Dollar Tree Houses

Dollar Tree and many other places make little building like this one.  It sold for $1.25 plus tax.  It is made out of resin, but sometimes these are make out of plastic or ceramic.  The paint job looks okay from a distance but up close it is pretty bad.  These are much like the little Christmas buildings but now they are being made for Easter / spring time, and sometimes for summer also.  So no snow!

I purchased three of these and decided to repaint one.  The original is tan and the repainted is pink, on the left.  I tried to use similar colors so they would fit in the same sort of village.  Mostly I touched up places that were not painted, such as around the door and windows.  I also painted the windows black to give depth.  I think the repainted version looks much better and rather a lot different.

You can see from this side view that painting the windows makes a huge difference.

 I also darkened the grass a little.  So far the I have done nothing to the other two buildings but it's on the to do list.  By having the same building in different colors you can use them in the same town and they don't look so identical.  I also think by repainting the foliage and flowers differently you could make a bigger difference on these buildings, maybe even flocking the ground cover.

Tim Mee in the House

My new home is not finished, but I can still play army men in the yard.

Troops deployed in a rugged desert environment. 

Heavy machine gun set up.

Guards deployed.

Check the recoilless rifle.

I now have tee shirts available that display some of my toy soldier photos.  Check them out.

https://www.redbubble.com/people/bunkertalkwar/works/30633385-us-armored-personnel-carrier?asc=u&p=mens-premium-t-shirt&rbs=&rel=carousel

Guard Duty

Fall in for guard duty.

Where is everyone!

Attention to orders!

All present or accounted for, Sir!

Standing guard.  Marx 60mm recast figure on the concrete forms for the Bunkermeister Collection Bunker.

The Bunker

Work continues on the bunker for the Bunkermeister Collection.

Already being tried on for size!

The walk out basement has been dug out.

The view from the basement window, to the left.

The view straight ahead.

The view to the right.  I will have plenty of space to store the collection and plenty of places to set up troops and take picture.  It's not projected to be finished until late in 2018 and I don't anticipate being up and running, and unpacked until well into 2019.

Welcome to my friends in Ireland!

Houses

The little trees set from Toobs make nice shrubbery for the Dollar Tree houses.

There are many accessories for these houses too. One is this tree house.

I plan on cutting it down from the tree and using it as a shanty.

The other nice accessory is the street lights. Four in a pack for a dollar.

A whole city fits neatly in a beer flat.

Houses

The backs of the buildings are nicely detailed too.

A quiet little scene.

Army vehicles rumble down Main Street on maneuvers.

These buildings should work well for 15mm up to about 25mm size figures.

The destroyed house in the background is from Marx.

Houses

This little bakery would work well for a house, restaurant, or even a small store.

This toyshop would also work as a diner, it's a corner building.

The antique store looks much like a brownstone to me. If you are making up the Bronx it might be worthwhile.

This building could work as a row house or placed front to front with another one it could make a nice court.

The hardware store would work well as a house, or even almost any kind of small shop.

Houses

A large gun passes a small church. Every small American town has at least a Roman Catholic church, Episcopal church, and a Baptist church.

This cute little house could also be a restaurant or antique shop.

This house could be an office building.

Another church. I think the brick indicates the Episcopal church.

I got some of these houses last year and they turned up again this year too. It looks like millions of homes here in the USA.

Houses

Churches like this are very common in the US.

A small candy shop.

This train station looks like a school to me. I am sure I will repaint the title to school on a few.

This restaurant will work for many types of small retail shops.

This fire station looks like it would work for a school, city hall, or even a church.

Houses

I took the houses outside and found an open space in the yard.

I took a broom and swept away the leaf litter and bits.

Then I laid out the buildings and street lights.

I added some civilians and ran the cars up and down the roads to make them look more used.

This makes an instant small town. It would world for about 200 years of American history. If they are placed in a different context they could work for Europe or other parts of the world.