Review
This offering from MiniArt of a 1/35th M3 Stuart with interior is provided in a cardboard tray, with a card lid. Inside the instruction booklet is loose, with the rest of the parts in a single plastic bag - which is the first area I will complain about, that is because the bag can move around inside the tray due to a surprisingly large amount of empty space. You also have the decals packed with the clear sprue, packed in a bag within a bag which could easily cause damage to the decals. My other concern about this is the high risk of damage to very fine mouldings, one of which I have found on examining the sprues where a line has snapped, and while it will probably be easy to clue together, it is not an ideal situation. In all other regards details are very nice. With this being an interior model and other variants already being announced, you will need to take a good deal of care to ensure accurate placement as there is no room for error.
The tub of the hull, is all made of individual panels which has enabled the inclusion of a very large inclusion of moulded on detail, but will require care to ensure the angles of the parts are correct. Unusually, you add quite a lot of the interior prior to assembling the lower hull. I presume that this is due to very limited space, but it will give you the benefit that when placing the tub walls and rear that you have something to help you accurately orientate them. The crew compartment of this little tank is not one I would like to get inside of, as I think I would get stuck but regardless of this MiniArt has provided a huge level of detail. The rotary engine at the rear is again well detailed, including all of the supporting mechanical elements, but some wiring will need to be added. An additional set that has been released provides a radial engine with 2 figures working on it, and maybe something to consider when you are purchasing this release.
Moving to the hull exterior, you of course have individual panels to enable exposure of the engine. The idler wheel has photo etched rings on either side of it, which may prove a challenge. The road wheel assembly supports are not workable, but can rock making displaying the model on an uneven surface a little bit of a challenge. Plus the fact that the tracks have been supplied as link and length, which is a good compromise between individual tracks links and rubber band tracks. The bolt detail on the exterior of the hull, looks the part but NO I have not counted them!! The tools on the model are pleasing in terms of detail, with the option of photo etch mounting plates and bracketry for the advanced modeller, and for those whose eyes and hands cannot cope with that moulded on detail is provided. Assembly of the turret area begins with the main gun, with the barrel pleasingly having being mould as a single piece using slide moulding - something that appears in this release quite a lot. The 30 cal that sits beside the main gun has had its ammunition supply replicated and includes the bag/tin. I believe the main purpose for this machine gun is a ranging gun.
Just to make you struggle just that little bit, a number of flat panels - 6 in total come together to make the turret sides with a separate top and ring, plus of course the hatches on the turret plus the fuselage can be shown open or closed as desired. I think the bit that surprises me with the turret is that there is no ammunition storage inside that I can see, and I would also have expected to find some radios, but these all appear to be in the fuselage of the tank.
MiniArt has provided 4 finishing options of this wee beastie:
Royal Tank Corp, British Army, Tactical Training School, Egypt, Summer 1941
2nd Armoured Division, Lousianna, USA, Autumn 1941
1st Armoured Division, Rockhill, South Carolina, USA, Autumn 1941
Unidentified Cavalry Regiment, Camp Funston, Spring 1942
Conclusion
This release from MiniArt has packed a lot of detail into a small space as identified by the amount of spare room in the box. It is the small size of this release that will make the modeller struggle, but at the same time provide you with a sense of a job well done when completed. I was disappointed to find that the packaging had failed and caused damage to a part, but at least you are aware of the potential issues. The photo etch included is not excessive, with a number of the very small parts being optional for the modeller, depending on how hard they want to be on themselves. The clear parts are clear where they are supposed to be. The decals are good in terms of colour and printing, and so this is a very nice release from MiniArt, with its only issue being its small size.