The very last purchase from my recent US visit worth mentioning is yet another experiment from my side when it comes to garden railroading. I've decided to obtain some typical American G-scaled figures to see how well they'll perform outdoors. And at the same it gave me an opportunity to fill in some empty spots on my layout.
The models are part of the American Diorama collection. The sets I bought feature a hitchhiker scene and a single waitress.
Catalog numbers of these are 23996 and 23963. The warning on the box states there's a choking hazard involved, even though the parts are large. Oh, and by the way - the figures are made in China, and not in the US :)
The waitress on the roller skates looks really good. She's nicely painted and there are some interesting details on the food plate. Her pose is a typical one you would expect from a worker at an American diner. The face could be less blocky, but I like it very much overall.
The other set consists of a sexy hitchhiker and... a half-man. Yes, it may look disturbing at first and definitely brings back memories of watching Forrest Gump BUT it's actually a model you're supposed to put into a car. So the hitchhiker scene is not missing any legs, it's missing a car. Here's what it looks like.
We can see some very fine painting and nice details again. A lot of attention has been put into the girl's shorts. How did they know I would be looking exactly there?
I bought the poor guy a nice car so that he has any chance at all to pick up the lady. It's a Corvette from Welly. Unfortunately he does not fit inside so great, and a cabriolet would make the installation much easier. But still - it does look pretty good in the end...
The big question? Weather resistance. Unfortunately I won't know that until the next spring, since it's very cold outside already and the garden season 2017 is basically over for me :(
Here is my second souvenir from my last visit to the United States that I promised to review. Athearn model of an American steam locomotive nicknamed "Big Boy". The original engine is 40 meters long and weights over 500 tons. No wonder even an N-scale model is not really small at all.
The product is hardly available in Europe. I saw it at one store only and it was priced at a whopping 500 Euro. Luckily the price in the US is around half of that. So unless you're unlucky at the border control and have to pay the taxes, it's really a good deal to bring it from across the ocean.
Athearn definitely wants to make it look like the product is something special. It's delivered in the most elegant box I've ever seen for this kind of merchandise.
There isn't really that much inside. Just the locomotive, a manual, warranty card and one extra detail.
A single booklet covers all the topics: locomotive's history, model's construction and DCC control.
To my surprise, even the usage of the extra detail is explained. It's very often the case that small additional parts are provided, but the user has no idea where and how to install them. This is not the case here, since Athearn described it very well.
Here the model is still in its protective case. Length of the transparent box? 29cm or 11.5''. It is veeeery long.
And now it's out. It didn't fit on a single piece of a Kato track, so I had to use two.
It's very difficult to take good photos of such a long model. Here's my attempt at showing as much as possible in one shot. This is a high resolution picture, so feel free to zoom in.
It's much easier to capture smaller areas and expose particular details. This series of photos should give you an idea of what we're dealing with here :)
Yes, the model is absolutely amazing when it comes to details. It's impossible to list here all the small parts that are included. I simply feel overwhelmed. Ladders, rods, handrails, valves and much, much more. I really do not know how they even built it!
Unfortunately this level of detail comes at a price. And I'm not talking about the amount of money I had to pay. It's about the model's fragility. I'm literally afraid to pick it up and I always plan this act carefully before I grab the locomotive. Feels that if I do it the wrong way, some parts may fall off...
Another aspect is the maintainability of the engine. For me the product is not repairable. If - for example - any of the tiny, thin side rods breaks, I will not be able to fix it. That's one more reason for me to be extremely careful.
OK, but enough whining. I wanted a beautiful, ultimate model and I got one. Let's try to use it anyway!
The "Big Boy" is not very rich when it comes to its DCC functions. It's really just a few sounds. Everything that is offered, is however configurable, so changing the volume of a single sound effect should not be a problem. And tuning the operation of the locomotive is something one will probably want to do. By default there's even no braking characteristic defined, and the model just stops immediately once the throttle is reduced.
Here's a demo of the DCC functions. Please note that this was recorded before my tuning was completed. That's why the sound of the engine is way too loud compared to the other audio effects.
So how does it ride? Well, there are two aspects worth mentioning here...
The model offers a lot of points of contact with the track and is pretty heavy. This means it has absolutely no issues getting the power 100% of the time. It runs smoothly with no breaks or jumps at all. It's a perfect ride...
On the other hand, the model is slow. For some reason its maximum speed is way lower than it should be. It's not a big issue for me, since my layout is not large and the locomotive looks majestic traversing the track at a lower speed. But I can't stop wondering why this is the case. Is it because of all the delicate side rods? Could they fail if it was running faster?
Without a doubt - I love this model. It's the pinnacle of my collection. Athearn has been getting some bad press recently over the Internet about its steam engines, but my piece works just fine (knock on wood). The details the product offers, and the sheer size of the model are just one of its kind. I'm really happy to have it, although I will be rather anxious to actually put it into daily use...
This is my last G-Scale building. At least for now. There's just no way I can fit anything more onto my layout. It's a pity but it's also a relief. Now I'll be able to focus on details and make my miniature world really amazing...
When buying the last house, I've faced the same challenge as with Piko 62072. There just isn't enough variation of the models available on the market. So the final addition to my small town - Pola G 331082 - is again very similar to a building I already have: Pola G 331019.
But that's fine. They follow an identical structural pattern but externally look quite different. And actually, judging by the picture on the box, my new purchase seems to look nicer than the previous one...
Here comes unboxing. The content of the set is divided between smaller containers as always. This way the heavy parts do not damage the fragile ones in transport.
The walls and the roof elements definitely make an impression of being very sturdy.
Quite a lot of smaller parts are included with the set: chimneys, rain pipes, ...
...doors, windows, a balcony.
There's also a collection of accessories which include a table, two benches and firewood tools.
Curtains sheet is provided, as well as two bags of foam flowers.
The manual is as detailed and as accurate as I expected from a Pola G product. All the building steps are very clear.
Let's do it then!
Step one: walls assembly. I immediately fall in love with the blue wooden logs on the white background. I also remember to cover the weak spots with my own 3D printed plastic sheets. This way I will avoid light leakage after I illuminate the building from the inside.
Step two: connecting the big pieces. Looks nice already!
Step three: adding the roof as soon as possible to reinforce the structure. The balcony and the door are installed already, too.
Step four: filling the gap in the back wall with a huge stack of firewood.
Step five: roof elements which consist of chimneys, upper floor windows and a small statue.
Step six: rain pipes and small details.
In the meantime a set of accessories is constructed.
With a few flower boxes and some custom stickers the entire model is ready!
Let's enjoy the house's look from different sides...
...and when installed outside. Illuminated at night.
Definitely looking very nice. I love the vivid color of the roof and I think the stone walls look fantastic. There's just the right amount of contrast between the colors used to make the building look attractive but not flashy.
The upper floor is very interesting, too. The balcony is a welcome add-on, and the opposite wall with blue wooden logs looks really great. I'm not sure I'm convinced about the two identical chimneys, but they do fit after all.
The most original element of the model is the stack of wood at the back of the house. In my opinion however, this particular wall is the least interesting one. It's definitely one of its kind, but it's also a little boring. Unfortunately, this is the most exposed side in case of my layout.
The product is expensive. I think its official price is over 200 Euro. That's way more than the twin model Pola G 331019. Luckily I was able to find it online for much less, but it was still a significant spend. At least it looks great. I have no reasons to regret my purchase at all :)
