Building your Apocalypse (3) Blotz

Blotz

Blotz have taken a different route than the other manufacturers. Cut from 2mm mdf, they consist of a main structure with raised detailing provided by add on parts like balconies. The level of etching is less than both S4 and ETD, but where it is, it is crisp and clear. Blotz kits are provided as small sheets, and instructions are available to download from their site - a good idea. The components took a bit more separating than the S4 ones, and more care was needed to ensure you didn’t snap anything.

I’m not sure if this was a problem with the settings or the mdf was slightly thicker, but it did mean you had to be a bit more careful when separating the components. There was also a lot of waste bits between window frames etc. that needed punching or cutting out, and this added a good 10 minutes to the build time. 

Blotz also take a different approach to the actual construction, with buildings being constructed on a storey by storey basis with a ground floor module on to which can be stacked more storeys, followed by the top storey and roof section.  This did involve a fair amount of faffing and care is needed to ensure each storey is square so it sits correctly with the next.

Once the basic structure is complete you can add details such as facades and balconies which really help make the building look more interesting.

On the down side this makes for much more assembly time and effort. On the plus side however this allows for a great deal of versatility and customisation options. As on the S4 model you can see all the way through. The actual assemble was straight forward, if a bit long winded. The overall result is rather nice.

and the obligatory comparison with the Hawk card building.

The Blots range is already quite wide, with some very nice Art Décor DZC style buildings in many different shapes and sizes (17 at the moment). In addition they offer a “bits” range that includes extra storeys and ruined sections that can be added to your normal buildings to add variation. Further they offer a selection of Cityscape buildings in a more modernist style including a multi storey car park and monorail stations designed to be compatible with the DZC monorail set. I weakened and bought the monorail station, and I'll probably show that off in another post.

Blotz buildings range in price from £5 to £25, with the 3x2 shop block I received being £8.00, so you could expect to populate a table with 16 buildings for about £160.00. That's very reasonable considering the end results.