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

[MeTheSwede]

I got a shipment from Zenmarket today with various stuff (both model train related and not) that included what's probably my best auction bargain so far. Three fishing boats and a port building for 2300 yen. 

 

 

 

I know, not much compared to 27 takis, but to me it was a great haul. 😁

 

 

[MeTheSwede]

On 11/7/2021 at 11:58 AM, Kamome said:

A very sharp scalpel, a metal rule for cutting. A pair of good tweezers to apply them but also a toothpick/cocktail stick will help to nudge them straight if they sag. 

 

I assume I'm in the minority prefering to use a see through plastic ruler. I want to clearly see what I'm doing. Eventually the edge of the ruler will get too damaged, but that's a slow process (atleast with the knife I'm using) and plastic rulers are cheap.

 

Also I've only occassionally used tweezers for application when it was in a hard to reach area. Otherwise I'm using my fingers. What's best obviously depends on ones finger skills and tweezer skills.

 

[cteno4]

Yep I use my tiny clear plex triangles! They are getting harder and harder to find and usually more expensive. Drafting just ain’t done much anymore! I rarely Nick mine. I do find them like pencils, matte knives, and xacto handles and they continually disappear. I think the carpet people build pyramid houses with them.

 

i actually prefer xacto #11 blades over scalpel blades. I’ve used scalpel blades a ton on bio tissues and they are great at that but the points on most are not designed for that tiny cutting interface on paper or stickers. Xacto #11 come down to a very tiny, sharp point. It’s does make them brittle for snapping if too much pressure is applied, but you don’t need a lot to cut a sticker, just want just enough to go thru the sticker and a bit into a good sub surface material that won’t dull blade too much like a self healing matte. I’ve found the new xacto Z blades (apparently zirconium coated) to actually stay sharper longer. You can sharpen a bit with a few careful strokes on a diamond hone and a strop (any tiny-tiny curl will catch when cutting paper). Worth the bit more for 100 pack of the Z blades. And once it’s getting dull toss the blade as dull blade just makes life really hard to do nice cuts! Fine cutting just takes some practice just cut on the excess a few times to get the hang of just the right pressure and then it’s easy!
 

very fine tweezers are great, especially for the tiny stickers. The pointiest you can find. Easy to tease off the sticker from the backing but have minimal contact with adhesive and easy to place just in the right position.

 

Then I generally use a burnisher to make sure the sticker is firmly in place. These are little rods with a ball at the end. Let’s you gently rub/push down all around the sticker to get the adhesive firmly stuck. You can get these cheap on ebay or at a nail supply place (fingernails that is) where they are called dotting tools as you can make little dots of paint with them. Very handy to have and perfect for doing the rub off dry transfers for car numbers and such.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363544921376?hash=item54a4f74520:g:9XUAAOSwEK9UGp7Y

 

cheers,

 

jeff

Edited November 9, 2021 by cteno4

[ED75-775]

Another package arrived from Zenmarket today:

Three assorted catalogs for reference, another MaNi 60 luggage van, a SuHa 35 coach and a new shell for my Rhaetian locomotive which was purchased on my behalf from Kato’s web shop. The original had wonky end numbers; this one, I’m happy to report, is much straighter.

 

This haul now brings my total Japanese catalog collection up to 19 (1 Greenmax, 8 Tomix and 10 Kato), still a ways to go before it catches my Märklin catalog collection! In evidence I submit the following:

Before I went to Japan in 2019 I only believed that I would religiously collect Märklin and nothing else... then I found a cheap Kato 3009 at Popondetta Kyoto Æon Mall and the rest is history.

 

Fear not, I still maintain a healthy love of Märklin and my next Zenmarket package will contain yet another locomotive from that hallowed brand.😁

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by ED75-775

[ED75-775]

17 hours ago, cteno4 said:

I generally use a burnisher to make sure the sticker is firmly in place. These are little rods with a ball at the end. Let’s you gently rub/push down all around the sticker to get the adhesive firmly stuck. You can get these cheap on ebay or at a nail supply place (fingernails that is) where they are called dotting tools as you can make little dots of paint with them. Very handy to have and perfect for doing the rub off dry transfers for car numbers and such.

You could also try an embossing version available from craft stores. My mother happens to be a crafter, and had one going spare which she kindly gave me. It has two different sized heads so is really very useful for dealing with different sizes and different locations.

[cteno4]

Yep all the same tool. Also know as a ball tool for clay/wax work. Als the same!  I just always revert to the nail decoration stuff as the exact same tool like this sold for a number of things will usually be the cheapest when sold as a nail decoration tool! You can get a big set of them and a few useful other little spatulas and such as small clay tool sets for $5-15 at the local craft store or online.

having a few head sizes is very handy. There are really big ones as well for larger stuff to mash a larger surface and avoid from making indentations from small heads.

 

i guess one warning I did not give with these is not to press too hard, especially with the tiny tips as you can create indents in the sticker. 
 

i also use some brass rectangle stock and just press the end down on the whole sticker for very small ones to put pressure on the whole sticker at once and not move it around. But only works on smaller stickers that are not in recesses, but it prevents the sticker from moving as much when it’s getting smooshed down all the way. Even then with small stickers they sometimes move a little as you try to get them fully stick down so have to be more careful with the little ones. the thicker the sticker stock (like Tomytec buildings) the more prone to moving usually.
 

It’s a balance but playing with some of the trim of the sticker can help you determine the best method and give you practice and figure out what works with a particular sticker stock as there are quite a few different ones with our usual suspects.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Enough containers to complete my Toyota train, and my first GreenMax train ever. It's a little beauty.

