Masterplan Model Buildings

 It’s 20th April 1984 - Good Friday - so I’m off college doing anything but studying. It’s a lovely sunny day, and my parents are going to Winkworth Arboretum. They ask my if I want to go and, as my dad is not wearing shorts and sandals, I say ‘yes’.

And I’m glad I did.

Not only did I have a pleasant time, but I discovered Masterplan Model Buildings in the gift shop. This was a new line of card and wood buildings, initially made for the National Trust but sold for model railways etc. They are simple to construct, robust and ideal for wargaming. I bought two: the Manor House (which I still have) and the Elizabethan Farmhouse which I sold years later at SELWG. Something I regret, because it’s the only model I have bought since 1983 that I have any emotional attachment to. I think that is because I was so chilled that day and for the rest of Easter; the first time I’d felt that way in a couple of years. And I wasn’t a difficult teen, either! Whatever the reason, it has stuck in the old memory bank.

I made a good job of both kits and went on to buy more. I wasn’t the only one to think highly of them as they often appeared in Miniature Wargames, tarted up by Phil Robinson! I tend to make mine out of the bag with not much more than a protective coat of colour-matched paint. But I did refurbish the manor recently, and here it is:

Sadly, they are no longer made but I have a large stash in the loft, including a replacement for the farm, which should last me forever. You can pick them up now and again on evilBay, sometimes quite cheaply. For some reason, the church makes regular appearances. These will be the only buildings I keep for gaming. They are HO/OO but will fit Warrior Napoleonics and I will shoehorn them into the AWI and ACW too. Certainly makes a good Chew House.

Happy Easter!