Another kit that screams my childhood at me. I spent a while hunting for this on eBay, and finally found one with a cheap freight all the way from Canada, which is a little bizarre. This version comes without the plastic base, even though the plastic base is very visible on the front of the box. The box smelt of old cardboard, which i love.

The kit has not changed. You get a small ruined house and a heap of extras. I decided to build my own base in the same style as the original. So out came a sheet of MDF on top of which i did a cobblestone pattern into clay for a road. I also made a pavement section with Metcalfe paving stones glued onto foamboard and sealed with plaster. I switched out the supplied sandbags and used my own sections from Value Gear which are much better. I added heaps of home made bricks and rubble, and created the same kind of lean-to with the corrugated iron sheets as you can see in the box art. Oh I had an old resin car that was added too round the back, plus i made some balsa wood shutters to add some depth. Painting was done with a black and grey undercoat and then various acrylics. I used loads of powders and dirt to weather the whole thing, plus some charcoal for the blast holes. I so enjoyed making this kit again after 40 years, the first time it was unpainted and manhandled around my ping pong table in every game i played. This time i will be more careful with it!