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Cheese Sellers (38076) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Anyone for a wheel of cheese? It sounds a little strange referring to cheese that can be bought as a wheel, but that’s how cheese was originally made, either as a shallow cylindrical ‘wheel’, or a portion or wedge for those with a lesser appetite or budget. Up until relatively recently, that’s how it was sold, and could be purchased from a street vendor before we sullied the air with coal dust and other contaminants. This set arrives in an end-opening figure box, and contains two figures, a cheese cart, six shallow trays, a LOT of cheese of various shapes and sizes, plus a sack trolley for the larger cheese wheels if you wish to use it. Inside the box are twelve sprues in grey styrene of various sizes, a small decal sheet, and an instruction sheet for the cheese cart and trolley. The back of the box sports a highly detailed rendering of the cover art with the background removed, plus several small paintings that depict the various cheeses and the trolley, giving part numbers and colour suggestions for them all, including the figures, accompanied by a table that gives colour codes for Vallejo, Mr Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, and Tamiya. The parts for each figure are found on separate sprues for ease of identification, and 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. One character is a lady in a skirt and blouse with an apron and pleated hat indicating she’s the seller, that and the fact that she’s wearing white gloves and is cutting into a wheel of cheese. The other person is a lady in a knee-length sleeveless dress, counting her change before putting it back in the bag hung over one arm. The thickness of the hem of the skirt has been slimmed down to give a more realistic effect, as is that of the cheese purveyor. The cheeses are found on four identical sprues, plus another two with smaller cheeses and some meat, some of the cheeses of the holey variety. There are also two sprues of trays, each containing parts for three, the planked bases having the longer sides moulded-in, adding separate ends with handles cut-out of the centre. The boxes are displayed on the cart, which has a planked base, two rails with stands and suspension moulded-in, and handles at the end, across which the axle fits along with two spoked wheels. The boxes are raised to an angle on a pair of stands that locate in holes in the cart’s deck. The trolley for the big cheeses is made from a ladder with a C-shaped bracket at the bottom, an axle and small wheels, plus short supports near the handle ends. Markings You are at liberty to paint the figures, cart and trolley any colour you like, but the cheeses are usually some variation between yellow and orange, with a few exceptions such as Edam with its waxy red covering. The decal sheet that is included with the model is printed with a plethora of labels for your painted cheeses, four of them larger, the rest in more moderate sizes, which should be enough to finish the cheeses included in the box, especially if you apply decals to only the top cheese of any stacks you make. Decals are screen-printed by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Whilst people wouldn’t be selling cheese in the middle of a street battle, there are still plenty of opportunities to incorporate this set into your next diorama, vignette, or just build and paint it for the sake of having it on your shelf. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Milkmen (38468) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models We don’t know who it was that first decided that cow’s milk looked like it could be good to drink, or when we first started to drink it, but start we did, and we still do unless we’re vegan or lactose intolerant. Until very recently, milk was typically delivered to your door by a milkman, driving a cart around towns and villages in the wee small hours of the morning, ensuring that we have a fresh pint to pour over our cereal or in our tea when we awaken. This carried on throughout most of the 20th century, originally with a hand cart or horse-drawn wagon, but latterly in stealthy electric-powered floats that were early adopters of greener energy, but with gigantic lead-acid batteries instead of the modern lithium-Ion cells used by electric cars. The Kit Inside the figure-sized box are five sprues in grey styrene, two containing the figures, two full of parts for milk churns, the last containing crates to carry milk bottles that are on an additional clear sprue. There are two milkmen, the parts for each figure to be found on separate sprues for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or other natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built. 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. There are four milk churns that have slide-moulded bodies to which the base and lid are added, some of which will need scratch-built handles across the tops, one with additional handles on the sides, two with single folding handles over the top, and one more with the fixed handles already moulded-in. The milk crate is built from four sides, adding the base with moulded-in dividers to accept the ten milk bottles that are found on the clear sprue. The instructions are found on the rear of the box, and there are also colour suggestions to assist you if you are unsure of a suitable scheme. Conclusion Milk delivery carried on throughout WWII on all sides, despite destruction of infrastructure, occupation and mortal danger at times, so a pair of milkmen laden down with their wares picking their way through rubble wasn’t an entirely unusual sight. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Wooden Barrels (49014) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Wooden barrels. You don't see so many of them these days without flowers in them, but before mass-produced metal and plastic barrels became the de facto standard, they were much more prevalent where large quantities of anything needed to be stored. Everyone’s probably thinking of beer right now, but they have been used for a great many things over the years, so they’re not only found in pubs and breweries. The set arrives in a figure-sized end-opening box with five identical sprues, and instructions printed on the rear of the box. It gives you a substantial quantity of styrene barrels in different sizes with various hoop patterns. It is worthy of note that the barrels also have plank grooves inside, so an empty barrel will be just as realistic to an intrepid viewer. Each barrel can be built as an ordinary barrel from two halves plus two end-caps, or with the addition of a spigot on one end, they can be mounted horizontally on a trestle that allows them to rest on their sides without them rolling away. There are four types of barrels on each sprue, so five of each can be made, and each one can be laid on a trestle if you wish, totalling twenty barrels in two sizes and two hoop styles for each size. Conclusion Barrels are an excellent cargo for vehicles, carts, or to fill empty spaces within a building. The detailed wooden texture can be brought out with careful painting or dry-brushing, adding patina to the metal banding for some contrast. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

I wanted to do a relatively quick build, so of course I chose something from Miniart. This is a non-interior kit and is pretty straightforward while still maintaining the stunning detail that Miniart brings to its kits. I've never built any postwar armour in my fifty years of modeling, so this is rather interesting for me. I'm a few weeks into this build, but now have the hull pretty much complete assembly-wise. The wheels are just pressed into place until I weather the hull and install the tracks. This is an excellent kit and has been very enjoyable so far. I'm working on several projects right now and likely to start another next week for a build review because of course I have Modeler's ADHD.

The MiniArt Models catalogue 2024 is online: https://miniart-models.com/miniart-models-catalog-2024/ https://miniart-models.com/wp-content/catalogue/2024/index.html Dowloadable: https://miniart-models.com/wp-content/catalogue/2024/files/downloads/2024.pdf The aircraft pages: pp.10-13, p.17, pp18-21 & pp.68-69 Link to the dedicated thread: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235103577-148-republic-p-47dm-thunderbolt-by-miniart-p-47d-25re-released-new-variant-p-47d-30re-on-approach/ Link to the dedicated thread: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235130558-miniart-148-junkers-f13/ V.P.

Tempo E400 Railway Maintenance Truck with Personnel (38063) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The A400 Lieferwagen was another of Hitler’s standard vehicles that is perhaps lesser known than the Beetle. It was originally designed as the E400 and produced by company Tempowerk Vidal & Sohn from 1938, and was joined by an identical Standard E-1 that was manufactured in another factory. It was one of the few factories that were permitted to carry on making civilian vehicles, although this permit was eventually withdrawn as the state of the war deteriorated for Germany. After WWII ended, the company began making the type under the original E400 name, and it had a different BMWesque twin panelled front grille. It continued in production until 1948 when it must have finally dawned on someone that one wheel at the front was a really bad idea, even if it was cheaper. A concept that lingered on in the UK much longer so old geezers with motorcycle licenses could scare other road users effectively, and by carrying a football in the boot, they could emulate a giant whistle. It’s an old joke, but it checks out. Unsurprisingly to anyone that watched that episode of Top Gear, the wagon was a little unstable in the corners due to its single front wheel, and the weight of its front-mounted engine probably made matters worse, with a chain drive from the motor to the wheel. The two-stroke 400cc engine in the A and E output 12 hp that gave it sluggish performance at best, which was probably just as well due to the front wheel instability. The driver was situated behind the front wheel and short cowling that hid the engine away, with a pair of side doors for entry and exit, and a single-panel windscreen that overlooked the bonnet/hood. The open load area was to the rear of the vehicle, with faired-in sides and rear tailgate for easy access to the contents. Construction begins with the small cab floor, which has a planked texture engraved on its surface, and is fitted out with foot pedals, a hand-brake lever and narrow cylindrical chassis rail, plus a battery attached to the floor on the left. The front bulkhead has a clear rounded windscreen popped in, a short steering column and a drooping lever, with the windscreen wiper motor cover added to the top of the screen’s frame, drilling two holes in the top corners, and fitting as small PE part on the bottom left of the firewall. The windscreen assembly is attached to the front of the floor with a pot for the washers and the conversion stub of the steering column, with a pair of PE wiper blades added in a boxed diagram, plus the bonnet latch in the centre. The padded bench seat for the crew is slotted into the floor, and the back is attached to the rear bulkhead that has two side hinge panels and a small clear window for later joining to the floor, and you’ll need to find some 0.3mm wire 24.6mm long to represent the linkage to the floor-mounted brake lever and the back of the cockpit. The steering wheel and rear bulkhead are glued in along with the roof, then the two crew doors a made up, having clear side windows plus winders and handles that are quite delicate for realism, then they are installed on the cab, remembering that they hinge rearward in the manner sometimes referred to as suicide doors, as if the three-wheeler wasn’t dangerous enough! The rear chassis is built around a tubular centreline member with the back axle and its triangular bearers slipping over it and adding hubs with brake discs at each end. A sturdy V-shaped brace is added between the ends of the axle and the other end of the cylindrical chassis rail, with a large jointing part between them. The rear wheels are made from a main part that includes the tyres and back of the hub, with a choice of two inserts slipped inside to represent two different hub cap styles, that are then fitted onto the axles on short pegs, with a brake-lines made from some more of your own 0.3mm wire and suspended from the frame on PE brackets that are folded over the wire, then glued to the frame with an etched-in rivet giving the impression that it is attached firmly to the chassis. The load bed floor is a single part, adding side panels, lights on a PE bracket, adding angle brackets to the front for attachment to the cab. The tailgate is fitted with a choice of two styles of PE number plate, adding rear arches to ridges on the side panels, then old-school swinging pegs that are fitted between the sides and tailgate. After the rear axle and chassis tube have been fitted under the load bed and mated with the cab, the slide-moulded cowling for the engine is fitted-out with two fine PE radiator meshes, an internal deflector panel, PE numberplate under the grille, a pair of PE clasps on the lower rear edge of the bonnet, and a tiny hook on the top in between two rows of louvres that hooks onto the latch at the top of the windscreen. The little engine is one of the last assemblies, and is superbly detailed with a lot of parts representing the diminutive 400cc two-stroke motor and its ancillaries, including radiator, fuel tank, exhaust with silencer and chain-drive cover that leads to the front axle. The completed assembly comprises the motor, axle and the fork that attaches to the front of the cab and is wired in using more lengths of 0.3mm wire from your own stocks, which the instructions advise you makes you an “experienced modeller”. Isn’t that nice? After installing the front wheel and finishing the wiring, the cowling can be fixed in the open or closed position, when the little hook latches onto a clip on the roof over the windscreen, holding it up past vertical against the screen. A couple of headlamps with clear lenses are fitted on the sides of the cowling and a pair of wing mirrors on angled arms are glued to holes in the front of the bulkhead on each side, with a PE bracket giving the appearance that the etched rivets are what holds it in place. MiniArt have considerately included a handful of sprues of parts for you to add to the load bed of your newly-minted E400 wagen, including two track ties/sleepers, bucket, fire extinguisher, lantern, blowtorch, and various hand-tools for you to use at your whim, or load it up with a loose cargo, such as a big pile of ballast as seen in the profiles below. Figures Four figures and a collection of tools and accessories pertinent to their trades are included, in various poses to add a human scale to the model. There’s a man bending forward whilst lifting a shovel-load of aggregate, another oiling something (hopefully not the other fellow’s ear), and a chap holding a toolbag, oily rag, and a lantern, then a more smartly dressed gentleman who is either their boss, the lookout, or both. He’s holding a small trumpet to his lips as if to blow a warning note to get the crew off the lines. The two accessory sprues carry a tool bag and box, folio case, a large shovel, oil-can, lamp, lollipop, handheld torch, and a folded flag for the gang boss to wear on his hip for easy access. The parts for each figure are found in separate sprues for ease of identification, and 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, textures and accessories appropriate to the parts of the model. The painting guide on the rear of the instructions doubles as the construction guide, and if you look carefully you’ll see that you need to supply a length of wire for the small lamp that one of the figures is holding. You’ll also need to make up the ballast or whatever it is that the shovelling man is moving, but as you’re likely to be putting him into a backdrop with your own choice of groundworks, that shouldn’t present a problem. Paint colours are given as swatches in the codes of Vallejo, Mr Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO and the colour name in English, so finding a suitable shade from your own stocks will be a doddle. Markings There are four decal options for the truck on the sheet, all painted in a solid colour and decorated with the markings of the operator. From the box you can build one of the following: Deutsche Reichbahn, Early 1940s Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD), Early 1940s Deutsche Reichsbahn, 1940s Deutsche Bundesbahn, 1950s Deutsche Reichsbahn, DDR, 1950s Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s weird with a handful of quirky, so of course like it, and MiniArt have also done a great job with making an easy to build, well-detailed kit of this quirky little German grandfather to the Robin Reliant. I guaranteed there would be more of these coming, and I was right – I’ve lost count of how many we’ve had a look at now. