Charlie Foxtrot Models - Tidewater House - Part 2.

Nothing spurs you on to complete a micro-project like committing to put the next game on at the club. Having constructed Tidewater House a weeks ago I have finally finished the plantation house for the Haitian campaign of any of the occasional battles in the ACW or AWI that the club runs.

I opted for the a slightly off white colour with white facings to give it thta classic colonial feel,

I have decided not to base. Originally I thought about putting it on an MDF base surrounded by lawn's and cultivated shrubs but this might reduce it's use in perhaps more urban tables.

Now let's see if Gareth Chasse can defend the Plantation Oiseaux Moelleux?

Meanwhile news from Trent Miniatures several new items have appeared in the Haiti collection, with leaders of the slave revolt from both the begining and end of the revolution, with a bit of luck these will arrive and be painted in time for next game in early September.

Boukman, the first leader of the August 1791 slave revolt in St. Domingue. Boukman had a large and powerful physique and was reputed to be a Voodoo priest. He was killed in battle in November 1791.

 

Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniere, a female soldier in Toussaint Louverture’s army. She fought with Dessalines in the defence of Crete-a-Pierrot against Napoleons invading French.

Both of these characters are available from Arcane scenary and models or Northstar Miniatures.

It's encouraging to see some new releases including new French Sailors, things are starting to hot up in the Caribbean.

Charlie Foxtrot Models - Tidewater House.

A few days away and a chance to crack on with the construction of Tidewater House from Charlie Fortrot Models or Plantation Oiseaux Moelleux as it will be known in the ongoing Haitian campaign.

The instructions are a little thin so I thought I would document some of the stages for those interested.

After the initial scare of opening the bag and being a little surprised at the amount of 'bits'. The good news is many of them are windows and shutters which once separated make the task somewhat less daunting.

The construction can be completed in two parts, which means you can work on both at the same time. It's quite imposing once you put the shell together with plenty of room to put figures in, some of joints are a little tight but they do fit together rather well with no gaps between connecting walls.

I should have added the sills in first before adding the shutters as this made the task of adding them in some what challenging espically if you don't leave enough room either side of the windows. However ignoring the fact I should have read the instructions first. I found the back of a tea spoon useful to ease the sills in to place before the wood glue dried.

Whilst the windows and shutters were drying, I completed the porch and chimney stacks, not overtly complicated once you have all the pieces put by. Although you will need to sand down the stacks to create the right angle for the roof.

Next up the steps and doors, the doors are a little loose in the frame, so I added a small block to secure the doors in place. I am not expecting to be opening them during game play, but it was nice to have the option to leave open or closed.

The roof fitted together very simply with a central support to keep it strudy, I found securing this first easier to create the right angle for the end sections and matching fascia.
 

Now for the trickest part, the front porch. The plastic columns are a little short, you will find a couple of spare cut outs from the column bases, I glued these to the plastic tubing to give that little bit extra length to secure the roof and floor by the columns. A strong elastic band allowed it to dry in place (thanks for the tip Steve.) so it did not lift up from the base.

Finally a liberal pasting of PVA glue and the adding of the paper tiles covers the gap in the roof apex and the entry slots of the wall to the roof.

 

Now complete it's quite the mansion and an imposing piece of terrain and will certainly fill the table top. I am toying with the idea of basing it adding in some shrubs and lawn, but will probably wait to consider this once it's painted.

I am still not sold on the MDF buildings over resin, whilst their might be an initial saving, once you factor in the man hours to construct and how resilient they are on the gaming table is their really that much difference in value/gaming return?

In any event it's nice to get it complete. Now just the task of painting it up.

This weeks Challenge....

It was a good idea at the time and looked lovely on the shelf however....

I have been putting it off ever since I got back from Derby last year and looked in the bag and saw the 000's of pieces.... Good job I have a few days off and it's still to hot to paint.

I am sure once complete it will be lovely...

In case you could not tell this is Tidewater House from Charlie Foxtrot Models.

Elsewhere the Ottomans once again failed to land a win against Dane's Russians in Sharp Practice.

A close run thing, with the Russians attempting to cross the table with only a wooded hill separating the two forces.

I opted for Ottoman regulars which made a change and topped them up with a couple of skirmish units and a band of fellas with sword and spear to give him something to think about - He is not a fan of a big chopper.... espially after the recent Haiti game...

Dispite seizing the high ground and pinning the Russians in the centre of the table the Ottomans were unable to force a win.

The Russians kept on absorbing the shock and with the Ottomans losing the skirmish units and swordmen their morale slipped away leaving the Russians to hold the table....

Next up more Haitian's to defend the plantation house.....