More Buildings for 28mm Vietnam Project

    Two 3-D printed Jungle Huts & 1 Shanty Town 'Noodle House' from Miniature Building Authority

Although I purchased all three of these buildings from Miniature Building Authority, they are actually two different types of products. The two similar ones are 3-D printed and the other is a resin building from his Shanty Town range that I thought might look appropriate for rural Vietnam. I think the 3-D printed ones, Jungle Hut, although different sizes are the exact same model. I think one was printed up for 28mm scale and the other was printed for 20mm, perhaps? They both look like they'll work for 28mm, with one simply being like a bigger hut. That's my guess, as I could find only one Jungle Hut listed in MBA's Pacific and Vietnam terrain section.

    I thought this resin MBA building from the 'Shanty Town' range seemed to fit for Vietnam

For the Shanty Town building, I selected Noodle Shanty as looking like it wouldn't be out of place in a village or hamlet in the countryside during the Vietnam War. I really like MBA's Shanty Town range and have been slowly picking up more and more of them. It seems that every convention MBA attends, I come how with 2-3 new buildings or products I bought at their booth. I liked this one because of its slapped-together look, with sections made of wood, corrugated tin, and even tarp. From what I have read of villages in Vietnam, the locals built with whatever scraps they could scavenge -- including the cardboard boxes C-Rations came in!

    The larger of the two 3-D printed 'Jungle Huts' - I really liked the peaked, thatch roof

All three were primed with Krylon Fusion Acrylic matte black spray paint, and then I went over them with a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black craft paint. I have a premixed bottle (which I need to refill!) that I use since this is a common preparation method for the terrain that I paint up. I wanted these jungle huts to somewhat match my scratch-built ones I'd made for my 28mm Pulp games a few years ago. So, I chose a medium leather color as a base coat for both the interior and exterior. I dry brushed it Khaki next, but didn't like how the wooden pole framework looked identical to what I assume is supposed to be woven mat sides. I painted the horizontal and vertical poles (and door) Howard Hues camo brown. This is usually the second step, wet brushed over dark brown, in my wood tones recipe. I did a light highlight of Wild Rice rather than khaki so it looked a bit different from than the woven mat highlighting.

    I tried to match the color of the wall's woven matting to my earlier scratch-built jungle huts

All that was left for the building portion was to do a dark brown vehicle wash, which I think nicely darkens it up, but also gives some depth and warmth. Next, it was on to the roofs. Well, actually I had been working on them simultaneously. The huts had a thatch roof, which I painted with the same leather color, followed by a dun yellow dry brush. Normally, I do a light gray highlight on thatch, but I didn't on these as the detail on the 3-D prints was not as deep as, say, an Acheson Creations thatch building. I did a black wash over them, which I liked because it made the thatch a different tone than the buildings themselves. I like how these huts came out. They were easy and quick to do, similar to the Vietnamese Farmer's Hut and Barn that I'd finished previously for this project.

    The smaller of the two jungle huts, which I think are the exact same models in different scales

The Shanty Town noodle shop was a much more labor-intensive building. Being composed of a variety of patched-together materials, that meant a lot more steps and details than on the jungle huts. I began with the wooden portions, which I did in my usual aged wood preparation method. Dark brown base coat, Camo brown wet brush, and finally a khaki highlight gives a nice depth and still looks like wood. For the corrugated steel portions, I went all-in on the patched together look. I used a variety of colors -- light gray, pastel blue, gray-green, and salmon. I dry brushed the colors thickly over black, so that they would look aged and dirty. I did a light gray highlight on all of the colors. Finally, I used my Dirty Down rust effect bottle and added lots of rust to their surfaces. Having so much surface to cover, I learned a couple tricks. You get a different rust look depending on how thickly you apply it. If I brush it thinly over an area, and then add dark blobs of the paint in the middle after it has mostly dried, it gives a nice mottled look. I've decided I liked this purchase, and may go look at buying other effects from the Dirty Down line.

    The roof of the Noodle Hut and its patchwork look of pieces of rusted, corrugated steel

The oil barrels at the side of the house were done dry brushed terra cotta over black, with salmon highlights. I added rust effects to them, as well. Finally, the entire building received a black vehicle wash. I am really happy with how it turned out. It properly looks like an aging, pieced-together building in a backwater village. I could easily see using this building for post-apocalyptic games or even modern ones set in a slum or run-down area. Much as I really wanted to add a hand-lettered sign on the wooden placard of the building, I decided to hold off and let this building remain more generic. If I paint "Numbah 1 Noodles" in Vietnamese and English, like I was thinking, it makes it less usable for other periods and locations. Who knows? I may change my mind and go back and add something on the signboard. Or figure out a way to print out a sign and affix it there temporarily.

    The rear of the 'Shanty Town' Noodle Hut with its fabric tarps over some of the walls

Getting these done also neatly aligns with my other unofficial mantra for buying and painting things. I like to finish what I bought from a vendor the last time I saw them before I buy something new from them. So, having finished off all five of the buildings I bought from Kirk when he was at Buckeye Game Fest, I can with clear conscience (ha, ha!) buy new toys from him! Actually, if truth must be told, I have already put in an order with him to pick up at Historicon this week. It will be more stuff for Vietnam, but more bunkers and such to enable me to create a bigger variety of scenarios with my terrain. What else is on my painting desk? I have a big lot of Acheson Creations scatter that I am hoping to get some of done before we leave on Wednesday. It might not happen, though, as I they are only primed at the point I am typing up this blog entry. Maybe a couple of them will get done in time. We'll see! Very likely, though, this is the final blog post till after I return from Historicon.

    Interior of the Noodle Hut - I was looking for a mud-daubed wall effect with the colors I used

    Interior of one of the jungle huts -- simple, but playable, with openings to for troops to fire out

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 237
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 144

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 46

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 112

    'Chopper eye's view' of the three buildings in a jungle clearing...