28mm Victorian London Terrace

[wargame_insomniac]

Hi.

My plans for 28mm Pulp Gaming took a backseat with two recent operations. I am slowly reovering from the most recent eye operation. I have done some Ehyptian terrain working on some aquarium ruins as decided was good idea to ease myslef back in with some drybrushing. Before I think my eyes can cope with painting individual figures I am looking at any other teraain I can do first.

I wanted to start a Pulp Campaign in England, and will no doubt return there as campaign progresses. As 1935 I figure that much of London will still be Victorian buildings, so I have been looking at possible options:

1) 4ground Whitechapel to Baker Street
http://www.4ground.co.uk/28mm-world-at-war/28mm-whitechapel-to-baker-street-end-terrace
Prepainted MDF kits. I love the 4ground kits and several of my friends have got their fantasy and medieval ranges,
so I have seen them up close and held them.

Pros - Very high quality, reasonably sturdy, 3 floors, and great interior detail (would be great for play inside buildings).

Cons - most expensive (£100 won't get me 3 terrace houses) and the brickwork is too pink for my tastes.
Lack of variety (only end and mid terrace with no options for pub or shop).


2) Oshiro Model Terrain
http://www.oshiromodelterrain.co.uk/victorianbuildings.html
Unpainted hard plastic kits. The website shows pictures for most of the kits with component pieces and how they look assembled.

Pros - good variety of options with swap outs and add-ons (including pub, shop, passageway, extra floor).
Nice detail - I assume these would paint up nicely.

Cons - bit expensive although less than 4ground (£100 would get me 4 terrace houses or 3 when started taking options).
No interior detail included in kit.


3) Sarissa Precision
http://www.sarissa-precision.com/Gaslamp_Alley_VSF/cat1603369_2416966.aspx
Unpainte MDF kits with wide variety of kits but not all options that would want.

Pros - cheaper than earlier two options (£100 would get me 5 terrace houses each with one upgrade).
Variety of options including shop, backyard, shed and corner pub

Cons - No interior detail, no option for extra floor.


4) Warbases
http://war-bases.co.uk/BUILDINGS/VBCW-28MM
and
http://war-bases.co.uk/BUILDINGS/MULTI-28MM?product_id=168
Unpainted MDF kit.

Pros - cheapest of all ranges (£100 would get me at leat 6 buildings), Option pf pub, general store and post office.

Cons - least amount of detail (not even layered doors & windows - just etched on).
No option of extra floor. No interior detail other than removable roofs


5) Sally 4th
http://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/epages/950003459.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950003459/Categories/Photorealistic_Wargames_Terrain
kits combine a sturdy MDF shell with detailed photo realistic covering sheets.

Pros - Several options for different window styles, options for brick/stone/plaster, option for removable first floor.

Cons - No option for extra floor, expensive if want printed covering (£100 would get 3 houses at £29.50 each).
Potentially fiddly with initial MDF kit and then attaching printed covering.


So my problem is that none of the above give me exactly what I want for Victorian London terraces.
I do want 3 storeys, either plastic or MDF would be fine so long as paint up OK.
I do want to be able to have miainly houses with at least 1 shop and 1 pub.
Ideally want some interior detail but that would be bonus and I might have to forego that nice to have.
Currently the frontrunner for me is Oshiro, because I can get 4rd storey and variety of options.

Initially I was quite excited by Renaissance Miniatures 5th Kickckstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/renaissanceminiature/victorian-steampunk-terrain-and-road-river-tiles-i/description
However this finished in November 2015 and it looks like they have overcommited with delays - not even their first kickstarter is yet on sale in their online store, so god knows when their 5th will be ready.

I dropped Renaissance Minaitures a query on their Facebook page and although they were quick to reply they gave me no information on when would be on general sale pr when they would have fullfilled their kickstarter.

Due to the uncertainty I don't know if I should simply wait for Renaissance Miniatures. My other option would be to simply start the English portion of campaign with no terrain and just let the players know that up front. Just treat it as a pre campaign warm up until get to Egypt when we can start properly.


Just wanted some input from you guys in case there was something obvious I had missed from being immersed in the detail.

