I don't like MDF buildings

[Westfalia Chris]

What I've been wondering since page 1, though - is this actually about MDF or about laser-cut terrain in general?

My main issue with laser-cut stuff is indeed if MDF is used, as I find the smell irritating, and a bit tricky to glue and paint efficiently. I've seen magnificent cardboard laser-cut kits (albeit in smaller scales, e.g. railway modelling, where the limitations, such as shallower detail and the like are less of an issue), and am quite fond of laser-cut acrylic, too, for the aforementioned angular themes.

It's not a one-stop solution, and I would prefer other materials than MDF. But if used appropriately, I think laser-cut stuff definitely has its merits.

[Captain Blood]

I agree with mcfonz, Chris and others - like anything, there's better MDF product and there's not so good. MDF isn't all bad, and it would be daft to dismiss it all out of hand, when plainly there are some things it's good at portraying, and there are some high end products that look pretty good.

As far as the right to be critical goes, I appreciate that many people, like Elbows, don't like what they see as negativity. But alas, criticism is a very human behaviour, especially in relation to to art / culture / anything remotely creative or expressive. It's not possible to wish it away. It's part of the human condition, and many people enjoy it and get benefit from it. Many writers make a living from criticism.
More to the point, it's clearly and explicitly allowed within the rules of the forum: it's fine to express a critical opinion provided it doesn't descend into ranting, flaming etc. So suggesting we shouldn't ever open critical discussions isn't in line with the stated policy of the forum - even though you may personally dislike it.

For what it's worth, I'm afraid I don't accept that people here moan a lot more than they celebrate excellence. I see threads here every day where people are saying nice things about how amazing they think particular products are.
When I see those threads, I don't say 'Well if you like them so much, just buy them and shut up about it'. And yet that's become a stock response to people who make any sort of critical comment on a product or type of product.

[mcfonz]

I tend to agree. There has to be balance. I just think that sometimes constructive criticism can be somewhat lacking and it can be quite infantile and in some cases just wrong.

To be fair, there are many of the community here who challenge it and it rarely goes unchallenged.

I think the issue I sometimes have is the way a question is posed.

[Codsticker]

For what it's worth, I'm afraid I don't accept that people here moan a lot more than they celebrate excellence. I see threads here every day where people are saying nice things about how amazing they think particular products are.

My comment was about teh internets in general, not specifically LAF.

[thebinmann]

The old west ones are ok as the buildings are wood, the rest... not so good

[Codsticker]

I actually find them pretty good for ashlar masonry or cast stone.

[Renaud]

I hate them too, some are very fiddy to assemble, and I always find them difficult to paint, and when painting it needs a hard work to make them look nicer than unpainted!

That said, their cheap price, modular nature and fantastic ranges allow to build up some very impressive staging quite quickly.

[Monkey]

MDF buildings smell bad.

I like the burnt wood smell you get from MDF buildings. Does that make me weird?

Personally I just think they're like pretty much any other model/accessory in that they reward the effort you put into them. You can just plonk them on the table as is and have a reasonable result (depending on how much you spent) or you can spend the time adding your own touches to them, and the more time and effort (and ability) you put into this the better the result.

Just like miniatures, gaming mats, scatter terrain etc.

[khartoum2]

I look at it this way - for many years my wife always said I needed more terrain and I'm not good at making it and found other sources mostly expensive

I now have a selection of MDF kits to bolster my other terrain (too much my wife now says) suitable for a number of games and although I have not painted them or pimped them I quite like the natural look of the buildings - weird I know but that's me on this occasion.

I remember building the odd card building and all that comes to mind is sticky fingers, lots of swearing and int he end something that was lob sided and got squashed easily.

As with most things there are good and bad.  I've built a knight models SWAT van that nearly went out the window as I had to cut through all of the pieces causing fluffing of the MDF to building a number of TT combat buildings that have been straightforward and I'm happy with the look of (Sometimes they don't work right as with Venetian corner shop where top floor doesn't sit properly on bottom but generally fit fine)

If it wasn't for the MDF revolution I think I would still have very few buildings just plastic corners of buildings that have been damaged int he fighting

[Chriscornwell]

First post, hopefully the images will work!
Why single out MDF?
There are good and bad products made out of any material. I’ve seen plenty of terrible stuff made of resin, along with amazing pieces. MDF buildings are a mixed bag, can’t say I like the pre-coloured stuff but for a lot of folks they are a godsend.personally I like mdf buildings to be used as a base for further work.
 

[mcfonz]

Those look great Chris.

I agree.

[has.been]

"I love the smell of burnt MDF in the morning.
It reminds me of victory"
(& yes I am WEIRD!!!!!)

[arktos]

I don't like them. They were supposed to be cheap but only their quality is .
At least most of them.

[Elbows]

That's a pretty sweeping statement.  Since you said "most" I'll assume you've used MDF from dozens of companies?  Which ones did you not like?

[Flinty]

I seem to remember they were intially touted as a cheap alternative to resin - which still holds true for the most part even if most of the price difference is in postage these days.

Obviously, as the market and products develop, you get the full range of cheap an' cheerfuls up to top end - reflecting demand at differing price points - like everything else, you get what you pay for.

I think they are generally a 'good thing', great if you cant/dont want to build terrain, and brilliant as a base for tarting up (my reason for liking them). I do think the effort put into design can make certain MDF kits stand out, e.g. the Supreme Littleness Designs item below:



As mentioned earlier, this is an example where flatness works well, and layering adds interest to make a great product.

MDF is also good at cheap scatter/clutter - admittedly crates aren't difficult to scratch build and most MDF versions look pretty naff to me compared to resin, but laser cut card products, which I presume were a spin off from MDF, can be great for fiddly stuff like boxes that I couldn't otherwise be bothered to make.