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AT LAST!


marknewton

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The postie just delivered a parcel from JAUCE - containing two second-hand HO scale Kato D51s. One needs a little bit of work, and the other hasn't been out of its box. First impression is that they're very nice models.

 

I'M VERY HAPPY!  :love4:  :love4:  :love4:

 

I'm just about to leave for work, so I'll post some photos tomorrow. 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited by marknewton
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Mark;

 

Thanks for the link. I checked it out. Wow....what has been your experience with this auction site and the sellers? Have you ever been burned? Can you pay via pay pal? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Regards

 

Jere Ingram

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Jere,

 

these services will do the bidding on items on japanese auctions like yahoo.jp (where its very hard to do the auction outside of japan) and then its shipped to them and they ship to you. usually adds like 30-40% to the auction price for all this, but to find that rare item or sometimes great deals on jp auctions it can be worth it. there are a number of services doing this.

 

discussion and outline of how the services work is in this thread

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/801-how-to-bid-in-japanese-auctions-for-dummies/

 

cheers

 

jeff

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John P Boogerd

Thankyou for the link, Mark - there are items there that I would like, too, and they are far cheaper than I have been paying on ebay - I signed up right away.

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...what has been your experience with this auction site and the sellers? Have you ever been burned? Can you pay via pay pal? ...

 

Jere, I've only bought three models from JAUCE so far, a Kato C56 and the two D51s. All were exactly as described in the auction listings, were delivered in robust packaging and were delivered quite quickly. You can pay via PayPal too.

 

For what it's worth, in all my years of buying models and books from Japan I've never been burned, had a parcel go missing or had anything arrive damaged. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've never had any sort of drama whatsoever.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Thanks Andrew. I  haven't had a chance to do any modelling or photography over the last few days, it's been very hectic around here with work and the new member of the family settling in.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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For what it's worth, in all my years of buying models and books from Japan I've never been burned, had a parcel go missing or had anything arrive damaged. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've never had any sort of drama whatsoever.

From my experience dealing with auctions in Japan (for wristwatches), compared to stuff fished out of the "Bay", the merchandise tends to be in better condition/less molested.  Japanese sellers tend to err on the negative side when describing condition of a product, while Ebay sellers tend to exaggerate.  Could be a cultural thing.

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My apologies for not posting a photo sooner, but life at our house has been a bit hectic lately. Anyway, here's one of the two Kato D51s I got from JAUCE. The other loco is already dismantled for repairs. Getting it apart was an interesting exercise...  :)

 

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The models have some interesting features which become apparent when dismantled. The mechanism is a work of art - they have split-frame pickup, sprung drivers running in properly machined brass bearings, a floating gearbox, and they're DCC ready. The 8-pin DCC receptacle is in the tender, which also collects current. Their performance is excellent, they're smooth, quiet and powerful.

 

One ingenious feature is that the piston tailrods slide sideways to allow the leading truck to pivot on sharp curves. There's a lug on the leading truck frame that engages with a slotted bar that the tailrods are attached to, along with a spring. The whole thing is fiendishly clever!

 

Detailwise, the D51s are on a par with Kato's C56. There's a fair number of separate parts that are added to complete the model, and they include an optional snowplough, smoke diverter and auxilliary oil fuel tank - something that was mentioned in previous discussions about these models.

 

All in all I'm very happy to have gotten these engines, they're designed, made and finished very nicely. Bikkuri Bahn, I think you would be very pleased with one - or two!  :)

 

All the best,

 

Mark. 

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I got a Noch Grasmaster the other day, and I tried it out on my old diorama. I'm pleased with the results, I think it will work even better with a fresh battery.

Edited by marknewton
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Mark wheres those videos of the 2 steamers i sent you :P

 

I want to see them run

 

Video? I'm struggling to take a decent still photo!  :)

 

But when I next visit the club I'll get some video, promise.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited by marknewton
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There's a fair number of separate parts that are added to complete the model, and they include an optional snowplough, smoke diverter and auxilliary oil fuel tank - something that was mentioned in previous discussions about these models.

Hubba bubba...I got to get one of these models.  I never seem to see them on Yahoo Auctions, though, just the nscale ones.  I bet most owners hold on to them.

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bb, I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed. I think you're right about people holding on to them, I was pleasantly surprised to get these two. I watched Yahoo auctions for about 18 months and never saw any, then both of these were offered within a day of each other.

 

I managed a few better photos this afternoon with the sun coming in my workroom window:

 

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As you can tell, I'm fairly smitten with the things. :love10: 

 

 When I get a chance I'll take a few photos of the other one in bits, so you can see how they come apart.

 

Incidentally, I just got an email from JAUCE to tell me I won another auction, this time for a Tenshodo C57. So my steam roster is about complete.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

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I did see one on Ebay U.S. for $500. about 2 years back, I certainly want one, the D51 was the first real Japanese loco I saw, the one stuffed and mounted at Sasebo and when I visited Umekoji the D51 was in steam on the day, they are a cool looking loco and the Kato model is excellent, thanks for the great photos!

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It's been raining on and off here for a couple of days now, so I have't been able to do much work on the tramway layout. So I thought I'd do a bit of work on the Kato D51 that needed repairs. Here's a few photos showing how they come apart:

 

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Some of the detail parts and accessories had been attached with very generous - and highly visible - dollops of superglue. So these were carefully removed, and the excess glue scraped, sanded and brushed away.The most important thing that needs fixing is the smokebox door and headlight. I've got a cast brass replacement made by Sango on it's way to me, so I should be able to post some photos of the finished engine soon.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited by marknewton
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Because I managed to misplace the new smokebox door, the thing sat on my workbench for the last two years. But cleaning up the other day I found the missing parts so I finally got around to fixing it. Once it was reassembled, I could run it up and down the test track and make sure it all still works.

 

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Now that I know it runs okay, I can apply the rest of the missing parts and give it a splash of paint.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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Headlight and handrails fitted:

 

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Looking at the photo I see that the front coupler is a bit wonky, that's another thing to fix.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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