overview

This is the ‘built’ review of a product previously reviewed ‘in-box’ – that review is Here. A quick synopsis was that this kit had Pros and Cons depending on your application/project.

Assembly

There isn’t much assembly involved. I choose to use the snare drum and trumpet. These parts are the nicest in the kit. They are the most applicable. I see more people using these pieces than any of the others. I also chose the trumpet because it came broken. I wanted to repair the broken piece and give you an idea of how easy (or hard) it would be to fix.

The drum was first up. The resin block is set top to bottom skinny side against the drum. It sits between two tension rods so you have to be careful not to harm the detailed parts. I cut this off and cut at 90 degrees from the block. This left two ridges to sand down. This proved to be the toughest part of the whole kit. The top and bottom of the drum are larger in diameter than the main body of the drum. This leaves you with three different areas to sand down. You also have to create two arched hard corners on the inside ridge between the drum top/bottom and inside body. Curves are hard. Just ask an aircraft modeler about sanding a fuselage. A needle file will definitely help a great deal. You might be able to work your way in with a home made sanding stick. I was glad this was the only step in assembly.

The trumpet was next. The first process here was to remove the flash. This was very easily done with a nice sharp hobby knife. The small seam line was knocked down using the back of the blade. Next you are presented with two resin blocks to remove, one from each end. They both come off very easily. The bell end resin block is smaller than the bell opening, leaving you with a funny rectangle shape inside the bell. Not a big deal, you really should drill out the bell a bit anyway. I had to resort to a wood working drill bit because my modeling bits are too small. You could do this very gently and slowly with a sharp hobby knife if you’re in a tool deficit. The mouth piece end was easy to work. Simply cut off the block and drill out the end a bit.
The next challenge is to fix the trumpet. Upon inspection the broken piece was due to a bubble. The bubble cropped up and made the side incredibly thin and the slightest bouncing around broke it. The type of break helped me decide on how to fix it. There are two options. 1. Try to marry the two broken pieces “as is” or 2. Clean up each end cut a bit and make a third “mating” piece. Since it was a small bubble and the pieces were on a drastic curve I chose method 1.
I first added a bit of CA inside the bubble recess and let that dry. I then filed the two ends flat. I used more CA to glue the pieces together. The last part was to file the outside of the bell back into a nice uniform shape. The last detail of the kit was a very fine piece of wire as a shoulder sling.

paint

I wanted these pieces to make a statement in my diorama and on top of their unique character I selected a bold color palette. I wanted the drum to resonate with power; drums were once the method of field communications. For this I chose a red color for the drum body. I used oyster white on the skins and steel for the rims and tension rods.
The trumpet received a coat of brass and details in green.
I used Apple Barrel, Tamiya, Testors, and Polly Scale paints on these two pieces and the resin took all different brands with ease. The coverage was solid. The paint stuck well and there was no need for second coats of anything.

Overall

These pieces were a bit harder to work with than I had originally anticipated. Their size and delicate nature was a bit to overcome. Once I got comfortable working with the pieces they were a bit more enjoyable. The detail is very good and you may want to use a magnifying glass to help during painting to make sure you get everything covered.
The broken trumpet was definitely reparable and did not get tossed in the dust bin. So, even though it came as a defect it did not render it useless. This was not a deal breaker.
The shape of the drum was a challenge. With a bit of patience and care it can become a great addition to a diorama.
If you need instruments this is your kit, hands down. If you’re curious, and have a bit of extra cash, I would say ‘go for it’. With the fiddly nature and other points mentioned in this and the in-box review, I would not say this is a must have.


I'd like to thank Custom Dioramics for this product for review