Skalka by Minibox in 1:300 scale,

The presentation of this kit is the most unusual I have seen. Almost all large kits come in a book form with all the pages the same size. This kit comes with one folded page with a picture on the front and back and a printed display of the "pages" inside. Pages is in quotes because they are a collection of card sheets of different sizes. Each sheet is a complete model, so the larger buildings are on pages smaller than A4 and the smaller buildings and vehicles are on almost postcard size sheets. In total, there are about 50 of these pages. The only exceptions are six A4 pages that make up the base. Four pages are laid flat and the other two make up the contoured section in one corner. The instructions (in Czech) indicate that the contoured sections should be glued on to polystyrene sheet 5cm thick. I did not have any polystyrene so I used strips of card just under the 5cm wide and glued thin card under each of the pieces. This worked well and was not as messy as cutting sheets of polystyrene. Once the base is complete the next step was covering the vertical contoured pieces and the two tunnels.

Once this is done the rest is up to the modeller to decide. There is no particular order although the base does have outlines for the buildings and trees, placement of the trains and vehicles is up to the modeller. I decided that I would start in the back left hand corner, in this way I would not be working over other completed areas.

Like all the Minibox models I've made, this one went together without any problems. Despite the small size of some of the pieces everything fitted together well. In the attached pictures, the trees are the most obvious pieces. Some are separate trees, each made up of about seven pieces, but some are made as a complete area where the bottom three layers cover an area of up to nine trees and the top three or four layers make up the individual tops of the trees. Look closely at the model and you may notice the bus shelter and bicycle stand. The bicycle stand is about 8mm long.

Customising and "parts box" are not common terms in card model circles, but ABC magazine has published Minibox models and I used a few of their cars on this model. I also added quite a few (hand painted) figures that I bought from a local architectural model company.

This was an unusual project in that there is almost no step by step method of building the model, so when I had had enough of making forests of trees I could make a building or bus and put these aside for placing on the base at a later stage. My only comment is that the colours were rather dull, compared with the pictures on the cover sheets.

Overall this made a welcome change from the usual kits and makes quite an unusual subject. I bought this from Chris Cook at the 2000 model show, I know he had other kits similar to this so anyone interested doesn't have to visit Prague to buy this model.

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This page was created by:
Saul H. Jacobs M.Ed.
Avionics Specialist, United States Air Force (Retired)
Microcomputer Technology, Pima Community College (Retired)
Tucson Arizona