Kit Review: Miniart 1/35 scale Kit No. 36049; Ruined Building w/Base; 46 pa= rts (40 in grey styrene, 6 vacuformed); retail price US$55.00
Advantages: typical German-style architecture with medium size base perfect= for most late-war single vehicle dioramas or vignettes
Disadvantages: no rubble provided (see text)
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all late-war modelers=20
By the end of WWII most German and Austrian cities had been struck by Alli= ed bombers and many grand old buildings either flattened or reduced to rubb= le. This caused so much damage that in the case of East Berlin it was not f= ully rebuilt until the 1990s. The Allies rolled through this in 1945 and ac= cepted the final surrender in May of that year.
Following their well-thought-out line of bases, Miniart has now provided a= shattered building with details for use as a German or Austrian display ba= se. It provides a brick street, sidewalk, and building from the 18th or 19t= h Century made of brick with a badly damaged facade and no interior. Part o= f an archway to a courtyard is included. The size is suitable for vehicles = up to the size of a T-34-85 or Sherman, or smaller items such as armored ca= rs or halftracks.
There is a minimum of rubble included with this kit, and while some may gr= ouse Miniart made a wise decision. Vacuformed =93rubble=94 tends to look li= ke a big vacuform bubble and little else, so they left it out. Modelers can= then add their own rubble to their heart=92s content, or leave off as a = =93Berlin =9147" diorama.=20
A nice selection of accessories is included, topped off with a generic str= eetlight. No glazing is provided, but if the building was hit logic says it= is unlikely the light would have been spared either.=20
No finishing directions other than the box art is provided, but two sets o= f color posters are included. These include several Nazi propaganda ones an= d a few generic advertisements, as well as typical street signs found in Ge= rmany or Austria.
There are some general hints on assembling this type of kit. First off, as= the main parts are vacuformed, they are studded with small pips that come = from ensuring sufficient vacuum pressure was used to get all of the details= to show. All of these must be removed using a chisel-bladed hobby knife, a= nd some may leave small holes behind which need filling. Also, because they= are vacuformed, all of the edges are not at a 90 degree angle and may requ= ire some forethought prior to assembly. This may mean removing them and rep= lacing them with heavy styrene strip or reinforcing them with strip on thei= r insides so when sanded down they still provide sufficient strength for re= taining assembly.=20
I suggest cutting a section of 1/4" plywood and using either contact cemen= t or epoxy to attach it to the underside of the base for stability and suff= icient counterweight to prevent the assembled model from flipping over. Alt= ernatively, the entire base can be cemented to a section of wood, metal or = plastic and then finished.=20
Some modelers report the vacuformed plastic does not work well with common= styrene cement so you may need to use something stronger such as Weld-On o= r Ambroid multipurpose liquid cement (the kind which will join plexiglass, = ABS or styrene to each other).=20
Overall this is a nice little kit and if judiciously =93rubbled=94 should = present an excellent =93canvas=94 on which to display a finished model.=20
Thanks to MRC for the review sample.=20
Cookie Sewell