TT Combat 28mm MDF Apartment Building

TT Combat Apartment A - a 28mm laser-cut MDF building I picked up for my modern skirmish - with 20mm figs

I purchased three 28mm modern MDF buildings to use with my 20mm Modern Skirmish games. I've found that an advantage of my 20mm miniature scale is that I can use buildings from both 15mm and 28mm and the figures don't look out of place. I bought them from Terry at Wargames Tools LLC, who is a great guy to work with. He always had awesome stuff at his booth at conventions.

The big problem with this kid -- the second story does not come apart from the first! See my corner supports for a work-around scratch-built floor

I built the Sarissa Precision building that I'd purchased at Historicon 2018 earlier, so it was time to build one of the two TT Combat Apartment (A and B) I'd picked up. First off, I found the kit had a LOT more pieces! There were lots and lots of individual pieces that need glued in for the windows. What wasn't in the kit was what disappointed me most: There is no second floor. Nor is there a way to remove the second floor from the first floor. You CAN take off the roof, but the first and second story walls are solid state. Hmmm.

Those incised lines are decoration - not a seam, so the building is 'solid state' other than its removable roof

As any gamer knows, the whole point of having buildings with removable roofs is so you can put figures in them! It baffled me that TT Combat would do it this way. My only previous experience with their line is my cargo container ship. And it wasn't constructed in a way to make it easy to remove the bridge from the second and first floors, now that I think about it. I decided to create me own second floor, rather than just bag it and call the two $25 purchases a loss. I cut four pieces of bass wood of the same height to put in each corner of the first floor. I then cut a piece of black styrene plastic to rest upon the supports and be the second floor. I was fairly happy with my work-around, and got back to painting.

My scratch-built second floor (with printed patterns glued on)

For MDF buildings, I spray paint them flat black first. Then I put on a base coat (a craft paint sky blue for this one), and then dry brush a lighter shade (white in this case). I then do the trim and windows, which would be a medium blue with dark orange accent. The stone portions I painted in medium gray with light gray dry brush, which I thought would go well with the light blue. Next, I had to decide how to paint the fence/railing in front of the building. After doing some Google Image searches, I decided to go with a wrought iron look. I painted over the spray painted black with more black to ensure all the nooks and crevices were filled. Then, I brushed on some highlights using Iron Wind Metals Steel.

A close up of the front and the first floor windows, with 20mm African Militia from Liberation Miniatures firing out

Once the entire model was painted, I mixed up a black wash and brushed it over the entire thing - both blue and gray stone portions, as well as the wrought iron. There is some decoration incised on the outside of the building between the first and second floor. I went back and forth on it, and decided not to paint it. I thought it would look to gaudy painted in a bright color, and felt if I did it in the same faded blue, it would be too overpowering. Perhaps I made a mistake not doing this. Perhaps not.

I like the stone and plaster look design of the Apartment Building (with a close-up of the flower garden)

Finally, it was time to do the roof (whose blue and gray portions were painted alongside the building itself). I once again used Woodland Scenics mixed gray ballast for a roof surface. I did it on the Sarissa Precision building, and really like how it gives some 3-D texture to the MDF building. Finally, I flocked the area between the railing and the building to be a flower garden. I built up the grass with fine brown ballast and turf earth from Woodland Scenics. Then, after flocking with Blended Grass, I placed tufts of purple and yellow flowers on top of the grass. I really like how it gives it that final touch.

Militia on my second floor - plus the two wood pieces you can see I epoxied into the floor so you can lift it out easily

Well, not quite final touch! I also had printed out wood and rug patterns that I'd found on Pinterest on the internet. I trimmed these to the correct size, and glued them down with white glue to be my floors. I really like how they brighten up the interior and give it an almost finished look, despite their obviously being no furniture.

The roof, with its Woodland Scenics coarse mixed gray ballast textured floor

By this time, though, I had happened upon my next biggest disappointment with the kit -- one that was no fault of TT Combat. Since the second story is solid state with the first, the building is too tall to fit in my terrain boxes! Noooooo!! Honestly, this may be a deal breaker for me with this build. I am seriously considering selling it after I use it in my game at Advance the Colors next month. The scenario is a city fight, and I will need all of my buildings to fill the table, I imagine. So, if you are interested in this building, contact your realtor, as it just might be for sale...!

Militia stake out their turf in my modern skirmishes in Africa