This kit is a great interior addition to any diorama. Lots of times a diorama will wonderfully detailed on the exterior only to be left a bit lacking on the interior of a building. Even in a destroyed urban setting chances are quite high that there will be something left behind. Especially the larger items in a home. This kit is one of those pieces.
This kit is a big book shelf set. It will be for a large urban setting. This is not your country book shelf for a personal collection, it is more for a library or office.
what you get
When the mailman drops this off you'll get a nice sized box at 18.5 x 7.5 x 12.5 cm. It's very sturdy cardboard with a box art label. The box art is the only documentation you will find so be carefull with it. You will have to tear it somewhat to get into the box. The box art is done by Bob Letterman and is wondefully done in fantastic wood grains. After you open the box you will find two large resin parts accompained by a small zip lock bag of detail parts. The masters for these parts were carved by Ben Jakobsen, a staple artist at Custom Dioramics.
The main parts for this kit are two large shelf units. The primary unit is a long library type of shelves and measures 12.5cm long, 7.5cm high and 2cm deep (at it deepest point without the resin block). These are the type of shelves that have a cupboard on the bottom with shelves on the top. At the union of the top and bottom is almost a desk like surface, the desk surface is a bit deeper than the shelves.
The second component/part is a low shelf only unit. It is 12.5cm long, 1.7cm deep and 2.6cm heigh. The two pieces are styled so that they can be used together if you wish.
These two pieces are made with the vertical parts of the shelving units. This leaves the horizontal part up to you. You get to customize where the individual shelves go. This is done with the 20 individual shelves in the ziplock bag. Each shelf is 1.8cm x 1cm.
This is actually a very nice feature. This does not force you as a modeler into any one size of shape for things that can be placed on the shelves.
If you want to include a statue or a vase you have the option to make a taller shelf area.
The individual shelves themselves are simply flat square pieces of resin.
All the pieces have typical resin blocks. The individual shelves have small blocks that should be very easy to remove.
The large pieces were made from a flat one piece mold and suffer from a very large block of excess resin. These blocks can be seen in the 3/4 photo. They are big and I would suggest a razor saw blade that doesn't have a 'spine'. A 'spine' on a saw is a reenforced back/top edge that thickens the blade and re-enforces it. I don't recommend trying to sand these blocks off. That method would be a huge job and create a resin dust cloud that would rival a sand storm in a movie.
The castings themselves are nicely done. The detail is good and solid. There were a few bubbles close to the surface but nothing broken through.
impressions
This is a solid kit to add to a diorama. You do have to plan to use this piece. It's size makes it hard to just drop this in any building. The crafting on this is very nice and well done. If you want to superdetail the cupboard handles they come as simple 'pull' types that could be carved off and made into more of a grab handle style or an ornate handle. The fit of the shelves is good and snug so there isn't going to be any problems there. The creative aspect of separate shelves is a nice touch.
The price point is "Ok". My opinion of the price is that you get a nice kit in great resin and if you need this item it will really add a 'punch' to your building. The price does make me think twice before just buying it to have on hand.
I do like the inter-operability with the Custom Dioramics kit
Stacks of Closed and Assorted Open Books. Put these two together to really bring in some detail.
The resin block drops the score down one notch.
I'd like to thanks VLS for the samples they provide
SUMMARY
This reviews brings us a nice combination set of book shelves. This will be a nice addition to an urban setting where the interior of a building is completed.
About Scott Lodder (slodder) FROM: NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES
I modeled when I was a teenager. College, family and work stopped me for a while. Then I picked it back up after about 12 years off. My main focus is dioramas. I like the complete artistic method of story telling. Dioramas involve so many aspects of modeling and I enjoy getting involved in the ...
