Built & reviewed by David Richards
Catherine’s Living Room is the first of a kind build for me as it is not a book nook or diorama but more live an enlarged room from a Dolls House. This is a 1:12 scale so it equates with a typical Dolls House size
On opening the box there are lots of bags of pieces and very few wooden boards; once again this was a novelty as a book nook/diorama is the opposite way around. A large instruction booklet is provided in 5 languages.
Build Experience
The construction of the room frame is fairly straight forward with a solid click in connection. Strips of adhesive pads are provided so theoretically you should not need to use glue throughout the build – however I prefer my B-7000 although this is not for everyone due to the odour.
The only part you really need to be careful with is when applying the wallpaper to the edging – the adhesive strength is very high so if you do not align it properly it is very difficult to change.
All the parts that you require are listed before each stage including the letter of the wooden template and the bag number where the smaller parts are located. There is nothing challenging in the main frame assembly and the instructions are very clear
Light & Frame
This is the one area that I think Rolife have let themselves down with this kit as only 1 LED is supplied. As this kit is aimed at the beginner level maybe this is deliberate but I think it is a missed opportunity. You are building a chandelier which has 4 “glass shades” but the LED is just inside one. Also there is a room lamp which would have benefitted from one and the main point is the fire. A flickering orange LED behind the fire would work brilliantly and as it is very close to the battery box then this would have been an easy install.
Joining LED wires to the battery connections is troublesome for a lot of people. The recommended approach for this kit is using the supplied insulation tape to secure the twisted wires. This does not always guarantee a tight connection. Luckily as I build a lot of kits I have some heat shrinking plastic tubing which is my preferred way.
After you have added the small roof and skylights that is the main frame completed and you are onto the furniture.
Furniture & Accessories
If you just follow the instructions carefully there are no difficult steps in this assembly stage. There are lots of pieces you are building though so your work bench will soon fill up.
One unfortunate incident is that the bag containing the sofa pieces only had 3 legs rather than 4. This could panic new beginners. I just used some plastic casing and cut to the right size. Generally most manufacturers have great customer support so if you are genuinely missing a piece then contact them.
The chess set is so cute. As the pieces are very small you will need to use tweezers to get them onto the board.
When putting the assembled cartons into the book case make sure you put the exact one in the place shown in the manual as there is a difference in size and not everything will fit in otherwise.
All the furniture is fixed in place with adhesive strip or glue
Final Verdict
This is a great kit for someone who wants to start in the world of modelling. It took about 3 hours for me to build but it is a beautiful model to look at once completed.
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