Houses for Iraq

If you have read the previous posts on the two Force on Force games you will have seen these buildings being used. I've decided to scratchbuild as much terrain as possible for the OIF project and so far I've constructed to 'Iraqi' houses. I use the term Iraqi loosely since though based on research they could be used for nearly any Middle East setting and are not totally based on any actual building.

The first building was a single storey construction;

I initially built the house separately intending to build separate walls. But research indicated that many dwellings in Iraq have a courtyard, and I was particularly influenced by descriptions of the houses in Fallujah, I decided to mount the building on a larger base and make the courtyard part of the model.

The second building is two storey;

The main feature of this building was making sure that not only was the roof removable but also the first floor. Since I'm using the 'Force on Force' rules at the moment it is not really necessary to be able to place figures inside the building(s) but its a nice option. The roof stairwell entrance/exit is made from a off cut of blue foam. Its make a nice feature and also a useful way to remove the roof. (But can you spot the un-intentional mistake on this building?).

Both dwellings have been made from a mix of foam card, cork tile, plasticard, card, and MDF. The air conditioning unit and satellite dish are from S and S Models. I've deliberately not added or left space to add pavements. These buildings and future constructs will be used to represent dwellings in the poorer parts of Iraqi cities, such as the Jolan district in Fallujah. My plan is build others in the future which will have pavements built into the model base, but that will be a little way off yet.

Couple of further photos to give an idea of scale with 20mm figures;

  
The base board the models are on is the first one constructed for use with 20mm figures and FoF rules. Its 2'x2' and 25mm deep. Constructed as per the previous boards for my Brecourt Manor project. But as can be seen I've kept the layout simple;

The road is placed centrally and is made from 1mm MDF. I based the road design on a interesting tutorial I found on the Lazy Forger site, but the main difference being I used an airbrush to paint the road. Again I deliberately kept the landscape flat since FoF scenarios are mainly, but not exclusively, based in urban settings. I intend to build several more, to have at least a 4'x4' gaming area.

Thats it for now more to follow.....