I'm writing this just as a public service and not as a reviewer for Armourama.
There is a fair amount of flash on the MiniArt Bantam kit but the parts are really well done and have some excellent detail. There looks to be around 60 parts to the Bantam, though my big complaint is the rather pronounced ejection marks. I will say most of the ejection marks look to be in places that will not be seen, unless you have the hood of the Bantam up to show off the engine which will need some additional detailing but looks fairly complete.
Bolt heads and other smaller parts are fairly crisp with only the odd bit being a little soft. Again the flash will be the worst problem with almost all the parts having a little bit to a lot depending on the size of the part. I can live with it myself as shake and bake kits are just a little too easy sometimes.
The other main problem is some of the smaller parts in my kit are warped and will need to be straightened out, but again I'm not too disturbed by this, as it is a simple fix.
The kit is molded in grey styrene and my being the U.S. Army version of the kit came with some surprisingly rather nice figures. The 5 figures on a whole are as good as some of the Dragon kits available with again the biggest problem being the flash. Though it is not as pronounced on the figures as it is on the Bantam. The arms in some cases have the hands attached and in others they are separate. I find the hands that are molded directly to the arms look wrong, I'm not sure if this is due to the mold process of if they are slightly out of scale. The clothing is spectacular though. The folds and creases are very well done, they actually look realistic. The bodies and legs are all separate as are the heads, which are all bald by the way. They almost look like poor cousins of the Hornet line, which is going to be where many modellers will get the replacement heads from I'm sure.
For weapons you get "1" Thompson, "1" Garand, and "3" Colt Pistols along with various ammo pouches and of course helmets. Everything is separate from the body so you will have lots of room for improvements and the distribution of various kit amongst the figures.
The arms of the figures all have nice fine sections where the unit patches, chevrons, and the MP band go. You can add either the decals included with the kit, or if you are more adventurous paint them yourself.
I had forgotten that I had prepurchased this kit several months back so when I got home from the eastern provinces last night it was a nice surprise to find it sitting on my desk.
I'm writing this just as a public service and not as a reviewer for Armourama.
There is a fair amount of flash on the MiniArt Bantam kit but the parts are really well done and have some excellent detail. There looks to be around 60 parts to the Bantam, though my big complaint is the rather pronounced ejection marks. I will say most of the ejection marks look to be in places that will not be seen, unless you have the hood of the Bantam up to show off the engine which will need some additional detailing but looks fairly complete.
Bolt heads and other smaller parts are fairly crisp with only the odd bit being a little soft. Again the flash will be the worst problem with almost all the parts having a little bit to a lot depending on the size of the part. I can live with it myself as shake and bake kits are just a little too easy sometimes.
The other main problem is some of the smaller parts in my kit are warped and will need to be straightened out, but again I'm not too disturbed by this, as it is a simple fix.
The kit is molded in grey styrene and my being the U.S. Army version of the kit came with some surprisingly rather nice figures. The 5 figures on a whole are as good as some of the Dragon kits available with again the biggest problem being the flash. Though it is not as pronounced on the figures as it is on the Bantam. The arms in some cases have the hands attached and in others they are separate. I find the hands that are molded directly to the arms look wrong, I'm not sure if this is due to the mold process of if they are slightly out of scale. The clothing is spectacular though. The folds and creases are very well done, they actually look realistic. The bodies and legs are all separate as are the heads, which are all bald by the way. They almost look like poor cousins of the Hornet line, which is going to be where many modellers will get the replacement heads from I'm sure.
For weapons you get "1" Thompson, "1" Garand, and "3" Colt Pistols along with various ammo pouches and of course helmets. Everything is separate from the body so you will have lots of room for improvements and the distribution of various kit amongst the figures.
The arms of the figures all have nice fine sections where the unit patches, chevrons, and the MP band go. You can add either the decals included with the kit, or if you are more adventurous paint them yourself.
I had forgotten that I had prepurchased this kit several months back so when I got home from the eastern provinces last night it was a nice surprise to find it sitting on my desk.
I'm writing this just as a public service and not as a reviewer for Armourama.
There is a fair amount of flash on the MiniArt Bantam kit but the parts are really well done and have some excellent detail. There looks to be around 60 parts to the Bantam, though my big complaint is the rather pronounced ejection marks. I will say most of the ejection marks look to be in places that will not be seen, unless you have the hood of the Bantam up to show off the engine which will need some additional detailing but looks fairly complete.
Bolt heads and other smaller parts are fairly crisp with only the odd bit being a little soft. Again the flash will be the worst problem with almost all the parts having a little bit to a lot depending on the size of the part. I can live with it myself as shake and bake kits are just a little too easy sometimes.
The other main problem is some of the smaller parts in my kit are warped and will need to be straightened out, but again I'm not too disturbed by this, as it is a simple fix.
The kit is molded in grey styrene and my being the U.S. Army version of the kit came with some surprisingly rather nice figures. The 5 figures on a whole are as good as some of the Dragon kits available with again the biggest problem being the flash. Though it is not as pronounced on the figures as it is on the Bantam. The arms in some cases have the hands attached and in others they are separate. I find the hands that are molded directly to the arms look wrong, I'm not sure if this is due to the mold process of if they are slightly out of scale. The clothing is spectacular though. The folds and creases are very well done, they actually look realistic. The bodies and legs are all separate as are the heads, which are all bald by the way. They almost look like poor cousins of the Hornet line, which is going to be where many modellers will get the replacement heads from I'm sure.
For weapons you get "1" Thompson, "1" Garand, and "3" Colt Pistols along with various ammo pouches and of course helmets. Everything is separate from the body so you will have lots of room for improvements and the distribution of various kit amongst the figures.
The arms of the figures all have nice fine sections where the unit patches, chevrons, and the MP band go. You can add either the decals included with the kit, or if you are more adventurous paint them yourself.
Anyway for the 16.95 I paid this kit it is well worth the coin.
Sean
