Scale Model Buildings for Miniature Wargames and Dioramas
Scale model buildings for wargames are easy to make from wood, using anything from commercially available 20 × 30 mm hardwood slats to 4″ × 6″ timber off-cuts, depending on the desired scale of the model. The legs of wooden chairs, scrounged from the bulk trash, are an excellent source of 1:300 to 1:120 scale construction material for the oddly-shaped timbered houses seen all over Europe.
Wooden chair legs are not usually rectangular in cross-section, they may be tapered, curved, or slightly trapezoidal. Depending on how the chair legs are cut, the resulting buildings can have leaning walls, and odd angles which really show the age of a timber frame. To cut roofs of varying steepness, an X is drawn on the chair leg as a guide for the razor saw. Any off-cuts can be used to cover sheds and other small buildings.
The slide-show demonstrates the process of making a simple wargame building from hardwood slats. The slats are cut into sections of the required length, using a razor saw. To create the roof, two corners are knocked off with an old pocket-knife and a wooden mallet. The roof is filed smooth, and painted in a suitable tile or slate colour. The timber frame, doors, and windows are now stamped or painted on.
Simulation games typically employ a terrain scale that differs significantly from the scale of the figures and models used. For instance, Empire III is generally played with 1:120 scale figures, whereas the terrain scale is 1:1440; at this scale, individual building models represent entire villages or city districts. In this context, it is advisable to base the external dimensions of the building models on a 1:300 scale, while painting details such as gates, doors, and windows so that they are visually compatible with 15 mm figures.
Scratchbuilt buildings differ architecturally and artistically from similar commercial building models, and they are often a unique piece of eye-candy.