Schleich flora accessories

Schleich is a company well known for high quality action figures of animals and people. Additonally they manufacture a rather small selection of accessories which also include some flora models. And it so happens that many of their products fit the G scale layouts very nicely. I've decided to give some of them a go...

The decision was inspired by a photo posted on one of the Facebook groups. It shows a very nice layout with some very interesting trees. Those trees were made by Schleich...

Unfortunately those particular models are not on the offer right now. They're retired and can only be bought on Ebay at some very high price points. I wasn't ready for this kind of investment so instead I focused on what is available now. That's how I got: an agave, a fern and a palm tree.

Each of those is sold at around 3-4 Euros. Let's take a look at them.

Schleich 42243 - Agave

The model comes in 5 parts. The build takes 5 seconds and requires pushing each of the elements into the next one. Everything fits perfectly...

This is what it looks like next to a Bachmann G-Scale person model. It looks quite nice and the size is about right.

Schleich 42244 - Fern

The fern consists of only 4 elements. The build is as easy as in the case of the agave.

It looks pretty big next to a G-scale figure but I think it's correct. It's supposed to be a model of a tropical plant and those can grow quite big. The model looks really nice. The details of the leaves are top notch.

Schleich 42248 - Palm tree

The last one I bought is a palm tree. The content of the box is a surprise. The palm tree turns out to be a fern with a trunk. Well, I guess it makes sense...

The palm tree looks really nice but it could be a little larger. Or in other words - it would look just fine if there were some other taller trees around it, too. But again - the quality of the model is really good.

Summary

Three models, 3 Euros each and my Bachmann guy became the king of the jungle :)

On a more serious note. I like the Schleich flora accessories a lot. Just like their animal figures, those products look really good and feel like high quality items. Of course I wish the selection was much, much wider.

I will probably use the palm trees and ferns to create some tropical area on my layout but I really wish I could buy some European plants, too. And I also wonder how they will do outdoors, but looking at their quality I do have high hopes.

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.