Introduction

Big and bold is my first thoughts when I saw 135th Construction Battalions newest offering. That would be European Clock Dormer kit CO 0099. If you want your diorama to depict an exact time and location here is your anchor point.

Mail Mans Ringing

When I first picked this kit up my first thought was about its weight. It’s a heavy package, which translates to lots of resin. When the mail main drops this kit in the post, you’ll get the typical blister pack that is 2.5”x4”x3.4”. Bob Letterman provides the artwork and does a great job with this. The picture is painted incredibly, lots of detail in washes and weathering.

Inside the blister pack you’ll find three pieces that will yield four parts. You get a large dormer front, the base so to speak. You then find the rest in a zip baggie. These are the round clock face and two hands. The two hands are molded as one piece of resin. The base is about 7.8cm wide by 8cm high. The clock face is round and is 4.4cm in diameter. The clock hands are 2.9cm and 2.7cm in length.
When you take the pieces out of the pack you’ll see that there is slightly less than 1mm on the back of the dormer that you will need to sand off. From previous reviews this won’t be a problem, the resin is easy to work with.
The back of the clock face is similar, with a bit of excess resin to sand off.
The hands are molded as one piece of resin. These you will have to cut apart and you will have to be careful doing it. Resin doesn’t give, it snaps. So use a razor saw to separate the hands then use needle files and maybe a rotary tool to clean them up.
The sculpting of this kit is done by Ben Jakobsen. Ben does not disappoint. The detail is simply splendid. The stone and brick dormer is beautifully sculpted and as tons of detail. The scale of the sculpting is great. The clock face is quite impressive, all in raised relief. Roman numerals for every hour, nice minute markers and a beautiful star decoration in the middle. This is Very European.

Impression

Well, the previous section tells you what I think of this kit cosmetically, it’s great. The only downside I see in this kit is the clock hands. They are going to be some delicate work, not impossible and not a deal breaker, just be careful.
This kit is not a ‘drop-in’ kit. You can’t take this kit and drop it in any diorama. You will need to plan this one into a diorama or plan a diorama around this one. This kit can be the centerpiece. Just imagine if you want to depict a certain historical event that happened at a particular time; maybe a bombardment, or a particular attach, or a retreat. Adding this clock to the diorama nails down the time when the story took place. It’s a subtle touch and one that people will look at and say to themselves “man that’s a cool touch”.
The size of this kit will dictate a rather large roof section to be built if you plan on depicting it how it was intended as a dormer. You can deviate some too if you wish and use this a clock in a park more like a statue or in a courtyard on a wall as an ornamental clock. Use a bit of imagination and you can find alternate locations for this.

I'd like to thank 135th Construction Battalion for supplying this product for review.