World Kougei EF53

[Martijn Meerts]

Some initial shots of the World Craft EF53 kit.

 

Image 000-1:

Manual page 1.

 

Image 000-2:

Manual page 2.

 

Image 000-3:

Manual page 3.

 

 

This is already looking a LOT more complicated than the Mio Tsukushi car ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

Image 001:

The box.

 

Image 002:

The label.

 

Image 003:

The opened box.

 

Image 004:

The contents. There's quite a few sheets of brass, which I'll take pictures of when I really unpack everything. There's probably 4 or 5 large sheets, and then another 5 or so smaller ones.

 

Image 005:

Crappy closeup picture of some bogie detail. Obviously I need to re-take this picture after taking the parts out of the bag :)

 

Image 006:

Several small detail bits. The little red things are most likely the tail lights, they're not even 1mm long, so you can guess how small all that stuff is ;)

 

Image 007:

Closeup of the number plates and various other plates.

[Sir Madog]

Wow!

 

I am more than impressed by the quality of the parts, but I can tell you now, that I will not be able to assemble such a kit.

 

Keep those posts coming as you progress!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Good heavens...that is complicated!

 

I would dearly love to have both the skill and patience to construct one of these models; but they are one heck of a lot of money for something I could easily screw up. I'll watch your progress with a great deal of interest - and not a little envy - secure in the knowledge that if I do succumb to the undoubted charms of the EF53, Micro Ace are there to help me...

[westfalen]

Opening the box looks like the only part of the job that would fall within my skill level. No wonder their assembled models are so expensive.

[Martijn Meerts]

Actually, the things I'm worried about the most, is the painting, and installation of lights. The EF53 should be fairly easy to install a decoder and lights into, heck, I bet there's room for a sound decoder with a decent speaker in there. Considering it has 2 motors though, they have some sort of design which allows for power pickup from the wheels. The Mio Tsukushi likely doesn't have that design, so installing lights in that one will be a lot more difficult. But, that's a first guess.

 

As for the painting.. My airbrush skills are still lacking, or at least are inconsistent. I need to practice a bit more. Also, finding the correct colors is going to be tough. I have no idea if colors are mentioned in the manual at all actually.

 

If I enjoy building these things, and get reasonably good at it (I have 2 more kits on pre-order, a mail car and a snow plow), I could considering offering to build them for people who want one but don't feel comfortable building them, and can't afford a pre-built one. I'm definitely going to order a steamer as well once they announce one again, they all seems to be out of stock right now, or at least, they are at HS.

[disturbman]

Someone is going to have to buy some magnifying glass... 

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, couldn't resist checking out all the bits and pieces, and took some pictures. About 2 hours of unpacking parts, repacking parts, taking pictures, importing pictures and processing pictures later, I had a whole slew of stuff ;)

 

Image 008:

The main shell. This comes pre-folded and ready to go.

 

Image 009:

Inside of the shell. It's hard to see, but it's fairly thick and it's actually built up of multiple layers of brass.

 

Image 010:

Closeup shot of the shell.

 

Image 011:

The cab ends, these need to be soldered onto the shell (I think ;))

 

Image 012:

Pretty sure these need some folding/bending, can't imagine the windows should be blocked :)

 

Image 013:

Some roof detail pieces.

 

Image 014:

Roof detail closeup.

[Martijn Meerts]

Image 015:

Some plates and 2 tiny detail bits.

 

Image 016:

Parts for the bogies.

 

Image 017:

Detail of 1 of the bogieparts.

 

Image 018:

Even the wheels come in parts ;)

 

Image 019:

The 2 motors and worm wheels. The motor are actually fairly small, but with 2 per bogie, I guess it should run fine.

 

Image 020:

Weight for the cab ends, including a little seat molded right onto them :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Image 021:

Various detail parts, the little red light things are actually only 1 mm long ...

 

Image 022:

Quite nicely detailed pantographs.

 

Image 023:

Small wheels, springs, tubes, wire...

 

Image 024:

Various tubes, wheel bits, and a bag of screws which I really didn't feel like opening ;)

 

Image 025:

Various gears, couplers, and washers.

[Martijn Meerts]

Image 026:

Approximately 0.5mm thick brass sheet with parts for the main support structure.

 

Image 027:

Wheel detail bits as well as motor mounts amongst others.

 

Image 028:

Detail shot of the wheel bits.

