Introduction:

MiniArt out of Ukraine is at it again, to the delight of modelers around the world I’m sure. Their buildings and accessories line has for the past several years provided modelers with an attractively priced and light weight alternative to the resin and plaster products which previously dominated the field. This time MiniArt has released a set of ‘Wooden Barrels & Village Utensils’, kit # 35550 with 92 pieces, which will go a long way toward adding those everyday elements to any vignette or diorama building you may be planning.

Review and contents:

The kit is fairly compact, molded in plastic, providing two identical sprues that will yield a total of two large wooden barrels with nicely rendered wood grain effect. Along with this come two smaller barrels or kegs, both sizes of the barrels included provide top and bottom detail. You also receive two of the ubiquitous aluminum milk containers. Each of the milk cans consist of seven parts, top, bottom, middle section, handles and lids, which really helps to add to the detail. You also get two milk jug containers and two wooden boxes for bottles of vino. In total you end up with 36 different jars and bottles to fill up your boxes with. Finally, you also receive two large shallow wooden tubs, nicely detailed on the inside and the bottom with a very well done wood grain effect.

The detail on all the wooden boxes is very well done with a nice light wood grain effect that a bit of detail painting and drybrushing should really bring out well. Best of all, in my opinion, no knockout marks anywhere to deal with. Nothing ruins a great wood grain effect like a nice big knockout pin mark that must be sanded out ruining all the nearby detail. The handles and the bottles are not as well done as I would have liked, a bit thick in places and the bottles are nothing special, although there are several different styles of bottles rather than everything looking exactly the same. The bottles are not in clear plastic and you may want to replace a few with some of the clear varieties that are available, you probably have a few in your spares bin if your work space looks anything like mine.

Conclusion:

Another well done set to add to MiniArt’s growing stable of kits. Good value for the money especially when you consider what a couple of resin barrels alone can set you back. I look forward to throwing a couple of liberated aluminum milk cans in the back of a Dodge weapons carrier someday soon!