Italeri 1/72 Urban Accessories
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
Finding diorama accessories in larger scales is not too difficult, but for those of us who focus on 1/72 subjects, it can be quite challenging. Luckily we have seen a recent increase in kits from mainstream manufacturers aimed at filling that void, and Italeri has jumped in with some new kits along those lines. This set, simply labeled "urban accessories," provides some very useful bits and pieces.
The Kit
This is probably one of the simplest kits I have seen in a very long time. So simple, in fact, that inside the box is only plastic: the instructions are printed on the back side of the box. You get two identical sprues in the box providing a wide range of city/town accessories. Some just need to be cut from the sprues and cleaned up, while others require some assembly.
Starting with the cut & clean parts, this set comes with four manhole covers and four sewer grates. The covers feature some nice surface detailing, while the sewer grates have some ejector pin marks that will need cleaning. The other parts that only require cleanup are the eight bollards, which being round will need some sanding on the mold lines.
For the bits that need assembly, you get three styles of street lamps, two styles of benches, a water faucet, and a fence. Starting with the fence, this has separate uprights and separate cross pieces. All together you get twelve fence sections, and while there are no corner posts, there are end posts and it would not be too hard to drill holes in a second face on those to get a corner post. The benches are assembled the same, with separate pieces for the bench and back and separate side pieces. The lamps are in two styles: a straight pole with a square fixture at the top, and a pole with an overhanging light. The latter comes with two styles, while the former has the top fixture molded solid and would really benefit replacement from clear stock.
Conclusion
This is a simple set, with little to actually assemble, but the items provided could make for a significant improvement to everything from a full diorama to a simple vignette. My thanks to MRC for the review sample.