Easy Woodcut Terrain

 This house only cost me $6.25.  I was at a local craft store and was struck by inspiration when I saw the wooden puzzles and craft kits that are made for children.  A quick ebay search later and I found a couple Woodcraft Construction Kits of buildings that were about the right size to use with 28mm wargaming.  The best part is that many of these kits only cost about $6 including shipping.  The Easterling model in these photos I have included for scale.

 These kits do show their low price tag.  They have very little detail and many of the pieces are crudely cut and do not fit perfectly.  For example in this photo you can clearly see that the three columns do not all stand up straight.  I did two things to downplay these problems.  On this building I decided to use the slightly uneven cuts to my advantage by decorating this as a somewhat dilapidated fantasy shack.  In doing so the imperfections actually help the final look of the building.  I also used popsickle sticks to add trim around the door and windows, and I made shingles out of cereal box card to add in a few more details.

This is how the kit comes.  All the pieces are cut out of two small sheets of plywood, and it comes with a one page instruction sheet.  This kit has the benefit of having a working door and a removable roof.  The various Woodcraft kits are not a set scale so be sure to check the dimensions of the finished kit before buying one to make sure it will work with your models.

This is another building that I made from a Woodcraft Construction Kit.  It has a more Asian design so I decided to paint it as an Easterling building for Lord of the Rings.  Again I added trim around the windows and door, and shingles made from card.  I cut the shingles as triangles to achieve a different look.  The scale of this building is actually slightly smaller than the previous one.  They are the same height but the two tiered roof required the windows and door to be a bit smaller. 

I want to point out again that each of these kits only cost me $6.25.  It would be hard to find usable scale buildings for less, and I find that nice terrain really increases my gaming enjoyment.  What do you think, do these buildings work?  If you want to see more of our projects or want to chat with the Santa Cruz Warhammer community be sure to join our group on facebook.

Michael