My project begins

[keitaro]

On a different note i would like to say MA light kits are great piss all over kato ones not including the subway light kit.

No flickering at all not too bright either unlike the kato subway lights.


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vj0dW_on_hI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Vj0dW_on_hI</a>

my k set 100 series limited i have 2 sets of this

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/6AJ5vRkjwh8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/6AJ5vRkjwh8</a>

I'm starting to get the feeling that tomix is abusing the term "limited Edition" lol essentially this is identical to the 100 series fresh green except painted different.

In fact it's got the exact same book inside with just the numbers changed on it compared to the fresh green lol.

Still great model and glad to have 2.

can anyone tell me the reason behind tomix sending it out with 1 panto not installed and the others already installed??

it just doesn't make sense either have all installed or have none and let the owner do it? This is the same for the fresh green.

Or is there some sort of set used where maybe that 1 panto isn’t used and others do?

If anyone is wondering the cars are there becasue my son likes to park them in front of the shinkansen and run them down 

[keitaro]

tobu 1720 wiht lights install don't mind the flicker in the middle of vid as i am running on bare minimum power to get an inside shot passengers

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/CjlfZ2Qduu8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/CjlfZ2Qduu8</a>

also c62-2 and -3 pulling some hoki 10000 for fun, bit dissapointed in the hokis they are damaged contacted plaza japan for assistance on this.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QCG7xbSQnKo" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/QCG7xbSQnKo</a>

[Dani]

If anyone is wondering the cars are there becasue my son likes to park them in front of the shinkansen and run them down 

Tell your son to try with cows, is even funnier!!!     

[cteno4]

oh no PETA is going to come in here soon! starting to feel like a monte python skit!

jeff

[The_Ghan]

Dani,

You got an "after shot" of that cow?           

Cheers

The_Ghan

[keitaro]

tobu 1720 upgrade complete.

Tomix tn couplers added
Passengers
Lighting internally
Img 1 one before coupler
im2 after coupler

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NJnuxF-kjIw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/NJnuxF-kjIw</a>

[keitaro]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahfn7toCVyI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Sir Madog]

Dani,

You got an "after shot" of that cow?           

Cheers

The_Ghan

Here you are:

[keitaro]

ok well I have had time to play with my Ma 200 series.

Key points -

Pro's-
-Train is quiet much quieter than my recent tomix shinkansens.
-Great pulling power will handle my 4~% slopes pulling all 10 cars no issues and barely notice any slow down.
-Details are great but I’m not too sure about the pantographs they seem a little small or out of scale.

Cons-
-Every carriage has a massive printed micro ace made in china on the undercarriage. While not visible while running it does give me the shits as it makes it look cheap.
-The paint job is not as sharp as tomix / kato and some bit's look hand painted like detail parts (though I’m undecided on if this is bad or not)
-The gap between first car and second car and rear and 2nd from rear have a larger gap than the other cars. Therefore looks a bit silly to me.

Undecided-
-The couplers are definitely interesting. While they are pretty sizeable they do work really well and they are easy to couple and uncouple, though as mentioned in cons the gap for the front and rear is a little odd.

What’s good about these couplers compared to say Tomix power couplers is they spring back directly in the middle, of course then you don't have an awesome pickup system though.

One issue I have with the tomix ones is they don’t snap back like there TN’s do this leaves room for de-rails on points if the couplers have not straightened.

What I have noticed though is the Ma can handle 280 – 45 curves and even would go on the 243-45 though not recommended. I think this could be due to the extra gap so it could be a benefit for those with smaller layouts.


Other mentions-

-The lights front and rear light up really well, they don’t flicker either, one thing I also have issue with tomix is they still flicker some times on all wheel. I’m actually got a theory as to why the tomix flicker and I’m about to test that.
- case is normal though I wish I could fit all 10 cars into 1 case.
-stickers as per normal

To sum it up I would definitely buy another MA and am glad I bought this as The Ghan would know I was about to cancel this pre-order just after I ordered it then I didn’t.
Also I may purchase the 300 off them as they are doing 2 different sets and Tomix doesn’t offer both forms.

[The_Ghan]

keitaro,

I think you should re-post your MA 200 review in N-Scale, as a review.  This info is far too important to leave buried in your project thread, mate.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[cteno4]

its a nice model, ive enjoyed it over the years. was a bit of a grinder, but a tad of lubing and it was much more of a purr. its held up well and gotten a lot of running over the years on the jrm layout at shows. ma is not the best at couplers, but these function and look better than their usual rapido they slap on as i think they expect folks to upgrade anyway.

ive thought of adding a bit of a futura shine to it to make it have a bit more of that luster that you see on the prototype.

enjoy!

jeff

[keitaro]

have not done much of late on the layout.

but i did begin to put down some of the people.

[keitaro]

some more

[keitaro]

i need to put down many more but thats a start.

Also i really need to fix the fence for the baseball field...