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Field Workshop (49012) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd It's a constant in war or peace that equipment breaks and the mechanics/fitters must repair them, whether it's wear-and-tear, accidental damage, clumsiness, misuse or due to enemy action, it all ends up in the same place if it's deemed suitable for repair, providing it's not behind enemy lines or under heavy bombardment. From WWII onwards, fighting tended to be fast-moving, so transporting anything back to a bricks and mortar workshop well behind the lines is time-consuming, and sometimes impossible, not to mention highly impractical once the lines of communication stretch far enough, so the field workshop is used instead. This can be anything from a literal field to a large empty building that is commandeered by the "grease monkeys" so they can ply their trade. The Kit This set arrives in an end-opening figure-sized box with a detailed painting of the contents on the front, and a painting guide on the rear. Inside are six sprues of grey styrene, two small frets of Photo-Etch (PE) in a card envelope, and a double-sided sheet of instructions that guide you through building the more complex assemblies. There are four fuel barrels in two halves with interchangeable ends; a manual pump that you must provide the wire to depict the hose; a two-part anvil; two styles of bucket/pales with PE handles; a wood saw made from two laminations of PE parts; an open-topped wooden tool box with various tools; a bench vice with separate mounting plate; two trestle-style work benches; a clamp-on vice with PE winder; two three-part ‘dining’ chairs; a wooden step ladder built from three parts; a two-man saw made from three PE parts and styrene handles; a hack saw with PE blade; two three-part stools; two oxy-acetylene gas bottles with regulators and two spares with caps; a tubular trolley with space for two bottles and cast-iron wheels; an expanding metal tool box in the closed position with PE handle, plus another with the trays swung out that has tools moulded into the trays, the same PE handle and two PE open lid parts. Other parts that need less information or gluing are various hand tools such as various sized hammers, a pick-axe, two different axes, box plane, shovel & spade, pry bar, a pump, a welder’s torch and mask, blow-torch, G-clamp, belly-brace & bit, oil can and two spanners. You are provided with guidance on the colours of everything in the box on the rear, using swatches, colour names and paint codes from Vallejo, Mr.Color, AMMO, AK RealColor, Mission Models, and Tamiya, but other than the metal tool surfaces, most parts can be any colour you wish, within reason. Conclusion Detail is excellent, and is a perfect backdrop of a 1:48 diorama, providing items that have previously been unavailable separately or hard to find in styrene at this scale before. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

D8506 German Tractor with Roof (24010) 1:24 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Tractors were a boon to farmers when they were introduced after the reliability of the motor car was proven, as they were especially useful for lugging heavy equipment around the farm, as well as the typical ploughing, sowing, reaping and transporting of crops. They also had power take-off points that could be used to drive other stationary machinery, further expanding their usefulness to that of a portable power-plant. Lanz were the leading maker of farm machinery in Germany, and their Bulldog range were the “hoover” of the tractor world in their country for many years. They were good quality and reliable, which led to them being copied by several countries, and as the initial 1921 model was improved the model number was increased until well into the 9,000s. One of the primary selling points of the vehicle was the simple “hot-bulb” single-cylinder engine that could be run on a variety of fuels and had very few moving parts, which made it easy to repair and maintain. They started off as 6L and grew to 10L engines, and their slow turnover high-torque output suited the tractor’s work very well. In 1956 they were sold to John Deere, and the name slowly fell out of use. There are still many working examples to be seen at county fairs and historic events, kept in splendid working condition by their loving (some may say obsessed) owners. The Kit This is new edition of MiniArt’s D8500 range of kits but in the larger de facto vehicle scale of 1:24, and you can still expect some more to come if their 1:35 release schedule of this series is repeated. The kit arrives in a standard top-opening box, and inside are eleven sprues of various sizes in grey styrene plus two cylindrical tread parts for the rear wheels on their own cruciform sprues, a clear sprue, a small decal sheet and the instruction booklet that has colour profiles of the decal options on the front and rear covers. Construction begins with the large cast metal chassis that is made up from two halves each end around a cylindrical centre-plate, with lots of parts used to create its distinctive shape. The superstructure above the chassis where the engine and ancillaries are found is roughly rectangular, having various filler caps on the top, radiator panels and louvres on the sides, plus a name-plate on the front. The driver’s foot pedals are long curved linkages to the underside of the chassis, and with these in place the driver’s tread-plated floor is installed and a big handbrake is fitted to the deck, plus a stowage box under the lip at the left rear. The windscreen frame is moulded into the rear bulkhead of the engine compartment, slotting the clear windscreen into position. The large cylindrical assembly in the centre of the chassis is filled with the clutch and drive-shaft on one side, and on the floor plate the driver’s seat is mounted on a sturdy spring, a couple of hand controls are inserted into depressions in the deck in front, then the large drive housing is mounted on the left side of the chassis, with a bell-housing and fly-wheel on the opposite side over the clutch, and two large fenders/sidewalls over where the rear wheels will be, plus a sturdy bumper-bar at the rear on diagonal cross-braces. The rear hubs have two additional layers inside for the drum brakes, ready to receive the large back wheels. The front axle has the hubs moulded-in, adding the steering arms, anti-roll bars and the linkage to the column, which is installed on the front underframe on a single pivot in preparation for the tyres. The wheels on this tractor have heavy tread to plough through mud, which are built up by layering five parts together to make a tyre-sandwich at the front, and a three-part layer for the larger rear wheels, all with crisp and chunky tread on the rolling surfaces. The tyres have their hubs moulded-in, while the rears have an additional rear hub ring added between the wheels and rear axles. The front fenders are mounted on a pair of cross-members that run under the chassis, the front support fitting under the fenders, the rearmost ones attaching to the rear. Both the attachment points have styrene nuts cut from one of the runners of Sprue A and applied to the location on the opposite side to the bolts moulded into the supports. There are seventeen nuts supplied on the sprue, so you can afford to lose a few, and there are another eight on Sprue Ea. Two large exhausts are made up from various odd-shaped parts attaching to the left side of the chassis either side of the bell-housing, with a pair of clear-lensed headlamps on an oversized cross-member on the topside. A pair of bolted supports are fitted to the sides of the windscreen frame and another pair to the rear fenders at the back of the cab in preparation for the roof, then four more sprue-based bolts are applied to the rear bumper iron where it intersects with the fenders. The curved roof panel is fitted atop the mounts, and a styrene wiper blade is hung from the top rail, then you have a choice of installing the steering wheel on the column in the cab with a cover over the power take-off point, or cut the column away in the cab, gluing the steering wheel on a rod that inserts into the centre of the take-off, with the cover flipped down for access. I understand this was for manually starting the engine, but don’t quote me on that. The steering wheel or column surgery would probably be best done before the roof and supports are fixed in place to give you more room to work. Markings There are three decal options on the sheet, and the suggested paint schemes vary from garish yellow to a dull grey with red fenders. From the box you can build one of the following: Regierungs Bezirk Leipzig, 1930-40s Oberdonau, Oesterreich, Early 1940s British Occupation Zone, 1940-50s Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Another variation on a tractor that was once ubiquitous in and around German farms, and this one even keeps the driver dry providing the rain isn’t horizontal. These kits are also great to show off your weathering skills, or test them out, and if you're a car modeller, they'll be in scale with the rest of your cabinet. Highly recommended. It’s currently available with a generous 35% discount at Creative Models, so act fast. Review sample courtesy of

Liefer Pritschenwagen Typ 170V w/Canvas (38072) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Mercedes 170 was based upon their W15 chassis, which was their first with all-round independent suspension, and was available as a bare chassis for coach-builders, as a saloon, cabriolet or as a light van, debuting in the early 30s with sales affected by the worldwide depression that started in Wall Street in 1930. Sales picked up after the recession eased, and later versions had internal boot space and sleeker lines, moving with the times. As well as sharing a chassis with the saloon, the van was essentially identical in the forward section and inside the crew cab. The bodywork from the doors backward were designed with the same ethos but differed due to the practical but boxy load area behind the drivers. These vehicles were often used for years after their original purchase passing through the ownership of several operators for dwindling sums of money, especially after the war years where funds were sometimes short following the devastation in Europe. The Kit This is a reboxing of a partial re-tool of the original 2012 saloon and subsequent Beer, Furniture and Cheese Delivery vehicles (reviewed earlier), with the same base sprues and another sprue added to create the tilt for this covered flatbed variant. The original kit is highly detailed, and this one is no different, showing just how far MiniArt have come in their design and moulding technology. There is superb detail throughout, with delicate framing, realistic-looking fabric door pockets as well as a full engine and interior to the cab. Inside the box are twelve sprues of grey styrene, one in clear, a decal sheet and a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass for finer details, protected in a card envelope. Construction begins with the 1700cc engine and transmission, which is made up from a substantial number of parts that just need a little wiring to do it full justice, and in fact the various hoses are shown in 1:1 and 3:1 diagrams to ensure that you obtain the correct bends, but you’ll need to find your own 0.2mm wire to begin with. The curved X-shaped chassis is prepped with a few mounts and PE brackets, then the rear axle, differential and driveshafts are fitted on a pair of very realistic styrene springs that have hollow centres and individual coils thanks to some clever sliding moulds. Drum brakes, straps and brackets finish off the rear axle assembly, then the completed engine and drive-shaft are installed in the front to be joined by a pair of full-width leaf-springs from above and below with a stub-axle and drum brake at each end. The exhaust is made up with an impressively neatly designed four-part muffler, a pair of PE mounts, straight exit pipe and an angled length leading forward to the engine. With the addition of the bumper-irons and number plate at the front, plus the supports for the front fenders, the lower body can be fixed to the chassis and PE mudflaps fixed under the rear of the front arches. The front firewall is next to be made up, and the pedal box is installed one side, with a set of tools and another neatly designed cylinder, this time the fuel tank, which is curiously situated in the rear of the engine bay. This fits over the transmission tunnel that is moulded into the floor, with more driver controls such as the gear lever, hand brake and steering column with PE horn-ring added at the same time. The dashboard is inserted below the windscreen frame after being fitted with decals within the instrument housings, then covered over with clear dial faces for realism, and three blowers attached to the roll-top. There is also a nicely clear curved windscreen with PE rear-view mirror and windscreen wiper motor housing fitted before it is inserted into the firewall, joined by a rear cab panel that has a small window and the back of the bench seat applied before fitting, plus two strips with upper hinges for the doors inserted into the edges of the rear frame. The base of the bench seat is also fitted on a riser moulded into the floor along with a couple of half-height body panels that links the cab to the rear fenders. Vehicles need wheels, and this one runs on four. Each wheel is made from a lamination of two central sections to create the tread around the circumference, and two outer faces that depict the sidewalls and shoulder tread of the tyres, with maker’s mark