Saturday, 4 April 2015

Easter weekend project - Buildings!

The long Easter weekend has kicked in down here in NZ and what better way to while away the good Friday than to play Lego with the boys. Then once they're firmly engrossed in the magic of brick cars and aeroplanes I sneakily cram in putting together the four Sarissa houses I picked up early last year (while Mrs Me happily crochet's beanie hats!)

These were always planned as part of my Little Minching village board that I had intended for VSF gaming however I did get a little sidetracked on this project with moving my family to the other side of the planet (these first world problems are sooooo demanding!).

Anyway these buildings are part of Sarrissa's MDF laser cut Gaslamp Alley range, I know many people aren't fans of MDF but I quite like the easy way they go together and provide a neat look. I often find that my scratch builds are a little scruffy so these things give me that comfort of accuracy whist being customisable!

When ripping open the packaging you get some pretty clear instructions, several sheets of MDF and that burnt wood smell that has become synonymous with gaming terrain in the last few years. I found the instructions easy to follow, they're printed on both sides of the cover sheet and include pretty clear exploded diagrams. You also get some laser cut window and door surrounds, this gives the buildings a bit more of a 3d look.

The interesting thing about Sarissa's kits over other manufacturers is that the buildings are modular, I think primarily to allow you to game the interiors however I like the fact I can potentially mix and match them to get some variety. Also it means I can store them in box files, all neat and tidy!

Another nice detail was the etching on the side interlocks, I know it won't hide the join but it's a step forwards from other buildings I've built in the past, although I'll probably end up green stuffing the ends to make them look neater.

The only tiny complaints I have were that firstly they provided the wrong card window surround for one of the modules, this means that the brick work is showing on the inside of the surround. I should have filed the window opening however I'd already glued the window frame insert in place so it would have done more harm than good.

Secondly on one if the kits roofs the pitched roof ends were duplicates which means that on one side you have the chimney, nicely planned out and with many components.

Then on the other side a flat wall with two cutaways for the chimney components that aren't there.

I may just greenstuff that bit!

I didn't quite get through the planned four buildings (there was a problem with a police quad bike and robbers truck, something to do with jewels and lego 100 dollar bills!) But I did get two of them done.

Here you can see the modular nature of the buildings and a completed two story house.

Oh and obviously a quick scale shot with a LoTR Orc, he's roughly 28mm but a bit hunched over.
Anyway they should work fine with my VSF. At last I've now got a couple of buildings for my two companies to be based from (the larger one just has to be for Sherlock and Co!). Now I've just got to get the others built and painted.

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