The Kit

This kit is pretty similar to my last review of the MiniArt buildings; most of the parts are the same injection molded plastics. However, the parts in this kit are molded in brick red, black, white, blaze orange, and gray. All parts are mostly free of flash, with the small exception of a minor piece of flash next to every one of the connecting blocks, which, if left untrimmed, will skew the walls during assembly. I approached this one with some trepidation, as it is much larger (233 parts). However, in the end it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Construction

Construction was pretty straightforward, much like the kit I did previously. Wall sections are mated together into sub-assemblies, then larger sub-assemblies, until finally being put together into the finished product. Everything went together fairly smooth, but the omission of one piece slowed up progress. Lucky for me, there were enough spare parts for me to cobble together a makeshift part to complete the review. After trimming the flash mentioned above, I was pretty surprised at the amount of progress being made. However, this kit is not without difficulties. The corner pieces are very fiddly and seem to want to slide together at an acute angle, which will wreak havoc with your build. Additionally, the roof sections are very fiddly. The inside structure of the building has several reinforcing sticks and a very large amount of CA keeping it all together. If you approach the build properly, it isn’t much more than an added step or two. Lastly, I was forced to omit the stairway from the building as every stair that I clipped from the sprue snapped in half. I will eventually fix this, but I did not want to take that time. Using a #11 blade or snippers ended with the same result, so take care when on this step.

Final Thoughts

All in all, again I found this build pretty much a fun one. This and the Goods Shed from the previous review were the first buildings I have ever built. Thanks to these, I will do more. I was able to do further experimenting with weathering techniques and, aside from the very minor issues that I have mentioned above, I was able to push it out in a week’s time. Adding the cross braces to the walls greatly increased its strength. I hope everyone enjoys the review, and thanks to Model Rectifier Corporation for supplying the kit and IPMS-USA for offering the opportunity to review it.