 

Image 029:

Various other sheets with what looks like the main lower frame and a variety of details.

 

Image 030:

Detail shot of the frame sheet of Image 029.

[Martijn Meerts]

Image 031:

Yet another brass sheet with even more details :)

 

Image 032:

Detail shot of what I guess are the platforms on both ends of the loco.

 

Image 033:

Various more details.

 

Image 034:

And even more details, including the guard rails for the platforms on the end.

 

 

 

(Phew.. Those are a LOT of parts ;))

[Sir Madog]

Martijn,

 

from the pictures i gather that this is a well engineered kit and the parts are of high quality. If it were not N scale, I´d give it a go myself!

[Bernard]

Marti - This is a dual motor engine?

Having the ruler next to the parts really shows how small they are, it's really a detailed kit...I hope you start building it soon I look forward to seeing how you build this kit.

[Martijn Meerts]

Marti - This is a dual motor engine?

Having the ruler next to the parts really shows how small they are, it's really a detailed kit...I hope you start building it soon I look forward to seeing how you build this kit.

 

Both bogies get their own little motor yes. Considering they're small motors, I should be able to hook both of them up to a single decoder. It'll be interesting to see how it runs though, since there are no flywheels.

 

Many of the parts are actually so small, I was having a hard time picking them up and putting them back in their plastic baggies, I think I'll need to alter one of my tweezers a bit, and add some 2 sided tape or something when working with the really small bits.

 

I'm really itching to start this thing, but I should probably do the Mio Tsukushi car first to get the hang of it. While the car wasn't cheap either, the loco is of course a lot more expensive. I'm probably not going to build the entire Mio Tsukushi car before starting the EF53 though, since I need to figure out a good way to add lights to the car.

[Bernard]

Marti - this thread is excellent way for members and guests to determine if the World Kougei brass kits are for them.

There are beautiful, but expensive kits and it would be a shame for someone to buy one without knowing what's involved in building one of these trains. I know my eyesight couldn't handle it.

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, I'm pretty sure these kits are not for the impatient :)

 

It's going to be fun to document building these things, and hopefully I'll get the hang of it rather fast since I have 2 more kits on pre-order. I do love doing building kits though, and the more difficult they are, the more fun. On top of that, it's going to be cool to see a loco running on the layout that I've pretty much built myself.

 

Side note: I noticed World Kougei recently announced a Z-scale kit - http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10139112 ;)

[Martijn Meerts]

So, if I post a higher quality version of the manual, could anyone translate it for me? I don't mean the entire history of the locomotive and such, but the building instructions and things to look out for etc.

 

I tried it myself, looking up kanji by stroke count, and then using google translate, but I'm getting weird results (for example, something gets translate to "wife plate" ;)). There are also some katakana combinations which seemingly don't want to translate well.

 

Help would be appreciated, not everything is clear from the pictures alone, and I don't really want to mess up either :)

[keitaro]

Lol good luck. Btw are there difficulty ratings set for their models?

 

Reason I ask is I have a dying will to buy a new armored train kit

[Guest JRF-1935]

Actually, the things I'm worried about the most, is the painting, and installation of lights. The EF53 should be fairly easy to install a decoder and lights into, heck, I bet there's room for a sound decoder with a decent speaker in there. Considering it has 2 motors though, they have some sort of design which allows for power pickup from the wheels. The Mio Tsukushi likely doesn't have that design, so installing lights in that one will be a lot more difficult. But, that's a first guess.

 

As for the painting.. My airbrush skills are still lacking, or at least are inconsistent. I need to practice a bit more. Also, finding the correct colors is going to be tough. I have no idea if colors are mentioned in the manual at all actually.

 

If I enjoy building these things, and get reasonably good at it (I have 2 more kits on pre-order, a mail car and a snow plow), I could considering offering to build them for people who want one but don't feel comfortable building them, and can't afford a pre-built one. I'm definitely going to order a steamer as well once they announce one again, they all seems to be out of stock right now, or at least, they are at HS.

 

Martijn

  Congrats on your N scale brass modeling skills.  That is a beautiful kit!  I tried a couple of O scale brass kits, but found that without a resistence soldering iron, I had to use multple clip on heat sinks and also a lot of cut up old T shirt strips soaked in ice water to drape over the model to stop the heat transfer.  I doubt if I'll try an N scale brass kit due to scale and my aging eyesight.