Thanks

James

[OSHIROmodels]

If you drop me an email I could send you out a building frontage as a sample to help sway you 

I am also looking into interior kits but it's a way off yet as other things are in front in the 'to do queue'.

Email is in my sig below.

cheers

James

[War In 15MM]

I did my Whitechapel terrace buildings and pub using Duplos to form the inner skeleton and covering it with JTT Plastic embossed brick.  I then made the windows and doors using Evergreen Plastic.  You can see the results in pics 47-48 and 51-54 of my Victorian Gallery at www.warin15mm.com/Victorian-Gallery.html

[War In 15MM]

I forgot to mention pic 17 is a close-up of the pub.  Good luck with your project.  Richard

[joroas]

I bought into Warbases as they were the first out.  The range has expanded a lot to include tenements, a police station, offices, workshops, etc. and Martin gives a nice discount for show pre-orders.

[Elk101]

I know it's not a terrace but I'd highly recommend Oshiro's warehouses to supplement whatever you buy. They're great kits and would be very useful for providing some variety in your layout.

[Mason]

Given your options and needs, Oshiro seems the way to go (as you say yourself).
Also, being in acrylic gives the option of adding extra plastic detailing at will with no bother combined with the strength of acylic or MDF.
It is the way I will be going when I get around to adding Victorian buildings to my collection.

[wargame_insomniac]

I know it's not a terrace but I'd highly recommend Oshiro's warehouses to supplement whatever you buy. They're great kits and would be very useful for providing some variety in your layout.

Oh definitely. The large warehouse looks to be a bit too ornate to serve as a warehouse but I am sure could function as something else, whilst the small warehouse looks ideal and good value at £17.

[wargame_insomniac]

I did my Whitechapel terrace buildings and pub using Duplos to form the inner skeleton and covering it with JTT Plastic embossed brick.  I then made the windows and doors using Evergreen Plastic.  You can see the results in pics 47-48 and 51-54 of my Victorian Gallery at www.warin15mm.com/Victorian-Gallery.html

The end result is very impressive. Not sure I would have the confidnce to try anytjing like that though.

[wargame_insomniac]

I bought into Warbases as they were the first out.  The range has expanded a lot to include tenements, a police station, offices, workshops, etc. and Martin gives a nice discount for show pre-orders.

I acknowldege that but the detail does nt wow me and was nt exactly what I wanted for terrace housing.
I have not yet seen any painted examples but I fear that, whilst it was the cheapest, it would look it.

[wargame_insomniac]

If you drop me an email I could send you out a building frontage as a sample to help sway you 

I am also looking into interior kits but it's a way off yet as other things are in front in the 'to do queue'.

Email is in my sig below.

cheers

James

Thanks James - that sounds great -email sent.
Look forward to hearing what else you have in the to do queue.
Inrerior kits would be great.

Cheers

James

[Gary Peach]

Although not on the web now, to be reloaded, Sarissa Gaslamp does have additional floor option, just email, they can sort it out.  It was designed for all the floors to stack to get you the 3, 4 floor tenement look.

[Chris Abbey]

Hi James,

We sourced a new printer for pro-printed cover sheets, so in next couple of days I will be reducing cost down to £3 per building. These are the ones we used on Normandy buildings. This will give you 4 buildings for £100. The MDF and cover sheet approach is not at all fiddly. Lots of our display buildings have been made by my wife who had no model making experiance before starting. It takes 4 hours to make a kit from start to finnish which compares very well to assembly and painting of other similar sized buildings. Our houses are two to a set, so you would really be getting a row of 8 for £100.



I am also planning to expand range now that I have got the Normandy Kickstarter finished, so happy for suggestions of what to make next.

[fastolfrus]

I have the Timeline MDF terrace (for VBCW) and corner pub (got the terrace for Christmas and Pub for my birthday):

https://www.timelineminiatures.co.uk/store/index.php?page=28mm-scale-buildings-28mm-modern

The quad terrace is 13" long, and functional rather than super detailed. The pub is about 9" square and seems to be a bit more detailed.

[wargame_insomniac]

Thanks guys