n00b q's - diaphragms, couplers, rub-on stickers

[spacecadet]

Hey all,

 

So I just got my Kato Shinkansen 0 series (10-453), my first Japanese train, along with a platform set to go with it.  And I have some questions!  I did search through the forum but didn't find any topics specifically about these questions.

 

1. My train came with no diaphragms.  Is it possible to add them, and where would I get them?  I searched for "diaphragm" on Hobby Search and came up with nothing.  This is also more of a general question, as I'm sure that this is not the only train set not to include them, and the fact that there's not even something generic on Hobby Search that would look better than nothing is kind of worrying.

 

2. Similarly, what do people do about the couplers?  They seem to work okay but they're too long (I guess for tight radii) and they're also truck-mounted.  Are there body-mounted couplers that can be adapted easily to these trains and look prototypical?

 

3. Rub-on stickers - how do you actually use them?  I'm coming from American HO and I'm used to decals - I am very good at applying decals!  But I have never used these rub-on stickers before, and they scare me.  Anyone have any tips?  They're so freakin' tiny, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with them - do you cut them out first, how do you hold them when you rub, how do you rub without moving the sticker and breaking it?  I have the stickers that came with my train for the destinations to apply, and also about a million little stickers for my platform set.

 

Thanks for any help.

[CaptOblivious]

For the first two, I can't say. For the third: I was terrified too, coming from the world of water-slide transfers. You need a good burnisher, I used the wrong end of my tweezers for the job, but special tools do exist. The ones I had provided markings to algin the transfer, and the back was slightly tacky to assist in holding it steady. It is easy to tell when the whole thing has been transferred, but if you don't get it all, its easy to go back and add the remainder.

 

In all,I now prefer rub ons: they go on easier, and look better, even if you have to get the alignment right on the first go (my sheets did come with extras...and I did need one or two of them!)

[marknewton]

G'day Spacecadet,

 

I'm not working in N-scale so my practical knowledge is nil, but I do know that American Limited Models make N scale diaphragms. I've used their HO scale products and was very satisfied with them. I'd guess that you'd need to either convert the existing couplers to Kadees or similar, or perhaps replace them with a simple fixed drawbar, but gain I have no experience with this in N scale.

 

http://www.americanlimitedmodels.com/diaphragms.htm#n%20scale%20diaphragms

 

As for applying rub-on lettering, that I do have a bit of experience with. Back in the days before computer graphics and desktop publishing, there was a popular brand of rub-on lettering called Letraset. They made two types of burnishing tool, one with a spoon end, and one with a smaller teflon tip for fine detail work. Chartpak also made similar tools. I imagine that these tools are still available, if you search with the term "burnisher".

 

Applying rub-on lettering is much easier to demonstrate than describe, so bear with me. It's easier to apply the "sticker" using the complete sheet rather than cutting them out individually. That gives you something to hold! You can align the sticker by eye, or if you aren't confident, you can lightly tape the lettering sheet onto the model using low-tack tape to keep it from moving. It's a good idea to put the waxed backing paper between the model and the lettering sheet to prevent accidently applying other stickers while holding the lettering sheet in place if you do it by hand alone - just leave the sticker you want to use uncovered.

 

When burnishing the stickers, start by lightly rubbing across the sticker with the tool to get it adhering to the model. I find the best method is to rub from side to side. Once it starts to hold, you can go back over again with a bit more pressure to firmly apply it. You'll see the sticker leaving the sheet, it's appearance will change as it adheres to the model, it will get lighter. The thing to remember is to evenly apply pressure across the whole sticker, rather than trying to press hard in one spot. If you do this, you will distort the lettering sheet and possibly damage the sticker. Better to make a number of passes with the burnisher than one hard press.

 

Once the sticker is fully transferred to the model, gently lift the lettering sheet off. You can give the stickers a final burnish by placing the wax backing paper over the sticker and then gently passing the tool over the sticker again. Doing that means there are no corners sticking up that may snag and damage the sticker.

