|
There is a Discussion Group formed on Yahoo for this topic. Visit this
web address:-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Japanese-Z-Scale/
The list is open to all interested. Postings are monitored to
ensure junk mail does not get in. To participate in the discussion you
need to either sign your name and city or fill in your profile on Yahoo
with your name and location. |
|
Comparing the first of the Japanese Electric Engines offered in Z-scale
Comparison of Akia's RealZJ EF-81, Tokyo Marui's Pro-Z EF65 and
Crown PRMLoco EF64. Mounting of Micro Trains Couplers in pictures. While I would consider
the Pro-Z to be the more robust unit with construction that matches the
best of Kato and Tomix this does not mean that the Akia RealZJ unit is
junk. While more like a Green Max unit the EF81 is still very attractive
and runs well and is big step up from Akia's (Plus Up) earlier 485 motor
chassis. Both units have blackened wheels and one traction tire per
truck. They are both built in China for their companies. The two engines
will not MU or run to-gether due to the gearing differences and motor
differences. The Akia RealZJ and Crown PRMLoco units are a bit of a jack rabbit and flies
very fast, but with a good throttle like the one Akia (Plus Up) supply it
is easily tamed. There is some room for DCC in all units and once they
are converted they would be able to run to-gether after adjustment. The
Tokyo Marui Pro-Z unit has nice gearing and is very quiet and smooth and
easily pulls 22 Micro Trains freight cars as does the Akia EF81 and the
Crown EF64. As the
EF65 has not been released as an individual item I do not have any
pricing on the engine alone. The EF81 is 5880 Japanese Yen List Price.
The EF64 is released almost year after the RealZJ EF81 and six months
after the Pro-Z EF65. The Crown EF-64 is an upgrade to the Plus Up
chassis but still uses the same drive system but the electrical is more
certain and does not rely on the springs which the Plus Up units did.
The headlights are surface mount LED's 403's on the light board and
light up the headlights quite well. The EF64 is about 75.00 US dolalrs
so about a $20.00 dollar increase over the Plus Up or RealZJ EF81 but
still very reasonable in cost. |
|
EF65 |
EF64 |
EF81 |
 |
 |
 |
EF65 actual
1:220 model
height 3820mm
17.3mm 17mm
width 2800mm
12.7mm
12.5mm
length 16500mm
75mm
75mm
measurement of model
EF-65
length over couplers 80
mm
height - pans down 19
mm
height to top of body 18
mm
width of body
12.5
mm
length of body 70.5
mm
weight of engine 33 gm
operate on 195 mm radius yes
wheel size OD of wheel tread
5.0mm
|
EF64 actual 1:220 model
height 3960mm
18mm 19.5mm
width 2800mm
12.75mm 12.5mm
length min 17900mm 81.4
length max 18600mm 84.5mm
85mm
wheel dia. 1120mm 5.1mm
5.2mm
measurement of model
EF-64
length over couplers
90 mm
height - pans down
23 mm
height to top of body
21 mm
width of body
13 mm
length of body
80 mm
weight of engine
35 gm
operate on 195 mm radius
yes
wheel size OD of wheel tread 5.2mm
|
EF81 actual 1:220 model
height 4250mm
19.3mm 21mm
width 2900mm 13.1mm 13mm
length 18600mm 84.5mm
85mm
wheel dia. 1120mm 5.6mm
5.2mm
measurement of model
EF-81
length over couplers
90 mm
height - pans down
23 mm
height to top of body
21 mm
width of body
13 mm
length of body
80 mm
weight of engine
33 gm
operate on 195 mm radius
yes
wheel size OD of wheel tread 5.2mm
|
 |
|
 |
|
The chassis is not split design however the power pickup goes to a
plastic power module on top of the chassis where there is power
routing to the various components. The head light module used
surface mount technology for LED's resister and diode used on the
board. A clear plastic module carries the light to the headlights
from the LED. The pilots are clipped to the chassis and contain the
couplers. The motor is a 3 pole straight armature 12vdc open frame
type commonly found on Tomix N-scale engines. They run smoothly with
or without a flywheel. |
The chassis is split frame design and there are various plastic parts
that clip this chassis to-gether as there are no screws used to hold
the chassis halves to-gether. The shell in conjunction with the
pilot assemblies hold the frame inside the shell. The lighting
modules used surface mount LED for lighting and plastic lens to carry light to the head light. The
motor is a flat can 12vdc. The couplers are mounted in the pilots.
