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

[JR East]

52 minutes ago, disturbman said:

That’s surface. And 3.5 months is pretty long for it. It’s usually 2 to 2,5 months from Japan to Germany. Maybe your package went around Spain.

 

and Morroco, Brazil, North Pôle 😁

 

The letter is sent from Hong Kong. 

Edited April 23, 2022 by JR East

[disturbman]

Didn’t know it came from Hong-Kong, even more since you only quoted a cheap option in yen.

 

3.5 months seems impressively long for air mail. @Yavianice and I had a small shipment out of HK and it took the usual time for UPU despite HK being hard hit by Covid.

 

Yours could still have transited by sea seeing the amount of time it spent on the way. Who knows 🤷‍♂️

[JR East]

 

This was stuck on th enveloppe.

 

Densha.me is selling from Japan with a direct shipping from its provider in Hong Kong I suppose. 

 

As it's tagged as 'Gift' ... no custom tax and no VAT. 

Edited April 24, 2022 by JR East

[lighthouse]

Some new closet, cars and a new book 😁

 

 

 

 

Regards, Ulli

[Kamome]

Just ordered some of the YSK military loads, 3x Twin pack Type 87 reconnaissance vehicle loads and 1x Twin pack of the FH70 155mm Howitzer without covers. These are single colour resin moulds. I need to read up on the best way to prime and paint resin moulded objects. If any forum members have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

 

The Type 87s have the cannon removed and have the cannon mantlet wrapped along with the various lights to avoid transit damage. The howitzers have the muzzle wrapped as well as the ammunition loading end. 

 

I had no joy with the manufacturer directly and managed to find some through one of the listed sellers, eventually through Amazon. (The link to their shop is broken from YSK) I'll post once received and let you know whether they are worth the cost. I struggled to find other alternatives so these JGSDF vehicle loads were the only thing in scale and of the right type of equipment that can be successfully transported by rail.

 

They are not hugely expensive, but not cheap either.  Especially for a shortish prototypical length train (8x Chiki flats) but they are made by a very small organisation so don't have the luxury of large production runs. I do hope the moulding is good and once painted up will look impressive.

[JR 500系]

You know that's crazy shipping when you see this on HS page....

 

Like.... the shipping is more than the item!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUCH A BIG BOX!!!! No wonder on the shipping... 

 

GREATLY disappointed when one opened it up....

 

 

LIKE WHAT! the entire box is empty. YES EMPTY.

 

 

LEGIT empty. Thought there was something else but NNNOOOO empty as the box can be 

 

 

Is there a need for such a BIG box for such a small item?

 

 

REALLY got this book JUST for this model... the really rare and exclusive Toei bus model ~

 

 

Proud to own it, but paid a HUGE price for it... 

[JR 500系]

While the pain lingers from HS delivery... this really made a HUGE smile on my face...

 

 

 

BEAUTIFUL pens from Rokko!!! LOVE them 

 

 

Some items from the recent Rokko sale, the Kato Kiha-122, and MOST importantly... a VERY special item in the while box 

 

 

Even the Bandai items were individually wrapped ~~ 🙂

 

 

What's in the white box you say. what's so special you say.

 

 

Any clues yet?  😛

 

 

I dont usually buy watches, and not a huge fan of them... but this one REALLY stole my heart... The 500 series is simply my fav train of all time, and what better to be able to look at it all the time (and the time, pan intended) 

 

 

Literally on time!!! 

 

Special shout out to the really special guys from Rokko for assisting me on this special purchase that is otherwise IMPOSSIBLE to get from overseas!!1  

[Wolf]

Awsome watch! Congratulations on that purchase!

[railsquid]

Delayed Kato KuMoYa 90 turned up the other week:

 

Kato KuMoYa 90 by Rail Squid, on Flickr

[Englehart]

got this EF64-55

Tomix 2108

 

are these good comparing to the new ones (EF64-1000)

 

 

 

also Kato C11 (2002)

 

[Wolf]

May starts early with the first of approx 3 shippings I expect this month. Just a bunch of buildings and some scenery.

[disturbman]

8 hours ago, Englehart said:

are these good comparing to the new ones (EF64-1000)

What do you mean? Compared to the newer models? As long as you are happy and they run correctly, they should be. This is quite an old model, you can see it from the grab irons, they are molded directly on the shell instead of being separately fitted parts.

[railsquid]

58 minutes ago, disturbman said:

9 hours ago, Englehart said:

are these good comparing to the new ones (EF64-1000)

What do you mean? Compared to the newer models? As long as you are happy and they run correctly, they should be. This is quite an old model, you can see it from the grab irons, they are molded directly on the shell instead of being separately fitted parts.

 

FWIW that model is listed in my 1991 and 2002 Tomix catalogues, so most likely spring worm drive. Should be reliable enough, if a little noisy.

 

The EF64-1000 is effectively a different locomotive class, longer body than the EF64-0 series and different body side arrangement. I think it was originally supposed to be an actual different class, but ended up being classified as EF64 to prevent the railway union getting annoyed about drivers having to learn a different loco type, or something.

