What did you order or the post deliver? (HO and other scales)

[marknewton]

On 7/22/2018 at 2:23 PM, Kamome said:

I’ve been a little “narrow-minded” of late. One  of the chaps at the Nogata, first Sunday of the month, running club had started making some narrow gauge modules using the Tomytec NaRo gauge 80 range. Needless to say, I have become slightly engrossed in the level of detail that some of these Japanese narrow gauge modelers have produced. 

Due to a few of these models being on clearance at a local hobby shop, (¥2000) I got a bit carried away and now have quite a fleet, although currently unpowered. 

 

I will in the future convert all with the relevant motors (TM-07R) as well as scratch build some interiors and possibly add working lights, due to the workable space with HO.

 

It’ll be a long-running side project. Adding motors will be simple enough but working out what to do internally may take some time. DCC or DC? Until then, they make nice display pieces.

 

Anyway, they looked fantastic navigating around the tight curves of the club members layout so I’ll be keen to create something along the same lines.

 

Nice! I wonder how long it will be before Tomix adds a steam loco to the range?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Kamome]

4 hours ago, marknewton said:

Nice! I wonder how long it will be before Tomix adds a steam loco to the range?

I hope they do, although they currently don’t have a chassis for something with driving rods etc.. A nice steam tram engine could work initially, failing that World Kogei do some narrow gauge tank engines. Not that I’m planning on investing heavily financially in narrow gauge but never say never I suppose.

 

For those interested in a few more shots. Here are the Kihas and the DB1 compared to a bigger brother Kiha 28. I managed to catch the driver on his break.

[jasona2z]

my first big buyee experiment...

Edited July 27, 2018 by jasona2z

[marknewton]

On 7/21/2018 at 4:50 AM, Kiha66 said:

Beautiful photo mark, believe me I am very tempted.  How hard would it be to add dcc to the model?  It would be a shame to have it confined to the kitchen table and not be able to run it on a larger club layout.

 

Today I installed some decoders in my C59s. The first was a TCS DP2X, and the second was a DCC Concepts Zen 360. Both decoders are direct 8 pin "plug and play" types, and both feature back EMF and silent drive. The Zen 360 also includes a stay alive capacitor pack. The TCS decoder has two functions, and the Zen has four.

 

I've test run them both on the Kitchenbenchbahn, and I'm impressed with the level of performance both decoders provide. I'll be taking both locos to the club on Friday to run them on the DCC layout. I'll be able to properly compare their performance and report back after that.

 

All the best,

 

Mark

[marknewton]

After a few hours intensive running my two C59s on the club DCC layout for a comparison test between the TCS and DCC Concepts decoders, I've decided to use the DCC Concepts Zen as my standard or "fleet" decoder. In terms of performance there's effectively no difference between the two brands - both are equally good in my opinion - so the criteria for choice came down to price. The Zen decoders are cheaper here than the TCS products, and come with a "stay alive" capacitor pack included. My "signature" locos will have sound decoders, so I still have to trial some and decide on a standard for those.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

Edited August 5, 2018 by marknewton

[Kamome]

Some preordered, slightly delayed but earlier than expected, tractive effort arrived today.

 

It’s the Kato EF65-2000 (1-316)

It comes with the usual array of detailing parts, the only minor difference compared to the Kato EF65-1000 (1-306) is that it has pre-drilled holes for the antenna and there’s an included GPS antenna. (Also no headmarks for obvious reasons)

 

The paint job is nicely finished and there’s some nice detailing of loco plates under the drivers cabs. (My phone camera sadly doesn’t work well in macro situations.)

 

I hope to get some more Takis in the coming months so I can have a couple of oil trains to shift around.

 

Apologies for the initial photos. I ideally need Mark’s photoplank to do the loco justice.

 

 

[Kamome]

Got some more tankers sooner than expected courtesy of a mini haul from this years JAM in Tokyo. No big loco purchases, despite some deals on Tenshodo HO but found a number of little project bits that are difficult to find in the usual hobby shops. I hope these cottage industry producers keep making these great little additions.

 

4 x Kato TaKi 43000s in Blue, Black and the lone silver one.

 

2 x 22T6 JOT ISO tank container kits from Morita. 

 

Had a nice chat with Morita-san and he has just released some Runtec UF42A kits too. These look great with a mix of high quality plastic molding (with zero flash), white metal and brass photo-etched parts. (See picture)

Instruction sheet is well illustrated with relevant drill diameters and what goes where etc.. Need to plan out the build on these when I have significant amount of time. 

