The large building kit 16071 includes 4 buildings including barns and farmhouse. This very interesting MBZ kit includes 4 buildings also available separately with open frame/stucco construction farmhouse, stucco barn and two random rubble stone foundation barns. Two barns: one small and one large stored hay, feed, equipment and the occasional member of this farm’s livestock community. Roof color was applied with dirty sponge and pigments. Stone foundation was painted using dry brush.
MBZ 16071 (farm house)
Multi-generational farmhouse with shuttered windows and flagstone open porch is at the center of this farm complex. Stucco was painted with white pigment mixed with yellow pigment followed by light dusting of dry gray pigment to weather and age stucco.
MBZ 16071 (barn 3)
The small storage barn or shed is comprised of stucco, its use was determined by what needed to be stored whether equipment, feed or ciders. This kit is less detailed than the other three so details could only be suggested by paint. Stucco treatment included few areas of repairs to show age, it would have been slightly less maintained than the main house structure thus keeping it water tight was enough maintenance. Presumably the first building erected on this farm perhaps starting out as a barn/farmhouse combination, it may have been used for numerous activities long before the large barns and farmhouse were built.
Two buildings from MBZ’s large farmstead kit 16071 comprising farmhouse and 3 barns including one with an apiary.
MBZ building kits are German inspired architectural forms available in multi-scale kits including an extensive line-up in Z. Building and finishing a kit has unique challenges that are quickly overcome after constructing a kit or two. Included in this post are a few notes I hope are helpful for successful building.
MBZ kits are automatically age old buildings with history time-stamped into their design and fabrication. Giving a model building history through weathering and aging is easy with MBZ, each kit starts out with a baseline moment in time at least 50 years ago. Adding more use and age to the look of a building is up to the modeler: perfect kit buildings for Era I, II, and III.
Cardboard used in MBZ kits vary from other manufacturers, its natural color is gray/brown thus painting is required after the application of a solvent based primer.
Prepping the cardboard requires priming with MBZ Primer R72214 (pre-mixed) or R72211 (unmixed), I recommend the pre-mixed version. Priming is required due to future mold issues as suggested by manufacturer. Flattening parts after priming and before gluing is required: large parts including roof and sides warp heavily after priming, but rolling parts against the warp flattens them easily. Manufacturer suggests painting with pigments applied with sponge. MBZ pigments are water soluble, and they can be mixed together for custom colors. Consistency of paint should not be too wet or dry, it is applied with a wet sponge but avoid caking pigment. Air-brush masking tape should be used to isolate sections to be painted with sponge application. Dry-brush, air-brush and fine brushwork can be followed up later in construction for fine tuning. Pigment paints dry matte, and I recommend a light air-brushing of matte water based lacquer as a final protective coat.
The manufacturer suggests UHU ‘Hart’ glue which is fast setting but I find it messy to work with, I recommend Noch ‘Laser-cut’ glue which is fast setting and quick drying. Note: other fast setting white glues or wood glues should work well, but a fine applicator bottle available at craft stores should be considered. The few parts that are not always included in MBZ kits are ramps and steps which must be built by the modeler. No partition walls are designed in many of these kits thus requiring custom masking for interior lighting. I nice feature of these kits are stone-laid interior floors which can be exposed in a diorama through open doors with perhaps a wagon parked within the barn.
Note: barn buildings illustrated in this post used dry brush technique to highlight and paint stone foundations whereas sponge application of paint was used for uneven authentic weathering of paint. For glazed terracotta tile roofs I apply a light application of Renaissance Wax (micro crystalline acid free wax) which gives a gloss surface without being too glossy or too thick looking plus it is a non-yellowing museum quality wax available at library supply houses and fine art supply shops.
Three painting kits offered by MBZ will get you started, I recommend ‘Pigment Starter Set’ (R72217), it includes numerous pigments, primer (unmixed), and sponge for $55.49, it was more than enough for painting 13 kits. The kit includes a very high quality sponge, but other sponge shapes and sizes are available at art supply shops, they fall within the category of pastel sponges which are tight cellulose sponges which can be used wet or dry, pastel artists use this type of sponge dry only which readily allows mixing of charcoals and pastels.
