MiniArt Road Signs WWII North Africa (35604) 1:35

[Mike]

Road Signs WWII North Africa (35604)

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

During WWII the North African theatre was a constant round of taking and retaking territory, with locations changing hands more than three or four times on a daily or weekly basis, with German, Allied of Italian masters seemingly interchangeable, while the locals carried as best they could while trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.  This set is full of signs of this nature, and includes military signs to guide their troops to rally points, service areas and so forth as they didn't have the luxury of GPS and satnav back then, which is probably why we have it now. 

 

The Kit

These signs relate to the North African Theatre of Operations, and arrives in a shrink-wrapped, top-opening, figure-sized box with a painted example of what’s in the box on the front, and a set of instructions inside.  There are eleven sprues of styrene parts, plus a large decal sheet with the sign fronts to complete the set.  One sprue seems to be made up of wooden box sides, but these are actually repurposed into signs and are used throughout the set along with the custom arrows and the posts that they are applied to.  In addition, a sprue of parts for a telegraph pole is included, but this is repurposed into more sign posts to suspend those signs you’ve got, a set of three oil drums spread over six small sprues, and a small quantity of sandbags of various sizes to act as bases for posts that aren’t driven into the ground.  There are 51 signs on the decal sheet for you to use, using the guide on the box or going off as you see fit.  There’s a bit of flash on some of the telegraph insulators, but those are parts that get left on the sprue, so it’s not an issue, and you’ll find some bags of vegetables and hand pumps knocking about on the sprues for your use or otherwise.

 

 

 

 

The decals are printed by DecoGraph, and have good registration, clarity and sharpness, with a thin carrier film fitted closely around the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

Great diorama fodder, as the devil’s in the details.  The printed decal signs are so much better than most of us could do with a paint brush, and will add a little extra realism and a some humour to any diorama or vignette.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of