This is a somewhat interesting and slightly odd choice by Eduard. Washingtonia filifera is native to the Western US, and doesn’t really reside outside the region except for cultivated landscaping. It is primarily found around spring-fed oases in the low desert of Colorado, hot springs of Nevada, and rivers within Arizona and California. It has also been found in Florida and the Virgin Islands as well, most likely from transplants used as ornamental trees. The full tree can grow up to 60 feet in height, with shorter examples being seen in gardens and younger plants. A distinguishing characteristic are the long white fibrous threads that are between the segments of the leaflets. On adult trees, dead fronds stay attached to the tree and drop, forming a skirt around the trunk that can extend the entire height of the tree if left wild. These trees are also very long-living, with examples living between 80 to 250 years!

This kit consists of 4 identical sprues molded in light grey styrene and containing 140 parts and a double-sided instruction sheet, which is vital, since the kit has so many options.

4 different configurations of fence and gate options are given in the instructions, but you can make any combination of those options with the available parts. I would highly recommend studying the rear of the box art and the instruction sheet to get the most out of this versatile kit.

Absolutely no flash or warpage was present on any of the parts, which is typical of Miniart's excellent injection molding process. Very fine mold lines are present, and they are quite noticeable on the rounded parts, so a thorough sanding of every piece is highly recommended for the best finish.

Miniart has released a huge number of diorama and scenic kits designed for universal use. Miniart also includes excellent injection-molded accessory sprues in their kits. This kit includes the same accessory sprue as kit# 35530 Street Accessories.

This kit consists simply of two sheets of semicircle-patterned vacu-formed cobblestone brick streets, a sprue containing parts for a park bench and other accessories in 1/35 scale, and a 2-sided instruction sheet, which is really not necessary.

The streets are in two vacu-formed sheets which, when combined, measure 336x249mm. I only used a 40mm circle of the streets as basing for a scratchbuilt steampunk Walker project of mine, which is really in about 1/54 scale, so it is quite universal for modelers of all genres and multiple scales.

Master Box has provided 5 German infantry figures in dynamic poses that reflects the kit label “Cold Wind”. Typical of their products, the box front accurately reflects the final figures and the box rear has pictorial instructions on figure assembly. Pictures of the two sprues are provided on the rear, one is labeled A and the other B. The sprues themselves do not have this marking, but sprue A has parts for three figures and sprue B has parts for two figures. Part count for the sprues is 109 pieces, with 8 parts not being used. The plastic is a yellow/tan color, soft, and glues well with liquid cement.

My husband (and model coach) first built the Strange Changing Vampire kit when it initially came out in 1974 at the tender age of 11. When he heard that Round 2 Models was releasing a re-issue, he jumped at the chance to present me with my third model build. Being a “monster kid,” I was excited with this opportunity to build my second Round 2 model and add it to my growing collection of built kits. My mind’s eye pictures this piece billed in some side show, with a barker calling out “Come see the strange changing vampire! Watch the skeleton change into a real live vampire right before your eyes!” I imagined my husband as an 11 year old boy, opening the coffin to see a dead, decaying skeleton; then eagerly closing it and using the key to work the “strange change action”. With delight, he would then reopen the coffin, revealing the scary vampire with bared fangs, ready to grab him for a midnight snack!