Introduction

Regardless of what type of modelling you are into on the Armour/AFV side of the hobby, or even figures for that matter, there is one addition that fits across the board, the humble ration pack in all of its many forms. They can be used to represent rubbish, stowage on vehicles or even used with a squaddie sitting down for a bite to eat, they are a really generic item for the military modeller and in some cases tell a story or just catch the eye. FC Modeltips has sent Armorama a selection of the 1/35th scale ration packs that they currently have available and at a very affordable price.

Review

I have been sent a selection of four ration packs to review from FC Modeltips, all of these examples are 1/35th scale offerings, but it is also worth checking out their web page for 1/16th and 1/72nd scale offerings as well. The items I have reviewed here are;
35334 – Russian IRP-P Ration Boxes - €3.63
35338 – UK Army Multi Climate Ration Boxes - €3.63
35340 – 5 in 1 Ration Packs - €3.63
35341 – K Ration Boxes - €3.63

These items are all printed on thin white card and packaged in re-sealable plastic bags. The information on the products is either printed on the card above the ration pack boxes or on a piece of card stapled to the top of the bag. I like and approve of FC Modeltips printing these on white paper as it allows for variation in the carton colour to be represented, where as if printed on tan or brown paper you end up with uniformity of colour. In some cases this approach has provided the modeller instantly with boxes that could have been in storage for some time or exposed to the sun in a hot climate resulting in colour bleaching to have occurred and does not require any effort beyond assembly for the modeller. The only possible issue with printing these on white paper is that some colouring would need to be applied to the reverse side should you want the box displayed open.

Providing the printed card inside a re-sealable plastic bag provides the modeller an easy way to store the product after having started to use the boxes and also takes away the guess work on what boxes you need while protecting the printed items. The card used is of a good weight to work with and it takes the needed bends well. The print quality is of a high standard, with what I consider to be excellent detail considering the scale size of the products. The colour printing has not bleed through the paper or seeped anywhere. Removal of the boxes is not difficult, but while scissors could be used I recommend that a scalpel and metal straight edge be used to obtain a clean cut. I used PVA glue to secure the joins in the example shown here and I am happy with the results.

Russian IRP-P Ration Boxes
In this product you get 8 different containers and with the exception of 1 design in which you get 6 boxes the rest provide 5 boxes.
UK Army Multi Climate Ration Boxes
This product provides you with 30 boxes which are all identical.
5 in 1 Ration Packs
These set offers 60 boxes of the same size and shape and has a very nice variation in colour
K Ration Boxes
This product provides you with 18 boxes, oddly half the boxes have different coloured securing tabs.

Conclusion

Coming in at less than 4 Euros a set make these items very affordable to have sitting in your stash for when needed. Removal and assembly is easy enough, with perhaps the only concern being the glue making the card overly wet. The range of boxes available is good, the print quality is very good and the price is low, what more do you need to know. I will add here that if your purchase order is over 15 Euros, FC Modeltips will at this current time also send you a set of Spanish Army Ration Boxes free of charge.