and data panel moulded into them. The hubs are inserted into the centres of the tyres, with a cap finishing off the assemblies in handed pairs. The flat floor for the load area is a single piece to which headboard and tailgate that hinges on PE brackets are fitted, followed by shallow sides with moulded-in rails and cross-braces running underneath, and PE brackets for the number plate and rear light clusters added beneath the tailgate made from PE and styrene elements. The tailgate retention clips are PE, as are their latches that extend into the corners of the tailgate to strengthen it. At this stage the front of the van needs finishing, a job that begins with the radiator that has a PE grille and three-pointed star added to a styrene surround, then the radiator core and slam-panel with filler cap at the rear. This is put in place at the front of the body at an angle, locating on a feeder tube to the radiator, with two cross-braces reducing body flex along with a central rod that forms the hinge-point for the side folding hood. A pair of combination PE and styrene wipers are added to the windscreen sweeping from the top, adding reflectors on the rear arches. The front doors are handed of course, and have separate door cards with handle and window winders added, and a piece of clear styrene playing the part of the window, which is first fitted to the door card before it is added to the door skin. Both doors can be posed open or closed as you wish, and are of the rearward opening "suicide door" type, and these are joined on the vehicle by the rear cab hinges. To complete the bonnet, small PE fittings are fixed first on the louvred side panels in open or closed options, then they are glued to the top parts in either the open or closed position, inserting the open clasps to the front of the compartment for the open variant. A pair of clear-lensed headlamps, a choice of two styles of wing mirrors on the A pillar or the wing finish off the build of the van, leaving just the canvas tilt to be made. The tilt is on the new sprue, and can be built with the canvas at the rear open or closed. To close it, a single part covers the open rear end, adding PE clips along the lower sides for both open or closed options. To portray the canvas rear tied open, the curved header part is glued into the open end, then is partially covered by the rolled canvas in styrene, which has two PE straps added to the synch-points that are moulded-in. Three PE straps are applied to both sides of the opening to stop it flapping in the wind, and different PE parts with the buckles visible are used for the closed option, while the parts for the open cover have no buckles and should just hang loose. The buckles on the real tilt will be rolled up inside the canvas, so won’t be seen. The last task is to mate the tilt to the raised sides of the load area. Markings These were commercial vehicles during peacetime, so they were designed to attract attention with more colourful liveries, although the hardship of post war Europe shows a little wear and tear evident on the profiles. There are four options depicted in the instructions, and from the box you can build one of the following: American Occupation Zone, Bavaria, late 1940s British Occupation Zone, Late 1940s Bavaria, Munich, Early 1950s French Occupation Zone, Early 1950s Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is another well-detailed kit of an old Merc commercial van, and even if you’re not a vehicle modeller it would make a great background subject for a diorama, especially if a cheesy, furniture-y or boozy version doesn’t suit your needs, possibly with post-war Allied or Soviet armour making its way through town. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

G-518 US 1T Cargo Trailer ‘Ben Hur’ (35436) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII, the US used two small two-wheeled trailers for transporting additional equipment and other essential stores around the battlefield, towed by trucks and other vehicles that had at least a ¾ ton payload carried internally. There were two major variants, one for carrying many types of equipment and designated as G-518, the other a specialist water carrier that was given the catalogue designation G-527. The main contractor was Ben-Hur Manufacturing Co., which garnered it the nickname ‘Ben-Hur Trailer’, and its 1-ton load capacity in 3.2m3 volume meant that it saw a lot of action, mostly ignored by war historians and modellers alike, as it was a transport and not as interesting as the things that went bang. Nevertheless, there were over a quarter of a million built, and many of them spent their days dutifully following a Chevrolet truck around the roads and tracks of Europe and the Far East. The Kit This is a new tooling from MiniArt, launched just after the G-527 Water Buffalo we reviewed recently here, this kit is ripe for filling with useful gear that a squad may find helpful on the battlefield, or to make themselves comfortable before or after action. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front by the prolific Volodymyr Booth, and inside are six sprues of grey styrene, a card envelope that contains a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret and a length of chain, adding a small sheet of decals and the glossy instruction booklet to complete the package, the latter having painting and decaling profiles on the rearmost pages. Detail is excellent as usual with MiniArt, including a full chassis, well-rendered chunky treaded tyres, and even a set of slat extensions to the sides of the structure with moulded-in wooden texture. Construction begins with the bodywork, starting with the two sides that have leaf springs moulded-in, which have the axle retention bolts added to both sides, PE tie-down loops down the sides, and the light cluster that is fitted on a PE bracket next to the rear suspension mount. A choice of external framework to the sides with or without the extension slats is glued to the sides, including small PE brackets at both ends of the slatted sections. The wheels are built from two parts, the larger having the outer hub, tyre carcass and the tread moulded as one, the smaller having the opposite sidewall details moulded-in. They are then put to one side while you build up the rest of the load area. The two sides are mated with the floor part, adding brake actuators underneath and on the side, and bringing in the ends to create the load box, with more PE brackets and foot stirrups to aid entry. While the chassis is upside down, the two-part inner hubs are fitted to the ends of the axles, adding a short length of 0.5mm wire to each one, and another length to a bracket under the floor. The towing frame is made from two converging lengths, which are fixed under the front of the floor on a pair of U-bolts, while a pair of mudguards are mounted on the chassis sides on pegs, inserting the wheels into their wells. The front and rear slat sections are glued to brackets on the sides, then four curved roof supports are fixed to the sides that are used when a tilt is fitted during poor weather. The tailgate is completed by adding the PE retaining pins on chains at floor level, then the two-part towing eye is mounted atop the front of the A-frame, and a jockey-wheel is built from two halves plus a yoke and pivot, with an alternate all-steel wheel if you prefer. This can be fitted under the hitch in either horizontal position for travel, or vertically for a parked trailer, locking it in place between two halves of the pivot. Another longer length of wire is fitted under the left chassis rail and hitch frame, dangling the end down over the hitch, adding a plug for the electronics, which has a hole moulded-in for the wire. The safety chains are cut to length, and are each trapped between two halves of their bracket, adding the hook on the loose end after drilling a hole in the part first. Markings There are four decal options on the sheet, with a choice of camouflage that dictates the fitment of slatted sides and/or steel jockey wheel, so take care during construction if you have a particular scheme in mind. From the box you can build one of the following: 1st Army Corps (7th Army), US Army, Italy, Autumn, 1943 US Army, Europe, 1944-45 2nd Australian Corps., Bougainville Island, January 1945 US Navy, 1940s Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A trailer might not be one of the most charismatic of military vehicles, but its importance from a strategic point of view can’t be underestimated, as an army without supplies isn’t going very far, as has often been illustrated in extended campaigns throughout history. MiniArt have done a great job tooling this kit, and it will make an interesting addition behind your next softskin project, or as part of a diorama. This version has been so popular that Creative Models are currently out of stock, even though we’ve only had our sample a few days. Keep checking back though, as I’m certain they’ll be getting a restock just as soon as they can. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

G-527 250gal Water Trailer ‘Water Buffalo’ (35458) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII, the US used two small two-wheeled trailers for transporting additional equipment and other essential stores around the battlefield, towed by trucks and other vehicles that had at least a ¾ ton payload carried internally. There were two major variants, one for carrying many types of equipment and designated as G-518, the other a specialist water carrier that was given the catalogue designation G-527. Its nickname was the Water Buffalo, and it was capable of carrying up to 200 gallons of water, which is an essential commodity for the health of troops, vehicles and has so many other uses it would take up far too much space in this review. In total, over a quarter of a million of all types were made, and they were the most used small trailers by US forces through the war. The main contractor was Ben-Hur Manufacturing Co., which garnered it another nickname, one that was primarily used for the other variants, as ‘Water Buffalo’ is far cooler. The Kit This is a new tool from MiniArt, who are creating new kits at an astounding rate, considering what’s been going on in Ukraine this last year or so. It is accompanied by its stable-mate, and we’ll be reviewing that in due course, but first we have the Water Buffalo that’s closer to the top of the queue. The kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the subject matter on the front, from the equally prolific Volodymyr Booth, and inside are six sprues of grey styrene, a card envelope that contains a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret and a length of chain, adding decals and the glossy instruction booklet to complete the package, the latter having painting and decaling profiles on the rearmost pages. Detail is excellent as usual with MiniArt, including a full chassis, well-rendered chunky treaded tyres, and even a pair of safety retention hooks that use the chain mentioned above. Construction begins with the chassis, the two side rails having leaf-spring suspension moulded-in, which have the axle retention bolts added to both sides, and the light cluster is fitted on a PE bracket next to the rear suspension mount. The rails are glued to the floor section, which has a large cut-out in the centre, then the shorter front and rear rails are fitted to the floor. Turning the assembly over, the square axle with the lower retention plates moulded-in is laid across the suspension, adding two diagonal I-beams to brackets at the front to create the structure of the towing frame. It is further strengthened by fitting U-bolts under the front of the floor, adding stirrups to the underside of the rear, and a two-part brake mechanism on the right side. The wheels are built from two parts, the larger having the outer hub, tyre carcass and the tread moulded together, the smaller having the opposite sidewall moulded-in. They are put to one side while you build up the water tank. The oval tank is made from top and bottom halves plus front and rear end caps, fitting a hatch with closures and a multi-part hand-pump to the forward end, then lowering the assembly into place on the chassis, where it is supported by sloped risers around the edges of the cut-out. There is a T-shaped set of plumbing with three spigots per side under the front of the chassis, covered by two L-shaped assemblies that mount under the leading-edge, with three bog-standard taps or faucets as our American friends would call them on each side. While the chassis is upside down, the two-part inner hubs are fitted to the ends of the axles, adding a short length of 0.5mm wire to each one, and another length to a bracket under the tank. A pair of mudguards are mounted on the chassis sides on pegs, and a reeled-up hose with separate link to the pump is fixed on the slatted deck in front of the tank. Boxed covers are fitted over the tap block in open or closed position, locking them in place with a long PE hook for the open option that locates in a PE eye that is used on both options. The two-part towing eye is mounted atop the front of the A-frame, and a jockey-wheel is built from two halves plus a yoke and pivot, with an alternate all-steel wheel if you prefer. This can be fitted under the hitch in either horizontal position for travel, or vertically for a parked trailer, locking it in place between two halves of the pivot. Another longer length of wire is fitted along the left chassis rail and hitch frame, dangling down over the hitch, adding a plug for the electronics, which has a hole moulded-in. The safety chains are cut to length, and are each trapped between two halves of their bracket, adding the hook on the loose end after drilling a hole in the part first. Markings There are five decal options on the sheet, and from the box you can build one of the following: US Military Air Transport Service, Andrews Air Force Base, Hawaii, 1949 Unknown US Army Unit, North Africa – Italy, 1943 Unknown US Army Unit, Europe, 1944-45 Unknown Unit, Medical Department US Army, 1942/45 834th Engineer Aviation Battalion of the 9th (US) Engineer Command, Further, Germany, 1950 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Whilst it might not be one of the most charismatic of military vehicles, its importance from a strategic point of view can’t be underestimated, as an army without water won’t march very far or last long. MiniArt have done a grand job tooling this kit, and it will make an interesting addition behind your next softskin project, or as part of a diorama. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Being a “Tractor Boy” (Ipswich Town football fan) I thought it was only right I should build a tractor in this GB. Like a lot of us in this GB (I am guessing), this could also be an “out of my comfort zone” build, as I have never done rusty, battered, old, decaying or for that matter a tractor! When you search for images of old tractors, a lot of them are totally rusty, but I am hoping to go with something which still has a bit of paint on it. George

