MiniArt 1/35 Chapagne and Cognac Bottles with Crates First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | October 2016 | Manufacturer | MiniArt |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Chapagne and Cognac Bottles with Crates | Scale | 1/35 |
| Kit Number | 35575 | Primary Media | Styrene |
| Pros | Great items for a variety of kit, vignette and diorama applications | Cons | Nothing noted |
| Skill Level | Experienced | MSRP (USD) | $18.00 (approximately) |
First Look
When MiniArt announced that this set was under development, I was really looking forward to seeing if they could do this justice. Now that it's here, let's take a look:
This kit is molded in styrene and presented on 30 parts trees - 12 molded in tan, 9 molded in clear green and 9 molded in clear brown (duplicate trees not shown). You can see that the clear parts are identical in composition - five larger bottles and five smaller. The tan parts build up into six crates that can carry 10 bottles of Cognac (smaller bottles) and six crates that can each carry 15 bottles of Champagne. So far, so good.
None of this will work unless those bottles are properly labeled and company logos/names appear on those crates. MiniArt provides these as decals which, together with some careful painting, will render convincing scale representations of France's finest. Why does any of this matter? Whether you're modeling German, British, or US soldiers at rest, it wouldn't be convincing if there wasn't some of the local stock to enjoy. Something about the spoils of war.
These would look great in the back of truck, Jeep, Kubelwagen, or stacked up around a group of soldiers at rest. This one detail offers lots of interesting possibilities.
This is a great set and I hope MiniArt will follow up with beer bottles as well as German wine in 1/35 scale.
Thanks to MiniArt Models for the review sample.