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

[railsquid]

3 hours ago, brill27mcb said:

 

It's too bad that Kato designed the ends of the new 2-axle tram motorized chassis so that it does not support the couplings on the Kato-Lemke motor-trailer pairs. It seems so short-sighted, given Kato's usual high level of thought that goes into their products. Otherwise I would be buying a lot of the new powered chassis to improve operation over plastic frogs in points and crossings.

 

Yeah, I noticed that after I got home :(. Might be solvable with surgery but that will be Yet Another Future Project.

 

3 hours ago, cteno4 said:

KFC on the way home squid?

 

Whole pre-cooked "organic" (whatever that means) from a local shop 😄

[bill937ca]

3 hours ago, brill27mcb said:

 

It's too bad that Kato designed the ends of the new 2-axle tram motorized chassis so that it does not support the couplings on the Kato-Lemke motor-trailer pairs. It seems so short-sighted, given Kato's usual high level of thought that goes into their products. Otherwise I would be buying a lot of the new powered chassis to improve operation over plastic frogs in points and crossings.

 

Rich K.

Maybe that is because the Pocket Line trams are attached with body mounted drawbars rather than couplers.

Edited December 26, 2022 by bill937ca

[railsquid]

The problem is that while the Hiroshima tram and the German/European models have essentially the same bodyshell, the Hiroshima chassis has holes for the end "guard" attachments; the European models don't have that, but do have a sort of central "buffer" and attachment underneath for a drawbar. In an ideal world Kato would have come up with either modular chassis end parts, or different mouldings for the plastic which covers the motor... Ah well. I imagine with some surgery it would be possible to transplant the requisite bits from the chassis, but that will have to be carefully planned.

[Giugiaro]

A few things kept at home for opening on Christmas day.

Not all the stuff I bought in the past two months. There're still 5 other trains inbound to land.

 

[cteno4]

Ahh train chopsticks, they are fun! Always enjoy deciding which train to use.

 

jeff

[JR 500系]

16 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Ahh train chopsticks, they are fun! Always enjoy deciding which train to use.

 

jeff

I like the chop sticks, but really, they arent meant to be used  🤪

 

The chop sticks doesnt have slots/ grills on the ends so picking up fish balls without them dropping off is an absolute Lv 99 skill  😛  Also, the paint will fade with frequent washing with detergent so i guess they're best for display on the glass cabinets   🙂

Edited December 27, 2022 by JR 500系

[cteno4]

Some are pretty smooth and very tapered, but I manage. Usually noodles or sushi. The container train does have the pudgier ends and ridges fro your fish balls! No fading on mine now and some are like 7 or 8 years old and probably been washed like 50 times and no fading so far. I just gently hand wash them with dish soap and sponge. I did slightly melt the tip of my 700s as I stupidly grabbed a piece of hot tempura out of the toaster oven when I was warming it up! 
 

jeff

[Cat]

We've got the Light Saber chopsticks that are quite fun to use.

[cteno4]

Ohh do they light up?!

 

jeff

[Cat]

2 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Ohh do they light up?!

Alas no, clear acrylic.

[JR 500系]

Probably my last parcel for 2022... And a happy one since i got not one, but both Kintetsu Sakura Liner... It is such a beauty!!

 

 

 

 

 

Just thought this Kiha-185 looks great as well for my Shikoku fleet, running as a Ltd Exp Tsurugisan ~

 

 

 

First edition Sakura Liner

 

 

 

2nd edition Sakura Liner 

 

 

1st and 2nd edition front car for comparison. Quite frankly, apart from the different car numbers, i really cant tell the difference between the two.. Also, kudos for MA to include working front and rear ends couplers for the trains to be coupled together! The interior is beautifully done as well, i must say, almost the bext model MA has released for 2022! (erm... maybe a close fight with the La-View)

[chadbag]

I'll post a bit more when I get back but yesterday we went to Yodobashi - Umeda and my son wanted to buy the PLA-RAIL version of the Hello Kitty Shinkansen 500.  (Note he is turning 20 this month).  He grew up with PLA-RAIL from our trips to Japan, both a billion Japanese prototypes as well as Thomas.  He doesn't play with them any more and hasn't for a long time but still occasionally adds one to his collection of things he has actually ridden, and we rode this on our last trip in 2019 for an hour or so.

