Bandai B-Train Shorty

[Andrew G]

Otaku Oyaji is a Japanese YouTuber who does a fair bit of Bandai B Train Shorty in English!!!!

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0xh-QdbtbTSItSyd29CdhA/videos

 

[Andrew G]

Otaku Oyaji:

Building the Bandai B-train shorty Koki series 100 Freight cars

 

 

[Andrew G]

Hello Folks, after a small packet in the post from a hobby friend here in Auz I have some couplers to try out for reducing the distance between Shorty wagons.

Photo 1 - Standard Rapidos on a 150mm radius curve:

 

 

Photo 2 - Standard (Medium) Unimates on a 150mm radius curve:

 

 

Photo 3 - Short Unimates on a 150mm radius curve:

 

 

Photo 4 - Unknown (Kato?) on a 150mm radius curve:

 

 

Photo 5 - If you can't buy Shorty tank wagons easily and are willing to be a bit flexible the Atlas `Beer Can' tank car looks like that it would fit in ....

 

[Dinosbacsi]

Thanks for the reference pics! Looks like there are quite a bit of space between Shorty freight cars. I've ordered Greenmax couplers for myself, which I believe should be similar in length to the medium ones you've posted. But judging by your pics, I think even the extra short Greenmax couplers could work as well.

 

10 hours ago, Andrew G said:

Otaku Oyaji is a Japanese YouTuber who does a fair bit of Bandai B Train Shorty in English!!!!

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0xh-QdbtbTSItSyd29CdhA/videos

Seems like a pretty good channel, gave it a subscription. Love it when japanese make english speaking content so we foreigners can enjoy as well.

[disturbman]

Indeed, the short Unimates seems to be similar in length with the medium GM couplers. Though the end result might be a bit different as the coupler head seems to be much smaller and more compact on the GMs.

[Andrew G]

EMU Bandai B Train Shorty units. Medium length couplers used between the left hand side  and central units. Normal Rapido types on the right. 150mm radius curve. There is a noticeable improvement, but youwouldn't want a much tighter radius.

[disturbman]

If proof was needed that the new non-Bandai Shorties were compatible with Kato trucks and mechanisms.

 

[5lyp3t3]

On 1/28/2022 at 6:09 PM, Dinosbacsi said:

 

By the way, just now I've seen some great Shorties up for auction that have functioning lights. Just wanted to share them as I think they look really great!

 

Makes me also want to convert my Shorties to have lights, I've been thinking about it for a long time now. I wonder what is the best approach for it? I mean I get the drilling out the headlights part, but then what? Get a light unit from a real model of the same train and put it in, or make it from scratch with random wires and LEDs as a custom build?

These are lovely! 
i’ve been thinking about lights as well and am very keen to try something. I’ve seen various options about how to install them on DC locos, some using dual rectifiers and some just LEDs and resistors. 
I’m going to give the latter a go and will report back.

 

I received my first Woodland Scenic Just Plug bits in the post this week too so there’s even more impetuous to get the shorties lit!

[Dinosbacsi]

5 hours ago, 5lyp3t3 said:

I’m going to give the latter a go and will report back.

Please do so if you get to it, would be great to hear some tips!

 

Last time I was just browsing HobbySearch I saw different lighting boards. I suppose they feature headlight and tailight LEDs that you just put in the holes? They seemed to be model specific, but I suppose they could be made to work with Shorties?

[Dinosbacsi]

As I've posted in the other thread, here are my most recent grabs from FromJapan!

 

Was really happy to get this 103-1200 series for a normal price, as usually they seem to go for higher than usual. Obviously it doesn't run yet, but I just couldn't resist putting it on the rails for the sake of some photos.

 

The KoKi cars and the two box cars are also pretty cute, finally some freight for my EF64 to pull around.

The container cars were cheap as one of them was missing the bogey covers and the handrailing at the back, but after a bogey swap with the Kato bogeys the only remaining problem is the missing handrails, which is not that much of a deal to me. Anyway, I love how all containers are a bit different from each other, either in the form of different markings on the side, or one pair having completely black bottoms. I love it!

 

As for the box cars, I don't know what set they are from, they seem to be rare (?), but was surprisingly cheap even with Kato bogeys installed already. One big problem is that the brown box car can't take curves, as the Kato bogey's coupler box drops into that small "hole" at the end of the car and it prevents the bogey from turning. Pretty weird, but I'll see what I can do about that.

 

Bonus picture: the other day I was removing the containers from the KoKi cars just for fun and suddenly had this idea of putting my tuner cars onto them. Realistic? Not really. But is it cute? Hell yeah. Those cars fit suprisingly perfectly between the pins, lol

[mags_minibuilds]

My first attempt to shorten a B-train. The bogies are slightly off from the wheels but I can live with it. I'm using a Tsugawa TU-7T motorized chassis. Besides from Tsugawa, are there any other motorized chassis that are this short/small? Has anyone tried shortening the Kato motorized chassis?

[cteno4]

A shortie Btrain shortie!

 

jeff

[SwitchOnSwitchOff]

On 2/5/2022 at 8:03 PM, disturbman said:

If proof was needed that the new non-Bandai Shorties were compatible with Kato trucks and mechanisms.

 

Oh? First I've heard of new shorties. Do you know who makes them so I might be able to look for them?

[bill937ca]

2 hours ago, SwitchOnSwitchOff said:

Oh? First I've heard of new shorties. Do you know who makes them so I might be able to look for them?

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10805899

[SwitchOnSwitchOff]

Cheers!