  Airbrushing was intimidating to me at first, until I learned a few secrets from a Professional Artist friend of mine.  A basic Paasche single action airbrush with the #1,3,5 tips is all the average modeler needs.  A double action brush is for Pro's and not recommended.

  I started using the #5 tip (wide open) for priming using the Floquil primer grey, but that became too expensive so now I use the auto primer grey in spray cans from Wal-Mart for $1.99.  After 1 coat I use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process, and use the hair dryer for any subsequent coats to cut down on drying time.  Works well,reduces imperfections like air bubbles, and really speeds up the painting process.  Hours compared to days.

  For stripeing,or other fine details, like window framing, just airbrush a clear  sheet of decal paper with the color desired and cut using an X-Acto knife and apply the decals - saves a "helluva" lot of time in masking your model to spray paint.

  One other thing I've learned is that most model paint schemes is a 4 to 1 ratio - e.g., PTC green is 4 parts Floquil Coach Green and 1 part Steam Color Black.  Don't know if this applies to Japanese trains, but at least a good starting point.

Hope this helps,

Rich C

 

 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Lol good luck. Btw are there difficulty ratings set for their models?

 

Reason I ask is I have a dying will to buy a new armored train kit

 

I don't think they have different difficulty grades, but obviously locomotives are more difficult than cars. I have 2 cars now, and 1 locomotive, and the locomotive has a LOT more parts, plus you need to build the entire drivetrain for the thing.

 

 

 

Actually, the things I'm worried about the most, is the painting, and installation of lights. The EF53 should be fairly easy to install a decoder and lights into, heck, I bet there's room for a sound decoder with a decent speaker in there. Considering it has 2 motors though, they have some sort of design which allows for power pickup from the wheels. The Mio Tsukushi likely doesn't have that design, so installing lights in that one will be a lot more difficult. But, that's a first guess.

 

As for the painting.. My airbrush skills are still lacking, or at least are inconsistent. I need to practice a bit more. Also, finding the correct colors is going to be tough. I have no idea if colors are mentioned in the manual at all actually.

 

If I enjoy building these things, and get reasonably good at it (I have 2 more kits on pre-order, a mail car and a snow plow), I could considering offering to build them for people who want one but don't feel comfortable building them, and can't afford a pre-built one. I'm definitely going to order a steamer as well once they announce one again, they all seems to be out of stock right now, or at least, they are at HS.

 

Martijn

  Congrats on your N scale brass modeling skills.  That is a beautiful kit!  I tried a couple of O scale brass kits, but found that without a resistence soldering iron, I had to use multple clip on heat sinks and also a lot of cut up old T shirt strips soaked in ice water to drape over the model to stop the heat transfer.  I doubt if I'll try an N scale brass kit due to scale and my aging eyesight.

  Airbrushing was intimidating to me at first, until I learned a few secrets from a Professional Artist friend of mine.  A basic Paasche single action airbrush with the #1,3,5 tips is all the average modeler needs.  A double action brush is for Pro's and not recommended.

  I started using the #5 tip (wide open) for priming using the Floquil primer grey, but that became too expensive so now I use the auto primer grey in spray cans from Wal-Mart for $1.99.  After 1 coat I use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process, and use the hair dryer for any subsequent coats to cut down on drying time.  Works well,reduces imperfections like air bubbles, and really speeds up the painting process.  Hours compared to days.

  For stripeing,or other fine details, like window framing, just airbrush a clear  sheet of decal paper with the color desired and cut using an X-Acto knife and apply the decals - saves a "helluva" lot of time in masking your model to spray paint.

  One other thing I've learned is that most model paint schemes is a 4 to 1 ratio - e.g., PTC green is 4 parts Floquil Coach Green and 1 part Steam Color Black.  Don't know if this applies to Japanese trains, but at least a good starting point.

Hope this helps,

Rich C

 

Soldering the brass is indeed near impossible with the soldering iron I have now. Not strange though, considering my iron is designed for small electronics, not large brass parts ;)

 

I'm wondering if one of those mini torches would work to solder the brass, or at least the larger parts. Small detail parts can be glued on using either epoxy or superglue. Might be possible to just use epoxy for the entire kit as well.

 

For the airbrush, I currently have a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity, which is a dual action airbrush. I've been considering getting a cheap-ish single action airbrush though, mainly for priming and larger parts that don't need the precision of the Infinity. Painting the models is still a ways off though, need to build them first 

[keitaro]

hmm yes seems to difficult to me shame as some of these new ones are really interesting but in kits only 

 

the green max kits are just plastic clipons right with basic asembly for motor and bogies etc?

