Monroe Perdu Studios has been in existence since 2001. They specialize in both resin (notably Zimmerit sheets) and laser cut kits for diorama and architectural-subject builders. Offered in various scales, their laser cut kits provide some unique structures (chapel, farmhouse, etc.) as well as more than a few diorama accessory items (church pew, wheelbarrow, wooden scooters, etc.) that could easily find a home in your next project.

One such item is a kit of two wooden rocking horse. The laser cut parts for the two different styles of rocking horses come on a small sheet of thin cardboard. Don't let the nature of that material put you off, the assembled 'horsies' couldn't be sturdier.

The nature of the laser cutting that Monroe Perdu Studios uses is such that most parts only have one attachment point, adding to their removal from the parts sheet. (Be sure to use a new cutting blade though.) Assembly of the parts is somewhat intuitive but there are assembly suggestions for each specific horse. I followed those suggestions and encountered no issues. All assembly was done with PVA glue (Elmer's).

After assembly you are confronted with painting these beasties. Any paint will do. The manufacturer noted that acrylic based paints will work nicely for the overall color with detail painting with oils or colored pencil is recommended. As noted, you may wish to base coat the parts prior to removing them from the 'sprue'. I actually 'painted' one of the horses with brown panel liner (these are wooden rocking horse, after all) with no ill effects.

The rocking horses kit from Monroe Perdu Studios will work nicely with any 1/24 or 1/35th scale scene that you are contemplating. These rocking horses go together easily, are easy to paint and will make a nifty addition to your next project. Besides, they are really cute!

My thanks to Monroe Perdu Studios and IPMS/USA for the review copy.