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

[railsquid]

On 10/2/2020 at 11:41 PM, railsquid said:

After about 6 years of doing this I've adopted a few principles to prevent structural damage to my house due to excess model train weight, one of those is to stay clear of older stuff which doesn't come fitted with corridor connectors (unless it's something of very specific interest)

 

the reason being that gluing corridor connectors onto old stock is tedious and it's often tricky to get hold of other missing bits.

 

This MicroAce KiHa 91:

 

MicroAce KiHa 91 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

does come with a full set of snap-on corridor connectors, except half of them had fallen off, rendering the entire set as "junk". 'Twas the work of a few moments to unfall them back on.

 

Being a one-off experimental beast with unusual roof-mounted radiators, the set consists of 6 (six) driving cab KiHas (and two KiSaRos), and because MicroAce all 6 KiHas come with working directional lighting (!).

[Yavianice]

2 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

 Only complaint would probably be the missing Nozomi destination logos on the sides..... But i guess that can be fixed by using some Geomatrix decals!

 

Can it? AFAIK it doesn't have "windows" for the destination logo's to be affixed at. At least the ones that are at the end of the train. I'd be interested to know if they changed it in this release!

[Cat]

Haven't had a delivery in some time, we've been waiting for 'the big one' from ZenMarket.  It arrived several days ago, but we didn't have sufficient time together until today to dive in.  We spent a morning shift after breakfast, and another evening shift opening up all the little bubble-wrapped packages of delight.  99 buys, mostly auctions, from late April through late July.  Left ample time on the 120 day free storage clock for slow deliveries to arrive at the warehouse.  One super-straggler didn't arrive until 18 Sept!  Fortunately, I was able to request the parcel to be packed at the end of the 120 day clock and requested them to add the late item when it arrived; and they didn't charge any extra storage fees for that waiting time.  (But they made their money on the 303¥ purchase fee per buy!)

Their warehouse is still running slow with all their volume, and the holidays, so it didn't ship til 1 October, landed on the doorstep 2 October.

The waiting hasn't been bad — it gave the budget a chance to recover from three big months of auctioning, and then the shipping fee, eeks.

Edited October 7, 2020 by Cat

[cteno4]

Wow, that’s a package with a pickle on top as my friends little boy says of anything really grand!

 

jeff

[Cat]

A tiger with wings!

If anyone happens to have extra stickers for the B-Train Fresh Hitachi, please send me a note.  Otherwise, I'll be looking for those when next the siren song of YAJ calls.  That set was a sweet find at 5,800¥ for all seven cars with a Kato power unit and trucks.

[disturbman]

We need a "Oh my god" button.

[JR 500系]

7 hours ago, Cat said:

Haven't had a delivery in some time, we've been waiting for 'the big one' from ZenMarket. 

 

 

That's not a parcel, that's a crate! I bet the delivery came in a semi truck! Very nice haul indeed, saw some really fancy buses in there!

[Cat]

3 hours ago, JR 500系 said:

 

That's not a parcel, that's a crate! I bet the delivery came in a semi truck! Very nice haul indeed, saw some really fancy buses in there!

This pretty well completes our bus fleet (and most all purchases) for Ibaraki Shorty until we get to the physical modules and DCC.  That 120 day storage limit was an awesome and dangerous thing...

ZenMarket is really good at package consolidation; this was about a 50x40x30cm box.  Here is is after we had pulled out all the tiny bundles of vehicles in the first shift and were approaching the boxes layer we opened in the second shift:

[roadstar_na6]

I received my additional Tomix tracks today to complete a layout planned with the stuff @Martijn Meerts gifted to me. For that much stuff the parcel was really small, I was kinda impressed 😄

 

[Cat]

A very nice little package arrived today from Aru Model, sent by boat on 8 August.  Sweet little MoW equipment for the Nakaminato yard.  Some bending and assembly required.  After ordering these, I also ordered a photo-etch bending tool from Micro Mark — ironically, also some bending and assembly required...

[Kiha66]

41 minutes ago, Cat said:

A very nice little package arrived today from Aru Model, sent by boat on 8 August.  Sweet little MoW equipment for the Nakaminato yard.  Some bending and assembly required.  After ordering these, I also ordered a photo-etch bending tool from Micro Mark — ironically, also some bending and assembly required...

 

Looks greats!  How did you order from them?  They've got a few kits I'd like to try my hand at building.

[roadstar_na6]

I think you can message them directly, iirc. If not, just get it through ZenMarket‘s personal shopping service or drop a message to RG-Rokko and ask them to buy stuff for you 🙂

[Cat]

I sent them an email through the Contact Us on their webpage with my request.  Took a little exchange back and forth, was a little slow, they're not in the office regularly.  With air mail letter packets to the US resuming as of yesterday, these can probably be mailed now.  (This boat still beat the first airmail though!  I had a pre-ordered manga waiting at CDJapan that mailed out yesterday.)
http://www.arumo.com/

I tried ZenMarket first, but they couldn't help because AruModel doesn't have a web cart.  Also tried Model Train Stuff, but never heard back on my initial inquiry there.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Cat

[cteno4]

Oooh you got a photo folder! I like them. Much easier to use than the regular clamp down etched metal bending jigs. Parallel pliers also really fast for the little bits. 
 

nice arunine shipped directly, good work contacting them. Airmail should work well for these. I may have to get some more! How did you pay? PayPal?
 

jeff

[Cat]

Yes, I also got some square pliers and narrow needle nose in the same Micro Mark order.

