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MAKE YOUR OWN MODEL

FORTS & CASTLES

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DAVID McKAY COMPANY,

NEW YORK

15

INC,

Ilvonla i-mlillo ilUrary CABL SATOBUBO BRAKCfl 30100 W. 7 Mile load tlvonlat Iloli. 481M

Copyright

©

Cummings

1977 by Richard

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this

book, or parts thereof, in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

M

Gardner, Richard Make your own model Bibliography:

forts

and

castles.

p.

Includes index.

SUMMARY: forts, castles,

Discusses the construction of small-scale

and other

fortifications for use with

miniature soldiers. Fortification— Models— Juvenile literature. Castles— 2. Juvenile literature. 3. Military miniatures— Juvenile literature. [1. Fortification1.

Models.

2.

Castles— Models.

Models and modelmaking] U311.G35 623.r022'8

4.

ISBN

10

Military miniatures.

3. I.

Title.

77-3970

0-679-20400-8

987654321 3

Manufactured

in the

TOfiE

OMMSSTfiO

United States of America

fi

CONTENTS MINIATURE FUN

SCALE

Project 6:

A ROMAN FORT FORT PHIL KEARNY A NORMAN CASTLE THE WESTERN FRONT THE MAGINOT LINE CASTLE GAILLARD

Project 7:

MOUNT CASSINO

Project

1

:

Project 2: Project 3: Project 4: Project 5:

1

2 4 22

48 60 76 84 104

COMMON METRIC EQUIVALENTS AND CONVERSIONS ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

115 116 119

MINIATURE FUN Anyone who owns miniature soldiers and ordnance or makes models of them usually likes to imagine them in action. Such play requires some kind of terrain and fortification. The living room rug or a rumpled blanket can be an adequate battleground, and stacked books or shoeboxes can serve as forts or castles. But the more ambitious will want to build their fortifications

and

own

models of This book is

scale

terrain for creative play.

for them.

There are seven

and

fort

castle

projects.

Extra

The projects are arranged in order of difficulty. First come the simplest and least expensive. Toward the end of the book the projects become more time-consuming. variations are included in several sections.

Most of the outdoors. There

projects can be used either indoors or is

also a fort

Mount Cassino designed

to

be bombarded.

Each project historical

is

based

fortification

or

to

some

extent on an actual

battlefield.

There

are

also

most of the projects, and each section. For instance, although

alternative historical uses for

these are listed in Project 2 Phil

is

named

after a particular frontier fort. Fort

Kearny, such palisade

forts

were

built all

along the

2

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

advancing American frontier. Similar log forts appeared throughout ancient times, and some were built by the

I

Vikings.

Thus the use of these models can be unrestricted, or

it

can be restricted

free

and

to exact historical

events.

Finishing techniques also are presented in order of increasing difficulty

and expense. The

made from such common and

first

I

project can be

materials as pasteboard, twigs,

paint, but the sixth project requires

plywood and

reproduce the texture of mortared stone. Instructions need not be followed to the letter. Any

styrofoam

to

one of the projects can be modified or combined with another, and the techniques used on one project can often be applied to another. This book is meant to stimulate, not restrict. Once you have examined the various possibilities, feel free to use your imagination and inventiveness. You probably will come up with altogether new ideas for materials and construction. As any soldier can tell you, real war is grim and ugly. But these projects are meant for play— giving free rein to your creative imagination and having fun.

SCALE The

forts

and

with miniature figures millimeter scale, also this scale the

book are designed for use and equipment in the fifty-four-

castles in this

known

as the 1:30 or 1:32 scale. In

average miniature of a standing soldier

is

about fifty-four millimeters (two and one-quarter inches) in height, figured at a rate of nine millimeters (three

I

I

!l

MINIATURE FUN eighths of an inch) to the foot.

For a table of

common

metric equivalents and conversions, see p. 115.

