Bandai B-Train Shorty

[disturbman]

@lukewang01had developped a 3D replacement chassis, https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/18096-3d-printed-b-train-shorty-chassis/, but he has been MIA due to finals. I don't know if the thingiverse link still works.

That said, I think @5lyp3t3and/or @tossedmanhad worked out a solution and something was perhaps uploaded to Shapeways.

 

[Shinjinkun]

On 6/28/2022 at 8:48 AM, disturbman said:

@lukewang01had developped a 3D replacement chassis, https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/18096-3d-printed-b-train-shorty-chassis/, but he has been MIA due to finals. I don't know if the thingiverse link still works.

That said, I think @5lyp3t3and/or @tossedmanhad worked out a solution and something was perhaps uploaded to Shapeways.

 

Thanks for the link, @disturbman. I checked the posts, but it seems that the thread has been dormant for a while. I posted in case it is still possible to get them. Unfortunately, I don't own a 3D printer, and I don't think is really cost-effective to buy one in order to motorize my shorties XD

[wonge15]

On 6/28/2022 at 2:48 PM, disturbman said:

@lukewang01had developped a 3D replacement chassis, https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/18096-3d-printed-b-train-shorty-chassis/, but he has been MIA due to finals. I don't know if the thingiverse link still works.

That said, I think @5lyp3t3and/or @tossedmanhad worked out a solution and something was perhaps uploaded to Shapeways.

 

Hi @disturbman, I can confirm the thingiverse link does still work. However one thing to note is that the holes on the chassis are a bit to small for directly popping in the kato bogies, so I had to sand the holes down. Otherwise, the 3d print chassis works just fine. 

[cteno4]

@wonge15 great news. Probably best to ream the hole out with a drill anyway. What did you print them with?

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[wonge15]

On 7/19/2022 at 2:24 AM, cteno4 said:

@wonge15 great news. Probably best to ream the hole out with a drill anyway. What did you print them with?

 

cheers,

 

jeff

Thanks for the reply. My friend helped me print it with an Ultimaker printer (print settings included below), it took around 2 mins to print eight.

[cteno4]

So extrusion, correct? Seems like a good project even for a lower resolution extrusion printer! 
 

jeff

[wonge15]

17 hours ago, cteno4 said:

So extrusion, correct? Seems like a good project even for a lower resolution extrusion printer! 
 

jeff

Yes, definitely! IMO the resolution doesnt matter much anyways as you barely see the chassis 90% of the time, its only the overall rigidity of the chassis that really matters.

[cteno4]

Thanks that was my guess as well and actually one of the most compelling reasons for me to try a small/inexpensive extrusion printer in the future. I’d still like to play with lighting shorties at some point and making custom chassis to run wiring would also be nice. Some of the older ones had the crescent cutouts for pickups around the pivot point, but that kind of went away later. Also could add more undercarriage details easily.

 

jeff

[wonge15]

On 7/24/2022 at 2:54 AM, cteno4 said:

Thanks that was my guess as well and actually one of the most compelling reasons for me to try a small/inexpensive extrusion printer in the future. I’d still like to play with lighting shorties at some point and making custom chassis to run wiring would also be nice. Some of the older ones had the crescent cutouts for pickups around the pivot point, but that kind of went away later. Also could add more undercarriage details easily.

 

jeff

I'm also thinking with toying around with 3d printing as well, but I'm planning to make b-trains of other existing trains. I've already got a model of a KTX-Sancheon locomotive adapted and ready to print, I'll see how that works out.

 

 

 

 

[kami_illy]

On 7/26/2022 at 1:41 PM, wonge15 said:

I'm also thinking with toying around with 3d printing as well, but I'm planning to make b-trains of other existing trains. I've already got a model of a KTX-Sancheon locomotive adapted and ready to print, I'll see how that works out.

 

 

 

 

 

Keep us updated about that. Really interesting 👍

[kami_illy]

Since there is no new Shorties coming, I thought I'll try something and did (in my best tradition 😅 ) a paper mockup of a new train. For this I chose the Berlin S-Bahn BR 481 as a test for S-Bahn and U-Bahn Shorties. It has a fairly boxy design and you can hopefully easily check for proportions and scale. I am currently building two wagons to figure if i go for 150 or 160 scale... Anyways, this is what i got so far. 

 

 

And in case you were wondering about the different prints in the first pic, the Berlin S-Bahn are changing liveries right now. So I drew old and new ones...

[kami_illy]

Just now, kami_illy said:

Since there is no new Shorties coming, I thought I'll try something and did (in my best tradition 😅 ) a paper mockup of a new train. For this I chose the Berlin S-Bahn BR 481 as a test for S-Bahn and U-Bahn Shorties. It has a fairly boxy design and you can hopefully easily check for proportions and scale. I am currently building two wagons to figure if i go for 150 or 160 scale... Anyways, this is what i got so far. 

 

 

And in case you were wondering about the different prints in the first pic, the Berlin S-Bahn are changing liveries right now. So I drew old and new ones...

 

PS. in case there will be more content coming on this one and maybe @wonge15's project it might be worth to open a separate topic "B-Train Shorty (Worldwide)"

[Dinosbacsi]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:17 PM, kami_illy said:

Since there is no new Shorties coming, I thought I'll try something and did (in my best tradition 😅 ) a paper mockup of a new train. For this I chose the Berlin S-Bahn BR 481 as a test for S-Bahn and U-Bahn Shorties. It has a fairly boxy design and you can hopefully easily check for proportions and scale. I am currently building two wagons to figure if i go for 150 or 160 scale... Anyways, this is what i got so far. 

