Things From the Basement MDF buildings

 

Captain William Smith House by Things from the Basement.

There are three really nice buildings just released by "Things From the Basement."  These were from a kickstarter program for a King Philip's War card game called "Devil in the Wilderness.". The kickstarter must have been successful since the buildings are now available to the public.  These are perfect for American Rev War and I am sure will see service with my War of 1812.  Please note that all pictures of these buildings are from the website of Things from the Basement.  

Salem meeting House

First off there is a very nice Salem Meeting House.  most models of churches out there are very 19th century.  Thus INE is much better and captures the box like meeting house I was familiar with in New England during  the 17th and 18th century.  An example of this is the Meeting house on Lexington green in the Amos Doolittle engraving of the battle on April 19, 1775.  Thus one would not be out of place in my Lundy's Lane battle either.

Two very nice houses

Side view of houses

Then there are two New England type buildings with extra extensions for the back.  You can building them with the extension so they are traditional salt box type homes or without.  So with very little effort you can get four different looking homes for your table top.  

Extensions to buildings

Extensions added to houses to create salt box 

I have bought the Captain William Smith house and it has graced A number of games here on my blog. They are very easy to build and are very economical.  You can also buy things roof shingles to improve the appearance if you wish.  And much more is out there if you are inclined.

Here is the link to the website for the buildings:

https://www.thingsfromthebasement.com/store/c45/Historic_American_Buildings.html

 I am ordering these houses as a early birthday present for my self so please stay tuned in March for once I have them built.  Thank you Earl for bringing these to my attention!

Captain William Smith House (part 2)

  Now that I had assembled the house, how to paint it?  Most New England structures in the 18th century were stained a dark color to preserve the wood.  The bright colors may show up in trim.  The present colors of the Smith House are based on period records.  I intended to follow these and paint it a dark color but with red trim around the Windows and doors and white trim by the roof.

  After searching through my paints for just the right shade of brown, I remember a suggestion from John the OFM from The Miniatures pages.  Stain them.  Brilliant! I thought.  So I got out my citadel Agrax Earthshade and did the front, sides and back.  I think it looked very nice and to me looked like the actual stain on the house today.

  The roof was a light gray.  I highlighted it with white and added a few grey blue shingles for contrast.

  The red trim, doors and windows were done with craft paint.  They were a bit tricky and I taped around the edges as my hand is not as steady as it once was.  The foundation was rocks which I painted medium gray.  I added a little brown to the white trim so as not to be too bright.  Lastly the chimney was dry brushed red.

  All in all this was a fun kit to make and paint.  It makes a very nice structure for your table at a very reasonable price.  it is mostly easy to put together if you fit the parts together before gluing.  You could also change the paint job to get a different house out of it.  Lastly, for me it was a most happy walk down memory lane.  I sincerely hope this is the first of more historical houses  "Things From The Basement " make.

  Ranger Mark says go out and buy yourself one. Or buy two!   Highly recommended!

Captain William Smith house (part 1)

  Back in the late 1980's I transferred back to Minute Man National Historical Park.  I had been a district supervisor in Boston NHP's Charlestown district but wanted to get out of the city.  One of my first projects at MMNHP was the newly restored  Captain William Smith House.  The building had just finished being restored to its mid eighteenth century appearance and I was to set up weekend  interpretive programs around the house and property.  Over the next nearly twenty years I spent a lot of hours at the Smith House.  So when I saw that "Things From the Basement " has done a model of the house I had to buy one.

Open package and examine the pieces

 Starting construction, I open the bag it came in and looked over the various pieces.  I also called up the assembly instructions for the house which can be found in the "Things In the Basement" website.  These are easy to follow and very crisp pictures of the kit. 

 As an example of the great detailing here are the front Windows.  It is a little extra work putting them together but well worth the effort visually.  In addition note the detail of the siding on the house. Very nice!

  There is quite a bit of details inside the house.  things like stairs and diirs.  While great for skirmish type games I intend to glue down the roof of the house and will not be placing figures inside the house.

House frame put together.

  The roof and especially the chimney are very finicky.  Take your time fitting them together before you glue them.  This took some doing, hence no construction pictures of this phase. 

  The roof, when done fits nicely over the house frame.  You can glue it on to the frame, or leave loose if you are playing skirmish type games where you need to place figures indirectly building.

  And there you have it. I put together the house in a couple hours after work.  I will let it dry then touch up with glue the stress points for added strength. 

  Next:  painting the house And the finished model in part 2.