Scale 1:250. Not for me, it goes back to it´s owner..I just painted it and put it together. Colour scheme not as per the box art.
The build.
Two bags of sprues, 4 in each which are the same, one small sprue with 3 tiny bods and a statue of Athena Parthenos (the real statue of Athena Parthenos holds the shield a bit differently to the model), base and instruction booklet.
The bla-bla on the kit says "Easy assembled model kit with an interlocking technique" and amazingly, to a large extent, it actually does what it says on the tin. Quite a lot of the larger parts click together without needing glueing. For example...
Columns, columns!!
The pic on the right is with half the lintel attached to the Columns. The second half of the lintel (to attach the next layer of columns) needed glueing.
Work on the baseplate.
Observation number 1.
The Definition lines for the tiles...very shallow and getting any shading is a real pain. Note the steps are molded as one continious Piece.
Observation number two.
The baseplate has little Tabs/pegs on the underside to stop it sagging but where the columns are to go.. there´s none. This means that when pushing in the colums (you Need a bit of force to get them to sit properly) the plate bent and nearly cracked. This was only solved by putting a pile of metal discs under the plate to Support it whilst adding the columns.
Extra Posts under the baseplate would have meant adding a minimal amount of plastic, especially taking into consideration the amount of plastic from the sprues that gets binned.
Observation number 3
The columns don´t line up when added to the base!
Why didn´t they add a lintel Piece that covered all ten columns ?
Way around it..I heat welded the pair of lintels on the right.
The walls..and Observation number 4
The brickwork is ok (better Definition than the flooring ) but there´s scored rectangular Areas on both sides of each wall section. Removing them is optional to allow a look inside the inner temple. Unfortunately these are deeply scored (to aid with removal if wished) which leaves ugly rectangular shapes in the middle of each wall. They could have done the scoring on one side only so the outer facing walling wouldn´t have the marks.
The Roof.
The real clanger of the kit. Up until now the minor build Problems can be overlooked, most of them can´t be seen in the closed wall Version..and ...it´s not meant to be an historical replica..?
This is what the roofing should look like...the pic on the left an archeological reconstruction, the pic on the right a drawing of Doric Roof construction.
But what does the kit Version look like?
Planks...?? Every Image I´ve found of scale models, drawings, paintings of the parthenon Show clear vertical lines created by the method of tiling.
Not only does it appear as if the Roof is made from a set of Long red Planks but the roofing plates, no matter how I tried, wouldn´t fit together. I pressed them together but seeing as they are fixed into holes they sprang apart. After using a large rubber band wound around the Pediments to press the Ends inwards, which failed, I gave up and let it dry as it was. The pic is a Close a gap as I could get. I filled the gap.
Conclusion.
It´s not that difficult to build and the end result is ok, you end up with a model 29cms Long, 15cm´s wide and 11cm´s tall. If you don´t Count the historical mistakes, the "Planks" to represent the roofing and missing sculpting on the plinths that hold the Roof, the Pediments are based on reconstructions of the west Pediment so both Ends end up being exactly the same, it´s a nice model.
The instructions are easy enough to follow, even if they are printed in a size that means using a magnifying glass to check some Details..they could have put the instructions on a A4 size booklet..it would have fitted in the box.
The part numbers on the sprues aren´t clearly defined, but the build is quite self explanatory and it´s not necessary to refer to them. A trick with painting over the numbers with matt black, letting it dry and gently rubbing the paint off with a fingertip to expose the numbers helped, but as I´ve noted, they aren´t really necessary.
Also, the painting instructions leave a lot to be desired..they are Basic and due to the small size of the instruction booklet, very small Pictures which leave out some of the Details, No suggestions for the colour of the cieling for example.
The snap together idea holds true to a degree but I recommend pre-fitting any parts, in some cases the pegs on the bottom of the columns needed filing down before they fitted into the holes on the base plate.
Basically, as a Terrain Piece it´s ok but I suggest glueing the doors into a closed Position and not to bother with painting or building up the inside of the temple..the internals aren´t that visible to be of any interest. By having the doors closed, you wouldn´t even have to add the pillars etc, they serve no practical function in Holding the Roof up.
It´s too small for a representation of the Parthenon for HO/OO let alone 1/72nd but will past muster (even if the bods would have to squeeze through the Columns to gain Access) a generic smaller temple. That or it could be ok alongside 15mm bods.
Continue reading...
Right side view. The Picture give the Impression that the top triangle (Pediment) is tipped back towards the Roof and the front row of pillars tip slightly away from the building. It´s an optical Illusion caused by the tilt of the front lintel (it gets smaller towards the top)
Left side view..or is it the right side turned at a different angle..TBH, I can´t remember, both sides/Ends are exactly the same.
