A perfect addition to your diorama or display base is this Aires Aerobonus fire bucket set. Aires Aerobonus provides you with four resin fire buckets and a set of decals: “Fire”. Of note is the re-sealable packaging that Quickboost uses that makes the parts easy to review and then stuff back into the package securely. The supplied instructions provide color and decal placement drawings.

Aires Aerobonus has molded the fire buckets in light grey resin with no bubbles that I could find. There are no mold seams to sand off and the resin plug is easily removed from the bottom with a razor saw or Dremel. Use care in removing the plug resin plug though as the bucket bottom is quite thin (ask me how I know). Also be very careful with the handle tabs. They are quite thin as well and will require a light touch when drilling a hole for the handle.

Although most paints will adhere to resin alone, I would recommend that you wash the parts to remove any remaining mold release and prime them first. I clipped the sprue rail to separate the four buckets, drilled a small hole in the resin plug and superglued a toothpick into the drilled hole. I then painted the fire buckets with Vallejo red, sprayed on some Future floor acrylic, and applied the decals. The decals settled down well with no problems. Once everything dried, I used a razor saw to separate the buckets from the resin plug and touched up the bottom of the bucket with Vallejo red. I used a #80 drill bit to drill a hole in each handle flange, however I had no luck getting the wire I had to fit into the holes and still look like a handle without kinking. I ended up using EZ Line for the handle, and while not perfect, it will do until I develop my skills in working with thin wire.

Once everything is dry I will be applying a Vallejo dark grey wash. Now I just need to find a fire that needs to be extinguished….

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Aires Aerobonus and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this set.