Hello again team, for this review I am taking a look at an MDF building kit produced by Knights Of Dice as part of their 28mm desert range. The particular one I am looking at today is called Desert Residence 2 from their Tabula Rasa range and is made from 3mm MDF. This is the first kit produced by Knights Of Dice that I have ever built so I thought it was a good chance to do a review for you guys. The Tabula Rasa range is promoted on the website as follows - 'A range of simple shapes and shells designed for the scratch builders and terrain enthusiast to improve upon, these kits include no instructions so we suggest dry-fitting all the parts before applying glue. Add some bits from your 'bits box' and you can transform these buildings into something only limited by your imagination'
I am somewhat of a veteran of putting together MDF kits including the epic 4Ground Le Haye Saint Farmhouse, so I feel I can speak from experience when reviewing these kits. First thing to note about the Desert Residence is that it is cheap at AU$14 which when converted to USD is about $10. This puts it well under the market average and allows you to fill up a table on a budget. The second thing to note is that it is not pre-painted for those that have been spoiled by other more expensive brands so you will have to get your hands dirty and splash some paint on if you want it looking special.
The kit comes flatpacked on two A4 sized MDF sheets with a cover page and I was a little daunted by the fact there was no instructions included. The parts were very easily separated from the sheet and just literally popped out without any tears or use of tools. This was impressive. The MDF pieces are all of good size and robust with no fiddly little bits that always seem to break.
I then challenged myself to put it together without even referencing the cover photo to see how intuitive the team at Knights Of Dice had made this kit. Less than 5 minutes later the building was dry fitted together and freestanding without any glue. I found it very easy with the cuts to match up the parts and the fit was amazingly snug, no force required and no loose sloppy joints. 5 minutes later and I had all the parts glued and the building put in the sun to dry.
My thoughts on this kit is that it is refreshing in it simplicity, it is easy to construct and easy to paint, so a table of these will be put together very quickly. The simplicity allows for this kit to be very cheap and affordable, so an excellent option for those wanting to spend the bulk of their money on miniatures and still have some nice terrain. The one downside is lack of instructions however this is almost entirely negated by the simple and intuitive design.
I put some spakfilla on the outside to break up the smooth sides and hit it with a black primer then dunkelgelb paint followed by a dry brush of cream. Nice and simple paint job to go with the nice and simple design and all up I spent maybe 30 minutes on this piece which as you can see will look just fine on a table being raided by my LRDG!
Overall I am a big fan of these simple kits and I have another three waiting to be assembled. Being an Australian company they will now be my first option when looking at new building and it helps that their latest range is focused on Nomandy.
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