Review of Magic City Diorama. Are these 1/64 Diecast Displays worth the hype?
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Magic City Dioramas have been showing up in my searches more and more recently. They looked great in the photos but the price of them had given me pause, plus the uncertainty of shipping from overseas makes investing in something that pricey even more unsettling. Then I discovered @modelcarshouston and saw that they were shipping these straight from the US. I was familiar with James's UA-cam channel and the @themodelcarshoustonpodcast so I thought this was a good excuse to give a fellow enthusiast some business and treat myself to my own little 1/64 scale hobby shop. This review quickly turned into a mini build video, so join me as I look at the pros and cons of Magic City Diorama products and see if they're worth your dollars.
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Sweet diorama chuck thanks for sharing and showing the goods 😎
Thanks, Eddie! I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Some parts are so good and some parts are so disappointing. The garage is painfully too small.
I'm a big fan of these magic city dioramas. Not cheap but the price quality is ok. Bringyourdiecasttolife!
Thanks! I like this one. I'll definitely buy the Motel one if they rerelease it. Sadly the price point doesn't make too much sense for me to buy many of them but one or two more would be nice.
HO Scale models building and stores might be a better option for diecast collecter
Quite pricey in my opinion, since the overall scale is wonky especially the garage portion being way too small.
Anxious to see it completed after you give it some details.
Just a thought, can you make a base for it to sit on that will support and hold the 2 bases pieces together?
Have a great week! 🫵👍
Thanks, Steve. Yeah, I'm thinking when I rebuild this, a new base will be in order. The flatness is really annoying.
That’s a nice diorama! I want to get one of them one day. It would be fun to have
Thanks, Phia. It's cool. I'm hoping we'll get more makers to create kits like this in the near future.
the first thing that comes to midn is that the makers most certainly don't think like people who used to build houses for model railways. :) though those tend to be too small, either, since a model railways is limited in space at best, and sometimes you need somethign smallish for the far background.
anyway. what I'd have done first if I was the developer, is to set up a frame on the ground the house would snap on neatly, giving it support and a definite place. that frame could also bear the vending machine, add a floor to the workshop (maybe it was never meant to house a vehicle, but to give space for putting together large RCs?), or give support to sliding doors to the shop, so you could leave them open or closed. the frame would also help supporting the two baseplate pieces. (personally I see why they did it like that, but it does not help with putting things together) said baseplate could also include the walkway to where it meets the road, adding some 3D there.
as lovely as the shop looks it is TINY! two people in there and you'd have to open the doors so they can breathe... of course nobody expects a mall, but like twice the size? going deeper underneath the house and place the battery pack in the first floor?
as for the shine-through, back when they used to include an insert made of cardboard printed black, and with some scenes or curtains placed where the windows would be, to prevent the shine through the plastic. those inserts weren't perfect, especially not together with the little lightbulb to illuminate the house then. XD but here it might have been helpful. and cheap to make, too.
here is an idea for the garage: make it into a workshop to work on tamiya's large RC vehicles, add two or three workbenches, a computer table, boxshelves and toolracks... and if you can lay hand on one of those N-scale model cars by Wiking, one of them is a VW Beetle, and you can pick these models apart into body, glass insert block, and chassis/baseplate with wheels. that could serve easily as a "project". :)
as for the price tag, dunno... from what I could see there were no casting lines, no flashing, nothign to clean up; just put together, which is neat to begin with. glass is very clear, no scratches or warps, and they lighted it out pretty well. I wouldn't pay that money personally, but I can't see where it would be really too expensive. more like a bit high on the ladder. but still affordable.
I have an early matchbox BP station sitting here, with the vehicles (need restoration), the car lift (needs the Dunlop sign), the garage barn... I think if the time comes I'll try and see what I can do with that. :)
I like the large scale RC Idea. You're right, everything about this is correct "scale" size but too small "reality" size. The hobby shop would also be too tiny as there's no space for a back office, store-room, etc. and the showroom would barely hold 100 different kits with room to walk around. I think I know that old kit you're talking about. It's a cool one! Let me know when you rebuild it. :)
Very cool diorama
Thanks, Gary!
It looks like a very nice kit. Thank u very much for the honest review and pricing. I like the small details like the scale model kits. Id probably take a more generic garage floor plan, home built or Sk75 building and add the details from magic city. Thank u for all u guys do at DMN.
Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I tend to want to lean towards custom stuff too, but I'm still intrigued by out-of-the-box options. I just have to manage my expectations.
Should check out G-Fans, comparable quality (fewer accessories I think, some are smaller) but much less expensive. Nice set though! For the Canadians, Tokyo Station carries them
That's a great recommendation. Thank you! I actually have a few Gfans on the shelf. Need to do a video about them.
Aren't there provided assembly instructions? I would have thought so.
You'd have thought, but mine didn't have any.
nice JDM display
Thanks, Rico!
Have you added a wash to this? Just got one myself and am curious.
I haven't but it would look a lot better with one.
Sweet got to pick one up soon
Thanks, Dane!
Awesome diorama bro,big fan as always
Thanks so much, sir! Appreciate your comments as always.
The price point is a little high
Agreed. It's cool but for the money a few things fell short.
why do you have the camera so close? its realy terrible to watch
Thanks for the comment. I'll work on that.