Modemo Hiroshima 5000 pictures release

[bill937ca]

Good news!! Your welcome, Leo.   

[bill937ca]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/eyJZsKOEY6g" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/eyJZsKOEY6g</a>

Being shown at trade shows now on Tomix C140 and C177 track. Its coming!  

[disturbman]

Snake! It looks good on those tight curves.

[bill937ca]

Just an update. HS now lists this car for late September release.  As is often the case something different is often late arriving.

[cteno4]

hey i guess they came in as i just got the wait list announcement then it was to sold out! hopefully R10 has my preorder next week!!! kind of wish i had ordered two, but they are $168 list (20% off r10 preorder will help that some), so probably better to have only ordered one. i do have the hodie version so i should not be greedy...

jeff

[stevenh]

I was in the same boat... the waiting list mail came to me too and by the time I clicked through to the product (3 hours max) it was already sold out.
Boooooooo.....

[to2leo]

Just an update from my Rainbow Ten purchase.  Since I selected SAL, it will probably take a month.

Thank you for using RAINBOW TEN mail order.
We have sucessfully had your payment.
Your order has been shipped today.

The detail of your order is as follows
---------------------------------------------------------------

TOMY 92986 JR Series N700-8000 Sanyo/Kyushu Shinkansen(unit10)8 Car set
       price per unit 19840 yen     quantity 1

Sub total 19840 yen
Shipping & handling 1590 yen by Registered SAL No._ _ _ ( Packed in 1 shipment )
Grand total 21430 yen
---------------------------------------------------------------

HASEGAWA NT123 1/150 Hiroshima Electric Railway Type 5000 Green Mover
       price per unit 11520 yen     quantity 1

Sub total 11520 yen
Shipping & handling 300 yen by Registered SAL No._ _ _ ( Packed together )
Grand total 11820 yen

I will post some pics once it arrives. 

[cteno4]

mine is also in the air (sal) from R10! cant wait, but i dont think it will make it for our train show next weekend. 

oh well i can use the hodie, but it gets hot so you have to watch (well feel it) when running for a while.

jeff

[to2leo]

Hey Jeff,
I wonder how compatible is Modemo's with Hodie's motor?  Maybe you can replace it with the Modemo's one if it proves to be reliable.  I am also curious if the Portram motor can be used for Modemo and Hodie?  That way, interiors can be added!

[cteno4]

To2leo,

i kind of doubt they will interchange well, but perhaps. the hodie is a huge mechanims that fills the interior. the shell is basically painted onto flexible acetate sheets that are glued to a roof structure and articulation units. its not the most detailed out there. im hoping the modemo will be a lot nicer in detail, overall structure, and mechanism. looks like the motor is much less obvious in the modemo and some segments could do interiors with some figures perhaps.

might be possible to use the protram motors. i just recently started looking at those for some other uses and that could be an option. i need to dig out the hodie and look at the portram truck size. i was going to start checking on how to get the portram bogies. the list price is only 1890yen so damn cheap! anyone seen them for sale yet?

jeff

[brill27mcb]

It's "Hoedl" not Hodie, or you can remove the "e" and put an umlaut over the "o" to be completely proper.   

Rich K.

[cteno4]

sorry rich, im dyslexic. took me till about 30 years old to be sure its their not thier, now they go and ruin that rule for me by putting a d in between the e and i and putting them backwards! have to add to the rule: i before e except when you put a D in the middle.

it took them a bit of time to figure out my deposit the other day at the bank, i transposed two numbers and duplicated a number and that was in 12 digits!... i was interested in engineering but figured if i worked on a space shot instead of the craft getting to mars it would end up at alpha centauri!

cheers

jeff

[scott]

i was interested in engineering but figured if i worked on a space shot instead of the craft getting to mars it would end up at alpha centauri!

You say that like it's a bad thing. 

[cteno4]

i was interested in engineering but figured if i worked on a space shot instead of the craft getting to mars it would end up at alpha centauri!

You say that like it's a bad thing. 

well not if there was only enough food and air to get to mars...

jeff

[Concept Model Trains]

Have had two of the NT123 for a few of days. Unfortunately the quality is not as good as I expected.  Several of body sections of the tram are out of alignment and are not straight.  When running the tram it looks "crooked" and does not look at right at all.  I complained to Hobby Search and this is what the train dept manager said:

"Your 'defect' apparently integral, probably due to the
weight of the motor and the construction of the joint parts.

