Introduction:

Royal Model offers a large selection of various diorama accessory items in 1/35 scale. The company constantly updates their catalogue with new sets, many of them very useful for accessorizing modern day dioramas. This review covers a set of air-conditioning units typical for various urban settings.

Review:

Air conditioning units (751) set from Royal Model comes in a sealed cardboard box. The front of the box features an image showing built and painted contents of the set: two A/C outdoor units and two indoor units of different sizes. Inside the box is a bag which secures the pieces, both resin and photo-etched. The instruction sheet is provided as well.

The set includes 6 pieces cast in grey resin. I found no casting defects on the pieces, no air-bubbles or seam lines. The cast is really good and the pieces feature sharp details perfectly delivered in resin... check out the back panels of A/C units and the intricate filter grilles. Impressive! Casting blocks are easy to remove, but some patience is required when cleaning two tiny valves.

The PE fret consists of 20 main pieces for making the A/C unit wall mounts. Additional 44 small round pieces are provided representing mounting bolts.

The instruction sheet is clear and concise, explaining the assembly procedure well.

Assembly:

I decided to assemble the smaller A/C outdoor unit for this review.

After taking the time to study the instructions, I started by fixing the tiny side valves. Perfect fit. The photo-etched parts were carefully removed from their carrier and bent to shape using PE bending tool. Finding the optimal geometry of the PE mounting frame could prove a bit tricky, so I would suggest dry fitting all the pieces before actually gluing (or soldering) them. The final result is very much worth the effort. The only thing I didn't like are the PE mounting bolts provided in the set; although stacking two round PE pieces gives a bit of depth to the rather flat appearance of these bolts, I think resin 0.5mm bolts from Master Club would offer a bit more realistic look.

When mounting the outdoor unit, the modeler should add the A/C pipes to the build. Some round flexible tubing of different diameter would do the trick nicely.

The thing I'm missing in this set are the decals. A/C manufacturers logo (LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung, etc.) would provide a whole new level of realism to these A/C units. Although Royal Model includes small decal sheets in many of their sets, the copyright issue probably averted the company from doing the same for their air-conditioning unit set.

Conclusion:

The Air conditioning units (751) set from Royal Model offers a multimedia 1/35 scale kit depicting air-conditioning units typically seen in the residential and office buildings, providing more comfortable interior environment in hot climates. The set includes parts to assemble two complete A/C units in two slightly different sizes and configurations. The resin pieces are perfectly cast and the PE parts are of high-quality. The assembly was not too complex, but some experience in handling PE pieces is needed.