Today I’ve decided to try something new & different. Today, I’ve decided to take on a wood kit.
Wood kit specialist cobaanii has always been on my radar. They make scale kits out of wood and paper that offer a really nice, realistic look over backdrops or plastic dioramas. Among their kits are action figure-scale (1/12) rooms, furniture, and accessories; military-scale (1/35) diorama parts; and paint stands and holders. Basically, their kits are intended for folks looking to build a unique display, diorama, or photo set to go with their collection, whether their collection consists of model kits or toys.
To be honest, I chose this kit because it looks like one that may need very little painting, and painting is not my strong point. Even so, I’m sort of interested in picking up some wood stain and seeing what I can accomplish to level up the look.
cobaanii’s instruction manual is easy to understand, though it doesn’t break the build steps down into as many parts as a typical plastic model kit. They also warn at the beginning to make sure you have a solid understanding of how the kit goes together before you start gluing anything, lest you ruin the whole project.
Assorted wood parts and the slatted door. These are my favorite parts of the kit because they actually smell like cypress, just like a real Japanese cypress bath should. The box doesn’t specify the wood used here so it’s possible it’s not real cypress and they just scented it, but either way I like it.
I am so relieved that the stone design is premade, and I don’t have to try to paint cobbles! This part is for the floor of the bathroom, and the rectangular hole is where the bath itself will be.
The wall also comes with its design premade, which is another great bonus. The hole for this one, I think, is meant to be a window, but it’s just black on the box so I don’t really know.
And here we go with the big ol’ assorted wooden parts.
Some of these guys look like they could use some paint. The big pieces, at least, are going behind the walls and floor panels so they’ll be hidden, but I don’t have the smaller pieces figured out yet.
More big ol’ unpainted wood pieces.
As far as I can tell, these are the only paper pieces in the kit. They’re actually black as night, but you can imagine it’s very hard to photograph black on black. Anyway, these pieces go on the back of some of the pieces we saw above to cover up the outside of the kit, so that it doesn’t have an unfinished look on the base or back. That’s a nice touch!
And here are some detail parts. The pieces with wood stain are definitely, intentionally stained — the reverse side doesn’t have the same coloring. This makes me think that maybe I can get away with not painting too much… though the water tap parts are definitely going to need some color.
And finally, a bunch of wood slats. They aren’t that exciting, but they’re going to be a big part of getting this kit to fit together!
What do you think so far? Would you be brave enough to take on a wooden kit to level up your action figure display?
If you’re curious, you can check out this kit and other offerings from cobaanii on our site:
– 1/12 Open-Air Bath Made of Cypress
– 1/12 Scale cobaanii Items
– All cobaanii Items