 

One last thing, just like applying water-slide transfers, it's important that the model be clean, free of dust, fingerprints and the like. I hope that answers your question, and doesn't confuse the issue!

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[spacecadet]

Thanks for the replies.  Kind of a shame about the diaphragms - I was kind of expecting people to jump in and say "duh!  how could you miss *these*?" and then just post a bunch of links to shinkansen-specific diaphragms.  But no dice on something tailor-made, I guess; I'm not as bad at searching as I'd hoped.  Diaphragms for American passenger cars in HO scale are pretty easy to find, but I guess for the Japanese N stuff you just take what they give you or make your own.  Maybe I can adapt something from something else, but I probably just won't bother.  The prototype has an aerodynamic cowling (or whatever it's called) in between cars; that would be the hardest thing to simulate if nobody makes it.

 

As for the stickers, I guess a burnishing tool is now on my shopping list, though I'll try the butt end of my tweezers to get my current stuff done.  I hadn't thought of that.  I guess I'll just have to go for it and see what happens...

[Tecchan]

Interesting topic!

 

After putting the stickers on my Kato e231 Yamanote set, I wanted to do the same for my Tomix Shinkansen sets before I realised they were different..... Rub-on now seems less scary: thanks to you! :-)

 

Concerning the diaphragms, on both my Tomix Shinkansen sets (0 & 300) are stick when I put the train together. You have small moving parts making the different cars stuck to each other.

I know it's not really prototypical but the look of the train is great like that, it looks like one long snake insted of cars behind each other.

[David]

While some new (and more expensive) American N scale models have diaphragms (or kits to add them), they haven' been typical in the scale due to the size - the material properties don't scale very well for true to life diaphragms (most materials are either too elastic, so they are the ones exerting force on the lighter model, are too inelastic, so they just hang or fall off, or are just right but now so thin and fragile that they break).

 

However like American models in the last few years, they are appearing. Your particular model is just dated with its truck mounted couplers. Regular EMUs still don't have them (they have close coupling, but the diaphragm halves don't touch), but the show piece Shinkansen do, usually being used by Kato/Tomix to test new technology. This also means that each new Shinkansen model potentially has a different coupler and diaphragm technology, with different pros and cons. For example the Kato 800 series has a solid plastic diaphragm that forms a part of the coupler, while the 700N has a full body connector.

[marknewton]

As for the stickers, I guess a burnishing tool is now on my shopping list, though I'll try the butt end of my tweezers to get my current stuff done.  I hadn't thought of that.  I guess I'll just have to go for it and see what happens...

 

The end of tweezers - I'd never thought of that either. If you can't get a burnisher it sounds like a good substitute. No reason why it shouldn't work for you as it has for Don. Let us know how it turns out, yeah?

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[spacecadet]

One follow-up question - I've done a bit more searching on the forum and it seems a lot of Kato stuff doesn't use rub-ons but actual stickers.  I just assumed mine were rub-on, but maybe not.  How do you tell the difference?  It doesn't seem obvious by the instructions.  I haven't actually really looked at the shinkansen stickers (and I may just not even apply them, it looks ok without them), but my platform kit stickers are clear plastic with a white backing sheet.  Does that sound like a rub-on or like regular stickers that I'm just supposed to cut out?

[marknewton]

I can't answer the first part of your question, but from your description of the platform stickers I'd say they are rub-ons. (But I'll defer to others who have actual experience of Kato N scale models if they say otherwise!)

 

cheers,

 

Mark.

[ShinCanadaSen]

Hi Spacecadet,

 

If your platform set is Kato, those are most likely stickers that you need to cut out. I remember thinking that they were rub on decals when I first opened the package but upon inspection I found them to be stickers. To confirm, try finding a corner with a little clearance from any printed graphic and you should be able to seperate the clear sticker side from the backing and confirm that the clear side is sticky ! At first I found it a little oddf that you had to cut out the stickers but in practice it gives you a little more control as you can customize the size as needed.

[marknewton]

Well, there you go! They're stickers, not rub-on lettering! 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.