Kato - New Releases

[Kamome]

1 hour ago, JR 500系 said:

Not sure if this is a good news or bad news, it seems the E261 Saphir Odoriko comes with pre-installed interior lighting boards and is only compatible with the original Kato lights.... hhhhmmm.... A bonus? Or a marketing gimmick against 3rd party lights like TORM or Popondetta? 

I think this is more of an inclusion to allow you to fit lights properly rather than limit your choice. The Kato Cassiopeia and Sunrise express also needed specific lighting due to the design of the coaches and the included light prisms are to not ruin the look of the model. Having looked at mine today, the modelling and paintwork are stunning so i wouldn’t worry about the fact you have to use Kato lighting.

 

Also on the subject of card sleeves, the Odoriko has a heavy weight card with a gloss finish. Very nicely produced set.

Edited March 28, 2021 by Kamome

[gavino200]

Cassiopeia and Sunrise Express are different. It's very difficult to fit standard interior lights to double decker cars or cars with observation decks. The Safir looks like there should be nothing too tricky about lighting it. It's not the end of the world to have to use Kato lighting. But for those of us who are obsessive about having lights with no flicker the it's important to fit something with a capacitor. 

 

It's possible that this is a way to discourage people from using TORMs or Pop lights. In any case I'll probably just remove the pre-installed board to fit a board with a capacitor. 

[roadstar_na6]

Hint

[lukewang01]

I second Kamome's point.

Just my speculation. KATO said they did it to recreate the proper lighting inside the train, but I also believe that they did it toto reduce the presence of the reflector when you look into the train since the windows goes pretty high. So this might only be a special case just for E261.

 

This is how it looks with original reflector. 

 

This is the comparison of their side profiles with correct side up.

 

 

 

I end up cutting all the sides off to have them fit. I'm sure you can do it with thinner light strips.

 

If KATO designed E261 to take 11-213/214, I think the look from the thin top window wouldn't be great since you'll still have all the side from the reflector going pretty much under the thin windows.

 

Edited March 28, 2021 by lukewang01

[gavino200]

Do those prisms come with the train? Or are they a separate purchase?

[lukewang01]

They come with the train, you just need the LED chips and copper strips.

[Kiha66]

New release poster is up 😁

 

 

[disturbman]

The new logo is neat...

Edited April 1, 2021 by disturbman

[disturbman]

Kato was less subtle.
 

 

[lighthouse]

Nice jokes! 😂

[chadbag]

On 3/28/2021 at 10:43 AM, roadstar_na6 said:

Hint

 

Nice.

 

one of my V2 boards is also made to feed factory lights -- though generically and not specifically for KATO and not as nice an install method.

[Dinosbacsi]

12 hours ago, disturbman said:

 

 

Imagine having all that space just to have a giant oval and nothing else, lol

[gavino200]

16 minutes ago, Dinosbacsi said:

Imagine having all that space just to have a giant oval and nothing else, lol

 

No need to imagine. 

 

[disturbman]

I have done it in my hallway too. Not giant, but long enough.

[gavino200]

That was after I moved so I'd have something to run trains on until I built a layout. The tables and much of that viaduct track was bought specifically to build this big oval. 😱

[disturbman]

Gavin, the original Legend 1 customer.

[Kiha66]

THE'RE FINALLY COMING BACK, WOOOOOOOOOO

I may be a tad excited about the HO 20 series rerun, I'm glad I held off.  I had a feeling this might happen.
 

 

[Kamome]

See @Kiha66 "If you build it, they will come!"

[Kamome]

 I will definitely be ordering some 20s also.

 

I'd like to make an older Akebono formation, as I have an EF71/ED78 combination.  I'll need the base 4 car set, 2x Narone 21s and 7x Nahane 20s. Alternatively, 1 less Narone and 1 more Nahane. I'm so glad Kato are doing a big run of HO the past few years.

 

I'm slightly tempted to get an EF58 too. 

[JR 500系]

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/kato-model/poster/pdf/202104022002436066f9d3a0321/2021-8.pdf

 

The original poster... I'm i'm safe again!  🙂

Edited April 2, 2021 by JR 500系

[Kiha66]

I'd like to make a Sakura formation, so it looks like I'll be needing the base set, 9 Nahane 20s, 2 Narone 21s, and then one oha35.  I wonder if RG Rokko will let me do a preorder to ensure I get the full formation.

[JR 500系]

2 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

I'd like to make a Sakura formation, so it looks like I'll be needing the base set, 9 Nahane 20s, 2 Narone 21s, and then one oha35.  I wonder if RG Rokko will let me do a preorder to ensure I get the full formation.

 

I'm sure they can work something out, Tokonami san is a really great and helpful guy!

[disturbman]

Oh no! Another Tobu series 8000...

[roadstar_na6]

3 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

I wonder if RG Rokko will let me do a preorder to ensure I get the full formation.

Why wouldn't they? Considering you'd be spending ~71.000¥ at them 😄

Edited April 2, 2021 by roadstar_na6

[gavino200]

This one is real? For reals?

 

I’ll order the E2. I actually think the double deckers are a bit ugly, but I want to collect all the Shinkansens, so It’s a must.

 

I wonder why JR called off their little double decker experiment.