Aru Model sent a Paypal invoice after sorting out the order an shipping details.

[Tony Galiani]

I have several of those Aru Model kits as well as that photo etch bending tool (which I purchased on Jeff's recommendation).  I got my Aru Model kits from Model Trains Plus though the last time I checked he did not have much in stock.

Right now, I am waiting to overcome my fear of messing up before I start on those Aru kits ....

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

[Martijn Meerts]

It's really rather awkward that a bending tool needs bending 😄

 

I don't actually have a bending tool myself, even though I probably have about 25-30 or so brass kits by now. I've not found it necessary for World Kougei kits at least since they fold well without tools. There are some really small fiddly bits now and again that can break off, but no bending tool would solve that problem either.

 

Are you going to glue or solder the kits?

[Cat]

4 minutes ago, Martijn Meerts said:

It's really rather awkward that a bending tool needs bending 😄

 

A bit of a recursive problem there!  But those square nose pliers should do the job for this one.  Not as hard as a blacksmith trying to make the first tongs.
: 3

 

5 minutes ago, Martijn Meerts said:

Are you going to glue or solder the kits?

Not sure yet.  My soldering skills have never been great, but Roxanne has volunteered to do the electrical soldering on the layout and she might want to try these too.

[Martijn Meerts]

20 minutes ago, Cat said:

Not sure yet.  My soldering skills have never been great, but Roxanne has volunteered to do the electrical soldering on the layout and she might want to try these too.

 

The first 1 or 2 kits can be a bit of a pain, as I've learned the hard way 🙂

 

I was never a fan of using flux, but for the kits I'm building I use it almost all the time now. The flux I have is the liquid kind, not the paste. I basically just press the parts together and add a tiny bit of flux. The capillary action of the flux pulls it right in. Then I have small pellets of solid solder, and depending on what I'm soldering I use 1 or 2 of them usually. I just place them in the flux, close to where I want to start soldering. Then apply the heat, wait for the solder to start flowing and then just move the soldering iron along whatever I'm trying to solder.

 

Something that's really helped me as well, I bought some heat resistant silicon thingies I can put on my finger tips. That way I can hold parts in place usually long enough for the whole seam to be soldered. Still gets really hot after a while though 😄

 

I'd definitely try on some scrap brass first though, and most of all, much patience is required. At least the ARU kit doesn't seem to have any white metal or stainless steel bits though, that helps.. A lot ....

 

[Cat]

The work engine does have a bunch of white metal worklamps, but those can be glued on afterwards.  I got an extra bag of the lamps in addition to what comes in the kit, because the Minato Line engine is festooned with them for night work.

[cteno4]

The nice thing about the arunine is they are hard to mess up, pretty much designed with tabs like a sankei building. They actually assemble without glue or soldering but to make more sturdy it’s good to glue or solder some, but not as difficult holding stuff in place as the fancier brass kits.

 

they actually etch nice fold lines into the photo folder so it folds very easily and accurately without anything fancier than a metal ruler! Actually just have to fold the two ends up.

 

jeff

[200系]

The past month was incredibly busy in terms of received packages, so in order to keep my responses manageable I decided to just show everything when my reserved items for September arrived. In the end this made it even less manageable...

Anyway these are the items I received in late August/September:

 

Kato 8620形 with the corresponding Hanawa line freight set (including the additional two-car ReMu 5000 set). I was seriously pondering going for the full setup with triple heading 8620's, but concluded it would be a bit too expensive for my taste.

 

 

Tomix 72系/73系, 8 car formation (Keihin-Tōhoku line 5+3)

Over the years I've grown quite fond of the 63系/72系/73系 design, and have acquired a couple of the Tomix models of this series (Gotemba and Tsurumi line version). However, as they all represented variants of the KuHa 79形 with the post 1954 windshield layout, as well as a post 1962 renewal KuMoHa 73形, I've been hoping for an up to date version with the older layout. And with the latest Tomix model, now I do.

 

 

While the majority of the cars in both formations consist of, updated, former 63系 cars, the KuHa 79形 of the additional 3 car formation is the only car in this set which was actually built as a 72系 car (MoHa 72500~ and KuHa 79300~ were the only new built 72系/73系 cars. KuMoHa 73形/SaHa 78形 and MoHa 72形 (below 72500) were always modified 63系 cars (with some minor exception which are beyond the scope of this specific topic).

