This is the scaled down Supreme Littleness Designs ruined fort from the Middle East range in 28mm, this version being the 20/15mm equivalent. It's a very atmospheric looking model and really captures both the characteristic features of an ancient Near or Middle Eastern fortress but also the realistic elements of a ruined castle, with the exposed rubble core of the wall and the archway being particularly well thought out.
The kit comes as two laser cut sheets of 3mm thick mdf, from which the components are easily removed with no need for cutting, and a single sheet of stiff cardboard containing the tower floor, a door and the wall walkway. Once you've separated the pieces it is a simple build, following the instructions provided, but taking care to treat the cardboard pieces with PVA first to stiffen them up (I didn't do this which caused me some self inflicted pain). The model sits on it's own base into which the tower and wall lock, so that it's a very sturdy piece of terrain once you've allowed the glue to set.
I added some small bits of rubble into the wall spaces on the curtain wall and between the gate layers, as suggested in the instructions, which I think looks really good and is a cracking bit of clever thinking on the part of the part of the designer. It really helps to give that tumbledown effect and reminds me very much of all the medieval castles that I've clambered over. I also really like the parapets with their Arabian style crenellations. The designer has clearly done his homework to capture the look of a ruined fortress in Syria, Iraq or even the NW Frontier. He was worried that the 20mm scaling of the model would make it too big for 15mm but I think it's pretty much spot on, as you can see from the photos.
The model went together very easily and, assuming you follow the instructions provided as a pdf, you can't really go wrong. I have painted mine but textured it first with acrylic paste and undercoated it with Halfords Matt Khaki spray paint, so that the mdf didn't just soak up the paint. I also added some grass tufts to give an abandoned look to the whole scene.
The price for this model kit is £9.50 GBP, although it's not yet available for sale on the Supreme Littleness Designs website. I think it's well worth the money and will make a neat little terrain feature or scenario objective for all sorts of periods, mine being destined for colonial skirmish games. I'd love it if some more ruined wall sections were available so that a whole ruined fortress could be constructed for just this sort of thing and Michael the designer is working on something like this for the 28mm version of the model, so a 15/18mm equivalent isn't off the cards.
Thanks to Michael for the sample kit and for laser cutting one specially for me when I asked him to.
supremelittleness.co.uk
