Cityscape 10% done

I cut the first 10 buildings of the cityscape today.

I ordered 1/8 inch thick poplar online from ocooch hardwoods (http://www.ocoochhardwoods.com/scroll_saw_lumber.php#poplar).  

I'm very happy with the wood, although it was pretty expensive.    I think the $10.20 per sheet is fairly reasonable for the quality of wood I'm getting.  But I'm going to need 30-40 sheets.   I also have to factor in the US to Canadian exchange rate, the shipping, and duty costs.

I'm going to see if I can find a local source for the wood, so I don't get dinged with those extra costs.  If you do live in the US though, I highly recommend ocooch hardwoods.

I think I'll also stain each of the buildings a different color.

Back to miniature terrain

I'm back to designing miniature terrain pieces.    I wanted some pieces that are easy to setup and take down quickly.  I decided to do a small village, with bridges between the houses.

This time, I started with the "packaging" design.   I made a "shipping container" type box, and then designed houses that could be stored within that box.

Here is the packaging.

When you open it, there are all the pieces to make several houses. 

Here are the houses assembled.  There are many different ways to put them together.

Some sides have ladders.

There are bridges from one house to another.

The sides of the houses, can either be doors, large doors, windows, or plain.

Of course, you don't have to make a village with them.  You can do like my daughter does, and stack all the houses together into one large tower.

To each his own!   Note that I used wood stain to change the color of some of the panels (just as a test).