Guardhouse and Livestock

I wanted to put some scratchbuilding advancements I learned to practice on a larger building, so I completed this 28mm scale two-storey one, the bottom tier built of stone and the top from wattle and daub. The first floor and the roof come off and figures can be housed inside. The building itself is suitable for a variety of periods, so I sincerely hope it will be of use.

The stone fence is an experiment in a more solid type of corkboard, I think it came out nicely so I'll be producing more.

There is also a Bloody Miniatures fig for scale, and some Warlord plastic animals I gave a simple paintjob to, scored during their previous sprue sale.

The idea is that it's a guard post, tollhouse or other strongpoint, hence the thick stone walls on the ground floor and the small apertures. The guards posted here gradually built the upper level for comfort, keeping the original purpose of the building in mind.

The basic materials to complete the build were balsa wood strips, a pizza box and EVA foam for the individual bricks.

And this is the secret trinity of all scratchbuilds:

    (1) acrylic paste or heavy body gel for filling gaps and smooth texturing

    (2) stone effect paste from the hobby shop, used as a was or brushed straight on

    (3) PVA to fix it all together

The ground floor bricks received a wash with the stone effect to make them more grainy, while I liberally aplied layers of the stuff to the upper floor with a stiff brush to create a texture.To make them adhere more easily, the layers below were coated with PVA. Look, I learned all this while renovating our current home, so it should work. Very sturdy design.

Word on the roof: I have seen people bother themselves with individual shingles and approve of their patience, but I just used thin strips of cardstock chipped around one edge, glued on top of each other, and some reds (washed and drybrush both) to reach this outcome.

The Bloody Miniatures gentleman demonstrates that there is only a little space on the ground floor, but the door can be barred (or broken down), and the windows are large enough to poke a firelock out when so desired.

The upper layer is a bit more spacious, but the wall the chimney is alongside has no windows, so the defense of that side is trusted to the ground floor crew. The guardsman's wife is seen here complaining about the lack of facilities.