Introduction

Matho Models sent me a set of their modern drinks cartons, so I just had to put one together! These are aimed at the modern scene, with bottled water from Spa and Evian as well as Coke and Pepsi.

Contents

Printed on a folded sheet of glossy paper are 32 boxes. The Evian boxes come in two sizes - 12x1.5L bottles and 24x0.5L bottles - and represent two different product types based on the colours of the boxes. (We get four of each.) Spa Water comes in 12x1.5L bottles - four boxes total. The Coca-Cola cartons come in 24x12oz cans and 24x16oz bottles, with six of each. Finally, the four Pepsi boxes are 36x12oz cans. All in all, a whopping load for any scene!

Build

I cut mine out with scissors I normally use for decals, but a sharp knife and metal ruler would be better. The fold lines are obvious enough - I bent the "long" sides first, applying pressure with my thumbnail to crease the paper. Then I cut all the flaps before gluing the end flap into the opposite edge with some "10 minute" white glue borrowed from the wife's dollhouse stuff. Next I folded in the bottom flaps and added glue before pressing them against the table with a handy stick. Note that you can't do this to the top afterwards, as the box will be closed! All in all it took me about 5 minutes to build a single box.

The insides of the boxes are printed with a reasonable "scale" card colour, so they are ideal for leaving open. They are a tad thin and flimsy (be VERY careful when handling them!), so can be realistically "crushed". If you want them to be full, closed boxes it may be worth building a plastic box to fit inside for some strength.

conclusion

These are very useful little boxes for modern scenes! I'm not sure about the exact time periods or theatres of action, but I suspect pretty much anywhere the US Army's PX could reach in the 1990s/2000s is appropriate. Perfect to add a little colour to the turret basket of your favourite US vehicle in the States, the "Sand Box", or Europe...