Master Box Ltd, out of the the Ukraine, has been a leader in 1/35 figures for a while. They expanded into 1/24 female and fantasy figures in 2016, starting with their first series of six female figures representing the World War II era. This current series, Truckers, is ideal for modern Class 8 truck vignettes and dioramas. Kitty (Princess) James is part of six kits in this series.

The kit comes in a standard end opening box. Pulling out the parts, you will first see that the box is probably three times too large, but in return you get a nice painting on the cover by V. Petelin, and instructions on the back with color callouts in Vallejo, Lifecolor, and Mr Color. I will note that the plastic figure sculpted by A. Gagarin is not identical to the cover paining, but it is close. The hair is slightly different and the blouse is cut differently. The figure represents a female passenger sleeping in the back of the truck with her head on a pillow. Packaging of the eleven parts are protected within a re-sealable bag.

I would recommend that you wash all the parts to remove any remaining mold release. There are small mold lines present on the parts, but they are easily cleaned up with sandpaper or a #11 scalpel blade. The figure is about 2.5 inches long. I used Tamiya Extra Thin cement and found it was just perfect for this kit.

I began by cleaning up the few sprue attachments and the fine mold lines. Test fitting showed that overall part fit was going to be very good. The parts are broken down to enhance painting and minimize seams. I glued the two legs together but no putty was required for the join. I glued the torso together and then attached her head to her torso. Next up was to glue the arms on and her hair. You want to make sure you test fit the arms so they set correctly. The last part was to glue on her hand that is partially hidden by the pillow.

After that, it's all painting. One of the fun aspects of this kit is that you can paint her just about any way you wish. I base coated everything with Tamiya semi-gloss black (TS-29). I used Vallejo paints throughout and had no issues (other than I need to learn to blend better). I painted her torso Blue followed by successive lighter blues to add texture and highlights. Her shorts was painted Red followed by a Transparent Red wash. All exposed skin was base coated with Medium Fleshtone, followed by dry brushing Light Flesh. I highlighted with rosy Flesh and Medium Fleshtone. Her lips were painted a light Red. I painted a faint line on her eyes to simulate eyelashes and touched the upper eyelids with light blue. Her hair was washed with Orange Yellow and then washed with various lighter shades of Yellow. I then dry brushed her hair with Off White for highlights. Her pillow is a variety of greens along with two Light Blue stripes.

There really isn't any way to screw this one up, and like the other figures in the series, she really can enhance your auto or truck vignette or diorama. I will continue to ‘fiddle’ with the figure as I’m still not happy with the skin texture but overall I’m quite pleased with this kit. I am looking forward to completing another kit in this series!

Highly Recommended

My thanks, of course, to Master Box Ltd for having the nerve to come out with this excellent figure and to IPMS/USA for giving me a chance to assemble and paint it.