US Army G7105 4x4 1.5T Panel Delivery Truck (35405) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Chevrolet G506 truck formed the basis of a range of 4x4 load-carrying vehicles that could carry up to 1.5 tonnes of cargo, men or equipment. They were initially made under the 4100 code, then were renamed as the 7100 series, and usually had a standard enclosed cab, with a 3.9L straight-6 engine under the bonnet, and a four-speed “crash” (non-synchromesh) gearbox putting out a little over 80hp through all four wheels. It rapidly became the Allies’ standard light truck, and served in substantial quantities on the Western Front, with the Soviets on the Eastern Front, and the forces fighting Japan in the Far East. There were plenty of variants, some in US Army service, others in USAAF service, with almost 50,000 of two specific types, the G7107 and G7117 sent over to the Soviets in large numbers under the Lend/Lease program. The G7105 variant was a fully-enclosed van bodied truck that had a full metal bodyshell to protect the contents, and thanks to its twin wheeled rear axle, it was capable of carrying the same load as its open-topped siblings. They were used extensively by the Signal Corps, but are relatively rare in the overall panoply of chassis types for this series. Their low production quantities and participation in WWII trimmed their numbers further, so they are quite rare compared to others of the type, but some still survive of course, and can be seen occasionally at historic vehicle rallies and get-togethers of like-minded enthusiasts. The Kit This is a new boxing of a recent G506 tooling from MiniArt, and is one of an expanding range that is to be found in your favourite model shop. It’s a full interior kit, with engine, cab and load area all included along with some appealing moulding and detail, particularly in the cab and those chunky tyres. It arrives in one of MiniArt’s medium-sized top-opening boxes, and inside are fourteen modular sprues in grey styrene, a clear sprue, Photo-Etch (PE) sheet in a card envelope, decal sheet and glossy instruction booklet with colour profiles on the front and rear pages. Detail is excellent, and well up to MiniArt’s usual standards, using PE parts to enhance the model, and finely moulded details of the chassis, running gear, cab and interior areas. Construction begins with the ladder chassis, which has leaf-springs fore and aft, cross-braces and rear towing eye fitted to create the structure, then has the fuel tank with PE retention bands, PE rear bumper irons folded around a styrene jig, and axles installed on leaf springs, before the brake drums/hubs, battery and external brackets are added to the chassis rails. The transfer box and drive-shaft join the two axles together, and a steering linkage and box are inserted into the front of the chassis, then the engine is built up based on the straight six-cylinder block, with carburettor, dynamo and transmission added, plus the serpentine pulleys and fan at the front. The engine and substantial front bumper iron are fitted to the chassis, assembling the exhaust and its muffler, which slip into the underside of the chassis from below, held in position on PE brackets at the exit. The wheels are made up with singles at the front, made from two parts each, and with twin wheels at the rear, again with separate outer sidewalls. Each wheel slips over its respective axle, with the hub projecting through the central hole. The three-part radiator housing is layered, with the rear part having a hole that allows the air from the fan to cool the radiator when stationary, mounting on the front of the chassis and mating to the input and outlet pipes already in position. The crew cab is next, beginning with the firewall and forward sidewalls. The firewall is detailed with dash pots fixed to the forward side, and is set aside until it is needed toward the end of building the bodyshell, which is next. The sides of the van have a separate ribbing insert on the insides, to be joined to the floor after the raised platform for the crew seats is installed, fixing two four-part seats on top, and a small forest of levers in the centre of the floor. The rear light clusters are mounted on PE brackets on the rear of the side panels, one per side, and as is often the case with instruction steps, they may be better left of until after main painting. The floor is inverted to install the sidewalls, putting a short fuel filler tube on the outside that matches up with the extension within that leads to the tank. The rear valance plugs into the floor on two pins, joining the two side panels together on the lower edge. The rear doors and their interior cards are assembled with their handles, locking mechanism in a fairing with a flat PE surround, plus handles on both sides of the right door, and clear window glass with rounded corners. The dashboard inserts into the A-pillars that are moulded into the roof, with seven decals for the instruments and stencils on the glove box, plus two more on the headliner by the rear-view mirror, which installs into the front of the roof panel. The steering column is joined to the underside of the dash, adding a courtesy light and six curved ribs to the inside of the roof in grooves. The crew doors and their interior cards are assembled with handles and window winders, plus the clear window glass that can be posed open or closed at your whim. The windscreen frame has the two clear panes fitted, and has a pair of PE brackets and styrene wingnuts that are installed either vertically for closed, or at an angle for open, with a scrap diagram showing the correct orientation of the various parts, and below it on the scuttle is a ventilator panel that can be posed open or closed as you prefer. The steering wheel is fixed to the top of the column, the diagonal kick panel is joined with the firewall and fitted out with three foot pedals, and a button that I think is the parking brake. The roof and firewall assembly are fitted to the growing bodyshell assembly, while the rear doors are installed within the frame in the open or closed position if you prefer, adding a short stay from wire of your own stock. Two rear arches are fitted under the floor into recesses, projecting past the line of the bodywork to encompass the twin rear wheels, then with the body righted, a pair of wing mirrors are glued onto the cab in front of the doors at handle-height on long struts with PE brackets at the bottom, posing the doors open or closed again as you wish. The body and chassis are mated, and a choice of cowling panels fit to the sides of the engine compartment after adding a V-brace under the bonnet, then fitting the front wings that incorporate the section of running boards under the doors that joins up with the rear boards. The front of the vehicle has its headlights with clear lenses plus sidelights fitted to the wings, and PE windscreen wiper blades are hung from the top of the frame on styrene arms, then the front grille is built. You may have noticed that this appears on the sprues too for a simpler build process, but a more detailed and realistic grille can be fabricated from the PE parts on the fret. It is constructed completely from PE, and two styrene jigs are included on the sprues to assist with accurately creating the correct shape. The lower rail, light cages and curved side panels are made up on one jig from a single piece of PE, while the centre panel is folded up on another, then they’re joined together ready to be attached to the front of the engine bay. There are two PE brackets stretched across the front of the radiator, but if you elected to use the styrene grille, this process is condensed down to nipping the part from the sprue, cleaning the sprue gates, and gluing it to the front of your truck, removing a small curved section from the left of the styrene grille for one decal option as it is glued in place. The bonnet can be fitted open or closed with a PE stay that is provided in the centre of the panel for the open option. The spare tyre is built from two parts like the rest of the wheels, and is mounted on a two-part bracket, the bottom tubular end gluing into a hole in the left side of the bodywork. Markings There are five decal options on the sheet, most in green, one in Navy grey, and from the box you can build one of the following: 15th Army Air Force Combat Camera Unit, Guadalcanal, 1943 US Navy, 1945 161st Sig. Photo Corps, US Army, Fort Bennig, 1942 1st Signal Company, 1st Infantry Division, US Army, ETO, 1945 French Army, French Indochina, Late 1940s Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is an interesting variant of the G506 chassis, and looks substantially different from its siblings, which with the detail that MiniArt pack into all their kits, it’s a very tempting offering. Get one quick before creative run out! Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Bakers (38074) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Mankind has been cultivating crops for thousands of years, and some bright spark decided to grind grain into flour, so a baker must be one of the very earliest professions, alongside the oft quoted oldest one, but hopefully separated by physical distance for hygiene’s sake. A baker was allegedly responsible for the Great Fire of London, and someone must have baked the loaves that went with the fishes, so there’s a lot of history there. This figure set includes two bakers that are dressed in early to mid 20th century style, but could be more modern depending on context. It also includes a mobile stall/cart that the bakers could use to transport their wares to market, or sell them on the move as they pass potential customers on the street. Although the roadside stall used to be commonplace in most towns and villages in the West they have all but gone now, however they can still be seen in many other parts of the world. The cart is finely balanced so that a single person can walk with it in front or behind them, and it has a weather cover and racks for displaying boxes containing produce at an angle that makes it easier for the potential customers to see. Inside the figure-sized box are eleven sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, four filled with different varieties of bread and pastries, two containing shallow wooden boxes with open tops and hand-holds in the short ends. Three other sprues contain the parts for the afore-mentioned cart, and the last two sprues are where you will find the figures. The largest figure is wearing a tall chef’s hat with flared top section, white shirt and black trousers under an apron, finished off with a bow-tie and voluminous moustache. The baker’s assistant is similarly dressed except for a white jacket and his headgear, which is a close-fitting brimless cap, and he is carrying a tray on his shoulder. The parts for each figure are found in separate sprues for ease of identification, and 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 building and painting instructions are found on the rear of the box, the parts called out in alpha-numeric codes that correspond to the sprues, while colour call-outs are in numbers in green boxes, which can be converted to Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya or colour names by using the table in the top right of the area. Conclusion Yet more exceptionally well-rendered figures from MiniArt to add character (and characters) to your next project, or as the centre-piece as you see fit. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P-47D-25RE Thunderbolt BasicKit (48009) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The Thunderbolt developed from a series of less-than-successful earlier designs that saw Seversky aviation change to Republic, and the project designation from P-35, to P-43 and P-44, each with its own aggressive sounding name. After a realisation that their work so far wasn't going to cut it in the skies over war-torn Europe, they went back to the drawing board and produced the P-47A that was larger, heavier and sported the new Pratt & Whitney R-2800 18-cylinder radial that would also power the B-26 Marauder, P-61 Black Widow and F4U Corsair. With it they added eight .50cal Browning machine guns aligned along the axis of flight in the wing leading edge. The P-47A was still a small aircraft, and was initially ordered without military equipment to allow faster completion, but it was considered inferior to the competition then available, so an extensive re-design was ordered that resulted in the much larger P-47B, firing up to 100 rounds per second from the eight .50cal wing guns, and with a maximum speed of over 400mph, leaving just the fuel load slightly short of requirements. It first flew mid-1941, and despite being a heavy-weight, its performance was still excellent, and the crash of the prototype didn’t affect the order for over 700 airframes, which were fitted with a more powerful version of the R-2800 and a sliding canopy that made ingress and egress more streamlined, particularly when bailing out of a doomed aircraft. Minor re-designs to early production airframes resulted in a change to the P-47C, which meant that fewer than 200 Bs were made, the C benefitting from improved radio, oxygen systems, and a metal rudder to prevent flutter that had been affecting control at certain points in the performance envelope. A quick way to spot a B is the forward raked aerial mast behind the cockpit, as this was changed to vertical on the C and beyond. The production from a new factory that had been opened to keep up with demand led to the use of the D suffix, although they were initially identical to the C, but the cowling flaps were amended later, making it easier to differentiate. Of course, the later bubble-canopy P-47s were far easier to tell apart from earlier marks, and constant improvement in reliability, performance and fuel load was added along the way. The P-47D-25 carried more fuel for extended range, including piping for jettisonable tanks on the bomb racks for even more fuel. Taking a cue from the British designers, the bubble-top was developed and that improved all-round visibility markedly, although like the later mark Spitfires, later models incorporated a fin extension to counter the yaw issues that resulted. Its weight, firepower and seemingly unstoppable character led to the nickname ‘Juggernaut’, which was inevitably shortened to ‘Jug’ and led to many, many off-colour jokes during and after the war. Jokes that are still soldiering on to this day, despite being eligible for a pensioner’s bus pass. The Jug was used extensively in the European theatre as an escort fighter, where it performed well in its ideal high-altitude environment. Later in the war when the Luftwaffe was a spent force, it also went on to become a highly successful ground attack fighter, strafing and bombing targets of opportunity, and eschewing camouflaged paintwork to add some extra speed with a smooth (and shiny) bare metal finish. As well as flying with the US forces, many P-47s were flown by the other Allies, including the British, Russians, and after the war many other countries as the remainder were sold off as war surplus. The Kit This is a brand-new tooling from MiniArt, and from my point of view, they’ve picked an excellent subject to bring their talents to bear upon. The kit arrives in one of their sturdy top-opening boxes with a dramatic painting of the subject on the front, and profiles of the decal options on one side, reserving the other side for practical details and text. Inside the box are twenty-one sprues in grey styrene, although in our sample many of the sprues were handily still connected by their runners, which simplified photography. There is also a clear sprue, two sheets of decals, and the instruction booklet, which is printed on glossy paper in colour, with profiles for the decal options