Review: Dragon Restaurant

First Impressions: When I looked at this model still in its packaging, I could not believe how small it really was. After working on the 3D mesh for so long, you sort of get tunnel vision on the true size of the product you are working on. You quickly forget all the changes and details you are making to this model are in the millimeters and you loose track of its true scale. Taking the model out of the packaging is when it hits you on how lite this building is. In weight alone it feels about as heavy as a billing statement you would receive in the mail. Structurally it feels solid, you can see the walls flex a bit when you put some pressure on it but it doesn't feel or look like the walls with collapse under the pressure. Good amount of detail and it closely resembles the computer rendered picture of it.

[ Rendered]

 [Front]

 

[Back]

 

Size & Details: The two pictures above will give you a reference of scale. The Duracell battery is 52mm high, which in 1/285th or 6mm Scale equals 52ft in Height. The center point of the "+" symbol is exactly 42mm high or 42ft in Scale. Looking the model over and giving it a close inspection I noticed that the balcony windows on the top floor do not seem very pronounced. You can still tell what they are intended to be, just do not expect them to be sticking out 2ft in scale. The west wall of this building is only 1mm in thickness and it was designed this way to help shave off the cost of printing this building. All of the window lines are present with the exception to the one on the very corner. I will talk about this in more detail under the defects and errors portion of the review. Both doors are pronounced well on this model. Over all, this model has very good paintable lines and surface areas which will allow you to make these little details pop.

Defects & Errors: The down side of 3D printing is there is a -/+ .15mm degree of error that can occur during the printing process. This doesn't seem like much but when you are working in the 1/285th Scale that roughly means a 3 inch possibility for error in Scale.  An example of this is noticeable under the top floor awning above the front door. It is a very minor dip that is roughly 8-9mm long and only a fraction of a millimeter in height. Nothing that a fine file or hobby knife couldn't fix with out much effort. The only other noticeable defect is the corner window vertical strut. It appears to only have printed the upper part of it and or it broke off during the printing process. Again nothing that a fine file or a knife couldn't smooth out and it doesn't take away from the over all design of the model.

Changes & Improvements: Well as stated as above the corner window vertical strut maybe over complicated on the 3D mesh which is why it was either damaged, broken or lost in the printing process. Basically that corner has three vertical window struts with in an 2-3mm area, which is not leaving much room for that -/+ .15mm error. Over all if I was going to make any changes I may take a closer look at this corner and just possibly omit that one strut altogether, since it will not affect the over all look of the building.

The only other improvement that I could see is giving this model more weight. Maybe by gluing a washer or penny into it to give it more weight on the table top. Another other option would be to insert a Styrofoam core up into the building.

Value: At $14.59 for a single model seems fairly high for even my expected standards. Being an Dragon Restaurant in which every city needs a Chinese Restaurant, makes it a must have item. The amount of detail and themed looked makes up for some of the extra cost.


Over All Rating: 4/5
+.5: The amount of details in this model for its size.
- 1: Weight just doesn't seem heavy enough.
- 1: Loss of 1 vertical window strut.
+.5: Value