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

[ED75-775]

Late last week I made my final model train buying trips to Osaka Denden Town and here in Kyoto, so here's the final haul:

- A Kato 2026-1 C59 and Tomytec Nagasaki 300-series tram from Hobby Land Pochi (¥12,500 and ¥5,500 respectively, *oof* for the tram but had to have it)

- A Iori Koubou FuHa 3109 coach kitset, Kato 8086 WaMu 280000 wagons and some Kato spoke wheels from Hobby Land Pochi.

- A Kato 10-1211 WaKi 50000 wagon set from Kato Store Kyoto.

- Some miscellaneous SH and BN Kato track from Popondetta in both Kyoto and Osaka including a SH #4 switch for ¥1,650; it's also my first #4 as they're normally more expensive than the #6s... why is that?

- A Tomix Yo 5000 brake van from the Kyoto Railway Museum store (Yo 5008, on display in the museum)

- And another Tomix Yo 5000 brake van (rereleased 8705) plus a 2734 Re 12000 refrigerator car from Yodobashi Camera in Kyoto.

 

I also kinda went overboard buying SH Märklin stock at Popondetta Osaka, plus some Trix wagons for a friend who loves American stuff, but that's not what this thread is for so enough said about that. And that is it for me, I need to bring some money back... oh, and pay for posting most of it back too.

 

While I'm happy to finally have a C59, it turns out the previous owner was a glue fiend who couldn't avoid making a mess when doing the number plates on the locomotive itself - the tender is fine - but I now have Zenmarket investigating whether they can get me a new body shell from Hogarakadou's store in Fukuyama (which I don't recall anyone saying anything about on the forums, did we even know about it?) I picked up some EF58 couplers earlier in the trip to fix another loco so they can take care of the knuckle on the tender, phew! but if anyone has a spare set of numbers for C59 162 that they would be willing to sell me, I'd love to hear from you.

 

Alastair

[Kamome]

6 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

it's also my first #4 as they're normally more expensive than the #6s... why is that?

They come with additional straight track sections 2x 64mm pieces and 2x 60mm  pieces with cut out roadbed. 

[ED75-775]

Of course... extra track means extra cost. Still a good buy when you consider the MRP is ¥3,080!

 

Unfortunately Zenmarket cannot purchase a new C59 shell for me so I'm looking for a little help to get a replacement, but what Zenmarket can do is buy me more trams: four of them in this case. From one seller came a Hiroshima trifecta (351, 911 and 912) while another yielded a 'special' Nagoya 2000-series tram produced in a limited-run for the Nagoya City Transportation Bureau. Still haven't got the standard release versions yet but there's still time, I ain't dead yet (but my wallet might beg to differ!)

 

I'm also mildly annoyed with myself that I decided to be a cheapskate and bid ¥4,000 for an Toymtec Iyotetsu MoHa 2005 instead of clicking the Buy Now of ¥4,800. Someone else did that instead, and I lucked out. Just the way things are sometimes.

 

Alastair

[Kamome]

On 6/27/2023 at 1:23 AM, ED75-775 said:

Unfortunately Zenmarket cannot purchase a new C59 shell for me

How bad is it?  Could the glue marks be sanded down with a very fine grit sandpaper and touched up with paint?

Some liquid masking solution could be painted onto gold pipe details, cab windows to avoid overspray. As Japanese steamers don’t have lining or any other livery embellishments, a light coat of flat black may hide the ham-fingered errors. I must have some spare C59 numbers somewhere but not sure if I have the exact ones you wanted. I can’t remember which ones i used on mine but i’ll pull out my spare number plate box later and see what I have. 

 

Little tip, Daiso ¥100 30 compartment nail art boxes make great organisers for N scale spares. I have a number of them for loco spares, scenics, couplers etc.. They have solid clips and little pegs and recesses so they stack. 

Edited June 27, 2023 by Kamome

[ED75-775]

Good suggestion @Kamome, I still have all the bits to go with that locomotive so it's worth investigating. I may already have a decent paint match (Humbrol Railmatch Grimy Black), one of my local model shops has Vallejo Liquid Mask available and I might be able to inveigle upon members of the model railway club I'm part of to help with the repainting. From memory, the smokebox door could be an easy fix but not sure about the cab off the top of my head. Though since I did dismantle the locomotive body into its components, painting should be much simpler. What grade sandpaper would you recommend? 

 

Thanks also for the tip about the Daiso boxes. I have a little clip-lock container at home with bags of bits in it, so a proper organiser might be very useful to replace that.

[Kamome]

21 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

What grade sandpaper would you recommend?

