Has anyone here built any of the Miniart Dioramas? Are they hard to construct, is it hard to cut the pieces off the sheets of plastic, does anyone have any tips for me? This is my first time with one, I just ordered the Street w/ ruined house
Hello m8. I have built one of the Miniart Buildings for my “Seem’s awfully quiet don’t you think” Dio, I found it ok to put together once I got my head round the vacu-formed plastic. You do get loads of extra bits, that you might not use, nice to fill out the spares box! The only advice I can give is make sure you have a sharp knife and take your time and sand,sand and sand again to ensure a good fit.
Have a look at the Miniart web site they have a assembly guide on it.
Good luck with the kit
I used one as a building facade on this WIP dio…the kit was the “Kharkov ruined building”, I believe…the plastic is thick but the detail was surprisingly good, especially for the money…it worked out perfectly for the backdrop…as far as trying to join the sidewalls dfor a more 3-D effect, I’m not sure how that would have worked out…
That Dio looks awsome… Crowded and just nice 
I think Mini Art’s buildings are not easy to work with, but there are two ways to do. One is to assemble them as per instructions, the other is to use them as molds and cast out plaster cement buildings - in this case the original parts can be used time and again. Like this “Park Gate & Fence”, I bought just one box but my modeler has used it many times:
Nice dio you got there, Manstien’s revenge.
I now have a more important question. How do you keep the Vacu-form base (BAD IDEA ON THEIR PART!!) from buckling in the center when you place a vehichle or tank on it?
The more I work with this, and the more I try and cut it out, the more I think this is an over priced piece of junk. Stuff doesnt line up right, there are big gaps when the pieces are put together, the work cutting the son of a ***** out of the plastic its on feels like it is going to give me carpal tunnel… then, worst of all, the stuff is so thin it has no substance to it. The base just keeps buckling under the weight of the tank, Im gona hve to glue some freakin legos or soemthing on the bottom to keep it from happening. What a waste of money, I feel like I spent 20 some odd Dollars just to get the dragon figures that came with it.
actually that’s what the vaccu-form models are like since way back… - -;
Like others suggested try to cast using plaster-of-paris or something?
Thing is, It said nowhere that it was Vacu-form. If I had of known I would NEVER have gotten it. and I cant plaster of paris it because I spent my last bit of $$ on this
don’t you have the arts supply store near by? I’m sure one could get it cheap from local hardware store but they usually sell the large bag. From memory the arts supply store I got mine charged around A$2.95 for 250g bag…
I literially have $1.36
whats so bad about vacuum formed kits?
the plastic is paper thin, it comes on a sheet of plastic and has to be tediously, and painfully cut out of that plastic. The pieces dont line up correctly. Since they are so thin, it hard to even get to pieces that do fit to line up. The seams are un-bearable huge and the un-evenness is extreme.
Yeah, I bought one Miniart building kit a while back. It was the last time.
I’ve seen other people make them work, and I am amazed. I’ll stick with resin and ceramic kits, and scratchbuilding.
Sorry you are having such a difficult time with your kit.
Steve
Now I have worked on this base… and seen how nice it is coming out, detail wise… I am split… I cant overlook how horrible of a fit the pieces were together, and how hard it was to even get the thing off of the plastic.
On the other hand, the level of detail on these buildings and the street is just astounding, I think this is my best work to date, I really dont know what to think.