miniart 1/35 EAST EUROPEAN HOME STUFF

[James H]

1/35 EAST EUROPEAN HOME STUFF
MiniArt
Catalogue # 35584

 

 

Every good Eastern European home needs good Eastern European home stuff, right? Without a doubt. As long as it’s not Morphy Richards, Kenwood, Sony, Ikea or anything else that was manufactured outside of the 1940s, then this set should be just about perfect for your diorama. MiniArt creates some wonderful and quite leftfield sets for an unspeakable number of diorama possibilities, and this time we have some nice, antiquated-looking items that could well have adorned the interior of an Eastern European home, or maybe even some of the more rural areas of 20s, 30s and 40s Germany or France. 

This set comes in a box which is way too large for the parts included, but it pretty much standard for many of MiniArt’s figure and diorama releases. The box itself has a colour rendering of such a period house with a Russian propaganda poster on the wall and a parquet floor. All the items you see in that room (with the exception of the plants and poster) are supplied in this new release. 

Opening the box reveals a small, clear sleeve that contains five small light grey sprues and a single small white sprue. Also in that sleeve is a carboard wallet that holds a single PE fret. Each sprue is designed to hold one particular element of this set, meaning that you can build a table from a specific table sprue. Simple logistics, but it makes things easier! 

 

Sprue Gc – Stove

This is one of those typical wood-burning stoves that I most associate with log cabins out in the wilderness, but of course is typical of this period in Eastern Europe. The main stove is superbly moulded as a single, hollow part with provision for two shutter doors for fuel and cooking etc. to be added. Slide-moulding has been used for this part. There is a name plate on this with Russian writing, but this can be erased if you want to use it for a non-Russian diorama. The sprue also contains shutter doors, piping to remove the smoke to outside of the house, pipe flange and hotplate, and handles for the top of the stove. Two PE parts are supplied for the wood burning plate and the cooker element of the stove. 

 

Sprue Kb – Stools and Chairs (x2)

There are two chairs and two small stools that are to be made from these sprues, which are both identical. These comprise of two A-frames each, two cross members and a seat lid. Also found here is a chair with a back, with the rear legs and back forming the main part, and the seat and forward legs being the last two parts. The seats and stool are very simple in appearance with no fancy carving, as would befit the home of a poor agricultural or Eastern European family.

 

Sprue Kc – Table

A simple sprue containing only four parts that make up the main table. These are the table top with its wooden plank effect, two sets of H frame legs and a centre spreader that connects these together and secures to the top. I quite like the wood grain effect of this which should look good with some paintwork that is weathered back down to the wood. All parts have positive locating pins for assembly.

 

Sprue Jc – Water Urn and utensils

The urn has quite a simple beauty to it despite its utilitarian appearance. Both plastic and PE elements go to create this little desktop masterpiece. The main body is built as halves and onto this fits the lid, along with a PE and plastic ring. A fancy four splayed leg is fastened to the underside. As well as these are ornate handles and a tab with a separate valve. Thirteen parts go to build up this little masterpiece, but some are very small, so take care! You’ll also fund cups and utensils on this sprue.

 

Sprue Am – Utensils

Set apart due to its white styrene, this small sprue contains the various parts you’ll need to construct the different pans, teapot, milk jug, and also the plate. A number of these items will also require the PE fret for the more delicate details. More slide moulding is used here to as to create hollow vessels.

 

PE fret

A stated, this is where you’ll find those small but important parts for the utensils etc. This small fret is protected in a card envelope. Quality is excellent, and the removal tags are thankfully small.

 

Instructions

As well as the painting guide  on the back of the box, showing you the completed items in suggested colours, the single sheet of instructions shows assembly in simple line drawing format and is easy to follow. 

 

Conclusion
What a great little set! Simple, yet effective and with endless possibilities for the diorama modeller. This kit is also pitched at a relatively inexpensive price so it’s well worth considering for your next project. Just be careful with those tiny parts!

Highly recommended

My sincere thanks to MiniArtfor this review sample.

 

 

 

[Fran]

I love those Miniart diorama accessories sets!

Thanks for the review!