Catrine House - Another Lovely 3-D Printed Medieval Building

    Towering Catrine House - 3-D printed purchased from RRB Minis & More adds to my growing city

My medieval (or fantasy medieval?) town is slowly growing. My favorite part of it, so far, has been the 3-D printed buildings that I've bought from my friend Rich Bown of RRB Minis & More. He bought the license to produce and sell the Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni products and their Ferisia line. If you get a chance to check out this line or any of the others, it is truly worth your time. They are amazing, evocative buildings. The Catrine House is no exception. The fact that "Katrin" was one of my best friends from teaching (our middle school's German teacher), makes it all so much the better...ha, ha!

    Angry looking madam of the house looks out from the rear of the stucco & stone building

I love how this building turned out. However, I don't want to play down how long it takes to paint up a five piece building (base ground floor, level 2, 3, 4, and roof). I believe I have been working on it for at least two weeks! The main reason for this is because I'm using my standard base coat and dry brush method for just about every part of the building. That means a lot of waiting overnight (or at least half a day) for the base coat to dry and "shrink wrap" onto the model, so the dry brushing sticks out properly. So, let's say that on Day 1 you spray prime, Day 2 you put on a 50/50 mix of black paint and water like I did, and Day 3 you base coat the interior stucco wall portions of levels 2, 3, and 4. That means you have to wait a day for it to fully dry before you dry brush the interior stucco. On the same day, you can do the base coat for the stone sections of the interior. Now, you have to wait another day for it to dry before you can dry brush that part. You get the picture, and you are still about a dozen days away from being done! 

    'Now where have those danged kids gone off to...?' Looking from the cool, 4th-story balcony

I like to do all of the interiors sections of each level first, then the exteriors. This ensures I have something to hold onto that isn't wet paint while I am working. So, once I've done the interiors, I pretty much have to then repeat the process for the exteriors, if that makes sense. Once I'm started, a normal day working on the Catrine House settled into a dry brush highlighting what I had base coated the day before and then base coating the next part. On most days, that is 20-30 minutes worth of work. So, it is probably best to be working on something else, too, while you're painting a building -- perhaps a batch of figures? That way, after finishing your 20 minutes on the building, you can work on the figs for the rest of your painting session. In two weeks, you should be done. Well, that's if you are being anal retentive like me and insist on doing a thorough job and not doing a just quickie paint! 

    All five pieces of the 3-D printed Catrine House laid out side by side

Note that I'm no boasting and saying that I've done the best-ever paint job possible on this building. To me, it seems like I am doing a minimum acceptable job. There was no customization on the Catrine House, no signs, no graffiti -- nothing to make this building "pop" other than its own natural beauty. Why not add a bit extra like those things? Mainly, it's because I these medieval/fantasy 3-D buildings to be useful for a maximum number of periods or games. I want it to be able to look great on a tabletop simulating a thriving medieval city, but also on a ruined, abandoned one. The less individualization I do on it, the more games I can use it in the table without needing a wink and a nudge!

    Level 1 is all stone and came out very nicely - I like the faded green & blue tiles and stairway up

I especially like how these Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni buildings recreate a variety of textures and surfaces. Of course, that is also part of the reason it took me two weeks to get this beauty painted up! I think it does look more natural, though, for it to not be all stone or wood, or whatever. All the different types of surfaces also add variety to the tabletop. The quality is great -- each level (and roof) fits securely onto the level below and comes off easily. It makes it much more skirmish friendly for gaming! 

    Who's this ruffian at the front door...? Is he a particularly unsavory looking employee of the owners?

Still, these buildings are no idle undertakings. I will do the much smaller, two-story one I bought from RRB next. Then, I will tackle the next 3-4 story one. And once I finish those, it will likely be time to see RRB Minis & More at an upcoming convention. And you know what that means, right? There's a very good chance he'll be bringing along more 3-D printed buildings for me to buy...ha, ha! Anyway, I just need to keep telling myself it is not a sprint to get these done. Work on them slow and steady! Hopefully, you guys are enjoying seeing them. And perhaps, some of you are reaching out to Rich to buy some of his incredibly affordable buildings, too!

    Interior of level 3 of the Catrine House - you can see the trapdoors and ladders to go up & down

So, what else is on my painting desk? Well, Samwise will be happy with me. I did go back and assemble and prime a half dozen of the North Star Frostgrave Gnolls. This will allow me to fulfill my promise to myself to intermix in a batches of figures purchased this year with ones purchased in previous years. That means the big alien monsters I was working on were "kicked to the curb" by the gnolls. And the monsters don't look happy...ha, ha! Also, I began working on a single, 25mm, 1980s Grenadier Dark Ages warrior . Why? He is the only thing I have in my unpainted lead pile that could possibly pass as a Dwarf...ha, ha! I will need him for my Four Delvers games. So, stay tuned for pictures of these things soon!

    Level 4 without the roof on - I think this upper level balcony adds a nice look & gaming possibilities!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 73

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

 

    A final look at the building with no figures around it -- an abandoned house in Moonrest...??