The motor seems robust even if the construction looks to be a bit on
the cheap side when compared to a Faulhaber. Low current draw and
seems to do the job smoothly with no flywheel. Runs well on just
9vdc even if motor is rated for 12vdc. |
The chassis is split frame design and there are various plastic parts
that clip this chassis to-gether as there are no screws used to hold
the chassis halves to-gether. The shell in conjunction with the
pilot assemblies hold the frame inside the shell. The lighting
modules in the top of the shell used surface mount LED for
lighting and fibre optic lens to carry light to the head light. The
motor is a flat can 10vdc. The couplers are mounted in the pilots.
The motor seem robust even if the construction looks to be a bit on
the cheap side when compared to a Faulhaber. Low current draw and
seems to do the job smoothly with no flywheel. |
 |
 
|
 |
|
The first picture shows the pilot clipped to the chassis. The second
picture shows the mini rapido coupler used by Pro-Z as their stock
coupler. The third picture shows my modification to hold a Micro
Trains 905 modified coupler in the pilot assembly. When the plough
is removed you have access to the coupler. In the stock coupler
there is a pin sticking up from the pilot assembly that holds the
Rapido coupler in place and there is a piece of thin lens plastic
sheet that acts as the spring for the coupler to lift and then drop
back down into place. To convert to Micro Trains couplers is
very easy. Remove the plough and then use a jewellers file to widen
and deepen the pocket so the coupler fits and then place the coupler
in the plough and insert in the pilot. I removed the back part of
the 905 box to ensure there would be no interference with the lead
truck behind the pilot. There was a dummy coupler supplied with the
engine that could be put in place in the pilot instead of the MTL or Rapido
couplers. |
The led lighting which is now on the power board on
top of the chassis allows for a lower over height on the model. The
top two pictures show the original coupler a Rapido style on the
right which is original equipment. On the left is the Micro Trains
Z-scale coupler installed. Installation is quite easy. Remove the
plow from the pilot and it releases the coupler which sits on a pin.
I used this pin to hold the Micro Trains coupler without
modification to the coupler. The pilot opening has to be modified
slightly to broaden the pocket and to raise the upper edge slightly.
Once the opening was correct I just popped the MTL coupler on the
pin and inserted the plow back into the pilot and we were done. In
the photos below the second row shows the spring for the Rapido
coupler is a small piece of mylar plastic across the back of the
pocket and it is acting like a mirror in photo. The other pictures
show the installed MTL coupler. Over all I'd rate this as the
second best offering in Japanese Z -scale for Electric Road units.
|
The center picture shows the compatible coupler used by Pro-Z to
allow you to couple this engine to any car equipped with a Micro
Trains 905/903 couplers. It takes a good hit to auto couple as the
spring design is pretty stiff. They will on occasion auto uncouple
but not reliably. The left picture shows both a modified pilot and
stock pilot with the plough removed. I word of caution here. The
spring that centers the stock REALZJ coupler is just a single strand
of straight spring wire and it is held in place with the plough so
when removed it can be lost easily and if it come out of position it
is hell to get back in place or to replace. However, to convert to
MTL it is very easy. The pocket is widened and deepened
slightly with a small jewellers file and the 00-90 screw self taps
into the existing pin hole. Then replace the plough in the pilot.
This is best done while the pilot is not attached to the engine.
|
 |
|
|
|
<Previous
Page<
The End of Japanese Z Scale Pages |
|
|
