Introduction
When it comes to diorama products, MiniArt leads the field, when it comes to the wide selection of offerings and the price. This offering provides the modeller with four plastic trash cans, two of the type you may have in your garden, and two others that are seen for store rubbish.
Review
This offering from MiniArt is supplied in one of their end opening cartons, with a potential finishing options on the front, and assembly instructions on the rear. When you open the box up, you will find two identical sprues and a decal sheet. An examination of the mouldings reveals no obvious areas of concern. There are some very finely moulded parts, which could be easily damaged during removal from the sprue, and so make sure that you take your time and use the correct tools for the job.
What I would refer to as garden waste bins, have been well designed, in that they are suitably hollow, are made with a reasonable thickness of plastic. The wheels that the bins would be moved around on, fit on an axle that is secured directly to the bin. The lid of the bin is provided separately, and so can be assembled either open or closed, and I was pleased to see the handles provided as separate items, which while a small detail I was pleased to see replicated.
The dumpster plastic bins, are again well spaced out on the sprue. But it is the shim that sits in the lids of these bins that worries me most when it comes to potential damage or breakage. This particular shim/ridge creates the overlap around the edges of the container. Detail on both the inner and outer faces of the lid, has been well replicated and conforms accurately to what you would expect to see. Due to the lid being separate you can show it open or closed. The rubbish container itself has been provided with separate wheels, and so can be shown in the angles of your choice. The lifting clasps on the side of the bin have also been provided separately, and add that particularly nice finishing touch. The only thing I do not see replicated is the locking mechanisms usually seen certainly in the UK, but I do not know how wide spread this detail is. A small decal sheet is provided, which I believe are internationally recognised symbols for recycling, and place you rubbish in this bin, and these are provided in both black and white.
Conclusion
This release from MiniArt is an interesting offering that I feel would appeal greatly to the modern vehicle dioramist. As these are one of those items that you see everywhere, but quite often take no notice of, and so in model form you do tend to register them. While I approve of everything included in the set, I would have liked to have seen MiniArt include some inserts to replicate rubbish -maybe even a scale rat, as it is these sorts of visual clues that takes an item from OK to something you remember.