Kato D51 (1-203) - Issues and Reviews

[kusojiji]

 

Shows more on the actual dcc install.

 

 

He did everything I was planning to do. Awesome!

 

I guess you send him the model and he upgrades.

[Kamome]

This chap seems to be having the same issues.

 

https://youtu.be/hxKp2R3CtF0?si=vqYY8I0uwDufvHw8

[kusojiji]

Dang drawbar!

 

Yeah, I watch this guy regularly as he reviews and runs JN stuff sometimes. This is the video that made me go look and find the ones that I posted above.

 

What I hope not to see is Sam's Trains do a review. I can hear it now that my hated Bachmann is going to be better just because this one is made of plastic. He'll be correct about the DCC and lack of instructions on removing  the bottom plate for maintenance. Oh yeah, the split chassis he will definitely hate.

Edited yesterday at 04:53 AM by kusojiji

[disturbman]

You can pretty much ignore Sam's opinion on anything outside British 00. He has very strong pre-conceptions and seems incapable of escaping them or do any kind of research on other scales, or consider that other regions have other practices.

"N so small, why so expensive?" "The details on them TT models are incredibly small."

 

If you listen to him, N scale locomotives should be all metal and priced accordingly to the ratio of their scale relative to 00/H0. Some people tried to educate him on the realities of manufacturing but he decided not to listen to them. As for the D51, if he ever buy one, some of his comments might be warranted, but he will bury them in a flurry of unnecessary rants.

Anyway, I actually had come here to flag that @Yavaris Forge had discovered one of his loco wheels had been chamfered.

Edited yesterday at 07:34 AM by disturbman

[Kamome]

Yes, indeed. Thought I'd take the diplomatic approach and express my divisive views on Sam's Trains Youtube channel to @kusojiji in a message.  Just looked at the price point of the D51 in the UK. At the main distributor it will cost £435.00 which is truly bonkers. At Train Trax it will be £374.20 which I still think is a tough sell. For £425 you can get a twin-pack of DCC sound fitted tank engines from Rapido UK or for £439 a collectors edition of the Dublo A3 flying Scotsman with gold plated wheels. Or for £399 a Heljan Garrett which is a big old locomotive by UK standards.

 

As for the chamfering, I'm interested which wheels this is on. One of the driving wheels sets on mine is a marginally different colour to the other 3, looks as if the outer rim is actually thinner although all wheels make contact with the rails. IIRC this is wheel 3 from the front. I wonder whether this is part of the design to navigate R550 corners.

Edited yesterday at 07:51 AM by Kamome

[kusojiji]

Haha, yeah I know. He's too emotional in his reviews, clearly favoring some companies over others. This loco at 125 pounds is ridiculous but this one at 200 pounds is fine in my opinion. haha yeah right. Lines are nice and crisp (fuzzier than hell), because he really likes this model. DJM, KR, will probably never be reviewed again.

 

Sprung buffers, firebox flicker, wiper pick ups, cast metal boiler, screws and instructions. Did I miss anything for a 5 out of 5?

 

The only real reason why I watch is that he takes the thing apart so I use him as a tutorial. He's the one that got me into designing motor mounts to the detail that is needed in most cases. Between him and Jenny, I sometimes get a good idea of how much space is inside the boiler for whatever.

 

Ok, sorry, back from dinner.

 

I typically get to the part on the price, fast forward to the instruction set, fast forward to the mechanism and then the run in. Once in a while the thing will fail during the running session. As far as the scores, pass.

 

Now he did mention RMWEB for their criticism of him, I think it was on the subject of his layout being on a carpet, so he made a cleaning video.

 

The review on the Kato/Peco 009 was ridiculous. He prefered Bachmann because it was made of metal. Didn't run for crap, but better. 

 

The reason why I mentioned it earlier is that someone had suggested it in the comments area on one of his later videos.

 

Between us 3, we have a consensus! haha 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 08:32 AM by kusojiji
continuation

[Yavaris Forge]

30 minutes ago, Kamome said:

As for the chamfering, I'm interested which wheels this is on

Hi all,

As @disturbman already said, on my D51 the fourth driving wheel has a chamfer on about 1/3rd of its circumference on one side. I contacted my seller, but didn't get an answer yet. Apart from that some of the handrails along the boiler are also a bit bent, would have been nice if these had been made of metal.

[wazzd]

I received my D51s from RGR Kobe and I'm glad to say I had to wait a bit longer as they returned about a third of their shipment to be remedied before sending out orders.I'm heading to the club tomorrow to give them a bit  of exercise ...and will be keeping a close eye on them. So far on a short stretch of track at home they are nice and smooth. I also went for 4x  new release 90000 vans,  in the past they seem to disappear quickly from shelves and the 61 350 baggage car. I too am looking to represent a couple of Kyushu locos, D51 1142 was the first Japanese Steam Loco I saw in real life when it was on display in Sasebo in 1999. I'm heading to Osaka next month and will be handing over some yen!

[Kamome]

This blog may give you some inspiration of 1142 running.

 

https://c57115.hatenablog.com/entry/2022/04/06/080727

 

Plural D51s @wazzd? Great to hear Rokko are looking after their customers. Really shows their expertise and modellers selling to modellers. 

Edited yesterday at 11:13 AM by Kamome

[kusojiji]

I didn't have chamfering on any of mine. Very strange.

 

 

3 hours ago, wazzd said:

on display in Sasebo in 1999

Where in Sasebo? Wish I could have seen it.

Edited yesterday at 12:02 PM by disturbman

[cteno4]

That does look like a production error.

 

jeff

[disturbman]

That's more or less the assumption we had all reached. Which really put in question what happened with this model for so many issues to have surfaced. The fact that Masaharu also took the step to remedy issues on models, or sent them back to Kato, says a lot.
 

10 hours ago, kusojiji said:

The only real reason why I watch is that he takes the thing apart so I use him as a tutorial. He's the one that got me into designing motor mounts to the detail that is needed in most cases. Between him and Jenny, I sometimes get a good idea of how much space is inside the boiler for whatever.

 

I think he is a great source to introduce people to servicing, he always was very clear on the stepped to take and what to do. And his 3D modeling projects were very interesting/entertaining as well. I wish he would make more of these and resume his "salvage or scrap" series.

[kusojiji]

3 hours ago, disturbman said:

I wish he would make more of these and resume his "salvage or scrap" series.

Yep, definitely!

[wazzd]

Kusojiji, It was at the "Transportation Museum Park"....which was a little bigger than the Loco itself, tucked away in a corner in Sasebo City, apparently only until 2019. I do have some photos ..I'll post em when I find where I put them. 😁

 

[kusojiji]

Ok, I guess the museum is long gone since I cannot find it. That's a bummer I never heard of it. Had been going to Sasebo from '94 to '21.