Pola G 330995, G-Scale newspaper kiosk

After I had finished laying down the roads on my garden layout I've realized a tiny parcel has appeared. It was too small to put anything of reasonable size there. But at the same time it was located right in the middle of what was going to become my town. I could not leave that space empty...

And so the idea of adding a small kiosk came to life. For a moment I've considered 3D printing my own model but then I checked the products available on the market and I really liked what I saw. Turned out both PIKO and Pola G had some kiosks in their offer, and I've decided to buy one of those. My choice this time was Pola G as it seemed to offer more for a smaller price.

The catalog number of the set I bought is 330995. It came in a small, lightweight cardboard box.

Small box - little content. Everything is however nicely packaged and all the parts arrived in a perfect condition. As it is always the case with Pola G products - the glue was not included.

The elements can be divided into two groups. There are pieces contributing to the kiosk building itself...

...and there are pieces for the accompanying accessories.

A nice selection of stickers is included but - as always - I'll be making my own to achieve a more "local look".

The manual is short an clear. And the model is simple, so there won't be any difficulty here.

The kiosk consists of four walls...

...covered by a roof.

The accessories include: chairs, tables, newspaper displays and an umbrella.

And here are my Polish-themed stickers.

The build was easy and quick. And once all the decorations are applied, we can enjoy the final result.

Well, it's a very small set. There isn't really much to describe here. I like the outcome of the build, it's detailed and colorful. The included accessories are very much appreciated and the price of the product was reasonable, too. I think the set fills the small lot very well. Again - money well spent :)

G-Scale cars outdoor conditions test - 300 days later!

Around 11 months ago I've decided to install my G-scale cars outdoors and I called it a test. I've promised I would take a look at those vehicles after 100 days and post the observations on my blog. Well, it's been almost a year now, I'm way behind the schedule, so maybe it's time to finally keep my promise 😁

Here are my cars gathered from the garden layout after 300 days. They've been constantly exposed to all weather conditions from June to May.

It's obvious at first sight they're not seriously damaged. They still look like the cars I bought, at least from a distance. Let's take a closer look at each one separately.

Hyundai i30, Welly

Hyundai i30 is the car I drive in my real life. Seems like the model is in a better condition than my actual ride 😅

Some changes are visible after sitting outside for months. The silver bar and the logo on the grill have lost their paint, and there's some slight discoloration around the front lamps. But in general - it looks great! Actually, the worst thing that happened was a spider building a nest inside the vehicle. Scared the hell out of me...

VW Beetle, Kinsmart

This model is my souvenir from a holiday at the sea...

It looks very, very good after one season. The blue body is still as blue as it was. The red lamps have faded a little but there isn't any real damage. Good!

VW Bus, Kinsmart

Another souvenir from my summer holidays...

I was very worried about this model. The reason were the stickers present all over its body. I was afraid they would peel off very quickly. But that has not happened. All the stickers are still there. They're a little faded but not really that much.

The chromed VW logo is now partially black and the red lamps are now white. But it looks good overall. To my surprise even the registration plate sticker has survived!

Trabant 601, Yat Ming

This car used to be very popular in Poland when I was a kid...

The only real damage I can see here is the front sticker. This one clearly didn't make it. There's also some loss of paint on the chromed buffers. But the model still looks much better than any real-life Trabant I've ever seen.

Alfa Romeo MiTo, Bburago

I don't recall any personal story behind this purchase. Perhaps it was just cheap...

Alfa Romeo would still look perfect if it wasn't for the varying color fade on different parts. Seems the model have not been consistently painted and the front buffer has aged a little more compared to the rest of the body. It's a pity but is it really a big deal? Don't think so... 

Opel Blitz, Pola G 

This one was my favorite. A real outdoor model made by a company specializing in garden layouts. It was also three times as expensive as the other cars.

There's no clear damage to the material to be found. The colors are still more or less the same as last year. The plastic did not warp and it did not become brittle. 

There's however damage to the structure and that is related to the fragility of the model I mentioned in my review. The truck has lost part of its windshield - easy to glue back, and a side mirror - would be easy to re-attach if it wasn't lost forever somewhere in the gravel.

Another note I have about this car is related to the "tarp" element which covers the bed. I did not glue this part last year and it was a mistake. The cover "flies away" on every single windy night. I literally wake up in the morning and I have to look for it. So this time I'm gluing it for good, even if that lowers the functionality of the model.

Summary

I have to say the cars did pretty well throughout the all-year weather. None of the cars needs to be replaced or significantly repaired. The only doubt I have is about the Pola G model - it was much more expensive than the die-cast toys and... it was the only one that actually required any fixes. But it's also much more detailed and offers the fun of building it.

All in all - none of the vehicles disappointed me so far. Seems one could go either for the die-cast cars or for the dedicated outdoor models and it would work out pretty much fine. At least considering a one year long period...

Next checkpoint - perhaps in 2018?

Piko 37720, G-Scale track cleaning car

The spring is finally here and I was able to start my garden trains season now. One preparation step I've done before that was buying a track cleaning car to make my life a little bit easier after the winter. I did have high hopes for the product I picked considering it was not cheap at all...

The item I'm describing is Piko 37720. I've chosen it for two reasons:

• The similar offer from LGB requires usage of one of their narrow gauge cars which is something I'm not interested in.
• The Piko model is a nice piece of rolling stock overall and it can be used beyond its cleaning function.

Opening the box reveals exactly what I've ordered - a bright yellow tarp covered freight car (with some German labels).

The content of the package:

• the freight car itself
• a set of alternative buffers
• a user manual

There are also some details included and those were not immediately visible upon opening the box. There are six of those when only four are required. Does that suggest they can get lost easily? Don't think so - once installed they're very difficult to remove.

The manual describes the model itself, including the process of replacing the buffers...

...as well as the usage of the track polishing function.

The cleaning elements - the felt pads and the fluid - are delivered inside the car. Piko has provided two pads even though only one is used at a time.

The underframe of the car features a plate the felt sticks onto. It's very easy to apply and remove a pad.

The plate is not screwed tight and at the same time it offers some weight. This way it always presses the rails with a noticeable but not excessive force.

The cleaning plate can be removed completely which turns the track polishing car into a regular piece of rolling stock.

And this is what the model looks like without the cleaning functionality.

It looks good! Of course it's just a standard freight car with a tarp cover but the amount of details is very satisfying and obviously - I love the vivid colors. The wheels are made of plastic which was to be expected. I do not like the German text labels that much but the choice is understandable considering where the biggest Piko's market is.

OK, but does it work? Well, I've waited with this review until the season start just to be able to answer this question. I expected the layout to be extremely dirty after the winter and assumed these would be the perfect conditions for a test.

I was both right and wrong. To my surprise the layout's condition was not really that bad and my locomotive was able to run over most of my track. But there was one place - and that was inside a tunnel - where the train was having a lot of difficulties.

I ran the car through that tunnel around a dozen of times and the area became clean and the train started running smoothly. At the same time the cleaning pad became dirty. So, yes, it works.

It's difficult to judge the efficiency of this cleaning method. I do have a feeling I could get the tunnel part working quicker if I polished the track manually. But doing so would require me to go onto the layout and actually reach the problematic area with my hands. It's easier to simply run a train there, even if it takes more time.

The car has also some minor issues when the cleaning pad is installed. It does have some problems going over the Piko rerailer track and it definitely cannot pass over the Piko electric switch. But besides that, it performs very, very well and gets the job done.