Note: MBZ kit builds are best treated with a loose approach without worry of precise paint application: using a dirty sponge gives much more depth of color than a clean one between coats of paint.
Siding: Reynauld’s in Illinois is the exclusive USA dealer of MBZ, they have in store examples of finished kits as well as paint and accessories.
Marklin 88040 (Insider Model 2003)Marklin 88041 (2005-2008)
The German class 42.09 steam locomotive from era III was realized in 2005 as another interesting Marklin Z featuring the Franco-Crosti modification of a class 52 locomotive, a collaboration between two Italians included a system modification which made use of exhaust steam as well as exhaust gases incorporating a main boiler and secondary boiler to effectively utilize more of the energy produced by the BR 52. A second boiler/smoke gas pre-heater below the firebox was thus coupled with a chimneys attached to each side of the boiler, this system modification would be identified as Franco-Crosti boiler.
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Attilio Franco and Dr. Piero Crosti designed the first such boiler nearly 20 years before class 42.09 was built . Modification to the wartime class 52 locomotive by Henschel in 1952 resulted in reclassification due to increased axle-weight resulting from the added 2 ton weight of modification.
88041
Referred to as economisers (Abgasvorwarmer) the Franco-Crosti modification of 2 class 52 locos had a relatively brief service life of less than 10 years, but another 31 class 50’s were rebuilt by Henschel with Franco-Crosti boilers by the end of the 50’s.
Marklin’s release in 2005 of the 88041 was preceded by another Franco-Crosti locomotive (88040) for Insider Members in 2003. Painted in photo-grey for Henschel’s builder photographs 88040 with operating number 42 9000 is based on prototype retired in 1959 (Bingerbruck, Germany).
88040880408804088040 with tub style tender
Painted and lettered for German Federal Railroad (DB) Marklin’s 88041 includes Wagner smoke deflectors and tub-style tender with operating number 42 9001 thus based on prototype built in 1952 and retired in 1960 (Oberlahnstein).
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Siding: more than 7000 class 52 locomotives were built during World War II by 13 manufacturers throughout Europe
The German commuter train set modeled in Z is based on an Era III prototype with class 78 steam locomotive for the German Federal Railroad (DB).
Marklin train set 81191 includes 4 coaches and a tank locomotive. Released in 2011 the set was in the regular production until 2013 thus rare but not as rare as limited releases.
The 4-6-4 tank locomotive class 78 included with this set includes the fine running 5 pole motor and predates improvements to current highly detailed running gears incorporated into steam locomotives of current generation Marklin Z’s, but this locomotive is handsome nonetheless and features finely detailed metal casting and nickel add-on parts including whistle and bell.
Included in the set are 3 coaches and baggage car: 1- type PW3PR 3-axle baggage coach, 1- type C3PR04 3-axle compartment coach without brakeman’s cab, 3rd class, 1- type BC3PR03 3- axle compartment coach without brakeman’s cab, 2nd/3rd class, and 1- type C3PR04 3- axle compartment coach with brakeman’s cab, 3rd class.
On the heels of this post is the recent release 87040, it varies with cars of set 81191 featuring similar baggage car and 1 three-axle coach, and it includes 2 two-axle coaches. Paint scheme and era are the same and a loco to go with this set is the upcoming release 88031: class 24 with tender.
Marklin 87040 (photo courtesy Marklin)
The added bonus of interior details of the new coach set 87040 bring to life more realism with Era III railroading.
Compartment coaches of this type were repainted and lettered from earlier era, they featured compartments accessed from exterior doors. Relatively short in length these coaches were designed to be boarded quickly and featured running boards full length of car.
Siding: German steam locomotives with painted red frames are a distinctive feature, but the purpose of red paint was to better detect stress fractures during routine inspections.
