F i r s t L o o k

The 1:35 MiniArt B-Type Military Omnibus (39001) is a welcome addition to the growing number of WWI kits currently on the market.  The only other option in a similar scale is the Airfix 1:32 kit which has been on the market since the 1960s.

The full-colour box art depicts one of the vehicles that can be modelled from the kit – 91 Coy ASC (Army Service Corps), Ypres, Spring, 1915.

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Thumbnail panels:

Moulded in crisp light grey plastic there are 16 sprues in various sizes (some are duplicates), along with 3 clear sprues and a small P.E sheet. 

There is a small amount of flash on sprues Ea (2x) but this is an easy clean up.  There are also some ejector pin marks on a few parts but these are an easy clean up and can also be hidden during the construction stage.

The highly detailed instruction booklet is 28 pages long with colour plates at the beginning and end pages depicting the 5 options which can be modelled based on the supplied in the Decograph decal sheet.

The 5 options are:

1.         52 Coy ASC (Army Service Corps), Brighton, 1914
2.         Unidentified Unit. RND (Royal Naval Division) Boulogne, Autumn 1914.
3.         91 Coy ASC (Army Service Corps) Ypres, Spring 1915
4.         93 Coy ASC (Army Service Corps) Somme, Autumn, 1916, used as an ambulance
5.         90 Coy ASC (Army Service Corps) Cassell, Summer, 1917

The back page of the instruction sheet also provides a useful colour reference comparison chart for a number of popular brands for use depending on your preference - Vallejo, Mr Color, Life Color, Tamiya, AK, Mission Models, Hataka and AMMO MIG.

Construction begins with the highly detailed engine and offers some scratchbuilding / detailing radiator and engine bay construction. 

Next comes the driving compartment and the detailed 6 piece rear wheels. 

There is an option to have the hood displayed in either the open or closed variant.  The extra detailing options from earlier in construction will now come into play.

The rear body is next.  Care should be taken here that instructions are followed depending on which variant you want to depict.  There are 3 options for the side window glass, again, depending on the version you choose.  There are options of clear glass, painted glass (often damaged by soldiers packs and equipment and the ravages of war), or boards – the woodgrain in the boarded up option will come up nicely with some basis weathering techniques.

Rear steps, running boards, hand rail etc are all added at this stage as well as mating the passenger compartment to the main chassis, and, construction is done. 

Painting and weathering will finish off a highly detailed and much welcomed addition to any WWI vehicle stable. 

C o n c l u s i o n

Hopefully, there will be a crew and/or passenger set coming in the near future and I can’t wait to get started on building this kit.

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Creative Models Australia for the sample.