MARK HOLLAND looks at other uses for the Faller range of Military Kits.
You may already be aware of the Faller range of HO Scale building kits, but maybe not the military range that they produce. This comprises various barracks, sheds and other items to make up a typical military base. Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with model railways? Not much in their intended role - but with a bit of out-of-the-box thinking they are useful to add a bit of variation to the buildings on a layout.
I’m going to run through the range and make a few suggestions on how to use the kits not in their intended role; but instead look at alternative uses and comparisons to other buildings.
This kit could be left as a residential building, e.g. flats or maybe used as an older office block.
FA144100 Barracks Main Entrance
This has the look of a Zoo, Country Park or Theme Park entrance. With an appropriate change of the nameboard, and maybe even the addition of some working wall lights, it can become a welcoming gateway to some fun, rather than the usual shouting!
FA144102 Sentry Building with Barrier
Without the use of much imagination this could be used as the secure entrance to a car park, business park, or depot.
A useful little building that can be repurposed as a scout/community hut. In fact, we have one on our shop layout containing a rather loud disco!
FA144103 Workshop Hall or FA144106 Small Workshop Hall
Both of these workshop halls can be used as industrial estate units or car workshops.
One idea for this is a hanger for small aircraft or an industrial estate unit.
Easy one, this. Repurposed as a bus or a works depot it is perfect as what it is described as, a filling station, especially for larger vehicles.
FA144108 Tents or FA144109 Medical Tents
These tents would be perfect for a village fete. With a simple repaint, these would look perfect.
FA144110 Konstanzbahn Training Camp
A bit of an interesting kit this one, but perfect for a ‘team building’ day. With a bit of scene setting and the addition of some civilian climbers you can be the one making the ‘team building’ happen. Think adventure playground for adults.
This one is a bit difficult as these are only really useful for the intended purpose. That said, the wire could easily be repurposed for the top of a chain-link fence making it that bit more secure.
These can be used as intended, espeically if your layout is prone to flooding (those pesky developers building on the flood plains!). They can also be ideal as a lorry load or piled up on building sites.
Hopefully this has given you a few ideas on how to use the Faller military buildings in a different context. Some of them are very different structures to the ones you would normally find in a manufacturer's range of building kits so they can have some interesting alternate uses.