MiniArt 1/35 Russian City Building Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Evidently I missed a memo somewhere. I was wandering through my local hobby establishment when I spotted a variety of damaged building kits from MiniArt of the Ukraine. These are fascinating kits that provide a nice alternative to resin or plaster of Paris building diorama kits. Unlike the resin and plaster alternatives, these are plastic kits that an experienced modeler can build with basic tools and skills.

The building walls are vacuformed! The grade of plastic used for the walls is thick. What makes this series interesting is that the inside and outside surfaces of each wall are provided. You simply cut the wall shapes out of the sheet, cut open the windows and doors, then snap and glue the wall halves together. From the weight of the plastic, you'd almost think each wall was solid plastic after assembly.

Next, you glue the wall sections together to form the remains of the building. A portion of the upper floor, roof and other details are also provided. You'll need to provide your own rubble if you want to replicate the fallen remains of the building, though that may not be needed if the building itself is a backdrop in a vignette or small diorama.

Two sets of parts are provided molded in white styrene (only one is shown to the right) containing window frames, doors, lamp posts, lamps, and other details. You are left to your imagination to create the look for your scene.

As an added bonus, each set includes a set of DML figures. In this set are four German Soldiers from the set 'Winter Combat (Eastern Front 1942/43)'. Without any other kits or details, you can replicate a scene from the battle of Stalingrad.

A set of decals rounds out this kit. These contain a variety of street signs, distance markers, and grafitti that would put Stalingrad nearby.

This is a nice new alternative for diorama modelers. Check out the variety of subjects and artchitectures that are already released!