"Scottish 'Des-Res'?" Topic

As I assemble my Covenanter army & start thinking about a first game (October?), my mind turns to terrain.

I thought I had plenty of hills & mountains but not enough for a game set in Scotland. So, the MD insulation sheets are being cut, carved & flocked. Easy.

I have a suitable stretch of rubber watercourse lengths for a burn, a stone bridge & a number of lengths of rough road pieces. I'm OK for rough ground & gorse patches.

Habitation wise, I have the ruined church & pele tower (on order) from Any Scale Models & two small medieval hovels: all resin pieces. I don't think this is enough, as I'm aiming for two small villages.

Any recommendations for houses that look medieval Scottish? My figures are mostly 20mm Tumbling Dice (they call them '25' but the Revell 1/72 plastic figures are not too different)?

Anything else I might use, terrain-wise?

Maybe?: link

That 'crofters cottage' would be wrong in Scotland. Walls would be low and stone, roof would be turf not thatch. Crofting cottages sort of hug the landscape, that one is very tall and proud.

Crofting is a peculiar bit of land ownership/rental peculiar to the Highlands and Islands. Places where timber, as a free commodity is scarce. Timber was a premium commodity in those areas. Crofting cottages were built as cheaply as possible from whatever is freely available – hence river boulders, stone lying around, turf, possibly wattle and daub. Very unlikely to be timber framed.

The model shown is a copy of a real building at a folk museum, it is a 'tied cottage' (a property that comes with a parcel of land or a job on an estate), an English concept not Scottish. The museum incorrectly calls it a crofters cottage – a Victorian construct of added romanticism (after Victoria and Albert got lost in the Highlands and overnighted in a true crofters cottage)

I've looked at the usual suspects (Hovels et al) and the closest you will get is looking at some of the Russian/aEastern Europe ranges – look for peasant dwellings/hovels etc. They are the right shape but the problem will be they be 'wood' rather than stone. Also worth looking at medieval peasants A frame dwellings

Hmm, TotalBattle Miniatures make a 28mm black house: link . That might work for 20/25mm figures.

Monolith Designs have a few pieces in their Border Reivers range (no pictures, though!): link

Also, from memory Scheltrum Miniatures make a number of similar buildings – but they don't have much web presence. The company *does* still exist and trades at shows, as far as I know.

Hugh

Scheltrum are still in business afaik. They attend our Carronade show each year. They have a blog
scheltrum.blogspot.com
but it,s very sparse. I see that the website has expired though so I'd suggest sending Sholto, the owner, an email via the blog or at this address.
sholto@gpa-humpries.co.uk

If you are ok with paper/card buildings you could do worse than look at the Peter Dennis/Helion Jacobite ‘45 and English Civil War books. Both have usable buildings for you: the Big Hoos and Black Houses (Highland Cottages) in the ‘45 book, and church and jetty house in the ECW one. Easy enough to reduce the size to suit when you photocopy them and once you have bought the book they will cost you pennies.

Thanks for the advice, gents.
I'm a bit leery of ordering something that may be too big & I think the Total Battle building is.

And sorry to sound picky but card doesn't work for me.

Scheltrum are 15mm or 28mm? Either doesn't really suit. But….I think I could pop out a few Black Houses myself, using the pictures for inspiration. Really, there's not much to them & easily within my modelling skills.

Come October, I'll have some photos to post.

Can't wait to see your pics in October!

Hudson and Allen make a couple of wonderful highland village pieces. They are on the smaller side of 25mm and would be great with your 20mm stuff I think. I have all of them and they are really nice models.

Ochoin, I'm so glad that you started this topic because I wasn't familiar with anyscale models. I went to their site and ordered the fortified tower and ruined Scottish church for my late medieval armies in Scotland. Thanks!

Agree, Hudson & Allen are nice and small 25mm.

I have the above mentioned. Hudson and Allen set painted and for sale. If you''r interested contact me by private message and I'll send pictures.

Ochoin, I'm so glad that you started this topic because I wasn't familiar with anyscale models. I went to their site and ordered the fortified tower and ruined Scottish church for my late medieval armies in Scotland.

I do not believe you'll be disappointed.

Thanks for the H&A recommendation.

Ochoin, my tower house from AnyScale Models came in this week. What a fantastic little model! It looks fine in 15mm scale to me with the size of the doorway, etc…