 

1 x twin pack of Tomix KRS U48A containers.

 

Other parts included some figures from the Tomytec NaRo 80 range, as well as some additional weights, wheels and brass forest style couplers to make my Tomytec Narrow gauge look a little more realistic. I did find a great publication on Japanese narrow gauge railways in the early 1960s which I missed out on but did get the details to try and find it again.

 

[marknewton]

On 8/7/2018 at 11:15 PM, Kamome said:

Some preordered, slightly delayed but earlier than expected, tractive effort arrived today.

 

It’s the Kato EF65-2000 (1-316)...Apologies for the initial photos. I ideally need Mark’s photoplank to do the loco justice.

 

Nice! Building your own photoplank isn't hard, and it's a great way to develop your scenery making skills.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

A four-car set of 103s by Tenshodo. These are the "low cab" versions as a contrast to the high cab set I already have. I love the look of these cars in the yellow livery.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[GDorsett]

Had four more boxes of Kato KoKi 104 arrive today.

This brings the total up to twelve. Going to need a bigger loco soon as this would likely strain a lonely DE10. Was hoping to have my EF510 up and running by now, but alas, no luck.

 

More WaMus on order. Hopefully they'll arrive for the next show and that'll bring their count up to fourteen. 

[Kamome]

3 hours ago, GDorsett said:

This brings the total up to twelve. 

You’ll have to do some random weathering to add some variety to those containers. A light pin wash of 1 part black enamel, 2 parts enamel thinners really brings out the details on these.

 

I do like these models very much and am always contemplating getting more.

Edited September 2, 2018 by Kamome

[GDorsett]

I have a whole bunch of old Apple Barrel acrylic paints I've been using. Water down some black and black-wash whatever you want to become dirty. Then add a very thin layer of grey using a fan tipped brush and boom, instant age. They're not the greatest paints for weathering, but they seem to do the job really well so far since I lack an airbrush.

Edited September 2, 2018 by GDorsett

[Steve]

Got this last Friday.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Steve

[serotta1972]

That’s a ginormous controller! 😀

[GDorsett]

On 9/2/2018 at 4:06 AM, Kamome said:

You’ll have to do some random weathering to add some variety to those containers. A light pin wash of 1 part black enamel, 2 parts enamel thinners really brings out the details on these.

 

I do like these models very much and am always contemplating getting more.

 

How's this?

Left is unweathered, right is weathered. Only black at the moment, but grey will come later.

 

A little much, but it works.

Edited September 4, 2018 by GDorsett

[GDorsett]

Updated with the grey. And a little less grim...

 

 

 

[GDorsett]

 

[Lina_Blue]

I ordered this on behalf of a good friend.

 

 

[MichiK]

Awww... passing it on instead of keeping it yourself must be hard - even if it's not your usual gauge!

[Lina_Blue]

It is a very nice model and very impressive in its full lenght.

 

But alas, I don't even have a way of running this beauty. All my H0 is very old Märklin stuff (notice my track used).

[GDorsett]

I don't think it would run on any of my available layouts even though I do HO. My personal layout comes out only for about 30 hours each year and it's pretty rough. My father's layout thwarted a Bachmann Acela, and the club layout I can't trust anything without testing it first due to the track and power issues.

'Tis the main reason why I'm not murdering my wallet for an E5, I don't think it has the ground clearance to run on anything I have.

Edited September 19, 2018 by GDorsett

[MichiK]

Lucky us - the Rokuhan Shinkansen runs perfectly well on our Z layout though, admittedly, so far only the basic 3-car-set.

However, my son now wants the 5-car extension set for christmas. It will only fit just so on the two longest station tracks, and we'll have to see how it will cope with the gradients.

Yet, it will still be only a 8-car set - I don't dare to even imagine a full 16-car set!

[cteno4]

Looks beautiful! A 5m train needs a big layout! 

Jeff

[Need for High Speed]

I got the E5 HO scale Hayabusa from Kato today. It just arrived from Japan it will be with me at shows and open houses. How ever this is only the beginning I am saving up for the JR500 next.

[Kiha66]

1 minute ago, Need for High Speed said:

I got the E5 HO scale Hayabusa from Kato today. It just arrived from Japan it will be with me at shows and open houses. How ever this is only the beginning I am saving up for the JR500 next.

 

Looks good!  I wish I had space (and the money) for more of Kato's HO stuff, they are very nice models.  Now if they did a 0 series, I might just give in...  Be sure to share some pictures of it on a layout too!