If historians are to be believed there never was a 'Merrie England'. Unless there happened to be a plague raging there wouldn't have been enough food to go round; disease, ignorance and civil strife were all a constant threat; and there aren't many good things you can say about the feudal system. Never mind, at least our ancestors had some very pretty buildings. Thatched cottages, 'Ye Olde' or otherwise, seem to be top of the list for ceramic ornament makers. Here's a way to get surprisingly similar results using scrap packaging materials. It's so quick and easy, not to mention cheap, you might like to make an entire village.

What you'll need is mostly cardboard and expanded polystyrene. If you don't have these to hand then don't worry: every electrical 'white goods' shop in the world is regularly awash with both. If you can manage to look like you might want to buy a TV they may even deliver the stuff for you. The cardboard wants to be the layered stuff, two flat layers with a corrugated one sandwiched in between, that is used to make outer cartons; rather than the single thickness type that shoeboxes are usually made from. The expanded polystyrene can be in any size, or shape, but if you can get your hands on big flat sheets then go for it.

You'll need a few other bits and pieces as well, like paint; glue and masking tape, but you probably have those already. If you don't they won't cost you much; and any leftovers will make burglars realise how creative you are. The only tools you'll need can be improvised, assuming you have a sharp knife and scissors; 'though if you have a purpose-made polystyrene cutter this is a good chance to use it (if you're wondering: it's a hot wire that melts it's way through).

So, here's the secret. Expanded polystyrene is made up of loads of little beads stuck together, you probably knew that, which are flat across the surface and look like lots of little cross-sections. If you cut a piece, provided your knife is sharp enough not to maul it, the cut surface IS lots of little cross-sections. Slap a bit of thin, water-based paint across it and it looks for all the world like miniature stone-work. Provided you exercise a bit of common sense when you choose the colour, of course.

If you don't fancy the stone-wall look you can wipe a hot blade across it and make it look like rough plaster instead. Again you can paint it; or leave it white, which looks like white-wash. Houses can be solid and have doors and windows painted on, using thick water-based paint; boundary walls can have broken sections of polystyrene included, to give that 'tumble-down' look and painted polystyrene laid flat looks so much like cobbles you'll want to sit on a cushion just to look at it. Cardboard can be just as adaptable, in it's own way. Provided you're content to make your models 25mm to 50mm (1 or 2 inches) high then one layer of cardboard will be just the right thickness to make a thatched roof. You didn't collect a dozen big boxes, did you? If you want to build on a grand scale you can make the 'thatch' thicker by sticking two layers together. No, small bits if cardboard don't look much like thatched roofs; but try this: Cover the cardboard pieces with ordinary masking tape, cut big enough to overlap the edges by twice the thickness of the cardboard, smooth the overlap down around the edges and paint the thing straw yellow. Now try to say it doesn't look like thatch.

To get the most convincing result cut the cardboard with the corrugations, inside, running from ridge to eaves and both sides of the roof in one piece. Score a line across the middle, where the ridge will be, that cuts through the top layer of the cardboard and part-way into the corrugations. Then you can
easily fold it to make the pitch, of the roof, that you want and put masking tape over the top. The roof ridge will then
look rounded, just like the real thing. If your masking tape isn't wide enough to cover each side of the roof in one piece don't worry, as long as you make sure any overlapping edges are higher side on top of lower side you can use as many strips, going across the roof, as you like. It'll still look realistic.

There's more. If you, carefully, peel one outer layer off two pieces of cardboard and stick the remaining flat sides together, with the exposed corrugated sides matching each other, the result looks just like a log pale fence even before you paint it. You can cunningly disguise the hollow tops by pinching the two sides together, of each pair; once again, rounded tops look more like the real thing. If you still don't have new respect for good old humble cardboard there's still more. Because of the corrugated layer, inside, rubbing your finger over the outside makes little parallel lines on the surface that look just like small-scale planks. So, that's any doors, shutters or other woodwork you might fancy sorted out.

Some handy tips: Expanded polystyrene is very absorbent and sticks easily using wood, or paper, glue. It can be cut with a hot blade no matter how blunt, but please be careful. PUTTING A BLADE THAT IS TOO HOT ONTO POLYSTYRENE WILL
PRODUCE TOXIC FUMES AND MAY EVEN START A FIRE.