on the rear pages, plus detailed painting and decaling information on the weapons and tanks on the back page. Detail is phenomenal, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt in the last several years, with fine engraved panel lines, recessed rivets, plus raised and recessed features where appropriate, as well as fine detail in the cockpit, wheel bays and engine. If you’ve seen their AFV kits you’ll know what to expect, but this is pretty awesome in this reviewer’s humble opinion. Construction begins with the highly detailed cockpit, starting by putting the seat together from base, back and two side parts, which have elements of the seatbelts moulded-in, and are finished off by putting the remainder of the lap belts on the seat pan. A pair of support are inserted into recesses in the back of the seat, then it is installed on the ribbed floor, which has control column, plus seat-adjuster, and two other levers inserted, after which the rear bulkhead, one of the cockpit sidewalls and the front bulkhead are added, trapping the rudder bar with moulded-in pedals between them. The starboard sidewall has a hose added, and a scrap diagram shows the detail painting as well as the location of the decals that need to be applied. The head cushion is applied to the head armour, then the other sidewall is detailed with four controls, numerous decals and more detail painting, so that it can be inserted along with the instrument panel and auxiliary panel, both of which have decals for the dials, with a choice of two for the main panel. The tail wheel is made up in preparation for closing the fuselage, building a four-part strut that holds the wheel on a one-sided yoke, then adding a small curved bulkhead with sprung bumper at the front, or an alternative assembly can be made from four different parts plus wheel, which is less detailed as the mechanism is hidden by a canvas cover. The fuselage halves are prepared by adding two extra detail parts to the short sill panels that have ribbing moulded-in, and should be painted to match the cockpit. At the rear on the underside, the supercharger fairing is slotted into the starboard fuselage along with the tail gear bay, and at the front, a cooling vent and an insert are added to the underside, fitting another vent to the port fuselage half in the same place. The fuselage can then be closed around the cockpit, adding the aerial mast into a slot in the starboard spine, although whether that will remain there until the end of the building and painting is a moot point, and I’d be tempted to nip it off at the base, gluing the base in to act as a socket for the aerial after the heavy work is over. There is a fuselage insert in front of the cockpit, and that has the two-part gunsight with clear lens added to the centre, and another equipment box on the port side before it is inserted and joined by a firewall that closes the front of the fuselage. The engine is created by joining the two highly-detailed banks of pistons together by a keyed peg, adding the push-rod assembly to the front, the ends of which mate with a circular support that is the frame onto which the cowling panels are added later. The reduction-housing bell is detailed with magnetos and other parts, plus a collet at the centre where the prop-shaft would be. This is joined to the front of the engine as it is mounted to a bulkhead at the rear, again on a keyed ring. The intake trunking at the bottom of the nose cowling is made from five parts and installed in the lower panel, and you have a choice of open or closed vents on the sides of the fuselage by using the appropriate parts, and in the same step, the rudder is completed by adding an insert at its widest point (the bottom), to avoid sink marks, and it is mated to the fin on three hinges, allowing deflection if you wish. Going back to the engine, the finished assembly is enclosed by four segments of cowling, and at the rear you have a choice of open or closed cooling gills, using different parts to achieve the look you want. Under the tail, your choice of wheel assembly is inserted in the bay, with doors on each side, or if you are building your model in flight, a closed pair of doors is supplied as a single part, adding a small outlet further forward under the fuselage. The upper wing halves have well-defined ribbing detail moulded-in, which is augmented by fitting an insert, two rib sections, front and rear walls, and an additional structure that has a retraction jack pushed through hole in one of the wall segments. The flaps are made from two sides, plus a pair of hinges and these are glued into the trailing edge of the wing with the ailerons, the remaining details of the gear bay, which includes another retraction jack, the gun barrels on a carrier to achieve the correct stepped installation, plus a pitot probe, and the wingtip light, which can be fitted now because the complete tip is moulded into the upper wing so that it can be portrayed as scale thickness. A scrap diagram of the lower wing shows the location of the flashed-over holes that you can drill out for rocket tubes or pylons, then it can be glued to the upper, along with two inserts at the tip and to the rear of the gear bay, which includes a flush landing light. The same process is then carried out in mirror-image for the other wing, omitting the pitot and landing light, after which the wheels and their struts are made up, each wheel made from two halves plus a choice of three hub types, and two styles of wheels are also provided, one without a flat-spot, the other under load on the ground, leaving it to your taste which you prefer. The struts are detailed with separate oleo scissor-links and stencil decals, and are mated with their wheels, plus the captive gear bay doors, the lower door made from two layers, again to avoid sink-marks. The wings are glued to the fuselage with a stepped joint making for a stronger bond, and the elevator panels are each slotted into the tail, and have separate flying surfaces that can be posed deflected, each one a single part. If you are building your model with the gear down, the inner gear bay doors are fitted to the fuselage, which contains the inner edge of the main gear bays, so remember to paint that while you are doing the bays. The engine assembly is also mated to the firewall, locating on a pair of alignment pins. If you plan on making an in-flight model, there are two single parts that depict the closed main bays, or you can insert the two struts with their wheels for the grounded aircraft. The four centreline supports are fitted between the main bays for some decal options, then the model can be flipped over to stand on its own wheels so that the canopy can be installed, gluing the windscreen at the front, and deciding whether pose the blown canopy open or closed. The prop is also fitted, and this is made up from two parts, each holding two blades in opposition, and the spinner is moulded into the front section. The Jug could carry quite a load, whether it was extra fuel, rockets or bombs, and all these are included in the box, starting with the two-part pylons, which can be depicted as empty by inserting a cover over the business end. You have a choice of four styles of tank, a 108gal compressed paper tank with a ribbed nose and tail, a 200gal wide and flat tank, the third 150gal streamlined tank with flat mating surface, and the last one slightly smaller at 75gal. All but the third option has a pair of sway-braces between them and the pylon, which fit into slots in the pylons. They are built in pairs to fit under the wings, but the first two options can also be used solo on the centreline support. The bombs use the same pylons, and can be built in 1,000lb, 500lb or 250lb variants, each one made from two halves for the body and two parts for the square tails, and mated to the pylon by a pair of sway-braces that varies depending on size. There is also a smoke generator that looks like a drop-tank with a spout on the rear, which would be used to lay smoke for the Allied troops below to cover their actions, at least temporarily. The final option is a pair of three-tubed rocket pods, which are made from two halves, plus inserts front and rear, which have their mounts moulded-in, and attach directly to holes drilled earlier under the wings. A large diagram shows the correct location for all the pylons and their loads, and you are advised that drop-tanks weren’t carried under the wings with the rocket packs, which seems sensible. No-one likes to fly home without wings, after all. Markings There are two decal options on the sheet, and the first page shows the location of all the many stencils on a set of grey-scale profiles to avoid cluttering the main profiles. From the box you can build one of the following: ‘Hairless Joe’, 62nd Fighter Squadron, 56th Flighter Group, 8th Air Force, August 1944 – pilot: Col. David Schilling 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, Duxford, Summer 1944 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion There are a few other kits of this fighter on the market in this scale, but I have a feeling that this will soon become the de facto standard in due course when a few more variants are released. The detail is exceptional, and the moniker “BasicKit” seems undeserved, and makes one wonder what delights the upcoming Advanced Kit will have in store for us. VERY highly recommended. Currently out of stock at Creative, but you can bet another order is on the way from Ukraine. Review sample courtesy of

Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H Nibelungenwerk Late Prod, Sept-Oct 1943 (35346) 1:35 via Creative Models Ltd Unlike the later Tiger and Panther tanks, the Panzer IV had been designed in the years leading up to the outbreak of WWII, and was intended for a different role than it eventually played, which was as a form of infantry support tank with the mobile artillery function rolled into one. It was a heavier tank than the previous numbered types, and was well-designed, although it did suffer from the typical WWII German over-engineering that made them complex, expensive and slow to build, as well as difficult to maintain. The type went through several successive variants including enhancements such as a more powerful engine to give better performance, improved armour thickness for survivability, and latterly the provision of a larger gun with a longer high-velocity barrel that was based upon the Pak.40, but with shortened recoil mechanism and an enlarged muzzle-brake that helped contain the powerful recoil from the 75mm round. The new gun was a direct reaction to the first encounter with the T-34 in Soviet hands, an incident that shocked the German tankers and their superiors, as they knew very little of its existence until they had to fight it, and didn’t like the way their shots were prone to ricocheting off the sloped glacis. The Ausf.G and H were the later mainstream variants of the Pz.IV, and were made from early 1942 until 1944 with over 4,000 made, some of which were manufactured at Vomag, Krupp-Gruson, and Nibelungenwerk, one of the largest factories in the German area of influence, based in St Valentin, Austria. By the war’s end Nibelungenwerk was the home of the Panzer IV, and as such was bombed heavily, strangling production of the last variant, the Ausf.J as the Allied bombers took their toll. The Kit This is another new boxing of the recently tooled model of the Panzer IV from MiniArt, with a mixture of parts from other boxings plus some new sprues. It is an exterior kit with enough detail included to keep most modeller happily beavering away at their hobby for a good while. The kit arrives in a top-opening box, and inside are forty-two sprues in grey styrene of various sizes, a clear sprue, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE) in a card envelope, a decal sheet and instruction booklet with colour profiles for the decal options on the inside covers. It has individual link tracks included and the level of detail is excellent, which is something we’ve come to expect from MiniArt’s output. Construction begins with the shell of the lower hull, which is made up on a main floor with cross-braces, sidewalls and bulkheads, then the lower glacis around the location of the transmission and final drive, transmission access hatches being fitted into the apertures before installation. The final drive housing, towing eyes with PE retention chains, suspension bump-stops, return roller cones and fuel filler caps are glued into place on the hull sides, and two lengths of track made up to be attached to the glacis plates, held in place by PE clamps and a length of your own rod on the top side, and a bracket on the lower glacis. The upper hull is created in a similar manner to the lower, with the top deck accepting side panels after making some small holes, the engine bay area is fitted out with the side vents for the radiators and a flat rear panel that closes the area in. The rear bulkhead is detailed with armoured covers for the track tensioner arms, stiffener plates and access hatches, including a manual starter slot. The fenders can now be slotted into position at the top of the hull sides, both of which are covered in a delicate tread-plate pattern where appropriate. At the front the bow machine gun barrel is inserted from the outside, together with the armoured slot for the driver, and at the rear, shutters for the radiator louvres, covers, front hatches with handles, along with the jack-block in its bracket that has another PE chain, or the empty bracket showing the lightening holes if you choose. A radio antenna and base are mounted on the rear left of the upper on a bracket moulded into one of the radiator covers, which has another filler cap and grab handle nearby. The hull halves can be joined now, which involves adding the PE cooling louvres and side-mounted air filters that are attached to the hull sides with input trunk disappearing within the engine compartment, not to be confused with the exhaust round the back, and building up the detailed jack for later integration on the fenders with the rest of the pioneer tools. Under the hull, armoured plates are fitted around the various suspension parts on both sides to protect against mines, and explosives we’d now call IEDs. The big towing eye and its supports are applied to the bottom of the rear bulkhead, with the option of an alternative simplified towing eye, and after fitting another full-width plate, the big exhaust muffler is attached to the rear, made from a combination of shaped styrene parts then braced to the bulkhead by PE straps. The kit supplies a set of four towing cable eyes, but you’re responsible for providing the braided cable, which should be 152mm long and 0.75mm thick, times two. These are wrapped around two hooks on the rear in a figure-of-eight pattern, with more spare track links taking up some place on the left of the rear bulkhead. Now it’s pioneer tool time, with barrel cleaning rods, spanner, shovel, the afore mentioned jack, plus a set of four spare road wheels in an open-topped box that are held in place by a rod, with spanners strapped to the sides. The rear mudguards and front splash-guards are applied now, and the prominent external fire extinguisher with PE frame (and alternative styrene one if you don’t feel up to wrangling the PE) is fitted to the fender with a pair of wire-cutters and a pry-bar, all of which have optional empty mounts for missing tools. Just when you think