Hello everyone, My name is Paul I live in Italy. Sorry for my terrible English. A month ago I bought a starter set Marklin Z scale. And I fallen in love. I discovered your site through a video on youtube of BazBoyz. Simply fantastic. I have a thousand question to ask and I hope that you will have the patience to answer me. Ciao a tutti Paolo
Paolo, Welcome to the group. There are a lot of good and knowledgeable people here and I'm sure everyone will be happy to help answer your questions. Dan S. By the way, I think your English is probably better than mine
Hi Paolo, You have definitely tuned into the right channel and frequency. Folks here will be more than happy to assist you on your Z adventure. Ain't love grand !!!!
Welcome Paolo, I think you find this is one of the freindliest places to be. Everyone is very happy to help and more than willing to share any information on what you need. Just ask.
Welcome aboard Paolo, you'll find a nice helpful group here for your Z Scale adventures. And I agree your English is fine.
Thanks Thanks for your welcome. In Italy there is difficult to find z scale. First question: how can I fix my plastic track? Actually I use the small nails of Marklin, but I'd prefer fix better the tracks. Second question: I saw a video of BazBoyz in which he created the trees on a scale z, but do not understand what he used to make the branches and foliage of the tree. Third question: how can I make slopes? Thanks
Buongiorno Paolo and welcome here, I'm sure you'll find here all the help you need for any question you have.:thumbs_up: All the best, Dom from beyond the Alps..
Hi Paolo, as I won't reply to your 2nd question for which I've no answer, I'm going to help you for the 1st and the 3rd. -1st: myself I'm using white glue. I apply it with a brush on the subroadbed (spurs) or on the cork roadbed (mainline) and I keep track into position using heavy weights such as thick and boring books I won't want to read in a short noticemwink. I keep it dry a few hours (overnight is the best). The main advantage in my opinion is that you don't have any nail that protrudes above ties that is really big considering Z scale's small size. -3rd: to do slopes you can either use Woodlands Scenics inclines (available with a 1%, 2% or 3%-slope): http://www.woodlandscenics.com (then go to the submenu "Products", then "Layout System", then "Subterrain lightweight layout system", then click to Page 2) or scratchbuild your inclines / risers using wood or styrene blocks you will use to glue (or nail) your subroadbed on. You'll just have to calculate block's height depending on the slope you want and their position on the layout, considering 2% is the maximum normal recommended slope (that's why I'm myself working with 3% slopes....:ru-cool. And finally don't be upset to find Z scale difficultly in Italy, that's pretty the same everywhere, such as here in France, and that's why I purchase ~98% of my stuff online. First you should subscribe to ZTrack (http://www.ztrack.com) which help you to find the stuff you need and to work on Zscale. You may also go to http://www.ztrackcenter.com which is maybe the best way to order online. Hope this helps, Dom
Sky_68: Don't think that only Italy is "difficult" to find Z. I live in New York City: there are very few shops that have any selection. Here in the US I purchase from on-line sources. Take a look at this forum section: "Online Retail Stores" for sources. The Z trains and supplies are light to ship; postage should not be too high. When you order from non-EEC companies there is no VAT or local tax. There are also many mailorder Z suppliers in Germany Marklin also sells online: Märklin Online ShopSpur Z For stick down of track, if not wanting to use glue, some use double side tape. Foam tape absorbs sound. Woodland Scenics has a video on how to make a tree: Woodland Scenics - Model Layouts, Scenery, Buildings and Figures Their other videos how-to are also good: http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/HowToVideosWS
Paul, If you want some Chenille bumps, I will send you some. Don't buy the ones that Robert mentioned.......too expensive. I buy mine by the hank, or 18 yards of 5" bumps for less than 10 dollars and it will make over a thousand trees. If you only want a few bumps, I can make you a great deal. One of these days I'm planning on making a good quality video of my tree making process which will better explain the whole thing in greater detail and clarity of film.
Thank you so much Loren, I think it 's too expensive ship some bumps from America to Italy. I will find in Italy something like that. But I look forward to your video. My english comes from Google Translate hihihihihihhi Bye
The best "how to" publication on the model rr market is "Model Railroader" They don't give a bucket of warm spit about Z scale, but their "how to" articles scale up and down and backwards and sideways. ie, all their articles info can be used on your Z layout. As a subscriber, you also get access on-line. for example, I was just looking up articles on trees, and see they have one entitled "Trees by the bucket" about N scale forests laid en masse on a layout, dated Jan 22 2010. The entire article is on-line. talk about a reference library at your fingertips! The gist of the article is this, trees are expensive, whether you buy at 10 cents a tree or make your own (whats your time worth!) But remember the old saying: you can't see the forest for the trees? Well, behind/beyond the first row of trunks, you can't see the trees because of "the canopy" of foliage. So, you fill the areas behind a row or two of trunked trees with ground cover foliage glued together and raised to tree-top level. Mucho cheaper and quicker than planting a forest one stick at a time! Have fun over there, the greatest market in the WORLD for z stuff is THAT auction site dot de, not only does the German auction site have more stuff, they also have have better (more rational) prices on their stuff at auction end; and you can pay them in your own Euros and not have to deal with currency conversions, bank wires etc.
Ho scoperto che si può fare una buona z alberi scala utilizzando la scala più ridotta n albero di materiali da costruzione. I've found that you can make good z scale trees using the smaller n scale tree building materials.
