What did you order or the post deliver? (Japanese N Gauge)

[JR 500系]

Got the KIHA 120 (Oitsu Line) and finally the N'EX add-on.

 

AAhhh yes have been waiting for these 2 sets for a long time... Remember when Tomix cancelled the Otio Line initially and finally it is back again. And a long time for that NEX add'on too.

 

Ordered mine, but mine is still at the post waiting to be collected.

[katoftw]

This week's haul.

 

 

Yufuin no Mori - this is a very good looking model in person, pics don't do it justice.

 

 

Easily seen fault

 

 

Kiha 71 runs like a dream.  Wouldn't think it was a 9/10 year old model.

 

The Otsu 800 runs like crap.  Needs alot of juice to make it go.  Noisey motor.  And one end cab lighting is off more than it is on.

 

The N700-7000 with it's 7th car issues, also runs crap.  But not as bad.  And is a little more noisey than a normal model should be.

 

Looks like I've been suckered twice.  Guessing retailers sell online to more the items they know have faults.  Guessing when the auction listing has "if faulty, please return to manufacturer for repairs", I should have been weary.  No face to face contact.

Edited September 30, 2015 by katoftw

[JR 500系]

Nice Haul!

 

I guess luck comes into play. But most sellers in Japan is still very much fair and just as compared to those from China... I wasn't even told of any missing parts on my Toei 300R only to find missing couplers and even head/ tail light assemblies!

 

Good find on that Yufuin! I'll be interested to know the differences between the MA one and the Tomix one ~ :)

 

Got my 2 boxes today too, but too busy to post photos nor open them today. Will do so tomorrow ~~

[Kabutoni]

Today, I spent too much money... I went to Machida to check out if Bunkyodo Hobby had the Kanto Railway KiHa 2100s cheaper than TamTam, but to no avail. They did however have a reprint of an 80s book from Neko Publishing on the company though, so I picked that up for collector's sake. It definitely contains some interesting data, like a blueprint of a KiHa 0 type I want to create in 3D.

 

After that it was off to TamTam where I got the freshly delivered KiHa 2100s, as well as a power unit (I think I have a spare here, but more is better), TN couplers and cheap Kato wheel sets to experiment with (they're 1/4th the price of Tomytec upgrade sets).

 

 

For now, I have to lay low until the credit is level again and I have picked up my MicroAce E501 5-car set I have reserved for the JMRA. This is starting to be a serious West-Ibaraki-oriented (Chikusei-shi) collection. Maybe I should slowly give up on Keisei, as my feelings towards that region grow stronger every time I visit the place. Would be cheaper as well. :P

[katoftw]

Nice Haul!

 

I guess luck comes into play. But most sellers in Japan is still very much fair and just as compared to those from China... I wasn't even told of any missing parts on my Toei 300R only to find missing couplers and even head/ tail light assemblies!

Yes and no.  It is not like I'm buying from a known dodgy source seller.  I'm buying from legit Japanese businesses that even have brick and mortar shop fronts.

 

Long ago I got a new Kato 321 series new from a yahoo seller.  Had a broken tight lock coupler and a missing dummy coupler.

 

Now this Keihan 800 series was described as new, but had issues.  Hopefully I can fix this, as my 6yo has fallen in love with it.

 

The N700-7000 was actually second hand, not new as I previously posted.  But was listed as "Grade A" with lights and motor tested "OK".  Clearly no grade A as a shell is faulty, and with the noise the motor makes, dunno how they class it as okay.

 

I have never had an issue buying directly from a shop with incoming train sets.  Like I said, not worth rolling the dice on new sets on yahoo from now on.  As yahoo seems to be the way to offload bad new sets.

Edited October 1, 2015 by katoftw

[kvp]

 

 As yahoo seems to be the way to offload bad new sets.

I think as always on every online site, it's worth to check the seller. It you are buying from a more shady or unknown seller or someone who doesn't have any feedback, then it's a risk. Trustable sellers could be more expensive, but it could worth it in the long run. Also if possible, try to buy from sites where you can get a refund on damaged, broken or lost items from the site owners.

[JR 500系]

First parcel is one from Ami Ami!

 

Nothing much, just some small items at really good prices:

 

1) Tomix TN couplers grey for my Kazeko and Setouchi Marine View

2) Kato Probox as they were on discount (Can never have too many cars on the roads ~)

3) Tomix Power couplers (also on discount) - I'm converting my 100 series to all power couplers, and they seem to work well for now!