you’ve finished the tools, there’s a crank for the engine, track-tools, a choice of two fittings for the axe, plus some styrene springs and PE brackets to allow you to show the front guards in the up position. We’re getting closer to the tracks now, but there’s still a lot of wheels that need to be made. They are mounted in pairs on twin bogies with a leaf-spring slowing the rebound of the twin swing-arms. There are two types of outer casting with two axles (for working or fixed suspension) that the swing-arms slot onto, and are then closed in by a cover, which you also have a choice of two designs for. Finally, the twin wheels with their hubcap slide onto the axles, and a small oiler reservoir is glued to the side of the assembly. You make four for the left side and a mirrored set of four for the right, plus two-part idler, a choice of two-part drive sprockets and eight paired return-rollers that fit onto the posts on the sides of the hull. The suspension units have slotted mounting points that strengthen their join, and once you’re done, you can begin the tracks. The tracks are individual links, and each link has three sprue gates that are small, easy to nip off and clean up, so the runs shouldn’t take too long to make up, although it won’t be a five minute job because there are a lot of parts. There are 101 links per track run, and the result is fabulously detailed, having a cast steel texture and some fine raised and recessed textures and features, particularly on the grousers. All decal options have schürzen fitted, and first you must add the styrene brackets on each side along with the brackets to support them, the pairs of triangular shapes on the top of the rails allow the hooking on of the schürzen panels, which consist of five PE panels per side, with diagonally tapered front and rear lower edges to reduce the likelihood of them digging into the ground and being ripped off. Each panel has a set of handles that slot over the triangular parts of the rails, plus longer handles that are fixed below them, presumably to help the crews to man-handle them. Bear in mind that these panels were subject to the rigours of battle so were often bent, damaged or even missing entirely. Use your references or imagination to decide whether you wish to depict a fresh set, or a set that have been in the field for a while. Finally, we get to the turret, which begins with the ring and minimalist “floor”, to which some equipment and a drop-seat are fixed. The internal mantlet is fixed to the floor after having the pivot installed, with the newly assembled breech glued into the rear once it has its breech block and closure mechanism fixed in place. The breech is then surrounded by the protective tubular frame, and the stubs of the coax machine gun and sighting gear are slid in through holes in the inner mantlet, as is a vision block and its armoured cover. A basket for spent casings is attached under the breech, the sighting tube and adjustment mechanism are put in place along with the coax machine gun breech. The turret roof is detailed with bracketry and an extractor fan, then has the other facets added, and outer mushroom cover over the fan included. The side hatches are the clamshell type, and can be posed open, closed or anywhere in-between, with latches, well-detailed vision blocks, plus handles, and grab-handles over the top to ease exit, that would be especially useful in an emergency, but those doors are also a weak-point of the turret’s design. The commander’s cupola is a complex raised part with five clear periscopes around it, and a choice of open or closed outer shields holding the clear lenses in place, sliding into the ring like the real thing. A ring of cushioned pads cover the interstices, and stirrup-shaped parts are fixed under each lens, covered by a single circular hatch with three latches glued into the underside in open or closed versions, hinging rearwards rather than the earlier two-part clamshell hatch, reducing the part count for the over-stretched factories. A PE blade-sight is sited at the front of the cupola with a machine-gun ring around the base and an optional MG34 gun on pintle-mount on top, and the bustle basket with optional open lid added to the rear. The gun has a choice of two types of flattened faceted sleeve made up, and the muzzle brake gives you a choice of two styles that differ slightly from each other if you look closely. Pick the one suitable for your decal choice, and you can begin to put the gun tube together. The outer mantlet section with the sleeve slotting into the front is applied along with a choice of two coax installations, and a single-part styrene barrel fitting into the front with a key ensuring correct orientation, plus the muzzle-brake having the same feature. The turret has curved metal sheets applied to the styrene brackets that glue to the roof and sides, that has a gap for the side hatches that are filled by a pair of hinged doors for more complete protection, and if you were wondering, you get open or closed variants with PE latches. Because of the complexity and realism of the turret and its ring, it drop-fits into position as the final act, and bayonet lugs aren’t present in the real thing, so remember not to invert the model once completed. The remaining two steps show some personalisation between the different decal options, starting with three short lengths of spare track on the vertical glacis panel in between the bow machine gun and driver’s slot. The third decal option is the only one that uses the MG34 on the commander’s cupola, which is shown being fitted along with the length of link between the material magazine bag that hangs down from the mount. Markings There are three decal options included on the sheet, and all are wearing late war schemes with red-brown and green camouflage over a base coat of dunkelgelb, or dark yellow in English. From the box you can build one of the following: II./Pz-Lehr.Rgt.130, 130.Panzer-Lehr-Division, Hungary, Outskirts of Budapest, March 1944 II./Pz.Rgt.25, 7.Panzer-Division, Eastern Front, Belarus, Summer 1944 7./Pz-Rgt.3, 3.Panzer-Division ‘Totenkopf’, Warsaw Uprising, 1944 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a well-detailed exterior kit that should keep you occupied for a good number of hours. Careful painting will bring it to life, and leaving some turret hatches open won’t leave your viewers looking at a totally empty space if you omit crew figures. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Dear Fellow Modellers Miniart interior kits are something of a journey. You learn a lot about the original design and engineering of an AFV, but as with all Miniart kits, the important message is not to rush. Still it was very enjoyable to see all the detail and thought that had been put into the kit. This is the early Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf H made by Vomag. The markings are for the 16th Panzer Division Hope you like it? Regards Andrew

Tempo A400 Lieferwagen Milk Delivery Van (38057) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The A/E400 Lieferwagen was another of Hitler’s standard vehicles that is perhaps lesser known than the Beetle. It was produced by company Tempowerk Vidal & Sohn from 1938, and was joined by an identical Standard E-1 that was manufactured in another factory. It was one of the few factories that were permitted to carry on making civilian vehicles, although this permit was eventually withdrawn as the state of the war deteriorated for Germany. The wagon was a little unstable in the corners due to its single front wheel, and it had a front-mounted engine that probably made matters worse, with a chain drive from the motor to the wheel. The two-stroke 400cc engine in the standard E1 output 12 hp that gave it sluggish performance to say the least, which was probably just as well due to that front wheel. The milk delivery driver was situated behind the front wheel, with a pair of side doors for entry and exit, and a single-panel windscreen that overlooked the short, tapered bonnet/hood. The load area was to the rear of the vehicle that was integrated into the cab for this variant, with a single door on the side, and another pair of doors at the back to keep the contents safe and another load area on the roof inside a railed in portion, and with several other rear bodyshell designs available. The covered van was common, although flatbeds and other designs were available. The Kit This is a new variant of the recent tool from MiniArt, broadening the choice of body styles and uses again for the modeller. This unusual little vehicle arrives in a small top-opening box, and inside are ten sprues of varying sizes in grey styrene, eight sprues of clear bottles, eight sprues of milk crate parts in an orange styrene, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) in a card envelope, a large and a small decal sheet and the instruction booklet on glossy paper with colour profiles on the front and rear pages. It’s a full-body model that shares its panels with the cab, so you’ll get to build all the internal parts and during the process possibly learn a little about how it works – I did when the first boxings came in. Detail is as good as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt, with a lot of it and it’s all very well-defined. Well considered use of slide-moulding also improves the detail without increasing the part count, and makes parts like the forward cowling a feast for the eyes. Construction begins with the small cab floor, which has a planked texture engraved on its surface, and is fitted out with foot pedals, a hand-brake lever and narrow cylindrical chassis rail down the centre, plus a battery attached to the floor on the left. The front bulkhead has a clear windscreen with rounded corners popped in with a small sliver of PE at the bottom, a short steering column and a L-shaped lever, with the windscreen wiper motor cover added to the top of the screen frame, cutting off the two bunny-ear indicators because they aren’t needed here for this version. The windscreen/bulkhead assembly is attached to the front of the floor with a pot for the washers and the conversion stub of the steering column, with a pair of PE wiper blades added in a boxed diagram later along with the latching-point for the bonnet. The padded bench seat for the crew is slotted into the floor, and the back is attached to the rear bulkhead that is joined to the floor, and you’ll need to find some 0.3mm wire 24.6mm long to represent the linkage to the floor-mounted brake lever and the back of the cockpit. The steering wheel and rear bulkhead are glued in, then the two crew doors a made up, having clear side windows plus winders and handles that are quite delicate for realism, making up the rear door with locking mechanism and handle ready for the building of the load area. This starts with the two side panels that have the aft door pillars moulded into the front and the mudguards for the rear wheels, plus a pair of bunny-ear indicators that are mounted on the B-pillar for this variant. The rear chassis is built around a cylindrical centreline rail with the back axle and its triangular bearers slipping over it and hubs with brake drums added at each end. A sturdy V-shaped brace is added between the ends of the axle and the other end of the cylindrical chassis rail, with a large retainer locating in a recess between them. The rear wheels are made from a main part that includes the contact surface of the tyres and back of the hub, with a choice of two inserts to represent two hub cap styles, that are then fitted onto the axles on short pegs, with a brake-line made from some more of your own 0.3mm wire and suspended from the frame on PE brackets that are folded over the wire and are closed up then glued to the frame with an etched-in rivet giving the impression that it is attached firmly to the chassis. The load bed floor is a single part with more planking and fixings engraved into both surfaces, adding clear lights into recesses in a rear valance and a number plate in the central recess. The floor is mated to the rear bulkhead of the cab, fixing an interior skin to the back of the bulkhead during the process. The load area sides have already been fitted with mudguards, and have a pair of interior skins added with supports for the racks moulded-in. As the two sides are glued to the edged of the floor, a set of optional rack stops are glued across between them, on the rear frame of the side entrance door. A shelf is slotted into the middle rack of the three, and another is inserted through the side door dropping the roof in from above, and fixing the pre-prepared back door and its single-part counterpart at the rear in open or closed positions, doing the same for the side door, which has the same locking mechanism and handle added, and the two rearward-hinging crew doors to the cab. The little engine is superbly detailed with a lot of parts representing the diminutive 400cc two-stroke motor and its ancillaries, including radiator, fuel tank, exhaust with silencer and chain-drive cover that leads to the front axle. The completed assembly comprises the motor, axle and the fork that attaches to the front of the cab and is wired in using three more lengths of 0.3mm wire from your own stocks, which the instructions advise you again makes you an experienced modeller. An easy way to earn that badge. After the rear axle and chassis tube have been fitted under the load bed and plugged into the rear of the cab, the slide-moulded cowling for the engine is fitted-out with a choice of two fine PE radiator meshes with layered Tempo badge, an internal deflector panel, PE numberplate, a pair of PE clasps on the lower rear edge of the bonnet, and a tiny hook on the top in between two rows of louvres. The cowling can be fixed in the closed position or depicted open to show off the engine, when the little hook latches onto the clip on the roof’s drip-rail, holding it up past vertical against the windscreen, as per the scrap diagram over the page. A pair of headlamps with clear lenses are fitted below the windscreen and a solitary wing mirror on an angled arm is glued to a hole in the front of the bulkhead below the windscreen frame, with a PE bracket giving the appearance of that the etched rivets are what holds it in place. The last job for the model itself is to fit the PE frame around the strengthened portion of the roof, bending the legs outward and locating them in small C-shaped cut-outs marked around the edges. This is a milk wagon, and parts are included to create eight narrow milk crates with a fine wooden texture engraved in the parts, and each one can accommodate ten bottles from the clear sprues, which depict empties unless you plan on painting some of them with creamy-white paint to portray milk in the bottles. There are also four different styles of milk churn included on the sprues, taking advantage of sliding moulds to create the body of the churns as one part each. Each one has a base fitted to the bottom, lid with PE handle on three of them, and moulded-in carry handles for one churn, adding different types to the others using separate parts. The milk crates are shown perched on the roof of the vehicle, with the churns invisible, but you can put them wherever you like, as it's your model. Markings There are six decal options from the sheet, all painted in one or more solid colours with a lot of white (it’s a milk wagon after all), and decorated with the markings of the owner’s brand, one having the large smiling face of a child drinking a glass of milk while a caption extolls its virtues. The painted logos, some of them realistically painted, are the main reason for the decals being screen-printed to achieve the depth of colour, especially for the child drinking a glass of milk, those being sited on the small additional sheet. From the box you can build one of the following: Provinz Westfalen, Late 1930s Austria, Late 1930s Berlin, Early 1940s Saarbrücken, 1950s Netherland, Early 1960s West Germany, Early 1960s All the decals are screen printed by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion These little three-wheelers must have been prolific in post-war Europe, and we must now have half-a-dozen boxings of the different variants now. This is the most modern-looking bodyshell, and the detail is excellent as usual. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