A replacement may yield the same result, since our
Model Trains Division Manager placed one of the brand-new
`Green Mover` on the tracks, and confirmed
the same disalignment as shown in your photographs.
You would need to manually adjust the crookedness.
Even after you adjust it manually, the crooked section seems to
go back into its unadjusted state after the train passes the curve.
Apparently this crookedness is within the product's design.

This same problem is widely criticized upon Japanese web forums,
but the manufacturer hasn't yet called for recalls,
so perhaps this doesn't count as an incipient failure.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but
thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation."

I am disappointed that Modemo didn't do a better job.  They really should have achieved a better result after all the time it's taken to make.  I'll be interested in everyone's view once they are delivered.

[bill937ca]

I think if you dig far enough back, especially on the Yahoo JRF Forum, you will find Modemo had similar problems with its first articulated trams when they were first introduced.  Just one of the reasons why I did not plop down the money for this tram.

[bill937ca]

Oh, it gets better.  There was a mistake in printing the  destination stickers.

http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/site/modemo/modemo-new/2011new/nt123correct3.gif

http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/site/modemo/modemo-new/2011new/nt123correct.gif

http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/site/modemo/modemo-new/2011new/nt123correct2.jpg

There is also risk of breaking the antenna when you pull the tram out of the packaging.

Scroll down for more info.

http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/site/modemo/modemo-new.html#Anchor-47857

Translated with Excite.co.jp:

http://www.excite-webtl.jp/world/english/web/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hasegawa-model.co.jp%2Fsite%2Fmodemo%2Fmodemo-new.html&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=

Excite translation tool (Japanese -­ English)

http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/

Copy and paste the link you wish to translate.
Move the blue box to the lower selection.
Click on the button highlighted in yellow.

[to2leo]

Thanks for the updates guys, I am sure I will break the antenna if you did not post it.  I wonder if Modemo will solve the problem in the first place if it copies the real LRV in which only the articulation negotiates the turn?

Still waiting for mine, it apparently took 4 days to come over from Japan but required 5 days in the custom office.

[rpierce000]

Isn't Modemo usually known for its good quality?

I am looking at carrying their stuff and this train and the grumpiness around it has caused me some concern about doing so.

Is this a fluke or is Modemo a second rate manufacturer who gets by with building more unusual stuff, kind of like GreenMax?

Thanks for any input,
Bob

[Martijn Meerts]

The Modemo stuff I have is very good quality, but it does have it's issues. There's no real attempt to hide the motor (kinda hard to do with a articulated trams if you don't want to use multiple micro motors like Kato does with their Unitrams), and many of the models have no lights at all.

Modemo is a subdivision of Hasegawa btw.

[bill937ca]

Isn't Modemo usually known for its good quality?

I am looking at carrying their stuff and this train and the grumpiness around it has caused me some concern about doing so.

Is this a fluke or is Modemo a second rate manufacturer who gets by with building more unusual stuff, kind of like GreenMax?

I think Modemo bit off a bit too much.  The Hiroshima 5000 is basically three single truck drives connected by articulating body sections. Low floor trams have radically different mechanisms when compared with conventional trams. Earlier Kato and Tomytec articulated trams only had a single articulation.  The Modemo Green Mover has 5 articulations.

I don`t think either  Modemo or Greenmax are second-rate manufacturers.     

[cteno4]

Bob,

I would say its a fluke at the first shot at the multi-articulation mechanism. modemo is pretty first rate on just about all their models, just some slips now and then. i have maybe 30 modemo trams, all great runners. they did have problems when the first did their two section articulated trams, but that was resolved. ive been really happy with them. if you love japanese trams then modemo is the main supplier! they do almost exclusively trams/street cars.

the hiroshima tram is a big one to bite off, pretty nasty little one to do. the hoedi was done reasonably well in its mechanism for the articulation, but the motors run really hot and they are a pretty nasty grinding sound to them. the mechanism mostly fills the inside of the tram as well. the shells are also very thin more flexible acetate just printed on, so no real side details. these are glued to the moulded roofs. they were twice the price or more of the modemo.

i think modemo is probably a small part of Hasegawa (the parent model company) so perhaps not large research or quality control needed for this complex of a mechanism. The rest of the company does models w/o mechanisms so probably of no use in this. hopefully they will figure out the errors and get it corrected, still early yet. mine should be here any day now so will be interesting to see the issue in person.

lets hope for the best until the full story is out.

jeff

[IST]

Can anyone show me some pictures how does the Hiroshima tram look like in curve with small radius? For example on a Unitram track.

[bill937ca]

Can anyone show me some pictures how does the Hiroshima tram look like in curve with small radius? For example on a Unitram track.