4) Tomytec Bus Collection Local Trip 2 Shikoku. This has to be one of the 'lesser' attractive ones to me... Just getting for completion of series

5) Casco Urethane for 10 cars

6) Kato 10-890 E231-500 Yamanote Line 4-car Basic. So my Kato Yamanote went kapu with the motor not running and lights were dim... So I reckon it's time to upgrade to a newer set, and at a good price I cant resist...

 

Another parcel later from our good friend at Loco1 ~~  :)

[Das Steinkopf]

 

The Otsu 800 runs like crap.  Needs alot of juice to make it go.  Noisey motor.  And one end cab lighting is off more than it is on.

 

That's a bit sad to hear, I have both of the MA Keihan Keishin 800 Series and they run quite nicely.

[mrp]

3) Tomix Power couplers (also on discount) - I'm converting my 100 series to all power couplers, and they seem to work well for now!

 

Really?  Is that possible?  What parts do you need to buy?

 

Do the converted ones run as well as the new models?

 

I already bought two sets of 92987’s to replace my old 92286’s - but if the old ones can be upgraded at reasonable cost then that’s better than sitting around gathering dust.

[enodenlover]

A few days ago I received the Tomytec Nagoya Ry. series 3800 EMU set that I pre-ordered from Hobby Search a couple of months ago. Nice train but unfortunately it arrived with one of the roof ventilators missing from the lead car so back it goes for exchange. Oh well... 

 

Update 10/1/15: Last week I received the missing ventilator from Hobby Search ( thanks guys ) and now everything's okay.

Edited October 1, 2015 by enodenlover

[Welshbloke]

The Otsu 800 runs like crap.  Needs alot of juice to make it go.  Noisey motor.  And one end cab lighting is off more than it is on.

 

 

The headlights are probably dirty wheels or oxidised contacts. Try cleaning the wheels and pickups, then work your way up the circuit. I've had a couple of sets with this problem and both behaved impeccably after a good clean and some careful bending of contacts.

 

The motor - try taking the bogies off, putting a drop of washing up liquid on them, and turning the wheels by hand to work it into the gearing, then rinse thoroughly. It's a surprisingly powerful degreaser which doesn't harm plastic. If the motor is an open frame design you can use the same technique, unless you can pull the brushes out in which case you need to clean them and their holders along with the commutator (rolled-up kitchen roll is good for cleaning inside brush holders, use lighter fluid as a solvent to deal with carbonised gunk). Dry everything and reassemble with a tiny drop of oil on each motor bearing.

 

I spent a chunk of today doing this to a Tomix 211 Series which turns out to be three of the four cars in the 92932 limited edition set. Also replaced a blown bulb with a suitably rated LED. The motor is a lot less prone to growling and screeching now and will tick over at low controller settings.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Welshbloke

[katoftw]

Yes I was gonna do all those things.  I'm hoping with the MA Keihan 800 that is has just taken a heavy knock and everything just need to be reassembled. ie axles and light boards.

 

Dunno about the Tomix N700.  At least the Tomix I can get a replacement motor unit for.

 

edit//  Pulled apart both trains tonight.  The 800 had all the copper wires all crossed up for the direction lights.  Completely dismantled the end car.  Light seem to work fine when connected directly a 9V battery.  So issue isn't light board.

 

Motor car copper stripe had some oxidisation present.  But not levels I wouldn't be concerned about.  The motor spins freely by hand.  Wouldn't run on a 9V though, so cannot test until tomorrow.

 

N700 had so much grease everywhere.  The 4 joints on the axles had spun a lot of grease everywhere.  was on the metal chassis, on the copper strips and on the insulation fabric/rubbers.  Removed a lot of excess grease.  Motor spun freely and quietly on a 9V battery.  Will do proper testing tomorrow.

Edited October 2, 2015 by katoftw

[JR 500系]

 

Really?  Is that possible?  What parts do you need to buy?

 

Do the converted ones run as well as the new models?

 

I already bought two sets of 92987’s to replace my old 92286’s - but if the old ones can be upgraded at reasonable cost then that’s better than sitting around gathering dust.

 

 

Hi mrp san!

 

Well, I think that might just work. I've installed on 3 cars for now on 92624 and they seem ok. Because 92624 was a really old model and didn't even come with springs for the middle cars, so while adding springs I took the chance to try to convert them to power couplers also. Let me try during the weekend and will post a separate topic on this.