Katsikis is Feeling a bit ashamed realising it should have been put on a 30° wash and not a 60° one
The build.
Two bags of sprues, 4 in each which are the same, one small sprue with 3 tiny bods and a statue of Athena Parthenos (the real statue of Athena Parthenos holds the shield a bit differently to the model), base and instruction booklet.
The bla-bla on the kit says "Easy assembled model kit with an interlocking technique" and amazingly, to a large extent, it actually does what it says on the tin. Quite a lot of the larger parts click together without needing glueing. For example...
Columns, columns!!
The pic on the right is with half the lintel attached to the Columns. The second half of the lintel (to attach the next layer of columns) needed glueing.
Work on the baseplate.
Observation number 1.
The Definition lines for the tiles...very shallow and getting any shading is a real pain. Note the steps are molded as one continious Piece.
The baseplate has little Tabs/pegs on the underside to stop it sagging but where the columns are to go.. there´s none. This means that when pushing in the colums (you Need a bit of force to get them to sit properly) the plate bent and nearly cracked. This was only solved by putting a pile of metal discs under the plate to Support it whilst adding the columns.
Extra Posts under the baseplate would have meant adding a minimal amount of plastic, especially taking into consideration the amount of plastic from the sprues that gets binned.
The columns don´t line up when added to the base!
Why didn´t they add a lintel Piece that covered all ten columns ?
Way around it..I heat welded the pair of lintels on the right.
The brickwork is ok (better Definition than the flooring ) but there´s scored rectangular Areas on both sides of each wall section. Removing them is optional to allow a look inside the inner temple. Unfortunately these are deeply scored (to aid with removal if wished) which leaves ugly rectangular shapes in the middle of each wall. They could have done the scoring on one side only so the outer facing walling wouldn´t have the marks.
Pillars. Observation number 5. Painting the red ring around each one was a real pain. The area which is supposed to be red isn´t clearly defined...some pillars have a sort of collar molded on but not all the way around, some pillars don´t have the collar at all or it´s very poorly defined.
Test attachment of the columns. At this Point it became clear, even without attaching the cieling, that the inner chamber would be virtually invisible (note; I haven´t painted the backs of walls with the doors in anticipation of this)
As a Test, I laid a book over the inner chamber and the only way any Detail could be seen , and I couldn´t see a lot, was by using a torch!
The real clanger of the kit. Up until now the minor build Problems can be overlooked, most of them can´t be seen in the closed wall Version..and ...it´s not meant to be an historical replica..?
This is what the roofing should look like...the pic on the left an archeological reconstruction, the pic on the right a drawing of Doric Roof construction.
Not only does it appear as if the Roof is made from a set of Long red Planks but the roofing plates, no matter how I tried, wouldn´t fit together. I pressed them together but seeing as they are fixed into holes they sprang apart. After using a large rubber band wound around the Pediments to press the Ends inwards, which failed, I gave up and let it dry as it was. The pic is a Close a gap as I could get. I filled the gap.
Conclusion.
It´s not that difficult to build and the end result is ok, you end up with a model 29cms Long, 15cm´s wide and 11cm´s tall. If you don´t Count the historical mistakes, the "Planks" to represent the roofing and missing sculpting on the plinths that hold the Roof, the Pediments are based on reconstructions of the west Pediment so both Ends end up being exactly the same, it´s a nice model.
The instructions are easy enough to follow, even if they are printed in a size that means using a magnifying glass to check some Details..they could have put the instructions on a A4 size booklet..it would have fitted in the box.
The part numbers on the sprues aren´t clearly defined, but the build is quite self explanatory and it´s not necessary to refer to them. A trick with painting over the numbers with matt black, letting it dry and gently rubbing the paint off with a fingertip to expose the numbers helped, but as I´ve noted, they aren´t really necessary.
Also, the painting instructions leave a lot to be desired..they are Basic and due to the small size of the instruction booklet, very small Pictures which leave out some of the Details, No suggestions for the colour of the cieling for example.
The snap together idea holds true to a degree but I recommend pre-fitting any parts, in some cases the pegs on the bottom of the columns needed filing down before they fitted into the holes on the base plate.
Basically, as a Terrain Piece it´s ok but I suggest glueing the doors into a closed Position and not to bother with painting or building up the inside of the temple..the internals aren´t that visible to be of any interest. By having the doors closed, you wouldn´t even have to add the pillars etc, they serve no practical function in Holding the Roof up.
It´s too small for a representation of the Parthenon for HO/OO let alone 1/72nd but will past muster (even if the bods would have to squeeze through the Columns to gain Access) a generic smaller temple. That or it could be ok alongside 15mm bods.
Continue reading...
