MiniArt 1/72 Building With Garage Build Review

By Michael Benolkin

Build Review

For a look at this kit out of the box, see our first look here.

I've wanted to try one of these MiniArt 1/72 building kits and finally grabbed the Building with Garage kit that we recently received. As we've described in our first look, the kit is modular, so you assemble a number of panels and connectors together to create each wall and roof section. The instructions were easy to follow but I deviated off of their path and did not install the windows or doors when indicated so I'd be left with bare brick walls and roof panels.

The parts respond very well to Tamiya Extra Thin Cement which is the only adhesive I used in this build. I did spend a great deal of time ensuring the edges of all parts were clear of mold lines, flash, and sprue stubs where the part was removed from its parts tree. More time here ensured a smooth build later.

I assembled the walls as indicated, leaving off the doors and windows as I'd mentioned previously. When the glue had dried, I sprayed the outer surface of the brick walls with Tamiya Primer Gray. When this had dried, I wet sanded the brick surfaces with a sanding stick which removed the gray from the brick surfaces and left only the gray grout between the bricks. I used a scraping knife blade to clean up corners where the sanding stick wouldn't reach. Not only does the brick detail stand out now, but the sanding also removes the plastic sheen as well leaving a nice surface.

I painted the roof panels with Tamiya Red Brown which would really look awesome after a coat of Lamp Black Oil Wash, but not for this build. The doors and window frames were painted Tamiya Flat Green and details were picked out with various colors as needed.

When everything was dry and cleaned up, I assembled the four walls, added the roof panels which helped to square the building, then I sprayed the inside of the model with Tamiya Flat Black as there is no interior in this model, so the black interior hides what is missing.

The door frames, doors, and window frames were all installed along with the double tracked garage door. The instructions indicate that a balcony is installed on one upper floor door and a stairway on the other. Here is where MiniArt and I parted company. The exterior stairway is comprised of 18 individual steps that mount between two beams. I gave some thought about skipping this painful step and decided to see how bad it really would be to assemble. Almost half of the steps snapped in half using my Xuron sprue cutter, the parts are that brittle. I set the steps aside and assembled the balcony which also was very brittle but did go together and looked nice installed. When I returned to the steps, it was clear they were a lost cause and I used the spare balcony in the kit instead.

Overall this kit goes together quite nicely and I wish MiniArt could use a similar approach to an all-styrene building or diorama display in 1/35 scale. The AMS modeler can do some interesting things with a kit like this like build up a garage interior and put a suitable vehicle inside. Whatever your interest, these MiniArt building kits are a nice diversion or perhaps the start of building your own scale town!

Definitely recommended!

My sincere thanks to MRC for this review sample!