Buildings
Good strong walls, warm in winter, cool in summer, and the roof don't leak. What more
could you want? Well how about some loopholes knocked through so you can shoot at the
guys outside?
China - 1850-1865
The Chinese House
This is my first scratch built house. I based it on a painting from a Chinese history book
which showed a series of these in a dark and dingy alley somewhere in Canton. I was inspired
to build it by seeing pictures of the village from the reports of the attempted rescue of
Sir Peter De Gee from where he was being held
captive by Manchu Fouie. The house is two stories high, with a removable roof and removable
floor on the second level. The figures shown here are large 25mm scale Old Glory Boxers.
The house itself is made from corrugated cardboard, of which I have an excess after several
moves. It was cut in one piece, and the corners glued together to form the whole. The
exposed edges (wherever the corrugations were visible) were plastered over using the same
pre-made wall compound as used in the hills. The cantilever balcony
is made from sections of Starbucks stirsticks cut to size and glued down to thin cardboard
from a cereal box. Wire pins add their support to the balcony, while a block of corrugated
cardboard holds the floor more or less firm. The railing is a bamboo skewer cut to length
with supports cut down from toothpicks and held in place by floral wire dowels. The two level
roof is an insert from a cookie tin scored and folded, with a half straw glued in place to
maintain the fold and to provide a bit of space between the roofs.
Pretty much everything that was glued, was glued with rubber cement, since white glue
would cause the paper of the cardboard to shrink, warp and bend while drying. To finish
the piece, the walls and roof were spray painted, white for the building and black for the
roof. The spray dries evenly, without shrinking or making the cardboard warp. The roof was
painted dark green then drybrushed a lighter green to highlight the tops of the curves. The
walls were covered with a light coat of antique white, which is a yellowy-white, giving
a bit more used and worn look. A spray coating of matte sealer covers everything to add
to the durability of the finish.
Dominion of Canada - 1875-1885
Spare blueprints? Extra floorboards?
E-Mail them to me!
Buildings
This is my first scratch built house. I based it on a painting from a Chinese history book
which showed a series of these in a dark and dingy alley somewhere in Canton. I was inspired
to build it by seeing pictures of the village from the reports of the attempted rescue of
Sir Peter De Gee from where he was being held
captive by Manchu Fouie. The house is two stories high, with a removable roof and removable
floor on the second level. The figures shown here are large 25mm scale Old Glory Boxers.