 

Anyway he got that and a plastic box for some trading cards and of course, never let a "crisis" go to waste, so I had to buy some Tomix containers in order to get over the "tax free" minimum, as the PLA-RAIL Shinkansen and the trading card box were not ¥5000 (before tax)...  

 

I've done that two or three times this trip when the kids wanted to buy stuff and we didn't hit the limit.  You can never have too many containers.

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by chadbag

[Arctic]

On 1/2/2023 at 1:35 AM, JR 500系 said:

1st and 2nd edition front car for comparison. Quite frankly, apart from the different car numbers, i really cant tell the difference between the two.. Also, kudos for MA to include working front and rear ends couplers for the trains to be coupled together! The interior is beautifully done as well, i must say, almost the bext model MA has released for 2022! (erm... maybe a close fight with the La-View)

 

I thought that the Microace sets were only two different formations (I don't know if this is what you mean with editions). Popondetta did the Sakura Liner in the older livery that uses green instead of pink though, separately and in combination with the new livery: https://1999.co.jp/eng/10752277

 

 

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kintetsu26000Series01.jpg

 

[disturbman]

Afaik, there is only two formations. MA did both in the renewal livery. The difference between the two is the shape of the bottom directional lights.

[KateM]

The last two packets of 2022 have arrived just before the end of the year.

 

Zenmarket haul includes some 701 series trains, Nanbu bus set, blue DE10, 2023 zodiac Ico-chan container car, and some spare parts for Kiha 100. Also got a 11 Piki no Neko book set.

 

RG Rokko sent out my T3 preorder. A ton of trams have come in, most of them for other people that are too afraid to order from Japan directly. Some pieces were already given away and all people are so happy with them. Tokonami-san also added a box of couplers I had asked for a long time ago and forgot about 🙂 Not sure what I was thinking at the time as these are the same couplers I already have, only that I have black coupler parts with gray bodies and these new ones are all-black...

[ED75-775]

First new purchases for 2023 are on the way, courtesy of Yahoo! Auctions Japan, namely the latest Kato catalog from the Hokutosei model train store and a secondhand Tomix 98445 set from Hobby Land Pochi in Osaka. The latter item was landed for only ¥8,328 ($105.33NZD) as a top-rank item with only a little rub wear to the case sleeve. Not bad considering brand new you're paying ¥17,160 (currently $209.70NZD), so I've just saved myself a whopping ¥8,832 ($104.37NZD)! Not bad for a little bit of lurking 😁.

 

Hopefully when the catalog arrives, it will come with a nice new train postcard too! I've missed those in the last while when buying parts from Hokutosei, perhaps there's a specific threshold you have to meet to get one? I don't know, and I won't be going up there to find out if I do get to travel to Japan this year. I'm hoping I will, and after watching @paolo's hobby shop videos, I'm keen to spend a day shambling around Akihabara and hunting bargains.

 

Alastair

[Tony Galiani]

Small order placed to take advantage of the recent Hobbysearch sale.  Got the WaMus so that I could convert one into a station building based on a Hokkaido prototype but don't know if I have the nerve to cut up a perfectly fine model.  Time will tell.  Shipping and taxes added quite a bit to the cost - not a major big deal for me as I don't order a lot but I think they could get annoying if I was placing more orders.

Ciao,

Tony

 

[ED75-775]

12 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

Got the WaMus so that I could convert one into a station building based on a Hokkaido prototype but don't know if I have the nerve to cut up a perfectly fine model.

Alright @Tony Galiani, you've piqued my curiosity there! A wee bit of Japanese Wiki hunting revealed this nice little prototype from Oshiranai Station on the Hakodate Main Line - would this be the sort of thing you're trying to achieve? 
 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/JR_Hokkaido_Oshironai_Station.jpg/1788px-JR_Hokkaido_Oshironai_Station.jpg

 

If you're feeling squeamish about chopping up a nice new Kato WaMu, there's two options out there:

1.) Get clicking online and find an older WaMu that you won't feel so bad about slicing and dicing. It shouldn't be too hard to find one that could fit the bill, and at the end of the day you have two nice freight cars to play with.