 

 

So I went ahead to open the 2nd parcel, mainly pre-orders from Loco1:

 

1) Tomytec Ibaraki Girls & Panzer bus No.3 - Nice looking bus!

2) Kiha-120 Otio Line - The graphics on this cute little runner is really nice!

3) Kato 287 series Kuroshio 3-car add-on. - Now I complete making my mixed formation of Kounotori + Kuroshio!

4) Tomix E3-2000 Tsubasa New colour - Finally! I love this E3! It's really colourful, and most likely the best coloured shinkasen! The logos of the 4 seasons were really well done! Sweet!   

 

Special thanks to Loco 1 for the free posters, and taking the effort to go to the post on Saturday. Kudos for the parcel being able to arrive on Monday across the weekends!

[katoftw]

Yes I was gonna do all those things.  I'm hoping with the MA Keihan 800 that is has just taken a heavy knock and everything just need to be reassembled. ie axles and light boards.

 

Dunno about the Tomix N700.  At least the Tomix I can get a replacement motor unit for.

 

edit//  Pulled apart both trains tonight.  The 800 had all the copper wires all crossed up for the direction lights.  Completely dismantled the end car.  Light seem to work fine when connected directly a 9V battery.  So issue isn't light board.

 

Motor car copper stripe had some oxidisation present.  But not levels I wouldn't be concerned about.  The motor spins freely by hand.  Wouldn't run on a 9V though, so cannot test until tomorrow.

 

N700 had so much grease everywhere.  The 4 joints on the axles had spun a lot of grease everywhere.  was on the metal chassis, on the copper strips and on the insulation fabric/rubbers.  Removed a lot of excess grease.  Motor spun freely and quietly on a 9V battery.  Will do proper testing tomorrow.

Update:-

 

Got all the lights and motor running on the 800.  So quiet running it doesn't sound like it is running at all.  Still requires a lot of juice to getup to speed.  Are these geared really stupidly low?  Or should I hit the contacts with some cleaner?

 

Got the lights all fixed up.  Nil flickering at all.  Then realized one of the underbody running lights wasn't on.  Mainly cos I was running the train in the opposite direction.  Then found this...

 

 

N700 has reduced motor noise.  Still not happy with the volume if the engine noise, still much better than it was though.  Just need to sort out some replacement shells for the seventh car now.

 

p.s.  While playing train today.  My 6yo broke the roof air con unit of my Kiha 140 Isaburo-Shinpei.  I think I man cried for a few seconds.  At least that is an easy fix.

Edited October 3, 2015 by katoftw

[Densha]

Got the lights all fixed up.  Nil flickering at all.  Then realized one of the underbody running lights wasn't on.  Mainly cos I was running the train in the opposite direction.  Then found this...

 

PA030237.JPGPA030238.JPG

What exactly is "this"? I see a picture of a dissembled Keihan 800, but I've got no idea what parts matter for fixing the light issue now. Can you explain? The lights of my Keihan 800 are also flickering, so I'd like to fix it as well. :)

[katoftw]

There are 2 light boards in the end cabs.  One light board is for the directional lights and destination boards (as per most normal models).  The second light board is just for the underbody lights.

 

What is pictured is the second light board for the underbody light.  While the loose connector would sit in the board hole fine, it was not solid in there and would move around.  I also found the connectors for the main light board had been bent while in assembly and required a little bending to make stronger contact with the nickel strips.

 

This is what you'll need to do if you have the main board flickering.  If is easily accessed once the shell is off.  The second light board is hidden in the bowels of the chassis, and will require you to pull it completely apart like I did.

Edited October 3, 2015 by katoftw

[Welshbloke]

A shot of my 165 Series work in progress, as I now have a fair number of the coaches needed:

 

 

The remaining coaches to complete it (powered 165 Series set and another SaRo 165) are somewhere in the post, beginning to worry slightly about the latter as it has been somewhere between Japan and here for a while now.

 

Also ordered a MoHa 152/153 pair from an ebay dealer and Modeltrainplus respectively, couldn't pass them by at those prices and they're the old individual versions with different running numbers to the 10-883/4 sets. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, it'll either involve a pair of KuHa 153s and towing the resulting dummy set with a KuMoYuNi or using them to extend a 153 Series pack, depending on what crosses my path.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Welshbloke

[Welshbloke]

And a slightly out of focus shot of the powered 165 Series set (with KuMoHa 83 in tow, using the KuHa from the dummy set to allow it to couple up):

 

 

Usual Kato performance, cruised away smoothly straight from the box! The second SaRo arrived yesterday so I now have the whole set, will take photos or video when I next set the big elevated oval up.