[disturbman]

AmiAmi has them on sale, if you are interested: https://www.amiami.com/eng/detail/?gcode=RAIL-29532

[Dinosbacsi]

On 3/10/2022 at 10:04 PM, ZandT said:

My first attempt to shorten a B-train. The bogies are slightly off from the wheels but I can live with it. I'm using a Tsugawa TU-7T motorized chassis. Besides from Tsugawa, are there any other motorized chassis that are this short/small? Has anyone tried shortening the Kato motorized chassis?

B Train Shorter? I have to say, it's god damn cute.

 

Funnily enough sometimes I had the exact opposite. Getting two shorties and gluing them together to create a regular train. Though that would be kind of pointless.

[mags_minibuilds]

3 minutes ago, Dinosbacsi said:

B Train Shorter? I have to say, it's god damn cute.

 

Funnily enough sometimes I had the exact opposite. Getting two shorties and gluing them together to create a regular train. Though that would be kind of pointless.

 

Thanks, I have to admit it came out so much cuter than I imagined. I'm going to attempt to do one or two more, it's just hard to decide which ones to cut up since I like all my B-Train Shorties and they are no longer in production.

[Dinosbacsi]

15 hours ago, ZandT said:

 

Thanks, I have to admit it came out so much cuter than I imagined. I'm going to attempt to do one or two more, it's just hard to decide which ones to cut up since I like all my B-Train Shorties and they are no longer in production.

I suppose it would be the best to try with ones that are still easy to get - ones that you see a lot on auction sites or even still for sale at official resellers like HobbySearch.

 

By the way, last week or so I got two packages of gangway covers from Greenmax and I installed them on some of my trains in the last days. There is still quite a bit of gap between the cars, but this helps elliminate some of it and gives the whole train a bit more detail. I also put them on the front of my 165 series, as I really like the look it gives to these trains.

 

My 205 series also got them. I used the black ones for it, as I had only 4 grey ones left. Is the black one prototyical for 205s and similar stock (like the 103 and 201)? It was quite hard to tell from google images, so I'm not sure which is better.

 

I'm also wondering if I should put some on the front of my 103-1200 or not? I mean judging by the pictures, they did run like this, but I can only see pictures like this of the blue striped trains. The yellow ones all seemed to run without them. But I like the look, so I might put them on anyway, even if it's not 100% prototypical.

[Andrew G]

PAINT REMOVAL- I'm wanting to strip the paint off some B Train Shorty units. Previously I have used some isopropyl alcohol, any other methods used by forum members?

[Shinjinkun]

Hi guys!

I have several b train shorties, and never tried to motorize them. I was thinking that maybe buying a couple of sets could be interesting for the future, in case the components get completely discontinued.

Back years ago I knew I could buy bandai power unit 3 to pull the cars, and some trollies that came in packs of 3. But all of these seem to be already sold out, and bandai is not producing more. 

I think Kato sells both motorized cars and trolleys, models 11-106 and 11-107, but I don't know what are the difference between them. Also 11-097 and 11-098 for the trolleys. What does it mean "conmuter" or "express" train in this context?

Then, how many motorized units would I need let's say, for a 10 car configuration? And for a 16 car (full Nozomi N700)?

There is something about couplers too. Do I need to buy them, or I am alright with what I got by default?

Thanks for your help.

 

S.

[disturbman]

6 hours ago, Shinjinkun said:

What does it mean "conmuter" or "express" train in this context?

It represents the type of bogies modelled, supposedly one generic bogie for commuter trains and another for Shinkansen and limited express trains. You can choose the ones you like best.

 

6 hours ago, Shinjinkun said:

There is something about couplers too. Do I need to buy them, or I am alright with what I got by default?

They come equipped with standard Rapidos. You are fine with them but the gap between cars is relatively massive. I would change them for something else if I were you.

 

You can read through some of the previous pages and see what @Dinosbacsidid in terms of detailings and adjustments.

[Shinjinkun]

4 hours ago, disturbman said:

It represents the type of bogies modelled, supposedly one generic bogie for commuter trains and another for Shinkansen and limited express trains. You can choose the ones you like best.

 

They come equipped with standard Rapidos. You are fine with them but the gap between cars is relatively massive. I would change them for something else if I were you.

 

You can read through some of the previous pages and see what @Dinosbacsidid in terms of detailings and adjustments.

Then, for the Yamanote line, I should use the conmuter train parts, and for the VSE Romance car, the express parts? Are there any technical differences, or are they interchangable? Meaning, is their only difference esthetic?

 

I will check the previous pages regarding detailings then.

 

Actually, I thought long ago that I could buy a couple of rails to put the trains on, as they should look better with it. What types of rails are there, and which sizes do they have? The longest shorty I have right now is 73cm long (I am not sure if the length will be shorten if I change the couplers), 75cm rail will fit my bookshelf, 76cm is a bit tight but should fit too. 

[disturbman]

Yes, exactly. Commuter boggies for the Yamanote train, and the express ones for the VSE. The difference is only aesthetic.

If you are importing, look at Tomix Mini Rail and Super Mini sets. Shorties have no problem with their tight curves. The sets are also dirt cheap and some contains turnouts  too.

For easy browsing: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/606/6/1

[Shinjinkun]

On 6/15/2022 at 12:15 PM, disturbman said:

Yes, exactly. Commuter boggies for the Yamanote train, and the express ones for the VSE. The difference is only aesthetic.

If you are importing, look at Tomix Mini Rail and Super Mini sets. Shorties have no problem with their tight curves. The sets are also dirt cheap and some contains turnouts  too.

For easy browsing: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/606/6/1

I have been checking the Kato boogies, and it seems that they won't work on my shorties... they have two pieces base, and it's not possible to attach the kato boogies. Do you know of any other way to add wheels to them?