Dumpster

This set takes us away from the classic World War II diorama detail set. We travel to a totally urban setting on any continent. Another nice flair is that it can appeal to non-military projects. You can drop this set into a S.W.A.T. diorama, a classic car garage scene, or even something like the TV show “Monster Garage”.

the set

Custom Dioramics from VLS brings you kit CD 6137 Modern Dumpsters. CD has modeled a modern “Front Load Sloper”. This set is comprised of three dumpsters: 1 Normal Closed, 2 Damaged Closed, 3 Open Full.
This set comes in a standard CD heavy card stock box about 5”x4”x2” with a nicely done cover art sticker. The dumpsters were sculpted by Bill Chilstrom and the box art was painted by Mrosko. The painting is nicely done and will give you quite a bit of inspiration. If you don’t find what you need in painting reference on the box you can go to your nearby strip mall and check out the real thing.
Inside the box are four ziplock bags. Three bags contain the dumpsters, which you will probably need to tear to get the part out. The fourth bag has the add-on detail parts.
Each dumpster is 1 13/16” wide by 1 3/8” deep by 1 ¾” tall (at the back with the wheels).
The add-on details are wheels and fork lift/dumper channels. There is a lid for the open dumpster too.
The parts are standard resin casting. The dumpsters have a decent size resin block that looks easy enough to remove with a razor saw. The smaller parts are cast onto central resin blocks that look easy enough to deal with.

impressions

Your diorama will definitely make an impression on the viewer by adding this set. This kit shines with charisma. Take a close look at the open full dumpster – how fun would it be to paint what looks like Darth Vader’s helmet?  (right side, half way up.) Bill Chilstrom added a little touch of VLS roots by including a GI helmet (bottom left.) Overall the pieces will add a little spark to the diorama, within them they will add more spark. The detail even transfers to the lids with molded on hinges.
The pieces themselves have some things you need to know about. The most important of which is the open dumpster. It has some discoloration areas that indicate flaws in the resin. I tested the areas for weakness with a metal file and they appear to be strong. The detail of the resin is not affected at all in these areas. There are a few very small pin holes in these areas. I do not believe this will affect the use of the part, but it is still important to note.
You will notice a few small resin bubbles on the lips of the close dumpsters that will be easily removed.
This kit replicates dumpsters fairly well. In my dumpster research I estimate these to be approximately 5 yards in size, in “industry terms”. These are small dumpsters best suited for allies or small areas with weekly collections. In my research I also found that the vertical recessed support ribbing on in this kit is not quite accurate. Support ribbing is typically “add on” raised ribbing vs. recessed. It turns out that vertical structural supports are more common on larger dumpsters, say 10 yards in size. I don’t want to say that All supports are horizontal or Only large dumpsters have vertical ribbing. I did find examples of these characteristics, they are just very rare. You can see from the 1:1 photos there are opportunities to super detail these kits and add some small details.

Tidie Up

I’m tempted to get a S.W.A.T. team and build an urban diorama just to use these. They have some rivet counter shortcomings. The price point is “OK”, it’s an average price for a kit of this size. I think it’s fair and reasonable. It’s not a ‘go and get one for the stash’ kit, however it’s definitely good detail to add to the right diorama.
VLS was very generous in supplying this kit for review - thank you