 

 

[cteno4]

Containers, check. Koki loop now…

 

jeff

[Madsing]

 

5 hours ago, gavino200 said:

first GreenMax train ever

Very nice tie tampering machine! You are smarter than me. I have purchased this one https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/10411970

but I still have to assemble (and paint) it!

[gavino200]

5 hours ago, Madsing said:

 

Very nice tie tampering machine! You are smarter than me. I have purchased this one https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/m/10411970

but I still have to assemble (and paint) it!

 

Wow! That looks like a great project!

[cplchanb]

The first of 3 Kato 500 series Shinkansen sets came in the mail yesterday. Looking forward to running the full Nozomi set! 

Also incoming is the Nex E259, E281 Haruka, 0 series green kodama and preorders for the kato e4 and n700s coming next year!

[JR 500系]

Oh dear. the recent HS sale has pushed me down the slippery slope which i had already climbed out from.

 

 

3378 yen for DHL shipping for this type of a box. not too economical if i may say... 

 

 

Yeah those who know me will be like... didnt you sold that train away sometime back??? 

 

 

Not sure what happened here. Could be the camera angle or lighting effect 

 

 

 

 

Yeah i'm giving excuses to myself. This set has those fall protection thingies!

Edited November 12, 2021 by JR 500系

[lighthouse]

Today arrived from Mandarake

 

 

[bill937ca]

Kato's My Tram Blue arrived today from Plaza Japan (eBay). Shipped October 30th by Economy Air.

Edited November 17, 2021 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

A bigger box arrived from Plaza Japan's website. Shipped November 2 by Economy Air. This order included:

 

Tamiya Foam Board 3mm thick B4

Tomix 5536 Selector Box

Tomytec Professional Building

Tomytec Komono Lighted Outdoor Accessories

Tomix 5812 Branching Cord

 

 

Also included (given the large size of the foam board) was a Tomytec Diorama Collection catalog.

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by bill937ca

[railsquid]

Found a new junk dealer who set me up with a hit of Tomix E231-0:

 

Tomix E231-0 (Chuo-Sobu Line) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

as quite a long time ago I acquired the 3-car starter pack and expanded it to 6 cars with similar junk purchases, but due to an ongoing brain malfunction didn't notice I'd padded it out with three SaHas, leaving it with a single MoHa, which would be a trifle underpowered especially when climbing up out of Ochanomizu so have been on the lookout for replacements. Happily this came fitted with TN couplers.

[Arctic]

Some goodies from RG-Rokko:

 

 

Twilight Express EF81 + 24 Series coaches with a nice case, JR Hokkaido Kiha 40-1700s, some track and a couple of buildings 

[gavino200]

1 hour ago, Arctic said:

Some goodies from RG-Rokko:

 

 

Twilight Express EF81 + 24 Series coaches with a nice case, JR Hokkaido Kiha 40-1700s, some track and a couple of buildings 

 

C'mon, open the box and show us the Twilight!!

[Arctic]

1 hour ago, gavino200 said:

 

C'mon, open the box and show us the Twilight!!

 

I did do a short running of it with some other JR Kosei line stuff on my temp layout earlier (note: no detailing parts attached yet!) :

 

 

[katoftw]

Twilight Express is one of my favourite trains. Very unique loco hauled passenger train.

[ED75-775]

Back on the N scale front again, the latest arrival will (most likely) be a Kato 3028 ED75. Or rather, bits of one. It was a junker with a battered body shell but a good chassis... the reason for purchase being, I need either a replacement plow or replacement chassis to get an existing ED75 in my collection running again after one of the plows took offence to being introduced (accidentally!) to a Post Office floor in Kyoto.

 

Since I can't find replacement plows anywhere and I can always use some spare parts, the easiest way to solve this is the wreck the junker, toss the bits I don't want (the shell and one broken pantograph) switch the chassis over and then hold the bits I don't need as spares. Bingo, one loco back in service, another one rehoused and a selection of spare parts to boot. Phew! Did everyone manage to keep up with that convoluted logic?

[James-SNMB]

I picked up this "new-old-stock" Kato building from a new local shop a couple of weeks ago.

 

... That's correct. A real honest to goodness brand new model train shop opened in my city! I thought it was impossible. We have one other hobby shop that sells trains, but it's not their main business. I thought we were a bit underserved in a city of over a million people, and just assumed habits had firmly switched to online shopping. 

 

The new shop is compact, but densely packed, with a good n scale selection. And the used/consignment section is growing, so that's exciting. Some interesting items, like 3 more of these buildings, a tomytec moving bus system starter set, and some unitram road plates. Great prices on unitrack too; about the same as from HobbySearch but without the shipping. I'll probably have to accelerate my switch from unitrack accordingly!

Edited November 21, 2021 by James-SNMB

[cteno4]

That’s great new James! If good prices and service, I think hobby shops may be in that niche type of store folks will pay a bit more to go in and hang out and just support the hobby. Wish it was the case here… we are left with one garage Kato dealer, good prices and flexible but no real store (well a pegboard wall in his garage) and a few hobby shops that really don’t cater much to trains anymore.

 

cherrs,

 

jeff

[James-SNMB]

It's a black swan event, no doubt! Hopefully he is successful. I will do my part, and it sounds like people are traveling from elsewhere in the province to visit without having even had an official grand opening or website launch, so that's promising.

 

 

[cteno4]

That’s super encouraging! Hopefully a little community forms around it and if the guy is sharp he will figure out ways to encourage that and do well!

 

jeff