Introduction

MiniArt is well established now as one of the leaders in the figure scene of the hobby. Their figure sets, which lean towards action rather than static poses, have become one of the staples of the injection moulded plastic figure market. This offering from MiniArt is slightly different depicting a group of Russian infantry in relaxed poses, wearing cold weather gear while having a hot cooked meal by the fire. The kit reviewed here is one of 3 possible kits in which you will find the Field Kitchen KP-42, with the other two being Horse drawn field kitchen KP42 and Soviet field kitchen KP-42, both of these two other kits contain the same field kitchen with different ancillary parts.

Contents

This product is supplied in a top opening box and contains five light grey plastic sprues packaged in a clear polythene bag, and a two page double sided set of instructions.

Review

Instructions:
The instructions use the line drawing method to show how to assemble the contents of the kit. The kits instructions guide you through assembly in 26 stages, with each stage covering the attachment of a minimal number of parts. This approach makes for easy assembly but as there are no clearly defined areas containing each stage, younger modellers will need to take care during construction. The figures included in this offering are shown assembled with part numbers indicating the location of parts

Painting of the finished model and figures is indicated via the use of a number system which refers to a paint chart. The paint chart provides paint codes for Vallejo, Tamiya, Humbrol, Revell, and Mr Color. The chart also provides the names for each of the colours in both English and Ukrainian. I would have liked to have seen an actual colour picture of the painted contents, however the box art by Andrey Karaschuk is a good guide. The box art also serves as a good guide to the detail painting of the field kitchen and figures in the kit.

Field Kitchen:
The field kitchen consists of 111 parts some of which are optional parts and is complete in 26 stages. All of the parts are cleanly moulded and free of ejector pin marks in visible locations. The detail is crisp and should make for a pain free build. The field kitchen represents a coal or wood fired pressure vessel for the cooking of broths or stews en-mass, and also has two re-sealable serving containers for distribution of the vessels contents. MiniArt deserves praise for taking the time to produce an item that many other companies would ignore, and also for selling it in a number of guises to suit a number of uses.

Figures:
The figures included come from two of MiniArt’s other products namely a dedicated figure set (35028 – Soviet soldiers at rest) and the chief cook and bottle washer from (35061 – Soviet field kitchen KP-42).

Covering the cook first, which is one of MiniArt’s newer figures. The figure is dressed in a winter greatcoat and Ushanka with Sapogi (boots), over this he has an apron (or as a soldier will tell you 'the menu'). He is equipped with a metal ladle and is depicted handing out what I believe to be Kaleech (Bread)

The figure is made up of;

• Two arms
• Two legs
• Upper torso
• Front and rear portion of the greatcoat and apron
• Flat top head
• Ushanka

The moulding of this figure is very good with mould seams being very minimal or well hidden by mating surfaces. The facial features are well rendered and should not need to be replaced by a resin offering, the hand detail is fair and does get better with each new product from MiniArt, it is however one area where resin is very hard to beat. The Ushanka is an excellent representation which should really paint up well. The clothing is well rendered with nice natural crease detail. The only area where I was a little disappointed is the Sapogi which could have better refined detail.

The additional five figures from set (35028) represents four infantry or artillery soldiers sitting by a fire warming themselves and eating or drinking and they consist of;

• Two legs
• Two arms
• Upper torso
• Flat top head
• Ushanka

They are all shown wearing Telogreika jackets and trousers which I am sorry to say are poorly detailed. The faces are of a good quality but the hands are weak, with some of the hands looking to have stunted fingers or portions of the fingers missing. The Ushanka is a high point of these figures and are very nicely detailed. Despite being one of MiniArt’s older figure sets moulding is surprisingly clean with very minimal flash and mould seams, I have no idea if this means the moulds have been tweaked or the moulds are lasting very well. The last piece of clothing, the Sapogi, are a little weak on detail in some areas but acceptable.

Each of the soldiers has their own Billy can and cup which would be made of pressed aluminium. I would have liked to see the cups hollowed out, or partially hollowed out, in order to represent filled cups better. Something else I would like to ask MiniArt to consider for the future is to supply the personal weapons of the figures which are obvious because of their absence. There are some spoons provided in the set along with a cooking vessel for which they also supply some suitable sticks to make a spit, you could be thinking this unnecessary with the field kitchen but as this is depicting a winter scene the pot could be used to melt snow to water down the Vodka. Lastly provided with this set is a parchment of some description with a half loaf Kaleech and two slices which is a nice touch.

The officer is depicted standing with one leg raised on an unseen object in a fairly relaxed pose. He is wearing a greatcoat, Sapogi, and Ushanka. He is equipped with a holstered side arm, document case on a strap hanging from his shoulder, and holding a Billy can resting on his raised knee. Clothing detail is fair to good throughout with some nice but minimal creases depicted. The figure is made up of;

• Two arms
• Two legs (one of which incorporates half of the greatcoat)
• Upper torso
• Half of a great coat
• Flat top head
• Ushanka

Conclusion

The field kitchen in this set is an excellent product that I am sure will sure end up in a number of guises in dioramas, and scores very highly in all areas. The cook and officer are also very nice figures with fair to good detail and no major issues. The four seated figures do suffer a little in this set which I suspect is due to age, however their poses add greatly to the set as a whole and with some careful work I am sure will look good.

If there is one product from MiniArt that shows the advancements they have made in terms of figures this is it. I highly recommend this product to you with the advisory that some of the figures will need various amounts of work to look their best. I rate the field kitchen in the high 90's, the officer and specifically the cook in the high 80's with the four seated figures in the 70's, I hope this explains my overall percentage rating.