Change in scale

It looks like I will have to make a switch to 15mm for the time being on many of my projects. I have been really happy with 28mm, but I am sorely pressed for space. When we moved, we left a 3500 sq ft house to a 1300 sq ft apartment.  Don't get me wrong, 1300 is a lot of space, but we have no storage. I have minis in my closet, under the bed, and in offsite storage.   When I look at the amount of space needed to store my minis and playing surface, I just don't have the room. So, for my next few projects, I will be moving over to 15mm until we decide to buy a new house.

WIP Anglo Saxon Hut pt 1

I thought I would give it a go at making some Anglo-Saxon huts.  I settled on an A-frame dwelling as this seemed the easiest to build until I become more familiar with scratch-building.

I was going to take pictures throughout the process, but I got caught up in the flow and did not take any until the frame was done.

Materials:

• Frame - 3/16th Black foam board
• Wood facade - Various thickness balsa strips 
• Roofing material - Black teddy bear fur, which will be in part 2 of the build

I built the frame out of the foam-core, using two 3"x6" pieces. I joined these together in the basic A form, using hot glue. After this set, ran a narrow strip of more foam-core along the top ridge to help firm up the join.  When this was set, I cut a couple of wedges and inserted them on the interior of the "A" along the roofing to add further support.

Once this was all setup (which is a short period with the hot glue), I began cutting pieces of the balsa wood to add as a timber facade along the front and back of the hut.  I had to think a few minutes on how to add the door lintel, and door - which I just wound up doing in layers. I first laid the facade, then came back and laid the lintel over those pieces. I made sure that I left the door are free of any wood at this point. Once the lintel was setup, I used thinner balsa and cut to door size. Before I inserted into the doorway area, I cut each section down the middle, to five it a more ragged, rough-hewn appearance. After this had been glued down, I overlaid with the door braces.

Overall, I think it looks pretty good. I am a little concerned though how it will look after being painted, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Front    The odd cut angles along the ridgeline will disappear when I add the roofing material (hopefully)

Door Closeup - Brother Ane looks likes he prancing about 

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