3D-DZYN South East Asian Hut Review

I wish I was better at acquiring, assembling and managing terrain pieces. That’s not to say I don’t have any, I do. In fact, I probably have more than I think I do. I think my problem is that they just take up a bunch of space. It’s the space I don’t have.

Which brings me to buildings. I’ve promised myself I would build at least one building per month. I have a fair number of laser cut MDF buildings from 4Ground, Sarissa and 3D-DZYN to keep me busy for most of the year. This week I built the SE Asian Hut number 01 by 3D-DZYN

3D-DZYN is owned and operated by Ron Palma. He’s one of our guys, an NHMGS supporter and vendor at Enfilade. Terrific person. He’s located in Canby, Oregon south of Portland. Ron has done some great SE Asian buildings, and I’ve picked up a few. He’s open to requests, including mine that he do some multi-story shop/dwellings that were prevalent in Hue. They’re in the building per month queue.

Kevin and building things are always a bit tenuous. I think it’s a confidence kind of thing, but I think with regular practice, once a month, I’ll feel better about it.

My approach to this building was patience. Though I had experience with other laser cut MDF buildings, I hadn’t done a 3D-DZYN creation so I promised my self to take it slow.

My first step was to use white glue for assembly. And my choice of adhesive was good ol’ Elmers. In the past, I’ve tried to just get everything stuck together as quickly as possible with CA glue. White glue or PVA or whatever one chooses to call it is a little more forgiving. There are some bits that require some movement after getting pieces stuck together, so avoiding your choice of CA is a good idea. Honestly PVA doesn’t take that long to set up, but I think I built this intermittently over three days. Not that long in the great scheme of things.

The kit came with several sheets of parts. They were easily removed from their sprues. Some were quite thin and fragile. I only had one disaster and that was minor, when I broke one of the fencing pieces. Honestly, I think that was on me. The floors, walls, and roof are quite sturdy, while the detail pieces are easy to use.

I loved the directions. Yeah, I know there some folks who are able to give them the heave ho and get right to work. I’m not one of those guys. The last 4Ground model I assembled had zero instructions and my initial reaction was to replace my X-acto blade to slit my wrists. Or maybe their wrists (until I remembered 4Ground is kaput.) The directions are in bite-sized sections. They are a great combination of drawings and words. The parts, both on the page and on the sprues, are clearly labeled. That’s huge for someone like me for whom this isn’t intuitive.

The fit was great. There was only one place I ran into very minor trouble and that was after assembling the door and frame, it wouldn’t quite fit in the space provided. A little bit of sanding fixed that. I wouldn’t say pieces snapped into place, but the tabs on the pieces certainly fit into the space provided, and with glue and a short wait, they were ready to go.

I really like the model. I love the elevated floor. The window and door details are great. I like the planking effect all over. The roof lifts off to hide figures. Good stuff.

The hut also comes with some fencing pieces. It goes together easily, but it is very lightweight and easily broken, as I sadly learned. It would be cool if Ron sold more of this type of fencing on his website, because I could see buying more. There are also five very cool boxes one can assemble. But these are bonuses, kind of a nice surprise.

The only complaint I have is minor. The kit includes some Scotch Brite bits that can be used for roof thatching. I don’t think it works. The texture is wrong. The planking is there on the roof pieces. A friend has offered me some teddy bear fur. If I choose to later, that’s probably the direction I would go.

I really enjoyed the experience and I’m quite happy with my hut. I heartily recommend this kit to others.

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