Casa Blanca

Here's looking at you kid.

One of the prominent features in Jarmara was the White House (Casa Blanca) atop of, what would be become known as, "Suicide Hill".  In the scenario the British units start the game defending in front of the White House facing the Nationalist forces.    It can also be the focus point of the barrages by both sides in the three day, six turn a day battle.  In "Unlikely Warriors: The British in the Spanish Civil War and the Struggle against Fascism' by Richard Baxell I remember one of the accounts of a survivor of the battle stating that during the heat and confusion of the battle the white walls and red tiles on the roof could still be seen throughout the valley.

I needed a construct a model of the White House.  I needed a guide.  If I don't base my buildings on real places and real buildings most of my modelling becomes a little box-y.  For this project I based my building on the one that appeared in an article about Jarmara from an old issue of Wargames illustrated.

Learning from previous mistakes I try to keep my building dimensions to 65mm long by 70mm high for 15mm houses.  Otherwise they become massive, suited more for 20mm games.  They are based on plywood and constructed from sturdy form board that I had donated (Thanks Ninja). Time is my enemy so everything is painted to a wargame standard.  That is, good enough for viewing at arms length.

Details were added by bits of textured watercolour paper and pieces of card lying about the house.  The under boarding of the roof to the front lean-to was from a sales tag from an Old Navy t-shirt that would have been binned otherwise.  Recycling is my middle name (Actually its Lester but that is another story...).  Wooden effects were made from wooden coffee stirrers from the Northern equivalent of Starbucks. 

¡No pasarán!