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Dioramas
Do you love dioramas & vignettes? We sure do.
How sausage (kits) get(s) made.
downtowndeco
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Montana, United States
Joined: December 08, 2005
KitMaker: 306 posts
Armorama: 272 posts
Posted: Monday, August 18, 2014 - 08:10 AM UTC
OK. Not sausage, but 1/35 Scale diorama kits. : ) I got a couple of real nice notes in the last week or so about my company, Dioramas Plus, that got me thinking about how sometimes I take for granted that everyone knows about our kits & how they are made. First, the comments;

"I have 40+ years of building experience behind me. I think your diorama kits are much better than anything else on the market. Their sheer size and detail alone far surpasses ********, your only true competition. Your instruction sheet is excellent and could be made into a short book on building hydrocal plaster buildings by itself."

"Just finished constructing your "Brick Ruins". This is by far the best kit I have ever purchased from anybody. Since I built one of your buildings I of course have ********** and ******** buildings in mind as a comparison, since they are your only real competition. Reasons for putting you above all others? Good price. Perfect shipping and amazing effort to pack the model so it is not broken during delivery. Real genuine accuracy as to scale. You know European buildings often have those 12' ceilings, which you duplicate in the brick ruins, whereas the other two makers I mention have first floors (Europeans would say ground floors) of ok scale dimensions, but the upper floors are only for 4' tall scale people at best. Next, your attention to detail is outstanding, and the kit was complete (many other mfg's kits are missing pieces) and easy to assemble because all the parts are present and they all fit together. I personally have built but intensely dislike vacuform building kits since none of the parts fit without serious modifications."

OK, so here's a bit about how our kits are made. I hand carve all of the master patterns much the same way you would, one brick, one stone at a time. Then I make a silicon rubber mold & then cast the parts in hydrocal plaster. It is a slow & messy job. I add a few strips of drywall mesh to each casting before the plaster sets. It adds much strength to the finished product.

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Many of the kits get laser cut wood or plastic parts...

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The castings are double wrapped in bubble wrap, wrapped snuggly in shrinkwrap & then packed into the boxes w/plenty of padding to prevent breakage. Even though we have a 100% no questions asked replacement policy for broken castings I think I've only had to send out 2 or 3 replacement parts in all of the years we've been in business.

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Most kits only have 3 or 4 main castings + the windows and doors, so most modelers can get the bulk of the boring work (assembly) done in 15 minutes or so. That way you can move on to the fun part (painting & detailing) your dioramas sooner rather than later.

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Thanks for taking the time to let me spout off about how I make the kits. If you have any questions please feel free to ask away. If you'd like to see the line visit www.dioramasplus.com. If you place an order this week I'll throw in an extra set of oour cast rubble & bricks (a $13 bvalue) at no extra charge. Just be sure to mention that you heard about the special here on the forum.

Cheers!

Randy Pepprock
Doioramas Plus
www.dioramasplus.com
406-821-0181
[email protected] (email)




Paulinsibculo
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Overijssel, Netherlands
Joined: July 01, 2010
KitMaker: 1,322 posts
Armorama: 1,239 posts
Posted: Monday, August 18, 2014 - 08:47 AM UTC
Well Randy,
Nice to know about the background.
Thanks for the info you gave.

P


Who follows.
justsendit
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Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Monday, August 18, 2014 - 03:50 PM UTC
Very nice products and great customer service.

--mike
BigfootV
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Colorado, United States
Joined: December 24, 2005
KitMaker: 1,624 posts
Armorama: 994 posts
Posted: Monday, August 18, 2014 - 06:16 PM UTC
I highly recommend getting one of his kits.

Reviewed one of them about 5 years ago, not build it yet, it was thrown in storage, moved around roughly, dropped from 6 ft., and still is in the same shape as it was when I got it from Randy. No broken pieces.

Thanks again Randy!!

See ya in the funnies...................
downtowndeco
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Montana, United States
Joined: December 08, 2005
KitMaker: 306 posts
Armorama: 272 posts
Posted: Friday, May 05, 2017 - 11:15 PM UTC
Boxing up some new kits today reminded me that I haven't posted here ina while.

Check out the site if you get a chance, I'll throw in a couple free sets of rubble with each order from the Armorama link this week.

Cheers!

Randy Pepprock
Dioramas Plus

www.dioramasplus.com
bkkinman
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Texas, United States
Joined: December 29, 2007
KitMaker: 57 posts
Armorama: 53 posts
Posted: Saturday, May 06, 2017 - 02:50 AM UTC
Very good rundown- on my list of projects to buy.
HansBouwmeester
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Namibia
Joined: March 30, 2015
KitMaker: 346 posts
Armorama: 343 posts
Posted: Monday, May 08, 2017 - 10:33 AM UTC
Love you products, very realistic.
Would it be possible to produce some German UNDAMAGED buildings like shops or a townhall. All company's always make them damaged.
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