This KuHa 79形 was part of the 1954 production batch (1954/1955 production batches), recognizable by the angled windshield (which would, of course, in due time form the basis for the 101系, and later 103系 windshield), though the rest of the car remains largely the same.

 

Tomix has produced this version of the KuHa 79形 a few decades ago, but over the years they have mainly used the 1956 batch version (with integrated headlight) or the revised 1956~1957 KuHa 79形920番台 (aluminum windows/doors, steel plate roof etc) version.

 

 

 

 

To add to my growing collection of old form passenger coaches,

 

Kato 60系, OHa 61形/OHaFu 61形/OHaNi 61形 and a SuYuNi 61形.

I still have to convert add the Kato knuckle couplers to them, so for now just the SuYuNi 61形 will have to represent these 60系 coaches:

 

 

Tomix 205系, Yamanote line 11 car formation, post 1991 addition of a 6 door SaHa 204形 car.

The 205系 was the face of the Yamanote line when my interest in Japanese trains (and Japan in general) started expanding into something much more, more than 2 decades ago (even though I was still in (my last year) of elementary school back then, I feel old all of a sudden). And as such has always occupied a special place in my heart.

As such, 2 generations of rolling stock further, this was another set I had to reserve.

 

 

MicroAce Nankai 6300系 Formations 6313F and 6311F (both 6 car formations).

Another model I've been wanting for some time, as I really like the 6000系/6100系 design as well as the other, older, Nankai designs.

Though I've been trying to keep myself from going  too deep into the entire major private railway rabbit hole, but as the the other major areas of my collection are at a point were I can safely consider them "well rounded" (though there are always more variations to acquire of course😉) I guess my self control is slipping...

 

Nonetheless I got both for good measure😆

 

MicroAce 100系 shinkansen 16 car formation X1 (originally formation X0, delivered in 1985 as the prototype for the 100系 shinkansen), pre 1991 JR Tōkai version (with JR marks and no pantograph covers, JR Tōkai would remove the JR covers on their shinkansen from 1990/1991 onward (only a small orange JR mark is used, above the car number on cars number 1 and 16, from that point on)

Another variation I've always wanted (one can never have enough (100系) Shinkansen in one's collection, right?) and a welcome addition to my shinkansen collection.

 

 

Continuing with the shinkansen theme: Kato 16 car 700系 formation (formation C8)

I've been waiting for the opportunity to get myself a Kato 700系 C formation since at least 2013, however every time there Kato announced a new re-release I had other items reserved, or I wasn't in a position to source the full 16 car formation (I collect/run prototypical formations only, as such not being able to complete the set would present too much of a risk to me). I had almost reserved the Tomix version last year, but as the Kato model represents one of the earliest production batches, which makes it possible to run alongside the final 0系 Yk formations (whenever any of the manufacturers produces a prototypical correct version of these formations...) on the Tōkaidō shinkansen.

 

Ironically, as Kato selected formation C8 for the new release, this was actually one of the formations earmarked to replace the first 100系 formations between late 1999 and 2000.

These were the X formations (X1 (prototype) and X2~X7 (first production batches for the 100系 shinkansen) mentioned above.

 

 

And, complete this post, and to add another shinkansen

Tomix 700系 Arigatō 700 series, late production 16 car C formation (formation C53). I reserved this set before Kato announced the above mentioned re-issue of their C formation mentioned above.

Normally I'm one of those weird people here who doesn't collect painted trains and or one off variations of certain trains, but for this one I made an exception, and to be honest I'm glad I did. Now if only Tomix can re-release their B formation sometime soon...

 

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by 200系

[Kiha66]

Nice haul!  Your excellent explanation and photos had me looking at hobbysearch to pick up a 72 series of my own, before I realized I already own 3 sets of them....

[deathletter]

Okay..... the second group of 21 packages arrived. Payed for shipping costs on 09/29 and arrived on 10/01!

 

Photo 1 - Box (weighed 18.29 pounds)

Photo 2 - Kato Diesels + Micro Ace Diesels and Steam

Photo 3 - Kawai + one Greenmax set

Photo 4 - Kato Fresh fish (both sets/14 cars) (Yes I got a 16 car set in the first order) , A old Kato D51 set + a Tomix Tamu lot in a Casco case. The seller also sent the paper boxes for the cars!  + The only passenger cars that I got. I got them in a lot that included 3 Kumus. I am not sure how much they are worth. They are not motorized.

Photo 5 - Kato cars

Photo 6 - Tomix cars + a few unboxed Micro Ace / Kawai and Tomix cars. The unboxed cars were individually wrapped. One 55000 car has a broken hand rail on top but that was in the auction and not due to shipping.

 

Package 3 has already been consolidated.

 

[nah00]

September goodies, the coal hoppers from Microace are very nice, part of me wishes they did two sets so I could make the 20 car consist with no dupe numbers but my wallet says no. The Sanriku Railway Kamaishi set does have a really nice paint job, only problem is on the white parts on the roof you can see some of the red bleeding through a bit. Didn't get the secret truck this time, hopefully the next set they do like this is a construction site set.