US Tank Crew NW Europe Special Edition (35399) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models During WWII, once the American war machine had been roused to war footing by the cowardly attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese, American Tanks were a common sight in Europe, Africa and the Pacific. North West Europe suffers from cold weather in the winter, so after the D-Day landings in the summer of ‘44, the weather began to cool off rapidly in preparation for one the worst winters in a long time. Cold weather gear was the norm during the 44/45 winter, and this also applied to the tankers, as their engines and heaters could only keep them warm whilst inside their vehicle, and most tankers only battened down the hatches when action was expected, to escape from the claustrophobic conditions and any fume leakage, plus the chance to stretch their legs away from the confines of the tank. The Kit Inside the end-opening figure-sized box are five sprues in grey styrene, two containing the figures and three their helmets, weapons and accessories, plus a sheet of instructions for the accessories, and a small decal sheet. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and 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. Three of the figures are standing casually, one with his hands in his pockets, and another with a steel helmet and pair of glasses, as if he is checking something out. Of the remaining two, one is standing in the tank leaning on the surround of his hatch, while the other is sitting on a sloped corner of the hull, which looks like the glacis plate of a Sherman, which were the most common US tank during the majority of WWII, although there were plenty of variants to choose from. They are all wearing similar trousers, and have leather spats over their boots, and differ mainly whether they are wearing just their overalls, a short tanker jacket, or hip length BDU jacket in the case of the observer wearing the steel helm with captain’s bars on the front. The accessories include three four-part tanker helmets, eight M1 helmets, four of which are bare, two have fabric covers, and two more with net covers. The accessories include various pistols in and out of holsters, M3 grease-guns with separate sliding stocks, goggles and pouches for ammo. Entrenching tools, two styles of bag, water bottles, hand grenades, bayonets in and out of scabbards complete the range of accessories available to personalise the figures. Markings Decals? For a figure set you say? Absolutely, and I couldn’t be happier, as this is a feature that I’ve been longing for from major figure manufacturers for a while. The small decal sheet contains rank and unit insignia, a few stencils for the accessories, and the Captain’s bars for the helmeted figure. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A highly detailed set of figures to crew your latest WWII US AFV, and the addition of decals to the package make the offering even better than usual. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Czechoslovakian Traffic Signs (35655) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd During WWII Czechoslovakia was under the control of Nazi Germany who had overrun their country early in the war. The Soviet forces fought their way through the country on their way to Berlin, and stayed there in body or in spirit for many years until the break-up of the Soviet Union. This set is full of signs from Czechoslovakia from the 30s and 40s, all of which are civilian in nature and some of the names might be familiar if you’ve been there. The Kit These signs relate to Czechoslovakian civilian roads, and the set arrives in end-opening, figure-sized box with a painting of what’s in the box on the front, and a set of instructions on the rear. There are six sprues of styrene parts, plus a large decal sheet with the sign fronts to complete the set. There are 24 signs, and although there are cruciform signs included on the sprues, there don't have any decals, presumably as the type was either unused or seldom used in their country. The posts are of a standard narrow format, and would have been easily bent or uprooted in the event of an accident. The posts are either straight box-section, or circular style, some with slightly wider bases and a round ferrule on the tip, which can be removed with a blade for some of the signs. The sign boards have cleats on the rear surface to attach them to the poles, with the straps moulded into the posts to guide you in marrying up the two parts. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Under the instructions on the rear of the box is a paint chart that gives colour swatches plus Vallejo, Mr Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya codes, and generic colour names to assist you in choosing the correct paints for your model. It seems that the Czechoslovakian sign post poles were almost universally bare metal, giving you plenty of scope for weathering and rust on the posts, as illustrated by the paintings. Conclusion Great diorama fodder, as the devil’s in the details. The printed decal signs are also so much better than most of us could do with a paint brush, and will add a little extra realism to any diorama or vignette. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

StuG.III Ausf.G MIAG Production Dec’44 – Mar’45 (35357) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd The StuG is a popular German WWII AFV, and the more you learn about it, the more obvious it becomes why. The SturmGeschutz III was engineered based upon the chassis of the Panzer III, but removing the turret and front deck of its progenitor, replacing it with an armoured casemate that mounted a semi-fixed gun with limited traverse. It was originally intended to be used as infantry support, using its (then) superior armour to advance on the enemy as a mobile blockhouse, but it soon found other uses as an ambush predator, and was employed as a tank destroyer, hiding in wait for Allied forces to stumble haplessly into its path. With the advances in sloped armour employed by the Soviets, the original low velocity 75mm StuK 37 L/24 cannon was replaced by higher velocity unit that was also used in the Panzer IV for tank-on-tank combat, extending the type’s viable career to the bitter end of WWII. The earliest prototypes were made of mild steel and based on Panzer III Ausf.B chassis, and they while they were equipped with guns, they were unsuitable for combat due to the relative softness of the steel that would have led to a swift demise on the battlefield, being withdrawn in '41-42. By this time the StuG.III had progressed to the Ausf.G, which was based on the later Panzer III Ausf.M, with a widened upper hull and thicker armour to improve survivability for the crew. Many of the complex aspects of the earlier models that made them time-consuming and expensive to produce were removed and simplified to ease production bottlenecks, which led to several specific differences in some of the external fitments around the gun, such as the Saukopf mantlet protector. The Ausf.G was the last and most numerous version, and was used until the end of the war with additional armour plates or lengths of track often welded or bolted to the surface to give it enhanced protection from the Allied tanks and artillery, especially the Sherman Firefly with its devastatingly effective main gun. The Kit This is a new boxing of MiniArt’s recently tooled StuG.III kit, this time depicting production from the MIAG (Mühlenbau und Industrie Aktiengesellschaft) factory in Germany, who were involved in the production of StuGs later in the war. The model arrives in a standard top-opening box in the usual MiniArt style, with attractive artwork on the front and profiles on the side. Inside the box are fifty-four sprues in mid-grey styrene, one in clear, two large frets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass parts, decal sheet and glossy instruction booklet with colour profiles on the front and rear covers. Detail is excellent throughout, which is just what we’ve come to expect from modern toolings by MiniArt, with so much detail crammed into every part of the model, which includes the complete interior and individual track links. Construction begins with the interior, which is built up on the floor panel, receiving the torsion suspension bars with their fittings, a pair of runners to support the engine, and a covering part that makes moving around less of a trip hazard for the crew, while carrying the support structure for the gun, which is made up from some substantial I-beams that have a traverse shoe placed on top to give the gun its limited 15° travel for fine-tuning aim. The rear bulkhead panels are set against the engine mounts to give them the correct angle, then the firewall bulkhead is made up with small drawers and various other details added before it is fitted into the floor. The driver’s seat is built from numerous parts on a shaped base, and controls are placed within easy reach of his feet and hands, with the option of adding a linkage for the hand controls from your own wire or rod stocks. Attention shifts to the transmission that distributes the engine’s power to the drive-wheels, diverting the engine’s output 90° into the drive sprockets at either side of the front of the vehicle. It is made up from many finely detailed parts, with gear housings and their retaining bolts on each side, moving out to the brakes and clutches, then rearwards to the drive-shaft that leads back under the gun mount then into the engine compartment. It is set into the front of the vehicle, crowding the driver, but leaving space on the floor for two shell storage boxes that have holes for the individual shells to be inserted after painting and application of their stencil decals, as per the accompanying diagrams. The engine is then built up from many more parts, resulting in a highly detailed replica of the Maybach power pack, including all the ancillaries and pulleys that you could wish for. The engine bay is detailed with extra parts in preparation for the installation of the block to make it sit neatly on the mounts, with a large airbox to one side with a battery pack on top. The sides of the hull need to be made up in order to finish the engine bay, and these two inserts are outfitted with final drive mountings, strapped-on boxes, gas-mask canisters, pipework and the outer parts of the brake housings, complete with the spring-loaded shoes straight out of a 70s Austin Maxi. Unsurprisingly, another big box of shells is made up and placed on the wall, and in the engine compartment a large fuel tank is attached to the side, with a fire extinguisher placed next to it. These two highly detailed assemblies are offered up to the hull along with the front bulkhead, which has been detailed beforehand with various parts, and the glacis plate with transmission inspection hatches that are given a similar treatment, including an instrument panel for the driver’s use that comes with dial decals to improve realism. A few other parts are inserted into the front of the hull to integrate the sides with the other parts, and the glacis is laid across the front, supported on three sides, adding a bullet splash deflector near the aft edge. Tank engines are under immense strain pulling the huge weight of the vehicle and its armour, so they need an effective cooling system in order to cope. Two radiator baths with mesh detail engraved are built up and attached to a hosing network, with a fan housing on the top and more hosing across the top, plus take-off pulleys and belts providing motive power for the twin fans inserted into the top of the assembly, with even more hoses and other details added before the completed system is inserted into the rapidly dwindling space within the engine compartment. On the top of the engine a pair of small canisters are attached to depressions on each side of the apex, and these appear to be air cleaners, as they resemble compact versions of the Fiefel units seen on the rear of early Tigers. Moving forward, the transmission inspection hatches are fitted with a choice of open or closed, as is only fair for such a highly detailed model. The rear bulkhead is detailed with towing eyes and exhaust mufflers with short pipes fixed to the outer sides. An overhanging frame is made up at the rear and has a PE mesh part applied along with a covered port for manual starting of the engine, and this is installed mesh-side-down on the top side of the bulkhead, with a pair of thick pipes slotted into place between the mufflers and manifolds once the glue is dry. Additional thin air guides are later placed under the overhang, with an overhead diagram showing how the assembly and rear of the vehicle should look once completed. The auxiliary towing eyes on the edges of the rear bulkhead have pins threaded through, with PE retaining chains added before the lower hull is put to one side for a while. The gun is represented in full, with a complex breech, safety cage and cloth-effect brass-catching basket present, plus a large pivot fitted onto the trunnions on the sides of the assembly. Elevation, traverse, coaxial MG34 and sighting gear are installed on the breech, with a small seat for the gunner on the left side to keep him stable while aiming at his next target. Before the gun can be fitted, the walls of the casemate must be made up, and these are encrusted with yet more detail, including a pair of MP40 machine guns with ammo pouches, equipment and stencil decals on the rear panel with a round extraction fan in the centre of the wall. The detailed radio gear is bracketed to a shelf that is installed on one sidewall, with more boxes and stencils adding to the chaos of the area, plus the option of adding wiring from your own stocks to improve the detail even more, helpfully noting lengths and diameters you should use. The other side is also decked out with boxes that require more wiring, all of which is documented in scrap diagrams where necessary to help in increasing the authenticity of your model, which is all joined into the shape of the casemate with the addition of the front wall that is detailed on both sides, and has a large cut-out to receive the gun in due course. The front of the casemate is built out forward with a sloped frontage and some appliqué armour, then the commander’s cupola is prepared with seven clear vision blocks, lenses and PE detail parts, set to the side for later, while the casemate is dropped over the front of the lower hull and joined by the breech assembly, which