Andy Trewin

Something very different. The text below are Andy's own words

I approached this Robotime Sakura Densya Book Nook with some trepidation having not done one before. Purchased from Jadlam at Telford it was then passed to my beautiful Wife so she could wrap it up for Christmas. 

Well packaged, opening the box, I found laser cut sheets letter marked from A up to I together with PVA glue some sandpaper and a small x head

screwdriver with an excellent instruction manual with pictograms call outs

and notes (in English) saying when I would find spare parts.

Construction is done in a very logical way with groups of parts being made into a module for attaching to other modules at a later stage. The only deviation from the instructions was a personal choice.

I decided I would like to colour raw edges that had been laser cut and would not be covered by other parts. To do this I used a mixture of water colour crayons and a small paint brush with clean water to blend the colour onto the surface and Acrylic paints. A typical example of this is the tops of the tram rails being silvered. Use was restricted to the inside of the book nook, allowing viewers to see construction from box edges.

A lighting kit is provided in the kit with 2 x warm white LED's pre-wired in

three sections;

1.    Battery box + touch switch 

2.    LED with lampshade to go above entrance door (Short wires)

3.    Top LED with diffuser to go in top as a downlighter (Longer wires)

Laser cut wire clips are provided as well as clear instructions for

connection. The AAA batteries are not supplied, but once fitted everything worked and I thought end result was very pleasing.

Overall, construction time which was not rushed took three very pleasant

afternoons listening to music on the radio.

I found that the tabs on one part to go into the notches on another were

very exact, so to make assembly easier with my broken rib, I decided to ease the edges of the tabs with a micro file. Had I not been feeling so sore, I'm sure I could have assembled it without the additional fettling.

The final product is a very worthy addition to a bookshelf as a book end. Would I do it again - a MASSIVE yes, I found it very satisfying, and there are a lot of subjects to consider or to scratch build one.

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