[Doug]

One of the 'BIG' things seen at the Toy Fair were the BIG bags being given out by the Märklin hostesses dressed in tight'n'sexy military drab. They were promoting the 4MFOR range of modern German military vehicles. I tell you this is going to be popular. The British and French need this quick...!

These models make use of metal as a raw material and feature a previously unknown quality in the scales 1:87 and 1:32. Fascinating details and even the weight of a real tank are realistically translated into the model in this manner. Loading scenes and troop transport can be reproduced with absolute prototypical realism for a model railroad in the scales 1:87 and 1:32.

Here are some scans of their product catalogue to show the details.

 

[neil_s_wood]

Those look really good. I'll be having some of them I think. Roco do something like these but in plastic. It looks like a good range too. In case some folks don't know you can have the AC wheelsets changed for DC wheelsets by the dealer, usually for free.

I wonder if they'll do the set with the loco in Trix DC

Any idea when they will be released

 

[Doug]

Some more Märklin photos.

Sorry about the focus of some images. Many exhibits were behind glass so manual focusing had to be done and with the extremely shallow depth of field due to bad lighting it is tricky to get good clear photos. Using a flash - at least the flash that I have - is impossible as direct illumination is too bright and bounced flash is not possible with nothing to bounce off. I did notice a couple of photographers with special flash systems for macro shooting - I'll be investigating that further.

Part of the large Märklin layout that seemed to be mostly automatically run. There was a driver on hand, but I didn't see him do much.

The driver at the DCC station.

The biggest and the smallest. Scale 1 on the bottom and Z-scale at the top.

I got the impression that Märklin was back in full swing. After the uncertainty of the last year or two the company is driving ahead very positively.

If you have any questions about the 2007 Märklin range, please feel free to ask. I have a collection of catalogues at my disposal. I can scan a page or two if required.

 

[Gary]

QUOTE One of the 'BIG' things seen at the Toy Fair were the BIG bags being given out by the Märklin hostesses dressed in tight'n'sexy military drab

Could we have more information?

Are Marklin now doing a line in clothing?

I believe Hornby now are however Marklin seem to have put a new twist on this for German modellers!

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[7113]

QUOTE (Doug @ 5 Feb 2007, 16:46) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...bags being given out by the Märklin hostesses dressed in tight'n'sexy military drab. They were promoting the....

So no photos of this bit then Doug? I'll just have to use my imagination...........

Regards

John

 

[Agamemnon]

The military stuff is interesting news, and the vehicle models themselves look very high-quality indeed.

 

[Doug]

Sorry, no photos of the babes, the opportunity didn't come up as they were walking around the place all the time.

The models are great. Apparently they are quite heavy, giving the train something substantial to pull.

Wouldn't it be great if other countries vehicles were available. I don't think that the British army uses trains much to transport vehicles, but during WWII, they were used extensively.

 

[darobi]

I often traveled on trains when I was serving in Germany but they were German trains!! I got to cab a trip once, we couldn't understand each other very well but I knew what speed we where going. Military trains come bottom of the pile when on the rails. We took 10 hours to go 100km. Spent over 2 in a siding doing nothing!!

They had a compartment coach behind the engine for us to kip in while on route. The seats pulled out so you could make them all meet in the middle. About 6-8 of us per compartment, very nice!!

Sometimes end loaded onto the flats but mainly side loaded. Chocks under the front and rear of the tracks and lats on the inside.

Pity you don't see it so often over here now, I would love to model UK vehicles but not a lot of vehicles are made for the modeler in 00.

Darren

 

[dwb]

I am particularly impressed by the walled town. Whose kits(?) are they?

David

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (dwb @ 7 Feb 2007, 08:26) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I am particularly impressed by the walled town. Whose kits(?) are they?

David
Faller. I have some of the kits in the picture. The tall tower in the middle is an exact model of the main tower in Rottenberg. This is a picturesque village in Bavaria which is unique in that it didn't get bombed back to the stone age during WW2. So all the buildings are original and not reconstructions as in many other German towns.

Faller also do the walled town in modular kits so you can extend it as desired. There are other towers you can include in it too. They're great kits. They're designed so you can install lighting in them quite easily. Click here for the appropriate section of their catalogue

QUOTE I got the impression that Märklin was back in full swing. After the uncertainty of the last year or two the company is driving ahead very positively. Thats the impression I got from this years Trix and Maerklin catalogues. The expensive full featured models were back with a bang.

QUOTE Part of the large Märklin layout that seemed to be mostly automatically run. There was a driver on hand, but I didn't see him do much. The Maerklin Central Station was designed by ESU and is similar to the Ecos. A degree of automation is possible through the use of S88's.

Some good photos there. Thanks for showing these, I appreciate getting to see stuff like this. Maerklin have quite a good range of product so they can put on a good show.

Did you see the digital crane in picture two working? What did you think of it.

Did you see a mock up or model of the TEE in picture four with the guy with the Central Station?

How did it look if you did

I'm having a think about this item but it's a bit dear so any informed opinion would be good

 

[neil_s_wood]

Doug, you didn't see any of the Trix two rail DC stuff did you?

 

[Doug]

Metal Military Mission by Marklin

These pictures were sent in. Not sure of the original source.

 

[neil_s_wood]

They look great. I especially like the model in picture three

 

[neil_s_wood]

Oh and one more thing did you see this item?

It has digitally controllable pantographs and catenary maintenance platform. I'm interested in how these perform as they have a couple of these on the go now.

 

[Doug]

Some more photo from another source:

This is about half the train that the Big-Boy was pulling on the Märklin stand

A good view of the Märklin layout

Märklin again

I'm not sure what these are. They are big though. At least G-Scale, perhaps Scale 1. Looks like they are being controlled by an ECoS system.

 

[Dennis David]

QUOTE Sometimes end loaded onto the flats but mainly side loaded. Chocks under the front and rear of the tracks and lats on the inside.

We always end loaded so if you were the first on you would of course have to drive the length of the train. We were pulled by steam locomotives from Bad Kissingen to Grafenwoehr and yes we were often shunted over to the side for hours at a time.

These were taken in 1970. I was there two years later, nothing had changed much.

 

[7113]

QUOTE (neil_s_wood @ 7 Feb 2007, 01:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>They look great. I especially like the model in picture three

Ah yes, it would seem that once again Nurnburg has produced it's usual array of lovely ladies to ensure that the buyers are tempted for all the wrong reasons.

Regards

John

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 8 Feb 2007, 00:26) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Ah yes, it would seem that once again Nurnburg has produced it's usual array of lovely ladies to ensure that the buyers are tempted for all the wrong reasons.

Regards

John
It works though doesn't it?

 

[7113]

QUOTE (Dennis David @ 7 Feb 2007, 12:44) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>These were taken in 1970. I was there two years later, nothing had changed much.

Dennis, is that a DB class 50 I see!! - oops can't be he's in Egypt. (tee hee)

Regards

John

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 9 Feb 2007, 00:06) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Dennis, is that a DB class 50 I see!! - oops can't be he's in Egypt. (tee hee)

Regards

John
It might well be, we may have to wait for a definitive answer.