Z Scale People

This is something I have wanted to talk about for a long time now and I hope that I can get you guys to give your own opinion on this as well. I very much appreciate the quality of Preiser Z scale figures but am growing somewhat weary of the selection in poses and themes. Price is high but worth it for the beautiful job they do.

Has anyone wished that there were more manufacturers doing high quality figures or am I the only one? I have a box full of those Chinese figures and will never use them except for maybe if they are hidden in a building for effect (which I had to do on Dizzyland).

I do understand that the tooling would be almost cost prohibitive, but would it really be? -in the long run? We need a quality competitor for Preiser, not to hurt them but to broaden this need of a specialized Z product and, maybe, to give them a reason to add more poses, themes, and paint schemes. For those of us who have the need to populate Z this would be a wonderful and welcome new manufacture...if the quality is there.

Karin, what we need is American people, passenger,and worker. Most of the current stuff available is all European.

Karin, Since 85% of us model North American and I'm one, I could'nt agree with you more. Has anyone talked to Preiser about this? For the most part it is just the paint job. We do need dedicated 'workers' though. You would think the Chinese would get a grip and produce the NA people. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Karin
You are absolutely right.

But in the meantime I think we all try to compensate the lack of choices with all kind of tricks. For instance I rework a little those Chinese product, even thought they are quite, hum!? "ugly" as is, when compare to the Preiser ones.
The lady with the coat could be redo a little (the plastic), but the 6 foot tall girl with no hands is quite a challenge. The white one is a Preiser figure.



Also I use a lot of those tilt shift pictures, it give me info as to where I should stop putting details. Boy! Did I use to hate those pictures when I was looking for miniature subject and I was getting only fake photo's, they were everywhere, now I find them really helpful.

Example.
www.flickr.com/photos/yhlee/390118500/
www.flickr.com/photos/eggend_houston/356388588/
www.flickr.com/photos/pinboke/2443082568/
www.flickr.com/photos/pinboke/2150746952/sizes/o/

Ben

Preiser makes some 1/200 figures that might offer a little variety and you could use them where they would not look too large. I also found an architectural ourfit selling 1/200 figures at www.blundellharling.com.

John

John, Thanks for the info. You link does not work however. Cheers, Jim CCRR:(

Socalz44 wrote:

John, Thanks for the info. You link does not work however. Cheers, Jim CCRR:(

The address had a period added onto the end (... .com./) as part of the link. Try: www.blundellharling.com .

Mike

John,
The site does not work.
Loren:(

Never mind, I finally read your reply. You know, I could be dangerous if I read the instructions.........

For original alternatives to Preiser, see:
www.trafofuchs.de/index_en.htm
The company is based in Germany but their website is also in english and they do ship internationally.

Trafofuchs has an original line of figures and details in Z. Allthough there are no specific US-themed sets, some might be put to use on an American layout, E.G. the railroadworkers or the XXX rated sets.

I´ve inquired after possibility of developing a set of American style figures, will let you all know what comes out of that.

Maybe more requests of this type would encourage them to do so.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Matt

Trafofuchs is considiring USA style z scale figures.
See the gallery General Z - Z-figures for three examples of what they might look like.

Trafofuchs (mrs. Birgit Foken-Brock) appreciates your reactions and suggestions. trafofuchs at trafofuchs.de

No business involvement of me, just an interested z-scaler..

regards,
Matt

I FULLY AGREE,,WE NEED MORE COMPETITION IN THE FIGURES DEPARTMENT!!! along with the same poses,, they hardly bring aything new to the z scale table. TRY TO FIND ANZ SCALE DEER!!! i ve been looking now for 1 1/2,, no such place makes them anymore. if this was HO or even N scale,, we d have all kinds of wildlife to choose from. i ve complained now for atleast get a set of deer out in this scale,, tryed 12 emails was emailed back once,, saying no one would buy them, so why bother WTH!!! MIKE

You could always get some N scale deer and claim they are elk ;>)

John

Well Preiser does take suggestions but who knows if they will do anything. I told them in Cologne they needed some US figures, especially RR workers. I was even in my stripped overalls and engineer hat. They took a note but don't know if they will do anything. I also talked to the nice people of Trafofuchs and they will pretty much make anything you want. Those are just other figures that have been tweaked and modified. The only other big competition is Noch, but in HO. Merten also makes Z but very limited.

Has anyone tried plastruct? I have a couple baggies of their Z people. I never took a good look at them (well, I can barely see them anyway!) but at a glance they looked good.

Ondrej, I would say, no. This is the first I have ever heard of Plastruct producing Z people. I'm going to take a look. Thanks, Jim CCRR:)

Let's see if this works:
www.plastruct.com/Pages/OnlineProductDetail.lasso?CCode=SFI-250
I went on the Plastruct website and found Z people. The smallest size they have is 1:250. The next size is 1:200. We are in between. This is probably a good thing. Since we are all different sizes anyway. These Plastruct characters look much better than the offerings of WeBeHonest and Everygoodays. They come plain or painted. Painted seem a bit pricey at $26. I could not find out how many people are in the package. If I read it correctly then I think there are only 2 figures in a package! Of course, no guarantee which figures you will get. They definately have the North American "look" most of us are seeking. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

Mike:

Thanks! Glad I'm not the only one. I was looking for deer, elk, etc. for my layout. Bear, couger, bobcat, wolf, coyote would be great as well. I'm sure someone out there would appreciate a moose, antelope et al. I won't hold my breath for ducks, Canadian geese, pheasant, etc.

But I think we will see Z North American people long before we see critters as there would be much more demand.

Cheers!
Jeremy

Jim, I will check mine, I think I have 1:200 and they are a bit smaller than Preiser Z.

Merten does make elk (stags) in Z. Seems everyone makes sheep. Now for wolves and coyotes, why dont you use the german shepard dog? Airbrushed in grey, would one really be able to tell the difference? One could do some surgery with a bit of cutting and model putty and put him on his haunches, howling at the moon? They finally got some critters in HO like snakes and owls, and I have even seen HO roadkill. Sounds gruesome but if you have a highway through fields and woods I guess you could paint or photo etch a dead skunk or possum.