[Das Steinkopf]

My latest batch of goodies from Nariichi has arrived, Tomix HG DD51, Kato EH200 and Taki 1000.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

A new, and again slightly off-beam, arrival for Kanjiyama. A Tomix KiHa 187-500 'Super Inaba', which although is a little too JR West for me, looks rather impressive. Certainly looks in-keeping at Kanjiyama (along with another JR West exile).

 

[Kabutoni]

Almost forgotten during those server outages, but not lost.

 

 

Two kits I got for my T-Trak module. Because of the decline of social project buildings in our neighbourhood (due to being in disuse) in favour of family homes, I thought I'd go for a danchi style module. Two three-floor appartment buildings and bicycle parkings to go with them. Maybe I'll decide to get rid of the single railway track under the bridge and go for a small stream with a park instead, that runs in between the two blocks. If I still want to go with the railway, I'll have to cut the buildings up to make everything fit. We'll see what comes up...

[Welshbloke]

After a run-in with aforementioned random ebay dealer (who turned out to have listed ten 4020 MoHa 152s when he didn't actually have any, in contravention of ebay TOS) I'm waiting for a Paypal refund, after which I'll be buying the one Modeltrainplus have in stock. I know, I know, I should have looked at them first but I only came across the site while looking for a MoHa 153 to go with it...

 

Also now waiting for Kato Yamanote Line 103 Series stock - the pair of ATC-fitted KuHas and the four car add-on set. Will be ordering the powered set in late December or January. Might sound an odd way around to do it but I found both add-on sets discounted, so pounced now to save a few quid overall.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Welshbloke

[Kabutoni]

Darnit. I said I wasn't going to buy any more models, but unfortunately, I stumbled across a super cheap (¥3400) 4-car Keikyū 1500 GreenMax pre-built kit on Yahoo! Auctions... It should be arriving this week or so. I'll probably drown it in IPA and repaint it into a fictional livery. Maybe revive my Shibayama Railway idea?

[Kabutoni]

That was extremely fast.

 

As soon as it arrived, wrapped in some bubble foil and a bag, I took it apart. It's a kit made by an amateur, very much. It looks like everything is tagged together with super glue and not the more reliable plastic solvent, so it's rather easy to make everything come apart. The roofs were luckily not glued together with the bodies. The big problem will become removing the windows without damaging the visible parts. I think I'll dump the bodyshells in IPA anyway, together with the windows and see if the glue lets go, as the glue is on the paintwork and not directly on the plastic.

 

 

Meh. It's not much, but for ¥3400 with all parts and a power unit, I can't really complain :)

[JR 500系]

Hey Toni san that is a good catch! The motor alone is almost that price, and throw in the other parts as a freebie!

 

 

So I received another parcel from MTP a few days ago, containing:

 

1) Tomytec Bus Collection Sapporo Terminal 3 car set - These 3-in-1 sets are being quite a norm and they definitely appeal to me as an avid Tomytec bus collector.

 

2) Tomytec Lupin Bus wrapping - This bus is really well done with its sleek black painting and all! Will be one of the candidates that will go around on the tomytec bus system

 

3) Tomix Shell station - Yes this is just a re-painting of the other stations that were released earlier on, but Shell is still the mst well-known fuel company right?

 

4) Tomytec Shell trucks - To accompany the above station. Also, this is the first tanker trailer that I have... It's a tad too long to my liking actually... Wonder how the driver manages the turns ?

 

5) Tomix Kiha 187-500 Super Inaba 2-car set - A re-release from a former set, I finally got a chance to get this set again. While it's not a real head-turner, it does look pretty nice with it's super flat face~

 

6) Kato N'EX Add-on set - Finally, my Kato N'EX is complete after a long wait! The N'EX look REALLY good!

 

7) Kato Hankyu 9300 series 8-car set - Now THIS is a head-turner! I never expected the Hankyu 9300 to look this good! It's really nice in its sleek marooned all and the fantastic details such as the 'All Ladies car' is a nice touch!

 

8) A replacement shell for the Kato 313-1700 just recently released.