Doors, open or closed

[Ssendam]

With some of the excellent laser cut MDF building kits on the market now I feel lost when deciding what level of detail to incorporate into any build; certainly a lot of the work presented here really raises the bar on what you feel you should do.

On a specific note, what is the general feeling about Doors? Yes, I know, good at keeping the elements out but what sort of options do you all consider on one of those nice MDF lasercut buildings? I thought of mounting the doors on a thin clear plastic base so it can easily be moved open/closed, but not tried it yet. Do people put hinges on them? glue them in place? Thoughts?

[Sangennaru]

i think it depends on the depht of playing you're aiming for. If you like to play inside the buildings you need some openings for the doors.
However, there's a problem: almost all the doors are too small for the base whidth, so you can't pass a miniature through it!
I think that for a gaiming purpose the actual opened door or just a marker is the same.

For I am just a modeller, i'd go for the opened door, but well, it depends by you. =)

[Wirelizard]

I've done doors all three ways - closed, open (no door at all, just the frame) and actual movable doors.

Actual movable doors are by far the most work, and except for oversized freight/cargo doors I don't think I'll bother in the future! I also have a bad habit of finishing a building except for the opening doors I'm supposedly going to make then never getting around to finishing the actual opening door...

I've also not yet found a solid, satisfactory way of doing hinges, but that could just be me not devoting much attention to the issue and just leaving my buildings with openings instead of actual doors (see above)!

So from now on, I'll likely be going with solid man-sized doors, possibly working oversized cargo/freight doors, and just openings a lot of the time, especially on interior walls. The Russian buildings I'm currently doing have fixed doors and look, I think, more finished & complete than the slightly older generic-adobe buildings which almost all lack any doors at all, just having open doorways.

[Patrice]

Asking myself the same questions...

Some medieval buildings I made long ago had no door at all. I would like to make opening doors in my next buildings.

I am thinking about a wire glued vertically to the side of the door and going through a hole in the "ground" and another hole in the wall above...

Same question for windows... But opening windows would be far too much work so I think I'll let them without window, or with closed windows.

[Cory]

I too have done doors all 3 ways and have come to the conclusion closed is best.

The open space method leaves the thing looking unfinished most of the time while doors that open and shut are fiddly and subject the building to unnecessary handling that slows down games without providing any corresponding benefit.

[Luckyjoe]

I like doors that open and close. I've done the vertical wire type. There's a nice tutorial on Combat Zone Chronicles for that method. I've also used paper flaps that run from the door into a slot cut into the wall of the doorframe. Tube beads glued to the back of the door that slot down onto wires in the door frame. All methods are a little tricksy and tend to fall apart with use. My latest idea is to try and incorporate Lego Doors and doorframes into a foamcore. I'm thinking that might actually work and be durable. Something like these modern commercial ones for me, but any style or period could work.

Has anyone already this? Any pointers?

[Paul]

Lego windows in buildings for wargaming...excellent idea.!! I think they may be a bit big for my scale of preference but I´ll have a look in my sons collection.
I reckon if the knobs on the top were shaved off it would be easy to fit.

[snitcythedog]

I model windows not doors.  I use counters when I am worried about doors.  My problem with moving parts is they break.  Just my two cents.
Snitchy sends.

[AndrewBeasley]

I like doors that open and close (swing in fantasy and slide in SciFi) BUT I never model them as they are liable to break.

Anyway - who ever pushes their figure through the doorway?

[FramFramson]

sometimes, it's useful to represent a figure firing from the doorway, but there's workarounds for that, really.

[Patrice]

Melee fighting on doorways, and firing through doorways, is interesting even if figures are not actually pushed through them. And I hate markers they spoil my view of the table...

[Ssendam]

Thanks for all the responses ...

There's a line between a scale model and a model for wargames; I need to work out where that line is!

I'm going to go with open doorways and see how it works out with the door mounted on a thin clear plastic base, (I suppose almost like a 3D counter). I shall post results.