Castle Keep

[madharry]

For my little British village module I decided I needed a "little castle". Castles tend to be quite large and take up a lot of real estate. So I decided a castle keep would be a good idea. The last remanent of a ruined abandoned castle.

I used 3mm foamboard which I glued together using PVA. It is approx. 8 cms square by 18 cms high. I cut the windows out tracing around some Tichy round top window frames.

I then used DAS air dry clay to the surface to my walls. First I painted the wall with PVA and then spread about 2 mm of clay on the wall before scribing the stonework using a small blade.

The photos show the plain walls and two that I have surfaced with the clay.

Mike

[postalkarl]

Hi Mike:

Looks good. I'll be watching.

Karl

[Mkrailway]

Mike, keep on going.

[GPdemayo]

Me too.....


When Pegi and I were over in your neck of the woods, we rented a plane at Wellesbourne and did some sightseeing from up above.....beautiful countryside.

We did a big loop and I believe it was to the west or northwest of the airport we saw what the instructor called England's smallest castle. It looks just like your model. I guess there is a prototype for everything we model. 

[Janbouli]

I know we have to have a lot of patience as modelers, but scratchbuilding stone castle walls   

[madharry]

Thank you Karl, Marty, Greg and Jan......

Here is another wall finished..........

Mike

[madharry]

Me too.....


When Pegi and I were over in your neck of the woods, we rented a plane at Wellesbourne and did some sightseeing from up above.....beautiful countryside.

We did a big loop and I believe it was to the west or northwest of the airport we saw what the instructor called England's smallest castle. It looks just like your model. I guess there is a prototype for everything we model. 

Yes it is very nice country around there. There are several castles within a short flying distance of that airfield - Broughton, Kenilworth or Warwick.

Mike 

[madharry]

Continuing...........

I finished the fourth wall in DAS clay. I wanted to add a staircase next.

I cut a slope to fit the wall out of Cellotex insulation foam. This is yellow and can be cut fairly accurately with a kitchen knife.

Unfortunately I could not get the clay to attach to the foam. So I marked where it would be on the wall and covered the foam with a fine skim of wall plaster.
I then plastered the area on the castle wall before attaching the staircase. The set of plastic stairs came from my "do not throw anything away box".

Mike

[postalkarl]

Hi Mike:

Very nice. I assume this will be going on your new RR???

Karl

[madharry]

Thanks Karl, yes it will be a feature of the new layout "Midsomer".
Mike 

[madharry]

Do not try this at home!

The skimmimg of the insulation foam staircase with plaster does not work! After it had dried I tried to scribe in the stonework only to find that when I put any pressure on my scriber that it made a unrealistic hole in the plaster covered foam.

So I covered the plaster with air dry clay and then started again. This time I was successful. Here is the structure ready for the next stage in the build.

Mike

[madharry]

Continuing.......

I cleaned up the window frames and then carved in the arrow slits towards the top of the walls. The grey card is to illustrate the slits as they hard to see unless you know what you are looking for..........

Mike

[Rail and Tie]

Been away for a bit. Mike, this is looking great!  I have recently become a fan of DAS clay for certain things. very easy to work with. As for making it stick to foam, I add a little white glue to my kneaded pieces also poke a bunch of holes at angles into foam to make sure things lock on.

The Keep is looking wonderful!  Don't know if Preiser makes a hunchback or not, but they do have a gargoyle!

[madharry]

Thanks Darryl, gargoyle it is then!

Yes I coated the foam in PVA but I did not add the holes. You live and learn!

Mike 

[madharry]

Continuing..............

Next I added windows and a door to the castle keep.

Mike