one with one of the old motor units. It might be worth buying one of the newer ones to replace these as they were relatively noisy.

[chadbag]

If they make something you want (train / livery wise) that others don't make then they are "worth" it.  That's the biggest question is are there multiple versions of it from multiple makers or does Greenmax sell an assembled and a kit version of the same or is this the only one of whatever it is that exists?  Besides the most popular trains, a lot are one vendor only so you take what you can get.

 

 

[bc6]

Yes, they are absolutely "worth it" I've put together about 20 JR103 series cars and I really enjoy building them. They're like potato chips you can't just have one lol. On my blog there are several entries of my experience building them. One word of caution I would not overpay for them and to go to Hobby Search or RG-ROKKO and get them for retail. There is even a how-to DCC a motor unit by chadbag himself which I still have not gotten to because I'm still building JR 103 units. Below are a few GM kits that I've built.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 11:20 PM by bc6

[cteno4]

Nice job on those bc! 
 

jeff

[bc6]

Thanks Jeff, Some day I hope to detail the cars with stickers. 

[cteno4]

Post a topic on your build if you get a chance, I’m sure folks would love to see how they went together for you! The question gets asked quite a bit about the greenmax car kits.

 

jeff

[bc6]

Ok I'll work on it. I never thought of myself as an article writer but I am willing to give it s shot thanks for the suggestion.

[Zeether]

Is there a way to tell which ones are prepainted? Gonna have to look for some of these, that Keikyu one is tempting

[bc6]

The description on the box indicates if it's painted or not or you can go to the GREENMAX site to verify that. I would use Google translate to also confirm that it is painted.

 

My pictorial unfinished GREENMAX JR103 how-to is up on my blog let me know what you think.

Edited Sunday at 07:36 PM by bc6