Marklin’s Insider Model for 2018 is based on the 1957 BR 01 express locomotive of the German Federal Railroad (DB). The particularly attractive locomotive featuring steel blue paint scheme is released as an important anniversary model celebrating 25 Years of the Insider Club.
Locomotive features the new generation motor thus a maintenance free brush-less type still requiring infrequent light oiling of moving parts only.
Warning stripes are realized on locomotive’s pair of buffers. Tender too!
Locomotive can be seen passing Marklin’s new station 89703.
Hand-painted boiler bands in silver.
A specially designed wood presentation box is included with the locomotive featuring its design on the lid.
Siding: some dealers have suggested having extra 88012’s available this year for non members of the Insider Club, but joining the Club is easy and comes with numerous perks including yearly catalog, Insider News Magazine, Marklin Magazin, “A Year in Marklin” (DVD), invitation to order Insider Models, and the free Insider Club car in choice of gauge.
Marklin’s current program features several new laser-cut buildings including this one: Item 89703 – Bausatz Bahnhof Eckartshausen-Ilshofen (Sulzdorf).
Based on the 1867 Bavarian station today disused of its original purpose in Sulzdorf, Germany this kit is very good, it is a handsome medium size station featuring block construction and ample waiting platform.
The kit assembles rather quickly due to few embellishments, but it does not lack the color and character of the original structure.
Signage is offered with several variations printed on a small sheet but cutting them out is rather a difficult task. No partition walls as with Archistories so lighting the building will be unrealistic unless some modification is made. Overall a very good to scale station that is very easy to assemble.
Siding: weathering will add interest to the building including brown and/or black chalk in the tiny nooks and crannies dirt would naturally collect on a 100 year old train station. Light fixture is represented but non functioning, painting the bulb with gold paint will give the impression of light or further modify the building with a working bracket light available on Ebay.
The year is 1957 as the DB BR 01 crosses Altenbeken Viaduct pulling “Lorelei” train set.
Recent Releases: Marklin 88012 Insider Model 2018 and Altenbeken Viaduct by Archistories (item #128171). Trailing the BR 01 loco is the “Lorelei” train set by Marklin released in 2003 – 2006 as an MHI Exclusive release.
Coming soon: posts covering each including cross reference guide to Marklin’s passenger sets and individual coaches thereby facilitating easy determination of era’s and railways.
Plus next time the viaduct is seen it will be authentically weathered after filling gaps in the cardstock and retouching.
“Remarkable things come in small packages!” An often used expression with new and veteran Marklin Z enthusiasts, but never as true as with model 81352. Here is a class 80 tank locomotive one of the smallest German steam locomotives used for shunting and general regional freight traffic exquisitely realized as a smooth running Marklin Z gauge locomotive heading 5 cars loaded with coal.
Note: photos only show 4 of the 5 coal cars!
What can be said of this locomotive referred to as “Little Bull” in the Marklin literature is all positive, it features glazed window openings, very detailed running gear with side rods of great complexity, superb weathering, LED headlamps, and brushless motor. And it looks great! Cars too!
Type 0 10 and 0 11 wagons loaded with removable coal inserts complete the Era III set.
Much care and attention to detail went into the production of this latest Insider release that will add a high level of realism to a prototypical mid century layout. Weathering was presumably applied with airbrush, but the level of quality maybe difficult to match even for the more experienced modeler.
*MBZ cardstock building #16058 (weathered) available exclusively in the United States from Reynaulds
As a bonus the train set included an unfinished brass casting of the locomotive shell, it is remarkable to see the unpainted and unfinished casting next to the finished loco which suggests the massive amount of handwork that takes place before these sets reach the collector.
A real stunner of a train set!
Siding: tucked nicely inside the small cockpit of this loco is a new brushless motor described as maintenance free, but other aspects of the loco require the usual maintenance including periodic oiling of wheels (as little as necessary which is not much) and wheel cleaning.
