Pola G 330980, G-Scale "Oberndorf" train station

Pola G 330980 is a very small railway station model I was given for my wedding anniversary. Its official price on Faller website shows as 87,99 Eur but I'm pretty sure my wife managed to grab it a little cheaper. I do not know the details though, since it was a gift :)

The station is really small but since it's a G-scale product, the package is still much bigger than most of the items you'd find at a train models store. It's quite heavy and measures 40 by 30 cm.

The description on the box says it's partially hand painted, weather resistant and featuring opening doors. Let's open it!

Inside the big box, there's a smaller one...

...containing the more fragile parts. Glue however is nowhere to be found.

The most delicate elements are additionally wrapped in a protective paper. I have to say it's impressive how extensive the packaging is overall.

And here are all the parts together. I can say at first sight that some extra pieces are included. Four doors are clearly visible while the building needs only two.

The manual is just one page. It's understandable taking into account model's low complexity. What I'm missing however are parts numbers. My previous PIKO station had all the parts numbered which left nothing to the builder's decision. This is not the case here, but it's OK considering how easy to build the station is.

There are a lot of stickers included along with a white plastic base. Of course nothing is in Polish, so I'll be again making my own decorations.

Build step one - the walls. Very easy to do, everything fits perfectly. Three things to note:

• the walls are made of a really solid plastic, one could even mistake the material for something else (something better)
• the transparent parts used for window glass are not "flimsy ones" - like in some other models - but a real thick plastic
• no curtains imitations are provided

Step two - connect the large parts together. Again - the walls fit perfectly into the base, and the roof lies nicely on the walls. One thing that caught my attention are the door frames. They feature bumpers which prohibit the doors from opening to the inside. That's pretty cool and PIKO should really copy that idea.

Step three - installing the details. With just a few more parts glued, the building is ready.

But the sticker decorations are still missing. I have previously printed my own labels on regular paper, glued them to the model and protected with weather-proof transparent lacquer.

This time I'm trying something else. I'm printing my decorations directly on label sheets which are declared "durable" and for "outdoor use".

Here they are applied on the plastic base.

This is what the final result looks like. All the model parts and all custom stickers installed. Looks very nice to me :)


And it makes an even better impression when lighted and installed outdoors!

Summary

It's a very small train station and it's very quick and easy to build. Everything fits perfectly and working with the set is a pure pleasure. The plastic material used seems very sturdy, especially when it comes to the wall parts. Those are also nicely painted which helps to create an image of a neglected rural building. I like the model a lot and will definitely make it an exposed element of my layout.