Introduction
There have been a lot of soft skinned vehicles released over the course of the last few years. Modellers have stuck boxes, oil drums, food items, wheels and troops into the cargo beds. I am always keeping an eye out for interesting items, to display in the cargo beds of soft skinned vehicles, as a way of grabbing the eye of people at the modelling shows or even people who come into your house and have no interest in modelling whatsoever. An item that may catch a persons attention, is anything mechanical. In that vane MiniArt has stripped out the transmission set from their T-55 models with interior, and made it available as a separate item, and I do feel this will make for a visually appealing cargo.
Review
This offering from MiniArt is provided in a cardboard tray, with a card lid. Inside the plastic elements are in a single plastic bag, also a nice instruction booklet is included. It should be noted that the instruction booklet shows the engine for a T-55 and that is NOT included in this set. This release form MiniArt, has been provided with the belief that it will be utilised in one of their T55 model kits without interior, and to the end, the instruction book concentrates on the installation of the transmission set to a model. As I have said, I am looking at this offering as an interesting lump, to display outside of a vehicle.
The moulded parts have all been well done, with a very good level of detail which in itself presents the modeller with their first issue. There are a lot of very finely moulded pieces, that could be easily broken, during the removal from the sprue, and while I feel that the access to the various elements is good, but give a good degree of thought into how to remove the parts from the sprue without damaging them. I would much rather take, two minutes thinking how to take a piece off of the sprue, rather than spending minutes or hours trying to repair a broken part, or looking for pieces that could be used to replace. These extremely small elements such a pipelines are what makes this finished element so visually appealing. Another plus in my opinion, is that there are no photo etched parts in the kit, and so those modellers that are not fans of photo etch will be pleased. For those modeller looking at this portion of a T55 for the first time, the instruction booklet covers construction, in a logical manner, that with care is easy to follow.
Conclusion
This offering from MiniArt will in my opinion make for an interesting display piece out of a tank more so than in it, due to how much of it you can see when outside. With careful painting and display, I feel this will make a very visually appealing element to any suitable setting.