Category Archives: Layouts

Marklin 89792 + 89793: Bahnhof Hamburg Dammtor Station Kit

Bahnhof Hamburg Dammtor: opened July 7, 1903

If you are up for an ambitious project in ‘Z’ this is it: 89792 and 89793 building kits for the Hamburg Dammtor Train Station. Two kits sold separately to comprise the station building and approach including arcades and bridges.

The cost for the kits is very reasonable considering the scope of these kits and the accurate translation of the prototypical building: discounted retail for 89792 is $249, and 89793 is $149. Both kits are made of laser cut card stock which has been a growing trend in building kits partly due to the material itself, laser cut buildings look great and their matte and pre-colored surfaces contrast nicely on a layout. In ‘Z’ or any other scale these are big kits measuring nearly 55 inches long, and in ‘Z’ there are lots of small parts to assemble.

Finished dimensions: 20 7/8 x 8 1/4 x 4 5/16 inches (89792) and 33 1/2 x 6 x 1 3/16 inches (89793). Both kits are card stock with one small exception, the station includes 4 caps and spires on the entry towers that are cast resin and painted to match the rest of the kit.

Marklin commissioned MKB Modelle for these build kits. As of writing this post I have not started assembling these kits, I am hesitant to build them until I design a layout for them first. A layout to include these kits can be historical based on the 1903 opening of the station or contemporary with the arcades and bridges, it can also be prototypical rendering or an interpretation. Current urban planning for the Hamburg Dammtor Station includes numerous intersecting roads with few adjacent buildings, modeling some or all of these roads will be a challenging undertaking for the most ambitious.

Four lines run through this station so the track planning is another consideration. Nearly 5 feet from end to end for both assembled kits, and if it is incorporated into a loop the dimensions will balloon to 7-8 feet, this is after all probably the most ambitious project to date in ‘Z’ with an estimated build time of 50 hours for 89792 alone. Reviewing the part sheets and instructions these kits look well organized, and the instructions are clear. Heavy card stock, medium weight card stock and lightweight card stock are all used in these kits. The kits start from a rigid foundation and build up and out, in some cases with as many as 5 layers to build the exterior walls. No covering for the platform or track concourse is included, you will need to come up with your own solution, I highly recommend Faller material here available in the United States from ZScaleHobo.com (updates will follow for my own solutions here). Accessorizing and laying track in the station will be much easier or only possible before installing the trusses. Partial exposure of the interior might be interesting by reducing the roof sheathing and maybe consider leaving the roof un-cemented in case you need to access the interior in the future. I have recommended a UHU Glue for attaching window glazing in the past, for this kit I would recommend the standard assembly glue: all-purpose, wood, or polyvinyl acetate, but each will require the added step of roughing up the acetate in the area to be glued. Another consideration is a very level work surface, even though the parts snap together assembling the building on a very level surface will insure there will be no warp or curve to the base, I recommend a piece of masonite for a smooth level surface and freezer paper to allow building to easily slide/rotate for assembly plus glue residue is easy to clean off this surface. Toothpicks are correctly recommended in the instructions along with drops of glue versus lines of glue. Lastly have fun and don’t rush, it can’t be assembled in a day!

Siding: Marklin’s 81481 “Metronom” train set is a good prototypical train to use with this station, along with the other “Metronom” offerings: 88370 (loco) + 87299 (bi-level coach set).

81481

88370

87299

Faller 282781 (Provincial Houses): two kits assembled with mod.

An update to my recent post about Faller’s 282781 “Provincial Houses” kit includes a small modification, assembling multiple kits (2), and variations. A terrific and important building kit for ‘Z’ is this recent release, it’s fun to assemble with lot’s of variations possible.

One kit comprises 4 separate buildings that can be combined in a number of combinations, add a second kit and the choices abound.

It took longer to assemble the first kit due to learning curve that seems inherent with all ‘Z’ projects, I would estimate the average assembly time dependent on average skills and patience is 4-6 hours. A good discounted retail price for each kit is about $34.00.

So for this project the investment is about 12 hours to assemble and about $70.00 for the two kits, but it is a small addition to a layout so budget concerns may trump to benefit. Lot’s of reasons to make the investment in this small building including great detail inside and out, but it is also a design that is traditional German architecture combining all of the most used styles including stucco and open timber with tile roof.