As a bit of an experiment I decided to buy what I consider to be a quick sell-out of the recently released railbus 88171 directly from Walthers. It was bought partly on impulse and partly to ensure getting one of these before they are sold out; they are already sold out at the factory even before arriving at Walthers in Milwaukee, WI.
My experience with Walthers apart from visiting their store/warehouse in person a few years ago is limited to ordering from them through the dealer network, I have never bought directly from them before.
Walthers policy is to charge full list price so as not to compete with their dealer network which is a good policy, but why do they sell to the public at all? The hour I spent in their tiny showroom in Milwaukee was full of customers some buying hundreds of dollars worth of items, and I guess they were as happy to pay full list price as Walthers was to charge them full list price.
The Walthers warehouse and showroom is not as appealing as the catalog much of which has to be called up to the counter to be seen. And the warehouse is a fairly unremarkable building, but I have to say the salesman at the counter were friendly and knowledgeable thereby offering a good place to find everything featured in their thick catalog and in stock.
Ordering from Walthers website was easy enough showing items currently in stock with prices. No problems at all placing an order! The downside was the order took a little while to ship from their warehouse (credit card is not charged until item ships), the small little item arrived in a big sturdy box, but the the Marklin railbus was not properly secured with wrapping thus separating from the plastic box entirely, luckily it did not scratch!
For collectors of Marklin Z it is probably best to order through a dealer at least for discounts, but also for individualized attention and guidance. Plus MHI releases are only available to dealers who are part of that subscription program thus not available directly to the public through Walthers. And some of the best stuff in Marklin Z are MHI’s!
Siding: Marklin’s 88171 Uerdingen VS 98 railbus is SUPERB with fully realized interiors and interior lighting with LED’s. Paint and lettering is crisp on this highly detailed model. Paired with the motor car (88166) available as an upcoming release this will be one of those must haves for collectors.
Marklin’s Era III 81371 train set is still available but in limited supply: 499 sets. The train set features the heavy freight loco class 44 paired with 6 hoppers. Striking in appearance, the set features realistic heavy weathering and detailed running gear. Lot’s of action from greatly improved side rods is what’s going on in Z at Marklin these days: steam locos with grit and character more closely resembling their prototypes than ever before.
Manufactured well before the Second World War and through it until ’49 the BR 44 was a heavy hauler freight locomotive. Its numbers approached 2000, but not all locomotives stayed in Germany, twenty five percent stayed within the railways of PKP, OBB, CSD, SNCF, and DR after the war and today all but two remain operational.
The 81371 locomotive with operating number BR 44 1754 features 10 coupled and powered driving wheels with smoke deflectors. Weathering on the locomotive is tinted red with light but heavy application leaving all inscriptions legible which is a fine trick and difficult to achieve. The prototypical color of the weathering is suggestive of the acidity created by the mixing coal soot and steam on the sides of the iron boilers and plates.
Marklin has been slowly releasing weathered versions of locos and rolling stock after regular versions have debuted. For modelers looking for more and more realism these Marklin weathered items are tops! Surely impossible to weather as well as Marklin has done here certain talented folks out there could attempt the same with airbrushing, but color is as important as technique, and I am glad not to have to attempt it here!
*Archistories Prussian brick loco shed gives accurate scale to this loco thus providing historical context as well.
Six type Ootz hopper cars weathered with sooty black complete the set with lettering Erz IId. No coal loads are included, but the empty cars include weathering throughout their bays. This car type included two partitioned sections each with sloping hoppers for very quick dumping of bulk materials.
Siding: airbrushing results are far easier and trouble free with water based paints likewise water based final coat of clear lacquer should be considered to protect your work.
Siding: 81371 comes packaged in a carton housing cartons for 2 sets of 3 hoppers and 1 for the loco, item numbers printed on the cartons is as follows: hoppers (81371-01 + 81371-02) and loco (81371-03). Boxes are important to collectors and keeping them pristine is important too: open flap boxes with a butter knife to save from denting and dinging. And no butter on that knife!
