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Waiters (38052) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd War is hell, quite literally, and any break from hostilities is welcomed by soldiers and café owners, particularly since WWI and WWII when war became total, with little in the way of remission for the soldiers for weeks on end. During WWII and after D-Day, there were occasions when Allied soldiers had access to cafés in France and Belgium as they progressed toward Germany, liberating the people as they went, which allowed them to go back to some semblance of normality for short periods, within reason. When Paris was designated an open City by the Germans to avoid destruction of its many historic buildings and populace, the Allies suddenly had extended access to café life, and took to it like ducks to water. This meant more work for the local waiters, who were generally happy to serve their liberators, and the Allied customers were probably a lot more welcome than the previous goose-stepping occupants, as was the additional paid work during a difficult transition period. The Kit This set includes four waiter figures, and arrives in a figure-sized end-opening box, with four sprues inside, although in our example three were linked by a runner, which was discarded for the sake of ease of photography. Each sprue contains all the parts you will need for each figure, all of whom are males that are wearing typical waiter’s garb of the 30s-60s, including waistcoat, apron tied at the waist, and for one rather creepy-looking gentleman, a double-breasted chef’s jacket with cravat, who is toasting someone, probably an unlucky mademoiselle, holding up a cup of coffee and proffering a leering smile, all whilst sat on a stool, the parts for which are included. The real figure doesn’t look quite so creepy, happily. The other three gentlemen are hard at work, serving a dessert on a tray, pouring a bottle of wine over a cloth draped over his forearm, and offering a menu, whilst holding an empty tray behind his back. Parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. The sculptor in this instance is Sergey Alekhino, as noted on the box front in small lettering. https://www.britmodeller.com/reviews/creative/miniart/figures35/38052-waiters/instructions.jpg The rear of the box shows the part numbers in black, and the suggested paint codes in blue boxes, with lines showing what each number relates to, and there is a table below that gives paint codes in swatches, Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK RealColor, Mission, AMMO, Tamiya, and generic colour names, as you can see below. Conclusion If you have a café that you’re looking to populate in 1:35, this set could be just what you’ve been waiting for, although we have seen at least three of the four figures in the Allied forces in cafés sets recently. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of