You may recall that Dave Smith last Christmas proposed we dig out some underused items and gift them to other members of our group. Well Dastardly Dave dug out for me 10 or soflimsy, warped and battered old card buildings, the sight of which Maree greeted with the disgusted comment “You can’t give those to someone!”

First cut of the best pieces being culled from Dave’s battered collection

Dave however knew his mark and that if any of us would do something with them it would be me.

First step was to cull out the too damaged wreckage and decide which survivors would be based as single models and which as groups.

Next step was to add plastic rooves to improve both the look of the buildings and the strength of the models. Some of these were later painted as wooden shingles. The higher end buildings got terracotta tiles. These rooves came from leftover packets of various tile types from earlier projects. For the terracotta tiled rooves I added a strip of thin metal across the top to represent lead sealing.

Wills roof tile packs

Here is a sample of one card house awaiting assembly. It includes a panel to go on the house’s end, cut off another discarded building and mounted on thicker cardboard to smooth out its creases.

ECW house in progress

This is also a good way to use up old placemats with garish pictures on them. The larger building groups were designed to each hold at least 2 of our 120x60mm ECW regiments to represent garrisons. Small additional touches and figures were added here and there to enhance the models.

Part of ECW village reroofed, boundary walls added& undercoated (No doubt a sea side village – Dave)

Doing this project also inspired me to dig out several of our other old building models sitting rarely used in a box. Also included was a chipped plaster building that Wal Bristow had cleared out in January.

House model from Wal Bristow refurbished

Another was a fortified manor house, from the same series as Dave’s card buildings, I had bought, made and based upover 20 years ago. It was the scene of numerous bloody battles with unpainted Airfix Napoleonics when my son Chris was young and hardly seen since ( Chris or the building – Dave ?).

One of Dave’s buildings was added in a corner of its yard, depicting a complex that had been modified for comfort, not defence, in Tudor times with no inkling of the wars which later came.

ECW fortified manor house, reroofed and reflocked, with Dave’s building at rear

New ECW village, sensationally flocked by Kath, ready to go

So well done to you, Dave. By clearing out a box of discards you inspired an entire themed village for 15mm ECW games! (Are you ready for more boxes of wargaming junk – Dave?)

John Gibson