Review: Micro Ace A4821 JR East E653 “Fresh Hitachi”

Micro Ace, way back in 1995, started with North American prototypes, but by 1999 had abandoned them in favor of Japanese prototypes. Among the first Japanese models they released was the JR East E653 series. (Micro Ace maintains a pictorial history of releases online.) Even though I have heard these early models were not very good, I pined for one. 10 years after their production, though, and they have become quite rare. (Micro Ace typically only does one production run of a given model, then retires it immediately.)

But Micro Ace has lately begun to issue re-releases of older models, and this gave me hope. Indeed, last July they announced that not only were they going to re-release the E653, but that they were going to improve the model. I was very lucky to get one: the single production run had nearly sold out within minutes of going on sale a couple of weeks ago. The only place I know where to still find them is Hobby World Japan, and they only have a few left.

I purchased the blue 7-car set (no. A4821), but this review applies equally well to nos. A4811 and A4851 (but not to the original release, since there have been improvements).

The model is stunning (but not without problems). The headlights and markerlights are well done; there is a separate illuminated signboard (the white bar in the photograph) that lends the train a distinctly modern appearance, and what appears to be an additional headlight on the roof that dims in reverse.

The movement, which shares the same mechanism as the recently reviewed Skyliner is likewise well done. The motor is fitted with flywheels, and exhibits very smooth slow-speed movements. The motor is hidden in the undercarriage of the motor car, leaving a view of the seats (or at least, the top portion of the seats) through the windows.

The detailing is generally excellent. The areas around the pantographs are detailed using a surprisingly large number of factory-applied detail parts, rather than molding the detail into the car body. (The entire train arrives ready to run, with no detail parts to apply.) The cooling fans are molded into air conditioner grills, and looking through the windows, the seat-backs have been carefully painted in a contrasting color to represent the headrests.

Provisions are made for fitting interior lighting to the carriages, and for fitting body-mount TN couplers. There are also adapters included for fitting truck-mount Kato couplers, but I’m not sure how to use them. The lighting in the cab cars is intricate, and will likely require a decoder capable of bi-polar operation for successful conversion to DCC. The motor car appears to be a straight-forward conversion, thankfully.

There are some small problems with the model, however. In particular, the general shape of the cab noses appears considerably off. Compare, in the two photos below, the placement and size of the red markerlights (the two slit-like lights in the middle of the nose): The prototype’s lights are wider and lower. The shape of the central illuminated nameboard (the lit “bar” along the midline of thenose) is also considerably more rounded on the prototype. The side cab windows are slightly off too. But most significant is the skirt, around the coupler: The model has left off most of it. Since the nose-coupler is functional, obviously some concessions had to be made for coupler swing, but I think perhaps Micro Ace made too much of a concession here.

The only other problem I’ve had is that the Rapido couplers—ostensibly the most reliable coupling system available—are not straight. Some point up; some down. The result is that I’ve had a few accidental uncouplings on inclines. This should be fixed when I install TN couplers.

Pros: Very good detail and solid performance. A distinctive and striking prototype.

Cons: Cab car circuits mandate bi-polar–capable decoders. Unreliable coupling. Shape of the cab-ends is noticeably off.