Chicago Skirmish Wargames

While at Little Wars this year, I picked up the Ancient Chinese Sacred Building kit made by Watchful-I-Studio. They are a Chicago area miniatures company specializing in historical and fantasy Asian themed miniatures.

This was an interesting kit, consisting of some very large resin pieces, as well as laser cut MDF and some thinner materials. The single piece base was relatively flat, which is impressive for a 9x9 thin square of resin. it has holes cut so the building and wall pieces slot right in. The roof consists of 4 large resin pieces as well. These were not as flat, but careful use of glue and clothespins worked well during the assembly.

The building roof supports are wooden dowels. Some of these were a very tight fit. I did have to enlarge a couple of the wall holes to get them to slide into place. I was concerned that the filigree pieces were designed too delicately, but once assembled, they appear to be quite strong. Assembly went quickly; the lower wall pieces pegged into the base and the dowels were inserted into the holes. The wall tops slid down over the dowels, and then the filigree bits were assembled and rest on the dowels. The placement on the dowels helped to keep this piece square.

The inner building is essentially 4 wall parts plus some small roof supports. The doors are a very thin paper like material. I liked their color, so i did not paint them. I glued them in after painting the rest of the model.

The roof was a little tricky to build. You first assemble the frame, and then glue down the resin pieces. Once they are in place and the glue is dry,  there are corner pieces to cover the gaps at the corners.

My paint job for this piece was quick. I did base colors, some washes, and dry brushing. Traditionally, these sorts of buildings are brightly colored, but I tried to keep it a little more subdued to match the rest of my Asian themed terrain. The red posts and very shiny gold were the compromise, and I think it looks sort of striking on the table.

I did make a few minor additions to this building. I had some jade colored mosaic tiles laying around, so I tiled the floor with them. I also added 2 flickering tealights inside the building's roof.

It is a really subtle and cool green glow when the lights are on. How about a video?

Sorry for the shaky camera!

Here is the building next to a Bushido Miniature. The scale is a little small for 32mm minis, but not terrible.

This shot shows the building next to a 32mm building by 4Ground. As you can see, the doors are quite a bit larger, but it really doesn't bother me.

I am glad I bought this kit. It was fun to assemble and added a little formality to my rural Bushido village. I highly recommend it. Make sure to check out Watchful I Studio's minis, too! They have a fantastic selection available.