The

most popular and equipment. Most old-time toy

fifty-four-millimeter scale

is

the

model figures soldiers and modern figures are fifty-four millimeters. Figures and equipment in this size can be found all over the world. They come in a wide range of quality and price, from fully detailed museum pieces to basic paintand-finish-yourself plastic figures. Most of the buildings, fencing, and other accessories used in model railroading, model aircraft, and car building also are built to the fiftyscale for

four-millimeter scale.

shows a fifty-four-millimeter figure in comparison with the less popular miniature sizes, both smaller and larger. Figure

2.5^

30

1

5^77.77)

is/ifmrn

90 mTrv

Project

1

A ROMAN FORT

Figure 2

The Roman

fort

is

the

of model

simplest

projects

representing the most basic of fortifications— a space

enclosed by heaped-up walls of earth. These earthen walls are called breastworks because they

about breast-high (four and one-half soldier. Behind a protective wall of could conceal himself by ducking top by rising to his protective wall

is

full height.

were usually

feet) to a this

down

standing

height a

man

or shoot over the

Another name

for a

low

parapet.

Probably the very first fortifications made by StoneAge men were of this type. Although the Romans built elaborate stone fortifications,

many

outposts of their far-

flung empire consisted of a few buildings surrounded by

earthen breastworks that bristled with sharpened poles or pickets, as

shown

in Figure 2.

Make Your Own Model

Forte

&

Castles

Figure 3

TOOLS AND MATERIALS Figure 3 shows the basic modelling tools.

A

sharp

pocketknife, A, will be your cutting tool for this project.

However, a good craft knife, B, is a very helpful tool for model building, because its blade is thin and flexible and can be changed when it becomes too dull to cut cleanly. X-acto knives, C, are excellent and off'er blades of diff'erent sizes and shapes. Both types of knives can be purchased at hobby and model supply stores. It is wise to

A

ROMAN FORT

7

have a few single-edged razor blades, I, of the sort manufactured by the Gem Razor Company. also

need at least one paintbrush. A number 3 watercolor brush can be used for detail and for covering larger areas. More advanced projects require a number 1 brush for very fine work and a selection of wider brushes

You

will

for other work. hair,

The

best brush points are

but camel's hair

coarse,

except for the

of sable

Nylon brushes

are too

broadest painting jobs.

Good

also good.

is

made

brushes are expensive and should be cleaned thoroughly after

each use. After painting with water-soluble paints—

watercolor,

tempera, or acrylic— clean the brushes in

and the prescribed solvent for such model-maker's enamels as those brandnamed Pactra and PoUy-S. You will need a modelling tool for shaping the breastworks. You can carve one from a piece of unpainted pine of the sort used for wooden apple boxes, G. Carve one end of the piece to a point and make the other end chisel-shaped. An old dinner knife makes a good modelling tool, F. Orangewood sticks for manicuring nails and the flat, wooden tongue depressors used by doctors also are useful. If you plan to move on to more advanced modelling work, you might want to buy a set of modelling tools at a hobby and craft shop. See H for an example of a modelling tool. The Roman fort can be made from a range of materials, but its most basic requirements are a base of water.

Use turpentine

for oil paints

heavy pasteboard, a salt-flour mixture for the breastworks, twigs for the pickets and the walls of the huts, white glue, and paints of various colors for finishing. Watercolors of a school paint box can be used, but the colors are

weak and do not cover

paints are best.

well.

Tempera

or poster

Make Your Own Model

8

Forts

&

Castles

BASE The base

for the fort should be porous, so that the

breastwork material will more readily stick to should be strong enough that

it

will neither

it.

It

also

warp when

dampened nor curl up. Store-window display cards are often made from thick cardboard. A similar type of heavy construction board can be purchased from art supply stores. You also might be able to find a large sheet of brown corrugated cardboard of the sort used to pack grocery dry goods. But corrugated cardboard should be strengthened, either by glueing two or three sheets together in a laminated form or by glueing strips of wood to the undersurface of the sheet along the edges and diagonally, as shown in Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C.

more expensive, is a sheet of quarter-inch or half-inch plywood. Plywood will make the model heavier and a bit more difficult to move Better than pasteboard, but

warping problem. If you make the breastworks, buildings, and fixed base as separate units, you can set them up either indoors around, but

it

will not present a

or outdoors.

Although the base proportions given in Figure 4 are probably the most convenient, you can make the base any size you wish.

GROUND PLAN Draw shown will

out the ground plan on the surface of the base, as in Figure 4.

Use

a Ught pencil so that the

not show through the paint

later.

You may

marks

alter the

A

ROMAN FORT

fm

9

X

CO

N/

K Figure 4

m

ft

>l

10

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

ground plan by adding extra entrances or buildings, but the wall for this particular model has only two openings— the main entrance at the front and the secret tunnel near the rear corner.

