MiniArt

1/35 German Pharmacy Ruin

Kit Number: 35537

Reviewed by  Rob Folden, IPMS# 45545

MSRP: $20.99 Website: www.miniart-models.com Available from: www.dragonmodelsusa.com Another big hit for diorama builders, MiniArt has released the newest addition to their vacuformed building series. This one is patterned after a German Apotheke [Pharmacy]. Sculpted as a ruin, the building is perfect for a WWII diorama. The kit comes in the form of several vacuformed sheets with parts for the building itself. Windows, doors, and other items come on two sprues, which I recommend the modeler keep afterwards as they have many extra building pieces. The Apotheke also includes a set of Dragon 1/35 German figures from the "Ambush at Poteau" set, with some extra weapons thrown in. The vacuformed parts are fairly nice, though I did note some small flaws in the parts. Nothing a good swipe of sandpaper won't fix. The parts for the windows and doors appear to have come from another set, and have some rather thick attachment points. Luckily, most are hidden once installed. Construction is fairly straight forward. For those who have not worked with vacuform in the past, I recommend finding a good tutorial on the web, or partnering with someone from your local IPMS club who has built them. Luckily, a member of my club has worked with MiniArt buildings before. The first step is to cut out the parts. I used the score and break method. With this, you score around the parts with your trusty NO. 11 blade and then snap the part out of the carrier plastic. I find this gives the best, and straightest, edge for gluing. A light sanding may be needed, but nothing to heavy. There are a few methods for joining vacuform parts. Some like to fill the parts with plaster first, then glue. Some, like me, add strips of plastic to act as locator tabs. Once glued, the seams need to be filled. Now, pay close attention, because this is where I screwed up. Unless you have a large gap, do NOT fill the seams in the window and door openings. These are actually hidden by the door and window frame parts. I filled and sanded, which meant the frames did not fit. For the broken brick areas, putty can be used, although I used wall spackle. I also used this on the sides to hide the seams, leaving open areas to show the brick [plaster over brick, just like the original would have been]. Painting is one of my favorite things to do. Especially on models that allow some creativity with weathering. And this kit is no exception. The box art gives you once possible paint scheme, but in reality, anything would probably be acceptable. After looking at some pictures online of old world German buildings, I opted for a scheme similar to the box art. After priming everything, I started at the bottom and worked up. I began with NATO black, then Red Brown, Ivory [white mixed with Buff], Sky, and Black Green [all Tamiya paints]. The brick color is Tamiya Red Brown with a touch more red. I then added a sky grey wash to the bricks, some airbrushed shadows, and weathering done with pastels. Overall, I really like the MiniArt buildings. Having built one now, I would do things a bit different on the next one. But that's not to say I'm not pleased with the outcome of this one. Again, although highly recommended as a diorama kit, I would advise modelers to study up first on how to build vacuform kits. But with some time and effort, these finish up to be great buildings for any WWII based diorama. Hmmm, that gives me an idea… I would like to thank Dragon USA for providing the review sample and IPMS/USA for allowing me to build it. As always, remember DON'T feed the carpet monster. Happy Modeling!