is covered by a mantlet after armoured protectors to the mounting bolts have been glued over them. A choice of bridge insert over the top of the barrel encloses the breech, then it’s time to prepare the roof with some interior details before encasing it, then making a choice of how to finish the commander’s cupola in either open or closed pose, but you just know you’re going to leave it open to show off all your hard work. It has a profusion of PE latches and a set of V-shaped binocular sighting glasses in the separate front section of the cupola that can be open or closed independently to the main hatch to allow the commander to stay within the casemate during battle whilst still able to use the glasses. The gunner’s hatch is a simpler affair consisting of a clamshell pair of doors, with a handle added to the inside. This hatch can also be closed, but why would you? The engine is still hanging out at the back, which is corrected next, building up the engine deck with short sides and armoured intake louvers on the sides, which are covered with PE meshes as the deck is glued down onto the engine bay, allowing the viewer to see plenty of engine detail through the four access hatches. A piece of appliqué armour is added to the slope at the rear of the deck, then an armoured cover to the extraction fan is added to the back of the casemate, with short lengths of track to each side as extra armour and spares in the event of damage. The tracks are held in place by a long bar that stretches across most of the rear of the casemate. Under these are sited the barrel cleaning rods, lashed to the deck with PE and styrene parts, then the four hatches are made with armoured vents, and all of these can be posed open or closed as you wish. Currently the StuG has no wheels, so the addition of the swing-arms with stub axles are next, adding the highly detailed final drive bell-housings under the front, plus additional suspension parts that improve damping further. The idler adjuster is covered with armoured parts, and more pioneer tools are dotted around the sides of the engine deck, after which the paired wheels are fixed to the axles, with drive-sprockets at the front and spoked idler wheels at the rear that have PE outer rings, plus a trio of twin return rollers on short axles near the top of the sides. A pair of road wheels are made up, and long pins are pushed through their holes that attach them to the rear pair of hatches on the engine deck. An optional top-mounted MG34 is provided to fit onto an alternate cover on the top of the casemate, which has a base and sharply angled splinter shields attached to the sides, plus a small drum magazine, separate breech cover, and PE mounting bracket, with a lever to mount and dismount it on the base. The barrel of the gun has a bulky inverted trapezoid Saukopf mantlet cover, which is made up from three parts with a barrel sleeve moulded into the front, which the single-part barrel slots into, tipped with a detailed three-part muzzle brake to give it the correct hollow muzzle. It slides over the recoil tubes of the gun, closing the last unintended view of the interior. The tracks are individual links that are held together by friction, using 94 links per side, and each link has three sprue gates to clean up, with zero flash to deal with. It’s probably best to set them in position with liquid glue once they are correctly arranged on the vehicle’s wheels for safety’s sake. Once they’re in place, the fenders are attached to the hull sides, with L-brackets, the mudguards and PE fittings added once the glue has dried. More pioneer tools and stowage are added to these, as space was a premium on these vehicles, and every flat surface ended up with equipment on it. This includes a convoy light and either a highly detailed PE wrapped fire extinguisher or a simplified styrene alternative if you prefer. Shovels, pry bars, track-tools, jack block and the jack are also found on the fenders, as are the two towing cables, which have styrene eyes and you’ll need to supply the cable material yourself, with a pair of PE tie-downs holding them in place on each side. One decal option also has a field modification of PE railings around the rear of the deck, the rear rail optionally adorned with another run of spare track links that seem like an attempt to protect the engine deck from enemy fire. A pair of antennae mount on the rear of the casemate, and for two other decal options there are runs of track either side of the main gun on the casemate front, or across the lower glacis on a PE rail. Another option has more track on the casemate sides that are again secured by PE rails. Another option for two of the decal choices is the addition of the Schürzen or side skirts that pre-detonate shaped-charge rounds to weaken their penetrating power. These are made from four PE sheets with angled front parts to prevent digging into the ground, onto which the hanging brackets are glued, again using PE parts for scale fidelity. They fit on triangular upstands that are moulded into the mounting rails, which have three additional support brackets fixed to each one before installation, the schürzen panels just relying on gravity to hold them in place, which is probably why many of them were either mangled or lost altogether when travelling or fighting over rough ground. Annealing the sheets with a flame and letting them cool naturally will soften the brass and enable easier bending of the parts if you wish to replicate this on your model. Some scrap diagrams show how the panels are mounted to assist you with correct placement on the rails, and they can be fitted vertically, or angled inward toward the bottom. Markings There are five decal options in this boxing, and from the sheet you can build one of the following: Unknown Unit, Luxembourg, Winter 1944/45 11 Panzer Division, Germany, February 1945 Unknown Unit, Hungary, Spring 1945 346 Infanterie-Division, Netherlands, Spring 1945 346 Infanterie-Division, Netherlands, Spring 1945 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A stunning model of an impressive tank destroyer that saw action the Eastern and Western fronts in relatively large numbers. There’s enough detail for the most ardent adherent to dig into and spend many hours painting and weathering the interior and exterior. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

German Tank Riders. Winter Uniform 1944-45 (35370) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Getting a lift on a tank was a treat for the foot-soldier that occasionally turned sour if their lift came under fire from an enemy tank, especially if the turret started to rotate and the crew began using the main gun. Sometimes they’d ride into battle on the back of a tank, using the turret as temporary cover until it came time to dismount, usually off the rear avoiding the exhausts, other times it was a case of sitting somewhere flat on the hull of the tank for a well-earned rest, and saving some shoe-leather whilst still getting from A to Battle. During winter periods, especially in the freezing cold of the Eastern Front, a seat on the warm engine deck would be prime real-estate, helping to defend against the biting cold that required heavy uniforms and great-coats, of which the Nazi invaders were woefully short. The Set This set arrives in a figure-sized box with a painting of the four figures that are depicted on the front, and annotated portions of the painting with part numbers and colour call-outs added to facilitate construction and painting of the figures. Inside the box are eight sprues in grey styrene, the sprues having a little flash here and there, although very little encroaches on the parts themselves. The parts for each figure are found in separate sprues for ease of identification, and 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. There are three sprues that are devoted completely to a substantial quantities of accessories that include Small Arms, Stahlhem helmets, pistols in and out of holsters, ammo pouches, bags, satchels and map cases, water bottles ribbed cylindrical gas mask canisters, entrenching tools and bayonets in and out of scabbards. The weapons range from MP40s, an STG44, an FG42, Karabiner 98ks, MP28, Erma EMP-35, Gewehr 41, Walther P38, and of course a Luger P-08. The colour call-outs on the rear of the box are given in Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya, plus swatches and colour names to assist with choosing your colours. These refer to the green colour numbers on the paintings above the chart. Conclusion Another realistic set of figures for your AFV projects, with so many accessories you’ll be spoilt for choice. Detail and sculpting is first rate, and what we’ve come to expect from MiniArt. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Plastic Barrels & Cans (49010) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Plastic barrels are pretty useful, as they're light when empty, recyclable, can hold liquids that metal barrels can't and are often more resistant to impact without permanent damage. In addition, they don't use up much in the way of strategic materials and don't rust, so you're onto a winner. Civilians and military use them extensively, and wherever there is engineering going on, you'll usually find barrels dotted around. This set arrives in an end-opening figure box, and inside are four sprues in grey styrene plus a small decal sheet. There are four barrels and four cans on each sprue, and you can make eight large and eight small barrels with separate lids alongside the sixteen two-part cans by following the simple instructions on the rear of the box. The large barrels are made of two halves and a top, while the small barrels are built in the same manner, but have two handles moulded into the sides to facilitate handling. The cans are simple two-part assemblies with the nozzle moulded into the left side to reduce seams. Markings There is a handful of warning decals on the little sheet, and the back of the box also includes painting and decaling suggestions in various colours as well as the ubiquitous blue. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion 16 barrels in two sizes, and 16 cans. All in realistic plastic for you to paint and add to your projects. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

German Soldiers w/Fuel Drums Special Edition (35366) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd It’s a fact that an army marches on its stomach, so by extrapolation, a mechanised army rolls on its fuel supply, with fuel efficiency hardly a priority when creating gas-guzzling monsters such as tanks, heavy prime-movers and the trucks that move the fuel about, ironically. During WWII, Germany suffered from a shortage of fuel that drove the reasoning for some of their initial conquests to rectify this untenable situation for an aggressor. As they were driven back into their original territory, those sources of oil diminished, and fuel became scarce, contributing to some of their military failures, with some help from expert tactician Adolf Hitler, of course. Mass fuel transport was done by rail to distribution points (Allied fighters permitting), where trucks and manual handling took over. The Kit This set is a combined figure and fuel drums offering, providing five figures and eight fuel drums of two styles, plus some hand-pumps into the bargain. It arrives in an end-opening figure box, and inside are ten sprues of various sizes, although the figure sprue has cut in half in order to fit the box. A sheet of instructions for building the barrels is included, and the figures are shown on the back of the box, with paint codes and part numbers arrowed where appropriate. There are also some suggestions for the fuel drum colours on the back of the box, which we have expanded with some details that might prove useful in helping you choose. The five figures represent a work-group, consisting of four soldiers and an officer that is in command, a.k.a. not doing any hard work. The Officer is dressed in typical garb, with knee-length riding boots and trousers, a flat-topped cap, and is busily scribbling on a notepad, with a holstered pistol on his hip. The workers are split evenly between peaked and flat forage caps, wearing standard Wehrmacht uniforms and long boots. They are in various poses, including pulling on a rope, pushing with both hands and leaning into the action in two poses, and rolling a barrel whilst stooped forward. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and 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 sculptors and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. The drum sprues give you enough parts for six drums, and there are a further two on the figure sprue of a different type that have moulded-in ribs around the centre of the cylindrical forms, and have a couple of dents moulded in for realism. The other drums are made from halves to which the top and bottoms are added, then two stiffening bands are added to the grooves in the drums, each made up from two parts. There is a choice of end-caps with different wording in raised lettering, and if you cut off and drill out the cap you can make up the hand-pump with nozzle at the other end of a piece of hose/wire that you supply yourself. You can depict the drums in any state from brand new to badly dented and completely rusted to bare metal, and the choice is entirely up to you. Conclusion If you’re looking for an activity for your latest German WWII truck model to undertake, this set will supply that, and a decent quantity of drums to fill the load bed with into the bargain. If you need more, MiniArt sell a separate set that is just barrels, which you can see here. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Fuel & Oil Drums 1930-50s (49007) 1:48 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd There’s no escaping the fact that we as a society have been addicted to fossil fuels starting with coal during the first industrial revolution, and now oil and fuel in the 20th and 21st centuries. Drums are an easy way to store and transport relatively small quantities without spilling them, and they certainly beat a carrier bag any day of the week! The Kit Arriving in a shrink-wrapped figure-sized box, the set includes five sprues in grey styrene, plus a decal sheet, and instructions with painting guide on the back of the box. There are only two different sprue types included, but you get multiples that allow you to build up 18 barrels and 6 manual hand-pumps if you feel the urge to use them. There are three types of barrels, two of which have different types of ribbing moulded in, the third having thicker pairs of rings around them, moulded-in at this smaller scale. The tops and bottoms of the barrels are all fitted with filler caps and breather holes on the opposite side, while some have a concentric ring in the middle to add rigidity to the surface. The hand pumps have a long dip tube with crank handle moulded-in, and an applicator/dispenser wand that will need you to supply some hose or wire to complete. Markings The back of the box gives you brief instructions for construction and suggests paint schemes and decal locations for your edification. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion A whole barrel of fun for your aircraft, vehicle or diorama base. Detailed, with decals to pretty them up, and a decent quantity that could last you a few models. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of