"10mm and 12mm Post-WWII Building Options?" Topic

I need a few 1/144th – 1/160th scale, post-WWII homes, and other buildings, suitable for rural Germany, and/or perhaps in some of the smaller villages there, so would like to know what commercial products are available for sale, and from whom. Homes, barns, gas station, small stores/shops, etc.

Obviously, I may be able to press some WWII homes and buildings into the mix as well.

I've also been considering making, and/or downloading some paper buildings too, since I'm on a pretty tight budget.

Looking for 1950s – late 1980s era buildings and structures, for some Cold War battles, and don't really know what's available in this scale, other than the ones from Timecast that I've seen.

US manufacturers would be a plus, but I don't hold out much hope for them, since the designs need to have that European look.

Anyone think of any other manufacturers of resin, and/or other buildings in 1/144th – 1/160th scale that are reasonably priced?

Hi, Mako11. Living in Germany, I am blessed to have a second-hand toy shop literally across the street from me! I have been buying assembled Kibri, Faller, Aughen, Vollmer, etc. N and Z scales buildings for 1 to 9 Euro's each. But I have also found a source for paper buildings as well.

Schreiber-Bogen is the best company I have found, commercially, here. I have a 1:300th WALLED CITY that only cost me 12.80 Euros. With the dollar closing in on $1 USD=1 Euro, Quite a few bargain can be found. This particular set "Mittelaterliche Kleinstadt" has 32 buildings in it.

In N scale (1:160), a good start would be their "Four Small Buildings" set which includes a church. ISBN: 3-87029-625-9
(remember, these are considered "publications")

Contact Info: kartonmodellbau.org. Another aue-verlag.de (that is a "-" (dash)between aue and verlag)

To get you to "Jonesin'" for what is possible, take a look at a couple of plastics companies:

auhagen.de This company does the modern appartment buidlings found all over Europe and can be found on most US installations for family housing.

Faller: faller.de Best in My opinion- both in price and quality!!!

BUSCH (Mainly terrain but they have embarked on laser cut kits now: busch-model.com

Noch: noch.de and noch.com Ditto remarks for Busch

Kibri and Vollmer are back! kibri.de

Hope this get's you going. I am doing SYW in 10mm and am using N and Z models side by side. When playing, the footprint is all that is noticed- not the size of the doors! By using both scales, my possibilities for useful building arrangements doubled. Unless playing 1:1 skirmish rules, it really is not all that noticable.

One last note. In case you never had a chance to be in Europe, the buildings here are huge! The house I live in has a full basement, 3 families live on 3 floors (1 per floor) and there is more space in the attic above. My balcony is about 50 feet in the air! This was a single family dwelling 100 years ago! You do not need a lot to occupy a sizeable built up area. But since thay are "small in scale", you can make a town look like a town!

v/r
Tom

Hello again Blue Shark number 11. I continually put in bids on second hand constructed N scale buildings up for action on Ebay. Set your self a price limit and stick to it! In job lots you pick up a lot of extras.

regards Allan

10mm was made with the idea that it would be easy to find terrain for. Its N gauge in model RRs.

great info guys, I'm just selling all my 15mm stuff and moving in to 12mm so will need WW2 and 'modern' buildings

Thanks for the tips, Tom and Allan.

I've been looking on eBay, but finding very little in N scale, other than one two story residential building which sells for about $7 USD – $8 USD, with shipping.

All the others seem to be way overpriced, especially for such a small size, with many selling for $30 USD, or more for a single structure.

I suspect the HO offerings are a bit easier to find, and I'll be wanting some of those too.

In the country (rural areas/farmland/low mountain valleys), do people live in single family homes, in the larger homes like you mention Tom, and/or apartment/condo style living?

In the smaller villages and towns, do most people live in apartments/condos, or in multi-storied row-houses, etc.?

Again, questions would be for the 1950s – 1989 period, since I suspect demographics and living practices may have changed a bit since then, but don't really know.

Are you looking in the right place on eBay? I am finding several thousand listings. Walthers are expensive, but try searching for Faller or Pola for post-WW2. Plasticville and Woodland Scenics tend to be American-centric.

I use primarily 15 mm MBA buildings for my 10 mm games with no problem. Fitting infantry bases inside is a lot easier than an N gauge building.

Rural European houses tend to be single family, but like Tom said, some of them are huge. Except for alpine areas or large estates, there were very few isolated homes. Most were clustered into small villages every 1-2000 meters. Major fighting was usually limited in rural and small town settings, so don't hesitate to use pre-war buildings. Unless suffering some calamity, they last hundreds of years. Even when damaged, they could be repaired easier than torn down. Modern buildings tend toward multi-family structures in the towns, but again, lots of very old buildings are still standing.

Lutke do a more modern buildings, but the prices of some might make yours eyes water?

link

somewhat cheaper are Japanese railway kits (at 1/150 @ 12mm)
1999.co.jp/eng/10129212
1999.co.jp/eng/10129212

if you hunt through Japanese plastic kits (ignore the traditional Japanese structures) and you will find more modern style domestic and commercial/industrial peices

link

link

of a british store with a braod section of catergories
link

The good news is the Japanese produced items tend to be cheaper on the wallet than the German Manufacturers

as Tom/Dye4minis states, unless its a 'Newtown' or 'regenerated' city centre, ,post WW towns anbd cities tend to be a mix of periods and styles
scalescenes.com/townscenes

My 10mm useful Wargaming Manufacturers list hope it helps.

Take care

Andy