Introduction

MiniArt has continued to retain their place at the forefront of diorama accessories and visually interesting elements for vehicles. One of the latest 1/35th scale offerings from MiniArt in this style is a set of wooden boxes & crates. Perhaps not the most exciting items in the world, but items that do add visual interest in a number of settings.

Review

This offering from MiniArt is packaged in the usual end open card carton favoured for their figure sets and as such does not take weight well, so be careful. The contents consist of a single sealed plastic bag with the sprues inside along with a decal sheet and instruction sheet. The decal sheet was inside the bag and that did cause slight deformation to an area of the decal sheet.

Taking a look at the plastic parts in the set and I am pleased to report that the parts are very cleanly moulded with no obvious issues that I could detect. Looking closely at the various parts did not even reveal any ejector pin marks that will need fixing. The wood grain is present on the boxes and crates and has been very well done being very light and pleasing to the eye. I am pleased to say that MiniArt decided to provide wood grain on both sides in an equally high standard.

This set offers six different sized elements as follows:
57mm x 31.5mm x 23mm
40mm x 25.5mm x 16mm
16mm x 16mm x 16mm
53mm x 8mm x 6mm
25.5mm x 12mm x 4mm
20mm x 12mm x 4.5mm

MiniArt has provided one of each of the biggest 3 boxes and two of the smallest 3 boxes. The square box has crossed timbers supplied separately for reinforcing the box, but this element is up to the modeller when it comes to using or not. I am particularly pleased that the boxes could be displayed open with contents of your choice. The decals that are provided are very pleasing due to the number of options that MiniArt has supplied. When looking at the decals you have a huge range suitable from before World War 2 right up to the present day.

Also included with this set are two box trolleys. These are indicated as being made of wood, but with some care a metal appearance could be obtained. What I like about these is that they will look equally at home in train station setting with cases, or in a shop such as a greengrocers with bags of spuds or the like on it. Regardless of what you opt for I would quite like to see variations of these items provided in their own right at a later date.

Conclusion

This is an excellent offering for anyone who likes their dioramas or loading up their vehicles. The wide time period covered in the set provides a huge number of display options that should have something for everyone. The box trolleys are for me the icing on the cake that will prove of great use in a wide number of scenes. The only complaint I can come up with is that I would have liked MiniArt to have provided a greater number of boxes.