Depends on the level of damage but I’d stick to something very fine and just keep working on it.  Tamiya do a set of fine papers or they can be bought separately for about ¥50. 

 

Something like 87024 if its very light glue marks. You may not need to paint at all as these are finishing papers. 

 

https://tamiyashop.jp/shop/g/g87024/  216 yen for the set at Yodobashi

 

If you need something heavier they produce 87010 but some of the the larger grits might cause some unnecessary damage.

 

If you get a chance, upload a photo. Once I get home I'll try and dig out those numbers.

 

Update,

 

Looks like I used 162 on my C59. Typical “use first numbers on the sprue” mentality. 

 

Let me know if you want me to send you other numbers. Depending on the glue used, the existing ones could hopefully be prised off with a sharp scalpel.

Edited June 27, 2023 by Kamome

[Kamome]

An ideal priced opportunity to add the final 5 cars to my E233-3000 Ueno Tokyo line to make the full 15 car consist courtesy of points and competitive pricing at Super Rajikon. I needed some hop ups for a RC car build and I mistakenly perused the train department.  It also means the card and polystyrene box for the 2 add on cars can go, making the storage much tidier in bookcases. 

 

I also added an open door diaphragm for the E353. I don’t currently own a 353 but can predict that these parts will be like gold dust when I get round to adding one to my fleet. 

[Giugiaro]

A couple of things I ordered this month, from different times and origins.

 

The highlight is the group of EM-13 and FL-12 decoders I bought to convert some of my stock to DCC, as per club requirements.

 

[alain10025]

On 6/26/2023 at 9:48 PM, Kamome said:

Depending on the glue used, the existing ones could hopefully be prised off with a sharp scalpel.

I am just curious about this comment as, in my experience, most number plates and accessories on steam locomotives (I only have Kato ones though) do not require glue, they are usually clipped or nicely pressed in.

[Kamome]

They generally don’t @alain10025 but unfortunately sometimes people do glue them. I’ve sometimes had the odd issue with some finer numbers such as DD51s which requires a little glue, but i always use a clear tacky glue from Tamiya that is fully removable and residue can be cleaned up with something like Kato unicleaner. I have seen some pretty dire modelling in terms of glue smudges, especially super glue frosting, finger prints and “have a go” weathering with used items that i’ve had to pass up. Even with larger scales like HO, whereby investment cost is likely 5x the cost of N, I have had to pass on some pretty dire examples of “added realism”

 

It’s all subjective of course but I certainly wouldn’t be content with slap-dash details. However some of these items may well be on the market due to their original owners being unhappy with their own modelling ability. 

[ED75-775]

Thanks @Kamome, I’ll be in touch when the C59 arrives and it can be examined. The discussion around glued-on plates reminds me, I only do so if they’re the little two-pin type and one pin snaps off during assembly. Which has happened once or twice...

 

With three packages now safely in my hands, here’s a look at my Japanese N-scale haul so far, supported by our forum’s favourite retailer:

 

 

The wrapped-up item is my ¥300 Kato truss bridge, which will be reassembled and restored when I feel motivated to do so. Likewise the Iori Koubou FuHa 3109 coach, which needs just a few more bits ordered before I can think about having it built/painted (how easy are they to build?) And on the tramway front, there’s this:

 

 

I only have one more package full of N-scale stuff to come which should land mid-July at the latest. That one has three-and-three-quarters steam locomotives, one DE10, two trams and some rolling stock and track in it.

 

Alastair

[ED75-775]

Final package collected today from my grandparents:

 

 

And with this, all the stuff I posted back is now here. I also got a chance to reassess the C59 cab, which actually looks like it might be recoverable after all. Driver’s side is definitely the better of the two in my opinion. The smokebox door will be straightforward enough to clean up (I hope!)

 

 

 

Now I just need somewhere to put all this stuff...

Alastair

[cteno4]

Maybe a tad of weathering to try to cover up the glue?

 

jeff

[bc6]

This is tonites order from Hobby Search.

[alain10025]

Well, I will never get bored of receiving a parcel where it is written that I am important (it must be true :) ). I pre-ordered these beauties 5 months ago. Based on the number of posts I can find online (close to zero), it would seem I am the only one enthusiastic about the new Kato slotless motor (beside of people with Tomix turnouts it would seem...), but I want to mention that I noticed it right away on Kato 10-1765. Its engine is remarkably smooth and definitely the most quiet of my fleet. Also, the seven stars of Kyushu is incredibly detailed, a masterpiece !

