This post was originally published on the HMGS site on August 25, 2019.

With the NOVA Open next week I know I’m going to want to pick up the Pod Apartments from Death Ray Designs.  As you may know I’m doing a self imposed Painting Challenge where I buy no more than I paint.  I figured I better not slide behind on terrain so I decided to paint up my Lo Pan’s Noodle Hut from Waresnal. 

Lo Pan’s Noodle Hut is an MDF terrain piece by Warsenal.  It comes with a few pieces in plasticard, both clear, and with designs printed on.  It is a great looking kit and it really pushes what can be done with MDF.  I had a few problems with assembly but I’ll cover that later.

During my MDF terrain class for Hobby University I talk about reasons to do MDF terrain in sub-assemblies.  With this particular kit it is even more important than normal.  This is because the advertisements are part of the build and if you were to not paint in sub-assemblies you’d easily paint over the advertisements. 

In the above pictures I taped over some of the lugs to cut down on paint build up.  These areas won’t be seen when the piece is finished so there was no reason to paint them.

There are pieces of plasticard that are curved to create round walls for the building.  During assembly I cracked the bottom floor while trying to snap the plasticard in place.  I pre-bent the plastic but that didn’t help enough because of how far I needed to bend the tabs in place.  I was able to sort of glue it back together with some bracing but I was very concerned it would be obvious.  Fortunately with the roof on top you could hardly see the damage once it was all finished.  The second floor room had more room to maneuver the plasticard so it went together without problem.  I also managed to cause a crack in one of the advertisements but in retrospect I probably forced the piece rather than sand a few things down.  When pre-painting MDF terrain the extra few layers of paint can cause build up on the lugs which can make assembly more difficult.  When this happens you can shave down the paint that you won’t see and assemble without problem.  Bad Wachtmeister! 

Some work in progress images:

Here are some close ups of the damage I tried to repair.  Up close it looks terrible but from a few feet away you can hardly see it.  Even better is you’ll rarely see it from this angle so it’s even less of a problem.  I’m glad I screwed up on the first floor and not the second!

After getting the whole kit assembled I glued down some signs and menus I found on the internet and gave it some streaking with some different color washes.  This kit has a spot to put in some LED’s if you choose.  I may go back and do that but I needed to finish because of a self imposed deadline.  I didn’t glue a few parts of the kit together so I can take it apart if I decide to go back.  Even without glue it’s very solid, due in part to the paint build up. 

While I had some challenges with the kit I take some (most) of the blame and as such I highly recommend this kit.  It really pushes the limits of what MDF can do with the plasticard and tubing.  Additionally it has very few visible lugs which is really nice.  

 Warsenal: https://warsen.al/

 PS Here is a picture of some noodles.  Mmmm leftovers!

-Wachtmeister

Edit: Looks like posting food in my blog is nothing new!