If you're going to use a hot blade test it carefully first, a little hotter at a time. Cutting across a glued join with a hot blade will leave a ridge along the glue line. You can pare it off with a sharp knife if you want to, although lots of mediaeval buildings had a ridge around them anyway. How you heat the blade depends on what you have available; a candle would be hot enough but will leave a thick layer of carbon on it, which will make black marks all over your model. The ring of an ordinary cooker, on quite a low setting, should be hot enough. If you use two blades you can use one as the other heats up.

Fixing cardboard, edge-on, to expanded polystyrene is easiest if you cut away a strip of one outer layer and the corrugated centre along the edge to be joined, about 10mm (3/8") wide. This will leave one flat layer, or two stuck together if you're using the fence idea above, that you can push into a line cut into the polystyrene. Cut the line, where you want it, with a sharp, thin blade; like a
craft knife. The cardboard will push in easily, and a dab of glue will keep it there.

So, once you've decided on a period for your model, you should be ready to go. This craft is quick, and cheap, enough to try it out in rough first. It generally works best to decide, in advance, how big the thing's going to be and make a base for it; but if you'd
rather do a bit of building first, and some urban planning afterwards, then there's no law against it. At least not on this scale.

To get a good practical base cut the size, and shape, out of cardboard and a matching piece out of polystyrene and stick them together. The polystyrene layer needs to be about 12mm (1/2") thick. If you don't have a single piece big enough smaller ones put
together will do; it'll be stuck down on the cardboard anyway. The polystyrene is the top side. If you want to build the base up, to make it a hill say, this is the ideal stage to do it. Just stick on as much polystyrene as it takes. If you want to sculpt any features
you can use a hot blade. Do it slowly, and carefully; the polystyrene will shrink away from the heat without actually touching it, if you're patient.

If you want the base to look like grass paint it green with thick water-based paint. For mud use brown paint that's even thicker, thick enough to make lumps on the surface is most convincing. Broken pieces of polystyrene, suitably painted, look just like piles of rubble. With a bit of careful picking, it's usually free so you can afford to practice, it can even be made to look like a low bush. Failing that, cotton wool stiffened with green paint can be surprisingly bush-like.   The house, or houses, need only to be solid shapes cut to size and shape. Although being 25mm to50mm (1" to 2") high will suit the materials you're likely to find best
the size is up to you. If you want to work on a bigger scale just be prepared to stick pieces, and layers, together to thicken them up in
proportion. Remember that thatched roofs are usually quite a bit steeper than tile ones. If you haven't got a picture of the
style you want just practice with scrap pieces until you think it looks right. If you think it looks right other people will as well.

Next stick the roof on. Thatched eaves always stick out a long way from the walls so allow a generous margin around the edges. Again, what looks right to you will look right to everyone else. Stick the roof on BEFORE you cover it with masking tape, that
way you can pin it down to the house until the glue sets. Putting the tape on afterwards will cover up the pin hole.

You can paint on as many features as you like but, at this scale, it'll be difficult to include too much detail. Doors and windows will be enough to make it look real, especially if the windows have shutters. You may very well have your own features in mind, like 'timbering' if you're thinking 'Tudor'. Cardboard or painted-on features are as good as each other.

If you want to paint a 'clean' edge on polystyrene you may find it quite difficult unless you cheat. You can do this by lightly pressing a sharp blade, like a utility knife blade, into the surface along the edge of the section you want paint to act as a barrier. You don't have to leave it until the paint dries, to take
the blade away, provided that you sweep it towards the painted bit as you pull it out.

When the house is finished you can simply stick it down onto the base and add any extras that might take your fancy; fences, walls, pathways etc. Once the glue has set you can do what you like with the model. It doesn't have to sit flat; you could stick it to the ceiling if that's how the mood takes you. It'll be to light to be a health hazard if it falls.

What you design is up to you. You could make one cottage for the experience; you could recreate Saxon Winchelsea for posterity. A
farmyard or small village might seem like a good compromise. As long as you enjoy doing it, and like the result, it'll be
worth the effort.