I have built many N scale kits but never one from Faller. Now trying a Faller kit. When I opened the Faller box, the first thing I discover is that the sprues and parts appear to have a coating on them that I have not seen before. At first I thought it might be a mold release residue but looking closer it appeared to be a mild wash that had been applied to kill the plastic appearance. Not all the parts had the wash. I suppose the wash is intended to give it a better appearance vs a plain plastic building.
Since I wanted to paint the kit my own colors, I tried to remove the wash with a warm soapy bath and a firm scrub brush. That removed about 80-90% of the coloring but I felt like the parts would be ready for a primer despite the small amount of residue left on the parts.
Does anyone know what that Faller coating is? Do they do it to all their kits?
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
I have encountered the powdery residue/coating. I never gave it much thought.
.
I washed the parts in warm soapy water like you did, and never had any problems.
If you are in N scale, Americanizing Faller kits is almost a necessary skill, especially 20 years ago.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190 If you are in N scale, Americanizing Faller kits is almost a necessary skill, especially 20 years ago. -Kevin
I have typically avoided the European kits because they were......so European. However, I wanted a small concrete batch plant on my layout and no American version exists. I did see how to cobble one up with parts from Shapeways but the cost was outrageous. As a result, I am using Fallers Betonmischwerk (aka Concrete Mixing Plant) as a starting point to create my own.
PED I am using Fallers Betonmischwerk (aka Concrete Mixing Plant) as a starting point to create my own.
You would be amazed the difference that a shingle or corrugated steel roof, downspouts, and reasonable paint will make on a Faller N scale kit.
I "Americanized" the Baden-Baden Station kit (not Faller) in N scale, and it made a great model.
I have not encountered any odd "stuff" on Faller kit parts that I recall. My hunch is mold release, since their plastics do seem a bit different than ours.
While warm soapy water is the usual suggestion, the late Art Curren used to manually "DullCote" his kitbash raw material kits by vigorously scrubbing the parts in warm water with Ajax cleanser. His goal was to use the molded colors whenever possible and it is amazing how successful he was even with European kits. Even if you decide to paint your structures I suggest the abrasive household cleanser (Ajax, Barkeeper's Friend, Bon Ami, Old Dutch Cleaner, whatever) routine.
Tony Koester wrote about "Americanizing" European structure kits in MR for October 2016. Jim Hediger wrote on the same topic years ago in the June 1988 issue. Changing the window muntins is one step to consider; the roofs (and often, roof angles) and trim are another. Sometimes just moving away from the molded on colors is a huge step.
I have not seen the issue but the March 1990 issue of "N Scale" also had an "Americanizing" structure article.
There are cities such as Milwaukee and Cincinnatti where many older brick buidings look rather "German" anyway particularly in the matter of ornate wrought iron trim. And now and then I see a house or small business building where I think Faller, Kibri, Noch or Vollmer as source material.
Dave Nelson
Whatever it was, warm soapy water and a small scrub brush did the trick for me. Sprayed with primer with no problems.
dknelsonThere are cities such as Milwaukee and Cincinnatti where many older brick buidings look rather "German" anyway particularly in the matter of ornate wrought iron trim.
Even Elberton, Georgia has this building with VERY European styling. This would look out of place on a layout for certain.
Kevin - I don´t want to rain on your parade, but that building looks like an American building which was beefed upo with some supposedly looking European elements. The roof looks rather British to me, so do the sash windows, which you hardly find on continental Europe. The dormers add a french touch to it, while the ground floor shows signs of Italian architecture.
What a mix!
There is no "European" architecture - each country has its distinct style, and even within each country, there are vast differences.
Faller, Vollmer and Kibri kits are mainly based on the architecture you will see in southwestern Germany.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Tinplate ToddlerThere is no "European" architecture - each country has its distinct style, and even within each country, there are vast differences.
My point was that there are buildings all over the United States, even in teeny-tiny little Elberton, Georgia that draw on European Architectural elements for styling, and then look out of place.
Frankly, I think that building is a hideous eyesore that is poorly rendered and completely innapropriate for the community.
As I have stated many times before, the final coat of paint counts for more than anything.
This little dilapdidated structure is a box stock Tyco/Pola cheap plastic item from the Tyco "Trackside Maintenance Structures" box.
My friend Tomas, who posts on here as "The Winter Wolf", painted it for me one evening. With even ZERO modifications or added detail to a European prototype structure, the skilled hand of a master painter can work wonders.
Do not be afraid of Faller, Heljan, Pola, etc. They can work just fine.
Since America is a hodge podge of nationalities from all over Europe, why not our buildings?
First...I am old. Haven’t assembled a model kit since junior HS and have now just completed a Faller 232399 Monestary. It took nearly 40 hours of deliberate, patient work assembling , painting, etc. I’m satisfied with the end product but surprised by the large number of extra and seemingly unrelated parts on the ”sprues“. Can anyone explain this? Are the sprues used to supply multiple kits so that some parts are used in one and not another....or is there some other explanation?
Nothing to explain. If you've built the kit and it looks good to you, why worry about it.
I assume there are instructions? Look'em over if you have them. See if you can spot anything that you missed.
I might have that kit, tomorrow I dig through my stuff and see. It seems familar.
But like I said, if your happy with the results, don't worry about it, enjoy it!
If you got pictures, and you can figure out how to post them in here, we love to see'em!
Mike.
My You Tube
I recently finished the Faller HO Factory kit which is actually a conglomerate of six various building kits. Yes, they use common parts sprues for several variations of the basic kit so there are extra parts.
I'm happy to be able to stock my scratchbuilding bins with these left-over bits. Sometimes the instructions will have the unused parts noted in the diagrams.
This view shows the partially completed structure (s).
Gearworks2 by Edmund, on Flickr
My Union Station is yet another Faller kit and it is also made up of several "modular" structures that Faller also sells as smaller buildings. As such there are lots of extra doors and windows, chimneys and detail parts that may be intended for the other variations of this basic structure:
Union Station by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
Kili2surprised by the large number of extra and seemingly unrelated parts on the ”sprues“. Can anyone explain this? Are the sprues used to supply multiple kits so that some parts are used in one and not another....
Yes this is common with a fair number of plastic kits. Often you find extra windows or doors for example. Quite apart from Faller, LifeLike before its acquisition by Walthers used to make multiple uses of certain castings in their structure kits accounting for odd (but to the kitbasher, very welcome) "extras" in their kits. For example the LifeLike "Police station" kit and the LifeLike "Business center" kit share many parts including base and rear and one side wall -- and irrelevant parts are included with both.
This also happens with some rolling stock kits.
Kitbashers follow this rule: throw away no extra parts from any kit (including the sprues) as they are all raw material for the next project.