This is very similar to how some of the earliest prototype articulated streetcars looked.  Two rooms and a bath streetcars.

[keitaro]

that looks a bit odd i wonder if issues would occur running on a curved grade. Not that thats going to be common but it looks saggy? or is that just the photo playing tricks on me?

[cteno4]

this is one of the issues folks are reporting is that some of the sections get out of vertical alignment and can sag at the joints. in addition some of the joints dont seem to want to come back straight laterally after going through a curve. a really drastic compound curve and grade might give it some problems, but not that usual on most tram layouts unless you are doing a micro tram layout in which case this would probably not be a great choice. ill play with it when mine comes. the Hoedi actually is quite good at taking very small curves, so the modemo might do it as well.

from the news it looks like some internal adjustments can be made to try and tighten up the alignment.

jeff

[IST]

This is very similar to how some of the earliest prototype articulated streetcars looked.  Two rooms and a bath streetcars.

Thanks for the picture!
I made a photo in Stuttgart, Modellbahn Union had a pavilion and sold a lot of Tomix, Tomytec and Modemo thing, so I could see how this new tram looks like. Previously I thought I buy it, but after I saw it I don't think so. There are huge gaps between the sections, and the whole model is not straight.

[to2leo]

Long promised.  Here is my set, as many mentioned before it is constantly sagging and loud.  It often stops at Kato Unitram curves and compartments never return to its supposed position.  Did anyone try adding weight to it and finding a better solution to this?  I wonder is it feasible to exchange the motor with Kato's one?

[The_Ghan]

An acquired taste, I'm afraid ... they just don't do it for me.

Cheers

The_Ghan

[cteno4]

well i just spent some time playing with my modemo hiroshima greenmover today. I had run it briefly when i got it last month, but did not have any curved tracks set up at the time. today i set up the ttrak standard spaced loop to give it a whirl. have to say im quite disappointed in it. it is cranky to get al the segments leveled up to start it up straight and clean, but once there it keeps that pretty well, but can some times not be totally straight after a turn. the big problem with mine though is after like 5 minutes running and it sounds like its slipping a gear now and then which is very disturbing. it also stalls as to2leo noted at points for no real reason. it has got to be the worst tram i have...

it also requires a lot of voltage to run this tram, like 10v for a normal speed...

all the other modemo, kato and tomix trams i have have no issues like this on the ttrak standard corners, only the greenmover.

I have the hodei version of this and it runs much better than the modemo. its articulation is also much more solid. its issues are the motor makes a bit of a grinding noise and can run hot. also the sides of the tram are just printed acetate sheets so there is no moulded relief detail on them. the modemo unit does a superior moulding and paint job.

ive contacted RainbowTen to see if there is any recourse with modemo on the model. this is the first time ive had a train that i want to return or at least see if modemo can do something on it. there has been rumor that modemo was taking some back for some modifications, we shall see.

cheers

jeff

[to2leo]

Hi Jeff please keep us updated, I am interested in seeing if any solution can be made.  I ordered from RainbowTen alo.

[cteno4]

will do, i really blew it on this and should have been more on top of it. my quick first run was pretty good so i sort of set it aside for a while. but its second running was awful. i specifically did this as one of the jrm members ran his at the east penn traction club session last weekend on his alternate spaced ttrak loop (nice big curves for trams) and he said his was pretty much unrunable...

im thinking its something in the connections that gets out of joint as you take it in and out of the box. i fiddled with mine some and was able to get it a better on getting straight again, but the slipping gear noise was totally new on the second run as well as the super high voltage required. im thinking that the drive shaft linkages get out of whack as well with it going in and out of the box and onto the track and with any segment adjustments.

they obviously bit off a big challenge with this model, but their solution does not appear to be anywhere near as robust as the hodei design for the chassis articulation and drive mechanism.

im hoping they are working on improving this.

ill let you know if i hear anything back from rainbow ten. if i dont ill probably try to start opening it up to see what i can do poking around inside.

blog showing interior stuff

http://www.diotown.com/creative/2011/12/greenmover-5cars.html

jeff

[bill937ca]

There is a new advisory from Modemo on handling this car.

http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/site/modemo/hp/special/2011/nt123t.html

Here is the text translated.

And lift the vehicle with the central organization is deflected
May be the central part they floated on the rail.

As shown in the pictures will adversely impact the central portion and driving would be floated. Please let me run from the center to ensure that the truck has been properly grounded.

In addition, when handling the vehicle with the vehicle before and after please.