"Comparing MDF and resin buildings" Topic

I'm switching from 28mm to 15mm ww2 western front (mostly Normandy) gaming. As part of that I'm looking to buy a new set of building kits. In 28mm, I used MDF, but I'm considering resin now.

What have been people's experiences when comparing MDF and resin?

MDF is more work, but lighter, less prone to breakage, and doesn't shed paint, but the advantages matter more in larger scales. In 15mm, I mostly have resin and I'm fine with it.

Might also want to look at paper and foamboard--light, cheap and portable.

You get more variety and more interesting sculpts, but then mdf has a price advantage.

In resin you also get better detail and texture.

Thank you! That is exactly what I needed to know.

the only advantage of the resin buildings is they could have better details and shapes.
But anyway, i would use them. They are expensive, hard to paint and easy to break.

I've kilos of resin terrain due to my collection predating mdf. I'm not sure if I'm prepared to say if I was to do it from scratch, I'd do the same. There's some great mdf out there, but overall it only does certain pieces well (row houses come to mind). Ruins have always been better in resin imho, for example.

Just bought a couple of laser-cut MDF buildings from Lasercut Architect, and have bought from TTCombat in the past. They're easy to put together, the pieces fit very cleanly, and I like the added separate features (steps, window and door frames, etc). I prefer these to resin, I think the overall finish is crisper and takes paint better. They're also lighter.

I have passed on many a resin purchase because you can't access the interior. Solid resin in 6mm is fine as I treat urban areas as area terrain (like a forest). But in 15mm I'm often doing skirmish so no interior = no sale.

It sounds like there are durability concerns with resin. Is that during storage and transport? What are people doing to deal with that?

Pack them very carrfully! When I was lugging it all around to cons I put non slip matting into a large lastic tub.

I have a huge 28mm resin terrain collection, and if I were to do it all over would choose MDF—lighter and can access interiors, like ExtraCrispy says. I would likely paint or otherwise touch up the MDF, however, because it does not look as good as resin straight out of the box (after assembly, of course).