A Tale of Two Houses

As I mentioned in my post from a week ago, I recently found a very reasonably priced little dollhouse in a nominal 1:48 scale, for only CAD$8.  In this post, I'll compare it to the CAD$50 Games Workshop Laketown House from The Hobbit.

The Laketown house is a gorgeous piece of scenery.  In addition to the house, it includes several sections of dock (3 pieces approx 4" x 1", 1 that is 1" x 2"), a 4" x 4" platform and a small rowboat, plus a number of small pieces like baskets, lanterns, and the like.  So your $50 gets you a bevy of extras.

There's even a dunny!

The house itself is very nice, with plenty of detail moulded on.  The wall details are different on each side, so the same model could be assembled a few different ways to produce rather different appearances for the house.  One of the best things for me is that this GW product has NO SKULLZ!  It's just a normal house, with details that place it in a fishing community (fishing nets, baskets, actual fish).  

The dollhouse does not have the same level of detail, which has a charm of its own.  It's very straightforward.  The open back is a minor nuisance, but that could even be a feature if you wish to place figures inside.  I chose to cover over the back with a sheet of cardboard and some popsicle sticks.

Both houses scale well with each other, but the difference in style is quite noticeable when they are placed side by side.

I also made a second flèche for my GNW Russians.  The mound for this one is made from DAS clay, while the first was made from leftover scraps of cork board. DAS is much easier to work into shape!

Here is the new flèche occupied by some grenadiers (in red), dragoons (with black boots) and musketeers (in the rear). 

Side by side comparison of the new (left) and original (right).

Both flèches ready for action.