Dimensions: 1 kit – 2 1/4 inches (height) x 1 1/4 inches (width) x 2 1/8 inches (length), for 2 kits – 2 1/4 inches (height) x 1 1/4 inches (width) x 4 1/4 inches (length).

Modification: when two units of this 4 unit kit are assembled there will always be a seam present, I modified this kit with the addition of shoring lines that are sometimes evident in multi-unit construction using card-stock leftover from the kit. Adding this modification to these buildings is far less distracting than the seam we are left with.

Faller 282781: Kleinstadthauser “Provincial Houses”

Faller’s two recent laser cut building kits offer modelers residential building types including the large townhouse (282 780) and small townhouses (282781). The latter Faller describes as Provincial Houses”. For this post the 282781 kit will be featured, it is essentially 4 separate building kits with 4 distinct designs including open timber, stucco, terracotta tile roof and slate roof. One pair with terracotta tile roofs and one pair with slate roofing.

Parts are delivered on well labeled sheets along with window masking and window glazing.

Each building is small, so patient assembly of small parts is necessary even with all 4 buildings glued together they are still small compared to a scotch tape dispenser.

Each building is fairly skinny and unfinished on the back side with the intent that like pairs would be glued together giving a two sided building. Likewise the pairs can likewise be glued together.

One can also use these buildings as backdrop thus leaving pairs unglued. There are lots of options including 15 variations on the order of these buildings in relation to each other.

Each roof can be assembled according to instructions but they can also be installed in reverse order, but due to the design of each building type the terracotta roof cannot be used on the building using the slate roof, the terracotta roof sweeps out from the dormers.

This is an adaptable kit that combined in multiples will allow continuous residential blocks to be realized in the context of a large layout. I recommend following the illustration on the box to determine order of assembly, the stucco building without dormers is the easy one the start on first, and the open timber and stucco building will take longer to finish along with the other building with terracotta roof tiles.

The instructions are very good, but I would add a few notes: 1. get acquainted with the dormers and how they assemble before gluing, the long side of side frames attach to roof. 2. roof sheathing has a correct orientation with a top and bottom, have a good look before gluing and imagine what this looks like in real life. 3. The pair of black roof buildings need to be prepped to insure flush assembly: with a sharp razor blade trim back the roof framing to make flush with the backside of each building, test for the two buildings join evenly before gluing. 4. stucco sections are individually cut out and glued in place in the open timber framework which is real wood, this step is time consuming but install no more than two pieces at a time to prevent loss of parts. 5. Another note on open timber, the wood is tinted using a water soluble color, the water soluble glue you use will likely allow the wood tint to bleed into the white cardboard filler sections: no worries the prototypical buildings in Germany have these qualities in real life. In general imperfections will add to the realism of a stucco building. 282780 and 282781 are very good kits designed to be used in multiplies and thus one can build continuous city blocks as can be seen in Europe.

Finished project with all four units glued together:

Note: there is a seam that runs vertically along each end, my plan is to assemble 3 more kits for a long running block of these buildings, and I plan to add a strip of similarly tinted card stock to cover the seam thereby suggesting a shoring line that can be seen on some buildings similar to this type in the United States. Another option I might try is applying a latex primer over each finished end and repainting in a suitable color, but this option might look too different as for surface texture, it might be better left alone (?).

Here are the finished 282780 + 282781. The impressive scale of these buildings are accentuated with multiple units, they will surely add interest on any layout.

Faller 282780: Town House

Just hitting the United States market by way of Walthers are two new laser cut card multi story town houses: 282780 “Town House” and 282781 “Provincial Houses.” This post concerns 282780, my dealer just notified me that my pre-order for 282781 is in, its posting will follow.

What to do when modeling an urban or provincial scene after having committed to laser cut card stock building kits, so far the choices have been limited to some very good rural buildings, and hopefully more will follow with the release of these kits.

This Faller kit features good detail including carved sandstone ornamentation, silver foil facade, dentil molding, and window masking unique to Faller. Challenges with this kit include many small delicate parts for the facade, construction of chimneys, and multi-part construction of dormers.