 

 

And in case you were wondering about the different prints in the first pic, the Berlin S-Bahn are changing liveries right now. So I drew old and new ones...

That's very cute! I love Shorty trains of different nations. I remember not so long ago I saw some eastern european locomotives (soviet M62s I believe) made into Shorties on Yahoo Auctions.

[kami_illy]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:17 PM, kami_illy said:

Since there is no new Shorties coming, I thought I'll try something and did (in my best tradition 😅 ) a paper mockup of a new train. For this I chose the Berlin S-Bahn BR 481 as a test for S-Bahn and U-Bahn Shorties. It has a fairly boxy design and you can hopefully easily check for proportions and scale. I am currently building two wagons to figure if i go for 150 or 160 scale... Anyways, this is what i got so far. 

 

 

And in case you were wondering about the different prints in the first pic, the Berlin S-Bahn are changing liveries right now. So I drew old and new ones...

 

So finally I got around to build the leading car...

of course in the same fashion like i build everything, a bit crude and made of cardboard in printed paper covers 🤪 

[disturbman]

Very nice. 

Now you just need to contact the BVG and convince them to produce a Shorty of the subway trains that people can buy in their shop 😅 Sadly, I don't think the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH has a dedicated shop or care about producing memorabilia.

[railsquid]

20 minutes ago, disturbman said:

Now you just need to contact the BVG and convince them to produce a Shorty of the subway trains that people can buy in their shop 😅 Sadly, I don't think the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH has a dedicated shop or care about producing memorabilia.

 

There's this: https://shop.sbahn.berlin/Cms/CmsPage/Page/BerlinArtikel

[disturbman]

Then maybe there is hope. I knew the BVG was selling a lot of merchandising, they even have a physical shop at Alex, but didn't thought the S-Bahn did the same. Their visual identity is a lot weaker than the BVG and its eyes-hurting but seminal seat cover pattern.

[railsquid]

I have a vague memory of the S-Bahn being quiet marketing-orientated, but that was probably in the 00s, before the Incident With the Wheels.

 

On 9/25/2022 at 5:17 AM, kami_illy said:

And in case you were wondering about the different prints in the first pic, the Berlin S-Bahn are changing liveries right now. So I drew old and new ones...

Yeah, those black doors had me confused the other day, I thought the train was running with all doors open (like what they did in the old days when it was hot).

[kami_illy]

3 hours ago, disturbman said:

Now you just need to contact the BVG and convince them to produce a Shorty of the subway trains that people can buy in their shop

 

That would be the dream. And in order to pursue it I already started drawing some u-bahn models... with the current PR-Team/campaigns of BVG that dosen't sound impossible. 

Now I just need a lot of time and tranquillity to actually go though with all my half done projects 😅 (outside of the shorties and japanese N-scale, I currently work on some 1:500 scale aviation things)

[disturbman]

Nice, I look forward to it. I think you should open a new topic for your freelance Shorties, perhaps in "Other projects".

Regarding the liveries. I don't think the new black doors fit the 481s very well, I kind of wish they had left them in their old livery. It's more appropriate on the new 483s as it echoes the very black front.

[Dinosbacsi]

Was browsing FromJapan today and found this. Someone designed and 3D printed custom B Train Shorty car transporters!

 

https://auctions.c.yimg.jp/images.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/image/dr000/auc0401/users/c9dca56edb4d602842c83225a499cafeff4a32bf/i-img1200x675-1673142244abaz4b672546.jpg

 

If anyone interested, it's here. The order comes with 4 freight cars and even with 16 tiny cars to put on them.

https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/japan/en/auction/yahoo/input/p1077909250/lgk-link_top_search

[Cat]

The transporter is cute!  Latter third of last century if you're looking for proper vintage Tomytec cars to load it with.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/国鉄ク5000形貨車

[Beaver]

On 8/10/2021 at 4:42 AM, bill937ca said:

Something that popped up on Facebook. This is M Train. Apparently produced by a former Bandai B-Train division manager.  

 

http://mikecat.travel.coocan.jp/01_shop_1/01_Mtrain/Mtrain_00.html?fbclid=IwAR3ZHzTK9dajcTk4BysYnf6cUk0qYqwvO5EEKUu9nKeBRrmBUr6FmkqOQug

 

Hobby Search is taking reservations:   https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10805899

 

Nice to see large pictures of these. They seem to be a higher quality product than the Bandai version.

[Dinosbacsi]

Ordered a pair of Kato motorized units, as I wanted to try them out, considering one of my Bandai units died and they seem to go quite expensive these days...

 

But honestly, not really impressed with them so far. One of them went into my 165 series alongside the Kato bogeys, and it keeps wheel slipping very bad, even though the whole train is just 3 cars (1 motor + 2 trailers).

 

The other unit went into my 103-1200 series, that one can barely get going with 3 trailer cars - especially because they have Bandai bogeys, which seem to have more resistance. Even if it leaves the siding and can move in the straights, it has no chance to take any curves. This motor also seems to produce some weird clicking noise. I assume oiling can solve that, but come on, it's a brand new motor...

 

I kind of expected better from Kato? How is this supposed to move? I suppose I will try adding more weight, but this pulling power is ridiculously weak.

[disturbman]

I used to run 6-car Shorties with these, with no problem whatsoever.

Wonder if they change something to them or you just had bad luck.

Edited January 24, 2023 by disturbman