Introduction:

Although best known for their resin conversions and accessory sets aimed at taking 1/35 scale modern vehicles to a whole new level of realism, Pro Art Models also features a line of products designed for dioramas. The latest offering in this Pro Art line is: Street Light (PAU-35058).

Review:

The set is packed in a hard cardboard box featuring a boxart image showing a finished piece and different versions of street light which could be assembled using the parts provided in this set. The set consists of 12 resin pieces and brass wire. The resin pieces are molded either in cream resin (lamp post parts) or transparent resin (glass shades). The cast is flawless and although the lamp post parts are pretty long and thin they are perfectly straight. Once again, due to light color of the resin it is extremely difficult taking photos which would display all the details of these pieces well. However, I can assure you the quality of resin is of highest standard with all the fine points popping out after a thin coat of primer.

The street light in this set depicts a vintage style outdoor lamp post featuring glass shade supported by a traditional lantern style head with domed cap and looped arm. Similar street lights can still be seen in old town districts of many European cities.

Assembly:

The box does not include any instructions to help with assembly of the lamp. However, Pro Art website provides a nice step-by-step photo tutorial which I included in this review.

The lamp post is made of a base and three long sections which need to be cut to length as indicated. These sections fit tightly into each other, however the pieces should be aligned well so the lamp post is perfectly straight. After drilling a hole in the dome lamp cover and shaping the copper wire into a looped lamp arm, these two can be glued together. The lamp post and lamp arm are then attached via styrene strips and additionally secured using masking tape. Since the set includes four lamp covers and four glass shades, the street lamp can be assembled using one, two, three or all four lights. If all four lights are not used with the lamp post, the remainder can be utilized as facade lights.

The completed lamp is about 23 cm high.

Conclusion:

Street Light (PAU-35058) is one of the newest additions to Pro Art Models range, and a very welcomed one by modelers interested in building WWII or even modern day dioramas. The set includes superbly cast resin pieces (glass pieces are molded in transparent resin) and brass wire to make street lamp post with up to four lights. The fit of the pieces is excellent and assembly is not as complex as it might seem at first.

I liked this set so much that I immediately started planning a small modern day vignette with a twist... featuring a graffiti painter adding his tag to the old building wall under the cover of night. Hopefully you'll see a build log here on Armorama soon.