icm 1:35 German Grenades & Mines Set

[James H]

1:35 German Grenades & Mines Set
MiniArt
Catalogue # 35258
Available from Hannants for £12.35

 

 

Every self-respecting soldier can only operate properly when they have the correct weapons for the field. And we don’t just mean rifles, machine guns, carbines and mortars. Some of the more subversive and violent aspects of war, both close and remote combat, need the use of explosives, whether these are simply lobbed at the enemy through an open window or door as house clearance, or by laying them underground in the hope that it’s an enemy protagonist (and not civilian) will tread on them and be sent to meet their maker. War…it’s a bloody business. 

MiniArt’s new set comprises a whole swathe of nasty explosive devices which is guaranteed to make any battle go with a bang. As the box art shows, this set contains the famous Stielhandgranate (stick grenade) and other deadly incarnations of it, landmines (both pressure and magnetic activated), crate of Model 39 egg grenades, crate of Heft Hohladung Granate magnetic mines, and even the low-tech Molotov Cocktails for some extra whizz-bangs! The back of the box shows the same image as the front. But minus the background. Here, you will find the references for painting and decaling. Paint codes are given for Vallejo, Mr.Color, Life Color, Tamiya, Testors, AK etc. The illustrations themselves are excellent and a great reference for detail painting your new set of fireworks.

Inside the box, a single clear sleeve contains SIX sprues of light grey styrene with a total of 113 parts. Another sleeve within this also contains a sprue of clear green and one of clear red parts (40 in total). To complete the set, a small decal sheet is included, as is a card sleeve containing a photo-etch fret of a further 12 parts. This set comprises 125 pieces of lethal ordnance.

 

Sprue Ab

Here we have both magnetic and pressure activated mines, comprising each of two plastic parts. Very simple to assemble and nicely detailed. These will be supplemented by the fitting of handles from the photo-etch fret which is included.

 

 

Sprue Ac (x2)

No weapons here, but these two sprues make up the open-topped crates into which the Molotov Cocktails will be stored. The various parts have a convincing wood grain texture to them. The crate will look convincing if painted in a wood colour and then overpainted with an actual finish colour before being worn using the hairspray technique to antiquethings a little.

 

 

Sprue Ad

A whole crate of Heft Hohladung Granate magnetic mines is included, and here are the parts for assembling the crate and the weapons. The mines are moulded in rows of four and have separate fuse which needs to be fitted to each. As with all wooden parts, a convincing grain texture is moulded on the crate sections. Locking clasps are included as PE parts.

 

 

Sprue Ae

This sprue contains two varieties of Stielhandgranate (M43 ‘potato masher’ and M24), plus a small number of loose weapons such as the Heft Hohladung Granate, and Model 39 egg grenade. An option to make a Stielhandgranate bundle (Geballte Ladung) is also included. 

 

 

Sprue Ag

The largest sprue in the box contains parts to build a crate of Model 38 egg grenades, plus one case and one crate of Stielhandgranate. The weapons themselves aren’t separate and are moulded in rows to make things easier. 

 

Sprue Aq (x2)

One sprue of each clear red and clear green wine bottles are moulded here, with 20 bottles on each sprue, giving you a battle-busting 40 Molotov Cocktails to equip your soldiers with. These are superbly moulded and are removed from the sprue which connects to the bottom of each bottle. Labels are included for these as decals, so all you need to do is to pop them in the supplied crates when complete.

 

PE

Here we have handles, latches and a strap for the Stielhandgranate bundle. Only twelve parts to play with here, which is nicely made and come in a protective card sleeve.

 

Decals

All of those crates, mines, Molotovs and cases could use a few stencils and labels etc. This rather packed little sheet of decals has enough to keep you toiling for a few hours. Note also that some signage is also present, and for these specific decals, you’ll need to affix them to a backing of plasticard, so as to create the board. Decal production is excellent with printing being nice and thin, and with everything in register. Carrier film is also minimal.

 

Instructions
A single, double-sided sheet contains the instructions for this kit, clearly printed and easy to follow, over a total of 9 stages. Paint references are also supplied throughout.

 

Conclusion
I’m really quite a fan of these small detail sets from MiniArt, despite not actually being any good at diorama work! This set is well thought out and engineered, as well as moulded and presented. Details are excellent throughout and this set would perfectly complement MiniArt’s own Panzerfaust set. For not much more than a tenner, you get a full range of perfectly-formed explosive weapons and a really nice decal sheet too, plus the small PE fret. Definitely one to consider for your next WWII dio!

My sincere thanks to MiniArt for sending this kit out for review. To purchase, click the link at the top of the article.