 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by alain10025

[Falcon]

Hi,

 

now I can drive my new Kat EF65-1000 with this motor :

Use of a slotless motor realizes even smoother and quieter running performance

 

Yes, that is true !!

[ED75-775]

16 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Maybe a tad of weathering to try to cover up the glue?

Nice thought Jeff, but not something I have the ability to attempt.

 

I got the number plates off tonight after work with my scalpel, so I'm happy with that. The next challenge is to clear the glue residue, so that means a trip to a local hobby shop for either some Tamiya finishing papers or some debonding agent. Part of me is curious whether a debonder could fix the damage, though there's another part of me thinking it could also damage the paint if the cab is in fact painted. I learned that the hard way cleaning up my Nara Line 103 a few years back - what I thought was a molded grey plastic roof turned out to be white plastic painted grey! I was using straight acetone for that though, which is pretty brutal stuff.

 

Though looking at it, the cab and smokebox door both 'appear' to be black plastic, and if they're the same material as the 103 roof I goofed up, they should be pretty resilient if I decide to try the debonder. Maybe try on the smokebox door first, and if no damage is done, then move onto the cab and gently give that a whirl.

 

Alastair

[cteno4]

Problem is it’s most likely plastic model cement or ca uses on it and anything that will solubilize that will most likely attack paint and plastic even. Looks like the glue already took off some of the silver plate paint. Very very off chance they used PVA glue try soaking the area of glue and see after 20 minutes or so of it being kept wet (you could put a small folded piece of paper towel soaked in water over it and keep it wet). Then see if the glue comes up. I doubt they used white glue (PVA) but may have and it solubilizes in water. Plastic model cements are basically an organic solvent that solubilizes plastics and a bunch of dissolved plastics to thicken it and help fill gaps in joints. The thin plastic cement is just solvent to solubilize the plastic at the joint (no diluted plastic filler in it). You can only really sand bumps made with those as plastic is not one big deformed piece with cement plastic added. If it’s ca glue you can solubilize that pretty well with acetone before the plastic starts getting attacked but will most likely bring up the paint.

 

jeff

[ED75-775]

Plastic glues are horrible stuff to have to remove, no doubt about it. In the meantime, a few minutes’ worth of scalpel work and this is the smoke box door:

 

 

An absolute PITA to get a photo of! But as far as I can tell, it looks like I’ve got the worst of the glue off, maybe a light rub with some finishing paper if really necessary, and it’s as good as new almost!

 

I’ll try damping down the glue on the cab tomorrow, and see if that helps loosen it. If not, my scalpel and I will be seeing a lot more of each other!

Alastair

[cteno4]

Try your fine sand paper on some surface that looks the same color and finish but is out of view to see it’s effect, as sanding can at times give a very toni able change in finish.

 

sadly I think if it was PVA glue you would have found it popped off the surface easily, but since the number plate popped of fairly cleanly it may be. If they had put that down with a plastic solvent glue I doubt you would have been able to dig it out with the mound of glue they used. But worth a shot to see if water loosens them, can’t hurt.

 

there is another class of glues like the e6000. They are like a very strong rubber cement, they are organic solvent based, but not so strong as to attack plastics, or even paint as badly. Good thing is the joint is just a tad flexible (as opposed to PVA which gets hard and with time brittle with plastics and can pop off) and you can pull most things apart with some prying. It’s a great option if you may need to disassemble later. Excess glue can usually be sort of picked and scraped off with a knife tip without damaging the finish if you are careful. Some “household” cements are of this class. So before cutting at the glue blobs try picking at them some and see if they start to come up.

 

best of luck with it!

 

jeff

[cplchanb]

A very expensive box showed up at my office reception this morning....

🤪

[maihama eki]

An assortment of the miscellaneous arrived recently - lori Koubou, Baiodo, Cosmic, and the long awaited Hobby Center Kato "Open Gangway Door Parts for Series E353". That's a mouthful.

 

[bc6]

I can't wait to attach the open gangway doors to the E353 either it will look so cool. 😍

[JR East]

On 7/13/2023 at 7:22 AM, maihama eki said:

long awaited Hobby Center Kato "Open Gangway Door Parts for Series E353"

 

Looking to the Kato website, I was not convinced to purchase it. @maihama eki & @bc6, I'll be very please to have your feedback on it. 

 

Currently, the sole gangway I have is on my Tomix Revaty (Tobu 500 series) and it's really great as it has been designed for (meaning it's not something I'll stick on a close double door). 

 

I'm really impatient of your feedback

Edited July 17, 2023 by JR East
typos

[bc6]

@JR EastAs soon as I get to them I will post pics.