Introduction

When comes to dioramas and to a slightly lesser extent stowage, there is nothing that adds life quite like a selection of food stuffs.

Here is the introduction provided on the Verlinden Productions website;
Probably 100% organic and not processed, with responsible packaging, this lot of German groceries in cream resin will serve you well in any dioramas, you could even use some of their distinctive shaped food containers baskets, cheese sausages root vegetables, bottles and tins are all in this set of foodstuffs. In a captured scenario as – well containers were containers no matter who owned them! Barrels, wicker. A very handy set to own.

Contents

This product is packed in an end opening plain white card container with a sticker displaying the contents. Inside the cream resin items are packaged in a Ziploc bag. There are 86 resin items in the Ziploc bag representing both food stuffs and containers.

Review

Knowing where to start with this product is perhaps the hardest part due to the large selection of items. The storage containers are as good a place as any and if my memory serves the only real weak area. The milk churns, boxes and containers generally do look appropriate for the World War 2 period, but two of the containers are from the Vietnam War period I believe and these are indicated in the pictures. If I am mistaken please let me know.

The barrels, baskets and bags look good. The sacks containing onions and potatoes have been nicely detailed and careful painting and weathering will give these a very realistic appearance, this also applies to the wicker basket containing potatoes. The wicker basket containing bread I believe will also paint up well. The barrel has been moulded very thinly and this aspect is impressive to me, but I am at a loss as to what it contains, salted meat maybe?

The boxes have a mix of tins, peppers, cabbages, apples, pears and mixed vegetables are also nicely detailed, I especially appreciate how thin the walls of the baskets are adding realism to them. The cutting boards with cheese, bread, cured sausage/salami and cured ham are another great addition to the set. The sausage is on the lid of a crate which could be used as a temporary table top or on the lap of a soldier pigging out while he has the chance.

There are two sizes of box or wrapped items, the only thing I can think of that these are supposed to represent is butter, lumps of cheese and the like; I believe these food items were cut from larger blocks as required and wrapped in grease proof paper during this period. The sausage rings, cured meats and salamis are a great addition to the set, they could be used to dress a butchers’ window in mainland Europe. The inclusion of two knifes with very fine blades is also a nice touch.

There is a selection of 19 bottles in this set; one of these was broken either during transit or packing. The shapes of the bottles do look appropriate but they should have been supplied moulded in clear resin or plastic as I feel they would have been much better received in that material; the bottles are also let down by the lack of any decals in the set for these items. The decal failings are also true of the tins in this product. The size of the tins are a little on the large size in some cases unless large catering tins were supplied for military use, something I am unsure of during World War 2.

Conclusion

I feel that the price of $14.95 should make this product an attractive option for modellers due to the large selection of items that can be used over several builds. The resin has been cleanly cast with no deformities or air bubbles that I saw or located. The tins are let down by the lack of decals as are the bottles, which would also have been better if moulded in a clear material. I would not let these observations deter you if interested, as it is for the most part a very pleasing selection of items.