2.) If slice 'n dice isn't your thing, try a Tomytec Building Collection Suburban Station 'H'. This Hokkaido-themed model already meets your requirements in that the waiting room is actually a converted Yo 6000 brake van! Sure, it's not a WaMu, but it is available and relatively inexpensive (at least from Hobbysearch).

 

While I wasn't aware that JR had used old WaMu bodies like this, previous Wiki searches taught me that the bodies of WaFu 29500, Yo 3500 and Yo 5000 brake vans were also a popular choice for conversion into substitute station buildings. There may be others but I haven't delved that deep. Not when I need to rush off to work shortly!

 

Alastair

[Cat]

12 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

SGot the WaMus so that I could convert one into a station building based on a Hokkaido prototype but don't know if I have the nerve to cut up a perfectly fine model. 

Be brave — It's quite fun, and you will be pleased to have your own unique model!
 
Plastic is a very forgiving medium to work in.  I've never made a mistake yet that couldn't be fixed with some putty, or gluing bits in.

[Tony Galiani]

@ED75-775  That's the station!  Spotted it on an Train Cruise video IIRC.  I believe the line is scheduled to close once the Shinkansen reaches Sapporo.  I feel bad for the people along that line as the show featured some of the local businesses that depend on the line, including one that has converted an old station to a hotel where patrons can dine on the platform while watching the occasional train.

I have wanted try modeling a specific prototype location to see what I could do and stations don't get much simpler than that.  There are some other very simple stations in Hokkaido on the Soya main line but they have been taken out of service.  One was just a platform with a sign post - not even a railing.

A Soya Line cab ride video will show several other stations using those other vans.

 

@Cat  The first cut is the deepest!  Or, in this case, the hardest!  But you are right - this should be a relatively easy way to get a unique model.  And it is not as if the station is in pristine shape.  Any poor cuts could just add to the character.

 

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

Actually, there is another station on that line made from a WaMU as well:  Futamata Station:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futamata_Station_(Hokkaido)

 

And there may be more that I am not aware of.  The Futamata is actually a bit simpler and the later paint scheme is even easier - just light green with lots of rust.

 

Cheers,

Tony

[Cat]

Package just arrived from CDJapan.  New Garupan manga had come out earlier this year, but needed more in the order to make the shipping worthwhile.  The 50 Trackplans book has long been on the wishlist for just such an occasion.  This RM Models issue had a scenery focus, and thought it would have a nice spread of photos, alas, not as much as hoped for.
 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Cat

[cteno4]

50 track plans is an excellent book. One of those you can just keep picking up and leafing thru. Lots of engaging ideas and the sketching is excellent to stimulate the creative neurons. Not cheap but worth every yen!

 

jeff

[Cat]

2 hours ago, cteno4 said:

50 track plans is an excellent book. One of those you can just keep picking up and leafing thru. Lots of engaging ideas and the sketching is excellent to stimulate the creative neurons. Not cheap but worth every yen!

Cheaper price and shipping from CD Japan then Amazon Jp, and with the yen so low right now it didn't feel very painful.
: 3

[ED75-775]

11 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

Actually, there is another station on that line made from a WaMu as well:  Futamata Station:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futamata_Station_(Hokkaido)

 

And there may be more that I am not aware of. Futamata is actually a bit simpler and the later paint scheme is even easier - just light green with lots of rust.

Just looked at Futamata now, it turns out that this one is built from a WaRa 1 boxcar - built concurrently (construction period 1962-66) with the earliest WaMu 80000s (construction period 1960-81). So it's slightly different, but I can see the inspiration there!

 

Unfortunately Japanese Wiki does not have a list of converted boxcar station buildings, but it does have a list of converted brake van station buildings, very useful for those who want to model that particular type of station building. Personally though, and getting back on topic I'd say that if you don't feel that you can cut up a newer model - have a hunt and find an older one that you won't feel so bad about carving up. I entered the wagon type "ワム80000" into Zenmarket and got several hits on older Tomix and Kato wagons that would be perfect for such a conversion.

 

3 hours ago, Cat said:

The 50 Trackplans book has long been on the wishlist for just such an occasion

What took you so long, Cat? Seriously - this is a good book, but very dangerous for giving you ideas. As Jeff says, not cheap but worth it! And the Garupan manga looks interesting too.

 

Alastair