realline d5196 thoughts

So I got this model today and have spent last 4 hours playing with it.

At first i was worried really worried. It looked great and the detail is perfect and has a few bits i need to add on myself (not yet sone)

However when i placed it on the track it was making a awful screeching noise and the front 2 wheels kept coming of the tracks.

I figured at first it was being stubborn to rail correvctly so i ran it back and forth the rerailer piece but still same issue.

I figured then i would just run it in.

While running it in the noise got better and after 6 or so loops no more derailments.

I read the instructions while doing this and found that in the book they suggest running it for 30 minutes in each diretion.

So 30 minutes later it sounds like a charm a touch noisier than my tomix c57 but still quieter than a green max typical motor.

Now that i have got it run in i will talk about running performance.

The model it self runs quite smooth it too has all wheel pickup through the tender.

While not running a fly wheel by the looks of it (i tried to open it and decided best left together) It does run rather nice.

It will go at 20% same as the c57 but is a touch jerky where the c57 is smoother. running at 40 % seems like it's prototypical speed any faster and it looks like the rods will fly off.

Its a bit slower than the tomix at 40% but pretty equal at 50%

You get a nice amount of coal i had some left over, and the pieces do look difficult to attach trying to work out which glue would be best to use.

Now to the couplers they are typical knuckle couplers and quite tight i gues a bit of use they will loosen up and move more freely.

they are a touch smaller than the tomix ones but couple fine and i didn't have a single uncouple even up my steep grades.

Overall it is a bit pricey if you are lookig for smooth running but the detail in the model is better than that of tomix's c57.

Having said that Tomix and kato both seem to be catching up in terms of detail.

Another sell is they will do models that tomix and kato do not have.

note i have not added the details on or coal :) will post video soon

edit *** video

I haven't put all the extra bits on my D61 yet either, I figure if I can't work out where they go no one will know they are missing either.

And there's already plenty of things to break off.

West What glue do you use for the coal? I used a combo of water / pva but it doesn't seem to hold well as in slight touches are fine but a bump etc when moving the model around seems to be might dangerous to ruining my coal.

Also any tips on what glue to use for the parts the instructions seem to say oils type I think thats a bad translation though 

Mean while I have run it in and it runs mighty fine now, really pleased with it and I think I may buy 2 x d61 some time in the future.

I'm guessing the Realline trains are all metal? In which case you could go for regular superglue, or if you want to be certain the detail bits will never fall off again, use an epoxy.. Advantage of the epoxy is that they tend not to dry quite as fast as superglue.

yeah I didn't want to touch super glue as it always leaks places and makes that crusty look around the joint after some time.

I used to use on minatures all the time but they are like joints of 2 - 3 mm so it's ok, where these pieces you can almost break by looking at them haha.

Did I meantion i'm in love with this model  :love10:

I haven't put the coal in yet, I was going to use PVA too.