[Kamome]

My JGSDF chiki loads arrived along with the newest Kato release of the EF60-500. I’ve actually been waiting for an early blue train loco to go with the 10-367 Sakura set released in 1999. Annoyingly I missed out on some LED updated light units for the 20 series end cars. They were available one minute, all gone the next.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Kamome

[Wolf]

Package 2 arrived, just some more Station Platforms 🙂

[Kamome]

Made an impromptu trip to the Chikushino area. Thought it would be rude not to drop into Tam Tam on the way home to get some appropriate JGSDF colours.

 

Tam Tam doesn’t seem as well stocked for n gauge train sets as it once was, although perhaps their stock holding has had to be reduced due to lack of visits throughout the pandemic. Their offering of other models and RC seems pretty strong and they actually had quite good stock in Kato and Tomix HO.

 

A fruitful stop as along with paint, I also found the illusive LED light boards for the 20 series end coaches. My 10-367 set still had original bulbs so a nice upgrade. I was also tempted to purchase the 651 series interior lighting kit as unsure how long this will be available. Again my original set had factory fitted bulb lighting throughout the 11 cars despite me already upgrading the lighting boards on the end cars some years ago. 

 

Fitted 20 series and the reliability of the electrical connections needs some bug testing but the taillights and train marks are now visible without 80% throttle. 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Kamome

[Englehart]

On 5/2/2022 at 7:00 PM, disturbman said:

What do you mean? Compared to the newer models? As long as you are happy and they run correctly, they should be. This is quite an old model, you can see it from the grab irons, they are molded directly on the shell instead of being separately fitted parts.

my bad i mean comapring it to a Microace EF64 😄

[disturbman]

😄 You need to be more precise.

 

Seeing the age of your Tomix, your MA is most likely better. Details will be finer, with separately fitted parts, and the motor will be newer. I have own various MA locs and they all performed well.

[railsquid]

Yeah, a MicroAce EF64 will certainly be better than the old Tomix model, but a newer Tomix or Kato EF64 will be better still.

 

For reference, the two MA EF64 0 series in my collection.

 

Older MA model, ca. 2001:

 

Microace EF64 (EF64 3) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

Newer MA model, ca. 2007:

 

MicroAce EF64 (EF64-42) by Rail Squid, on Flickr

 

The older one (as is so often the case with MA locos) is a pain to dismantle for repair.

[Englehart]

hopefully in the future I can buy the latest if my bidget allows

 

seems my MA is the 2001 based on the grab handles

 

[Arctic]

Package arrived from RG-Rokko today containing my preorder of Greenmax 113-7700 Series in Kansai Renewal 'Cafe Au Lait' livery and a couple of magazines 🙂

 

 

 

 

[railsquid]

16 hours ago, Englehart said:

hopefully in the future I can buy the latest if my bidget allows

 

seems my MA is the 2001 based on the grab handles

 

 

That's an EF64-1000, different beast to the EF64-0 in my picture. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think MA ever upgraded their EF64-1000 body shell like they did for the EF64-0; the catalogues I have show models dated between ca. 2000 and 2010 with the same moulded "grab handles", and I don't recall ever seeing one on sale.

Edited May 5, 2022 by railsquid

[disturbman]

23 hours ago, railsquid said:

MicroAce EF64 will certainly be better than the old Tomix model, but a newer Tomix or Kato EF64 will be better still.

I guess it all depends on the age of the model. But I don't remember noticing any difference in running quality between my MA locomotives and Tomix locomotives for models producing between 2009/2010 and 2020. But it's been a while since I ran them together.

 

14 hours ago, Arctic said:

Package arrived from RG-Rokko today containing my preorder of Greenmax 113-7700 Series in Kansai Renewal 'Cafe Au Lait' livery and a couple of magazines 🙂

 

I still don't know if I agree with the "café au lait" color, to me it looks more like an inside out milk chocolate Magnum.

I'm more partial to JR West Hiroshima yellow, but your fleet looks really good. Maybe you need another Macha color train, 115 or 117 🙂 

[Arctic]

2 hours ago, disturbman said:

I still don't know if I agree with the "café au lait" color, to me it looks more like an inside out milk chocolate Magnum.

I'm more partial to JR West Hiroshima yellow, but your fleet looks really good. Maybe you need another Macha color train, 115 or 117 🙂 

 

Milk chocolate magnums > café au lait, though I'm not sure either is perfect as they don't incorporate the blue...

 

I actually have a 117 in matcha colour, just sitting in a bay platform not in shot! However I was thinking of getting a 113 in shonan colour, since those were still operating in Kyoto area as late as 2016 according to some raillab pictures, and it would be fun to recreate this frankenstein consist: https://raillab.jp/photo/40625. I have quite a lot of reservations that are releasing in the next couple of months though: half a dozen kiha 54, 261 series, 683 series, the E4 Goodbye Max and some Kiha 110s so it will have to wait. Might pick up one at the end of the year as none of the releases announced post-august so far really interest me.

[disturbman]

42 minutes ago, Arctic said:

I was thinking of getting a 113 in shonan colour, since those were still operating in Kyoto area as late as 2016 according to some raillab pictures, and it would be fun to recreate this frankenstein consist: https://raillab.jp/photo/40625.

Love that consist. You should definitely do that 🙂

Looks like the first cab-car is a non renewaled car. The windows are the old style and there are still air intakes on the roof.