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Built Review
135
German Artillery Crew

by: Vinnie Branigan [ TEACHER ]

introduction
Miniart have just released the German 76.2mm FK288 gun with crew, and as usual with Miniart armour release, they've released the included crew as a separate kit! Well done to Miniart!


the set
The set arrives in Miniart's usual end opening boxes, and inside a sealed plastic bag you'll find a parts map, since the parts on the sprues are not numbered, two sprues of very light grey styrene, and full colour depictions of the assembled figures on the rear of the box.

The set includes five figures, detail is a little soft in places, but still passes muster! All the figures have fairly prominent mould seams that will need removing, and the join of torso to legs will need a tiny amount of filler for a perfect fit. Each figure has two separate legs, the joins of which are good, separate heads, torso, and headgear in the case of three of the figures which have headgear.

In the past, Miniart have included things on their box art that they have not included in their kits.......not so here. There are two wooden ammunition crates shown on the box art, which are indeed included in the kit.

The first of the five figures is shown wearing no jacket or headgear, with braces, and his left hand holding the handle of one of the ammunition crates, His left arm is moulded integrally with the handle, and therefore the handle of one of the crates, should you wish to pose them as on the illustration, needs to be partly removed. As mentioned, the detail is pretty good, although a little soft, and there is a gap between the torso and legs that will need to be filled. There are large moulding seams that will need to be removed, if you look closely at the figure you will see that I've left them on at this stage. The pose is extremely natural, the only fault I could fnd is that the crate handle moulded with the left hand seems to be the wrong way around?

The second figure is of course, holding the other handle of the crate the first figure is holding. He too has his hand moulded with the handle. This one is the wrong way around as well, and the hands cannot be posed as on the box art illustration, which has his left hand gripping the handle and his right hand on top. It must be constructed the other way around! He's dressed in a similar fashion to the first figure, but is wearing a sidecap.

The third figure is an officer wearing full uniform including peaked officer's cap. He's standing with his left arm on hip, and pointing with his right arm outstretched. The other two figures are posed in a similar way to the first two, sharing the load of a crate between them. Both of these figures are wearing their jackets open collared, one with sidecap again, and one without belt.

All the poses look natural, and the fold of the cloth shirts and jackets etc., are extremely well-done. As with other Miniart figure sets I've come across, the heads of all the figures will need replacing, as the detail here is particularly soft, but most modeller's would choose to replace them anyway.

The two wooden crates included (there are 3 shown on the box art), don't look too bad once they're made up, although they're not particularly easy to make up, having very little in the way of location pins or anything. In fact, I had to remove a little of the moulded-in hasp detail in order to get them to 'square-up'. The engraved wooden grain detail is very subtle, and not over-done at all.


in conclusion
A very nicely posed, good value for money set. The heads will need replacing, and some work on the hands will be necessary, or even the hands themselves replacing, but for the cost, an imaginative, good value set. Recommended.

SUMMARY
A really imaginatively posed, reasonably good quality set of five figures. Parts will need replacing that probably would have been anyway, but for all that, a set that represents real value for money.
  POSES:90%
  DETAIL:85%
  POOR HEADS ETC.:70%
Percentage Rating
82%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 35029
  Suggested Retail: Unknown
  Related Link: Miniart Limited
  PUBLISHED: Nov 06, 2006
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 87.97%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 85.88%

Our Thanks to MiniArt!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Vinnie Branigan (Teacher)
FROM: ENGLAND - NORTH WEST, UNITED KINGDOM

Copyright Đ2021 text by Vinnie Branigan [ TEACHER ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Been looking forward to this set for some time. Got a few of the "Germans at work" kits, and with all the poses pushing and pulling, I can imagine lots of interesting scenarios in dios to come. Good idea Pat, I didnīt see that one myself! The fact that the include figures without jackets and combat harness, opens up a lot of possibilities. This was something that modellers have been asking for, for years.
JAN 12, 2007 - 12:50 PM
Nice to see some figures in relative "undress". Thanks for the review, Vinnie. Now there's a great idea. Nice one, Al. Rudi
JAN 12, 2007 - 01:42 PM
a quick question about miniart: I have only ever purchased one kit from miniart and it was a german tank crew and I have to say the fit was horrible, had to bust out my mom's spatula and the tamiya putty, I was wondering if this is the norm with miniart or if I can expect better from other ( or newer ) kits?? thanks Trev
JAN 23, 2007 - 11:29 AM
Hello Trevor : since their first releases, Miniart has done tremendous progress. The last kit I bought was russian officer field breifing, and believe me, they are top notch !!! They fit perfectly. Rudi : You thief !!!!!! I have a copyright on that idea ! :-) Best, Julien
JAN 23, 2007 - 02:51 PM
thanks you guys I ended up getting the russian tank crew 43-45 set. you know the one were they are all wearing sheepskin jackets. I look forward to putting them together and seeing the difference between them and the previous miniart kit i bought. by the way that other miniart kit which was so bas was 2002.
JAN 25, 2007 - 06:22 AM
Looks like a nice kit. Its nice to see manufacturers coming out with some 'less conventional' ideas and poses. James
JAN 25, 2007 - 03:08 PM
I totally agree with you James. Non conventional poses, but also clothes as it's rare to see german in shirts. It allows you to represent them as POW, or in their camp etc... The next step for them I hope is to release allied figures and non russian field related figures.;. Julien
JAN 25, 2007 - 03:16 PM
I would have thought that the Tank Maintanance sets (both German and Russian) would have been used a lot more by now. How often do you see a photo of the crew of a AFV lazing about? Usualy the first thing when they stop is maintanance... Clean that barrel, tighten those tracks, check the oil, grease the greasepoints, your tank is only as good as it's maintanance... And yes, I have some in the works myself. But at my rate of work that could be a while before it gets finished, or it may be done next week..... . And no, it's not German this time either.. :-) Henk
JAN 26, 2007 - 10:04 AM
   
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