In the days before LED’s I would not spend a lot of time discussing the merits of the window masking, I found it too dense to light with a proper bulb without starting a fire. I exaggerate, but success was very limited with what was available before to properly light these structures. Today LED’s are available for lighting Z scale buildings with a great success, they are cool, long lasting (10,000 hours), and priced right. Plus the illumination is adjusted with individual dimmers controls. Everything gets lit with Faller’s window masking, but this can be altered by placing electric tape over individual windows you do not want to light. Masking material is provided if you want to light the dormers, you will also need to cut the top of the masking material before inserting into building. I have built three of these buildings, and I plan to build at least three more, I will vary the lit window effect with those buildings by lighting maybe just one or two floors or variations between what is lit on the facade side versus the back side of building. It is also a possibility to install the buildings close together for a realistic look.

Maybe this should not be your first laser cut card stock building, but it is easy for those with a couple of other buildings under their belt.

American Scenics Plug-In LED System includes many options and choices. Starter kit includes a couple of led’s, hub, and transformer, it is the best value.

The finished 282780 assembled with three kits:

Siding: several companies have cleverly designed their building kits for realistic lighting: Faller with window masking and Archistories with partition walls. If you haven’t tried Archistories building kits you are missing out on something special, they are available in the United States at http://www.zscalemonster.com and http://zscalehobo.com.

Z Layout: Design

Designing your first large scale Z layout can be a daunting task, but Marklin offers three excellent products to help: track stencil 0212, layout book 0296 and the track planning game 0232. These three products each in their own way references all tracks and track accessories. The track stencil allows for a straight forward approach, tracks are drawn through a connect the dots kind of exercise. The layout book has been reprinted several times suggesting its longstanding popularity, it starts with an overview of track and accessories followed by numerous very fine ready made layout and module designs. Lastly is 0232 referred to as the Track Planning Game which is a good description for it with lots of plastic parts that fit together like a puzzle. Snap together pieces represent all the different kinds of track, switches and accessories to make up a layout in a 1:2 ratio, simply double the dimensions of the completed assemblage of track to determine how big your layout will be. At the time of this writing all three products are no longer available by Marklin, but each are easy to find on Ebay or dealer old stock.

Z Layout: Notes on Track

Z gauge layouts can be produced with products from numerous companies. As for track there are three popular ones including Micro Trains, Rokuhan and Marklin. Marklin in my opinion is the most realistic, but unlike the other two you will need to add roadbed for realism. Cork roadbed is available from Itty Bitty Lines and most train stores that sell Z have this in stock. You can adjust the color of a cork roadbed with water base paint to match your prototype railroad. Cork roadbed is difficult to lay for curves, but cutting it lengthwise in two parts will allow it to easily manipulate for curves. Track maintenance is essential from time to time from cleaning to dust removal. If you own a Miele vacuum cleaner perhaps consider purchasing the accessory SMC20 Micro Set, it is perfect for removing dust from track and catenary. Use denatured alcohol for cleaning the track. A dirty track can often be the culprit when your loco is not running smoothly.

Marklin Z vintage layout made by Noch

About 20 years ago Marklin commissioned Noch to make two layouts: one for winter and one for summer using the smallest radius available in Z. Noch came up with two detail rich layouts for the smallest space. These are perfect if you live in a cramped NYC apartment like my Wife and I once did. Big on details including 10 people, 5 buildings, 23 trees, wooden bridge, open girder bridge, stream and pond, a phone booth, and even a VW Bug. This summer layout features static grass and rocky landscape features. Electronics are simple and include 3 position toggle for neutral, forward and reverse direction, speed controller, and plug. What you need is a power source for up to 9 volts either with a battery or an AC adapter. I recommend the AC Adapter by Powerline, their version that is labeled ‘Universal’, it features a switch that lets you adjust power from 3V – 12V which is handy for fine tuning the speed controller; mine is set for 6 volts which is perfect. A 9V battery won’t give this level of control. Dimensions: outer diameter is 15 1/2 inches. Originally the layout retailed for close to $600. If you can’t find one of these layouts don’t fear you can make your own out of foam and wire it with the Noch speed controller available for under $90 at ZscaleHobo.com, Frank also sells the Noch StaticMaster for applying static grass.