Review of the diminutive MBZ T3 - Lokschluppen (Z Scale - Nr. 16268):



This is the second Z scale laser cut kit I've put together, but the first one of any real difficulty. Nearly all the pieces separated properly from the sheet, and considering how small some of the trim pieces are, that's saying something. Basic instructions/hints/suggestions are in German and English, but most of the detailed assembly information is in the diagram that comes with the kit.



Although I'm still somewhat near sighted, putting this little guy together properly required a 3x magnifier head-piece most of the time. The first major challenge was to not break the wood and cardboard elements (some are 1/16" or even smaller). Tweezers were helpful and in some cases a necessity, but a light pressure was required so as not to crush or break the smaller pieces. Due to the small size, I used two brand new Exacto knife blades to ensure cuts were clean and precise.

Long story short, after a few small missteps I managed to get the shed built and the doors installed. At that point I was feeling pretty good about how this was going, but after eyeballing the entrance I could visually see it would be a very tight fit. Testing clearance with a Marklin tank locomotive confirmed my suspicions:



At this point I though that I might have misinterpreted the instructions and tried to imagine some other way for this to work. But any other possibility still had the hinges protruding into the entrance area. Clearly, the rather large hinges (relatively speaking) had to be moved out of the entrance to provide enough clearance for a locomotive. This required dismantling the doors, some modification and then reassembly:



Success!



Finished weathered (acrylic paint, not pigments) product (LxWxH: 54mm x 34mm x 40mm or 2.3" x 1.3" x 1.6"):



I couldn't find the two smoke stack pipes in the kit, so I used appropriately sized and painted wire and then attached the supplied paper caps.

In closing, I hope that this review might help anyone attempting a Z scale kit. MBZ (Model Bahn Zubehor) is well known for very realistic kits and this one is no exception. However, I can't help but wonder if the supplied door hinges aren't a carry over from their N scale version of the same shed (from a cost perspective, it would make sense since Z scale kits sell in much smaller numbers than N, and especially H0). I plan to contact MBZ to alert them to the problem so that they can take the appropriate actions necessary to fix this issue.


Ralph.