Category Archives: Laser Cut Buildings in Z

Marklin Z cast metal auto and truck sets

Marklin has produced many vehicles in z to complement rail loads or roadway details in plastic and metal. Plastic kits have come assembled and un-assembled including trucks and autos. The real topic of this post are the way cool cast metal vehicles that have sometimes been featured in freight cars sets as well as on their own. Accurately scaled fine cast metal autos painted and finished with rich detail, they are brilliant vehicles to accessorize your layout. Of the sets of vehicles only Marklin has released three in cast metal: 89020, 89021 and 89022. The Era II 89020 includes 4 autos, 2 delivery vans, 1 Benz truck, and 2 advertising kiosks. The Era III “Economic Miracle” 89021 set includes 7 autos, 1 travel trailer and 2 VW pickup vans. Set 89022 includes 7 autos and 3 vans.

#89020

#89021

#89022

Marklin also produced case vehicles sold with building kits, #89796 “The Plant” and #89791 “Livestock Transport add-on set” are two such examples

#89796

#89791, note this set included a barn made of laser cut cardstock (not pictured), two freight cars for transporting farm animals, farm truck, and cattle loading ramp (not pictured)

Farm truck from #89791 features fine printing on doors and finely painted grill and headlamps

Marklin 89796 + 89797 “The Plant” – Archistories building kits reconsidered

I decided to include the word ‘reconsidered’ in my title for these two Marklin items because both kits have not been available for many years, but I think it is important to mention them here because of their connection to Archistories. The two building kits comprise sets 1 and 2 of Marklin’s “The Plant”: item #’s 89796 and 89797. Marklin lists them as being in the program from 2010- 2013, they were a departure from previous building kits offered by Marklin which were high quality plastic kits of both modern and historic design. Except for a few small companies no manufacturer was offering alternatives to plastic. Kibri, Vollmer, and Faller produced the only European architecture for z, each of the three manufacturers produced very high quality plastic build kits with excellent detail and even lighting masks, and one could further customize with painting and scale accessories. Painting techniques could further bring out the mortar lines in brick work as well as roof tiles, weathering gave these kits a natural look, but I found certain limitations with plastic, transforming this material to something more akin to the prototype was difficult. Then along came Marklin’s “The Plant” building kits which established a new direction for Marklin z gauge accessories. At the time of this writing Marklin has since released or announced the release of the 89792 Hamburg Dammtor Station, 89793 Dammtor arcades and bridges, two small maintenance facilities: 89805 + 89806, 89982 Turntable with roundhouse and administration building, and 82394 brewery building kit. Essentially all the plastic kits listed by Marklin have been phased out. There will always be nostalgia for the original resin and plastic Marklin kits, they were very good to scale and coupled nicely with z trains, but the new card stock kits will open up new possibilities for capturing the essence of real prototypical architecture. At the forefront of this movement is the manufacturer Archistories who have been mentioned numerous times on this blog, it was Archistories who was commissioned by Marklin to produce the kits for “The Plant”. Keeping these kits affordable while at the same time producing very good buildings was achieved successfully, they inspired me to want more. And they have since produced a very good line up of residential and industrial buildings with the architectural sensitivity I have come to expect from Archistories.

A description of “The Plant” is in order:

#89796 includes 1 production hall, 1 heat generation building with smokestack, and 2 heavy duty flat cars with cast metal trucks each painted blue and orange respectively.

#89797 includes management office building, production hall with ‘mansard roof’, factory workshop with ‘saw tooth’ roof, and 1 guard house.

In order to stay within Marklin’s budget for the project Archistories had to restrict incorporating certain elements they employ with kits under their brand name including detailing and partition walls.

In addition to great detail and depth of color laser cut card stock buildings are opaque so interior lighting is easy, entire buildings don’t glow, the light can be successfully directed within an interior.

“The Plant”: #89796 + #89797 building kits with accessories.

electic generation building with smokestack from 89796

production hall from 89796

administration building from 89797, note: center facade has variations in window design

production hall from 89796

factory workshop with ‘saw tooth’ roof from 89797

factory workshop with ‘mansard’ roof from 89797

guard house from 89797

2 heavy duty flat cars with truck loads, note: freight cars and trucks were delivered in an unnumbered standard Marklin plastic box

Marklin 89791: Livestock Transport add-on set

Marklin 89791 is described as an add-on set for the livestock transport freight set 82523 7-car set. 89791 set includes 2 freight cars + slaughterhouse with loading cart and fencing. This post highlights the building only which is a really nice structure to consider if your layout includes rural farming properties. At this time there are just a couple of laser cut farm structures this being one that I highly recommend, it is easy and fast to assemble with good results. It is called a slaughterhouse, but it can be called a dairy as well. Instead of buying the 7-car 82523 cattle transport set consider a fleet of 82314 “Milch” (milk) cars that are sometimes available on Ebay and turn this barn into a dairy farm. The 82314 car is a must have detail rich tank car with great color and graphics. Stucco has been a much used building material throughout Germany for a very long time, it is durable and easy to maintain making it particularly well suited for barns.

Faller: Lumber Mill 282743

Faller’s limited edition laser cut kits for z cost more than their plastic kits, but they are some of the highest quality available and produced in a one time series. The lumber mill features a water wheel that can be motorized (motor not included), lumber storage, metal hook and crane, saws, lots of lumber (made of plastic: ugh!), and a stucco and open timber building. Materials used in the kit include plastic, laser cut card stock and laser cut wood. Individual stucco parts are glued into timber frame work which adds time for construction. A heavy particle wood base serves as the foundation for this complex making the finished building a bit heavy overall. One of the advantages with laser cut kits is their lightweight: lighter than plastic buildings. A slimmer lighter layout is easier to move and store unless you are lucky enough to have your own train room! Photos show building without the rough timber and cut boards, they are cream colored plastic and must be painted otherwise use real wood. Also less precision of the water wheel than that designed by Archistories for their grist mill.

Faller: Bauernhaus 282785

Faller’s limited edition laser cut kits for z gauge have thus far included buildings for rural scenes this being a barn/house structure of exposed timber and stucco. Construction of this kit is fun but patience is required: each piece of stucco is glued into section of timber framing, this process takes time and be careful not to lose these tiny parts that each cut out separately. The amount of parts that are individually cut out is staggering, but the realism of the stucco is worth the time and effort. Also included with this kit is fencing made of laser cut wood pigmented in dark brown. I highly recommend collecting each of Faller’s limited edition laser cut kits to complement those offered by Archistories.

Faller: Klingenberg Station

The Faller Klingenberg Station is a laser cut kit with some plastic parts. The plastic parts include gutter downspouts, chimneys and roof. I assembled this kit and finished the roof with matte paint similar to the original terracotta tile color, the chimneys I painted in black. Attached freight depot is laser cut wood, its roof has a nice original patina. I chose not to install the downspouts, I felt they might be a little distracting. This is a great building that I plan to use on a Scandinavian inspired layout. As with other Faller laser cut buildings this is an easy to build structure.