The Kit

The kit is standard injection-molded plastic, molded in four colors across 78 parts. Wall sections are molded in a brick-red coloration; wooden objects, such as doors, are molded in brown; window frames are molded in white; and the roof shingles are curiously molded in blaze orange. All parts are cleanly molded with very little flash evident anywhere.

It seems as if MiniArt uses a standard set of sprues across all their building kits, as this one yielded quite a few extra parts that were not needed for this build.

Construction

Construction was relatively straightforward; instructions were very cleanly printed on glossy paper. When assembling the walls, I found some gaps between the panels themselves. The attachment points between these wall panels was somewhat lacking as well, and left much to be desired as they were only on the corners, leaving much of the wall unsecured. When the walls were finished, they were very flimsy and should be backed with some sprue or hobby sticks to make them more rigid.

The roof was the same story. It is laid out in several panels that are connected via a tab on the back that fit across the seam. This would have been a very good idea; however, the kit was only shipped with enough to do the top or bottom, not both rows of tabs. The roof was also warped quite a bit, which caused me to pull out more hobby sticks to lend some additional support to the very thin and flimsy roof. The roof only attaches to the building on the ends, so there is considerable sag in the middle. This could be remedied by some truss assemblies added to the kit.

Doors and windows, however, were perfect. They popped right into their spots without any difficulty. It is quite apparent, however, that this kit is sort of like a Lego kit…universal parts put together to create something. The sliding door rails had no attachment points and it took some finesse to make them match up perfectly with the doors (that just barely covered the openings).

Final Thoughts

All-in-all, I still liked this kit. The finished product looks great, even though it is not sturdy enough for constant transport. I had hoped to be able to use this in my war gaming hobby, but I will have to secure it to a base to ensure that it will not fall apart due to the aforementioned assembly weaknesses. However, if you want a good looking building that you can crank out in a long-evening session, this kit qualifies for that. Huge thanks to MRC and IPMS-USA for the opportunity to review this kit.