[Martijn Meerts]

hmm yes seems to difficult to me shame as some of these new ones are really interesting but in kits only 

 

the green max kits are just plastic clipons right with basic asembly for motor and bogies etc?

 

World Kougei usually also releases all their models as completed versions sooner or later, but they tend to be 3-4 times the cost of a kit.

 

The Greenmax kits are all plastic as far as I know, I haven't tried any of them. They might need some glue to put together though instead of just clipping them.

[Guest JRF-1935]

Lol good luck. Btw are there difficulty ratings set for their models?

 

Reason I ask is I have a dying will to buy a new armored train kit

 

I don't think they have different difficulty grades, but obviously locomotives are more difficult than cars. I have 2 cars now, and 1 locomotive, and the locomotive has a LOT more parts, plus you need to build the entire drivetrain for the thing.

 

 

 

Actually, the things I'm worried about the most, is the painting, and installation of lights. The EF53 should be fairly easy to install a decoder and lights into, heck, I bet there's room for a sound decoder with a decent speaker in there. Considering it has 2 motors though, they have some sort of design which allows for power pickup from the wheels. The Mio Tsukushi likely doesn't have that design, so installing lights in that one will be a lot more difficult. But, that's a first guess.

 

As for the painting.. My airbrush skills are still lacking, or at least are inconsistent. I need to practice a bit more. Also, finding the correct colors is going to be tough. I have no idea if colors are mentioned in the manual at all actually.

 

If I enjoy building these things, and get reasonably good at it (I have 2 more kits on pre-order, a mail car and a snow plow), I could considering offering to build them for people who want one but don't feel comfortable building them, and can't afford a pre-built one. I'm definitely going to order a steamer as well once they announce one again, they all seems to be out of stock right now, or at least, they are at HS.

 

Martijn

  Congrats on your N scale brass modeling skills.  That is a beautiful kit!  I tried a couple of O scale brass kits, but found that without a resistence soldering iron, I had to use multple clip on heat sinks and also a lot of cut up old T shirt strips soaked in ice water to drape over the model to stop the heat transfer.  I doubt if I'll try an N scale brass kit due to scale and my aging eyesight.

  Airbrushing was intimidating to me at first, until I learned a few secrets from a Professional Artist friend of mine.  A basic Paasche single action airbrush with the #1,3,5 tips is all the average modeler needs.  A double action brush is for Pro's and not recommended.

  I started using the #5 tip (wide open) for priming using the Floquil primer grey, but that became too expensive so now I use the auto primer grey in spray cans from Wal-Mart for $1.99.  After 1 coat I use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process, and use the hair dryer for any subsequent coats to cut down on drying time.  Works well,reduces imperfections like air bubbles, and really speeds up the painting process.  Hours compared to days.

  For stripeing,or other fine details, like window framing, just airbrush a clear  sheet of decal paper with the color desired and cut using an X-Acto knife and apply the decals - saves a "helluva" lot of time in masking your model to spray paint.

  One other thing I've learned is that most model paint schemes is a 4 to 1 ratio - e.g., PTC green is 4 parts Floquil Coach Green and 1 part Steam Color Black.  Don't know if this applies to Japanese trains, but at least a good starting point.

Hope this helps,

Rich C

 

Soldering the brass is indeed near impossible with the soldering iron I have now. Not strange though, considering my iron is designed for small electronics, not large brass parts ;)

 

I'm wondering if one of those mini torches would work to solder the brass, or at least the larger parts. Small detail parts can be glued on using either epoxy or superglue. Might be possible to just use epoxy for the entire kit as well.

 

For the airbrush, I currently have a Harder & Steenbeck Infinity, which is a dual action airbrush. I've been considering getting a cheap-ish single action airbrush though, mainly for priming and larger parts that don't need the precision of the Infinity. Painting the models is still a ways off though, need to build them first 

I tried the mini-torch once to repair one of my brass steeplecabs and there was so much heat - so fast - the whole front end fell off! 

Rich C

[Martijn Meerts]

I tried the mini-torch once to repair one of my brass steeplecabs and there was so much heat - so fast - the whole front end fell off! 

Rich C

 

Ouch :)

 

Maybe a micro torch then