PICKETS To make

the

breastworks, select

sharpened logs bristling from the small tree branches about one half of

an inch thick and cut them logs will look

more authentic

to three-inch lengths. if their

bark

is left

The

on and

they are sharpened at one end with four or five strokes of the knife to obtain the effect of axe strokes. Also cut the

longer poles for the gateway. Pickets can also be

made

from dowels purchased at a lumber or building supply store or from sharpened popsicle sticks.

SECRET EXIT This secret escape tunnel should be glued in place, before you begin to

model

can be made from sheet plastic or pasteboard, but you also can use a length of cardboard tubing from a roll of paper towels or toilet tissue, as shown in Figure 5. Make sure the tunnel is sturdy enough to resist collapsing under the pressure of the breastwork material. the breastworks.

It

ROMAN FORT

A

11

BREASTWORKS The following

is

the recipe for a salt-flour mixture

that can be sculpted to

form the

encirclement of

fort's

heaped-up earth— the breastworks: Ingredients:

Three cups of salt Two cups of flour Optional— fox more texture: one cup of coarse sand or one half of a cup of fine gravel. Stones should be no larger than one quarter of an inch in diameter. Larger stones

must be placed

the

as

pickets

are,

since

the

mixture shrinks while drying.

Mix times.

the salt

and

flour dry. Sift the mixture three

Very carefully mix

teaspoonsful. Stir with a

dough,

until the

in

water, starting with two

wooden spoon,

mixture

is

crumbly.

sticky or soupy, but crumbly, with

When

little

as It

you would

stir

should not be

pea-sized to half-

crumbs can be squeezed gently into a ball of claylike consistency, add no more water. This salt-flour mixture can be patted and molded with dampened fingers and modelling tools. Heap it carefully along the lines indicated in the ground plan, taking care to make the top smooth and the wall about inch chunks.

Figure 5

the

Make Your Own Model

12

Forts

&

Castles

one and three-quarter inches high. Check the height by standing one or two of the miniature soldiers in firing positions behind the wall. (Be careful when checking the secret tunnel not to press down hard on the tunnel and make it collapse.) Once the whole wall is heaped roughly in place, smooth its slopes with a modelling tool or

dampened

fingers, as

shown

in

Figure

6.

Since

meant

it is

and stones, leave tjie surface If you wish, you can cut crude gun

to represent piled-up earth

a Httle rough in spots.

ports at intervals along the wall, as indicated.

Use a tape measure

mark

to

the positions of the

The pickets an angle from about midway up

pickets along the front slope of the wall.

should thrust upward at

the slope at intervals of three quarters of an inch to inch.

Mark each

place with the point of a pencil.

one

Then

unsharpened butt end of a picket into the wall, making a socket about three quarters of an inch deep. Do not leave the picket in the wall; withdraw it and let the thrust the

socket dry. If pickets are

left in

the

damp

mixture, they

soon sag and pull the socket out of shape. Because salt absorbs moisture, the mixture will never dry rockhard, but it will become firm within two to four days, depending on the humidity. After forty-eight hours it will be ready for painting and the pickets can then be glued in place. Drying can be speeded up by placing the model in direct sunlight or on the door of the kitchen oven, with the oven set at its lowest temperature. will

The

salt-flour mixture

made immediately and rials

is

easily,

suitable for breastworks.

inexpensive and can be

but there are other mate-

The commercial

plastic

modelling clay, sometimes called Plasticine, does not dry out and can be salvaged for another project. Using

brown-colored clay eliminates the need to paint the

can also be made from potter's either the commercial variety or clay dug from your

breastworks. clay,

The

fort

Figure 6

A

ROMAN FORT

13

Make Your Own Model

14

Forts

&

Castles

backyard or elsewhere. Another possible material for the breastworks is papier-mache. You can make your own (see page 100) or you can buy a commercial mixture, such as Celluclay or Claycrete.

GATES The main front entrance consists of a simple log gate swung on a cantilevered, upright post. To make the gate, cut a rectangle of cardboard or plywood to size. Then glue sharpened twigs in place, as shown in Figure 7, lower

right.

Small, interlocked hoops of wire serve as

The upright cantilever pole is four inches long, with one and one-half inches imbedded in the breastwork wall. (As with the pickets, make the socket first; hinges.

glue the pole in place only after the wall has dried.)

made from a toothpick Next make the diagonal

Drive a small nail or a peg the top

end of

this pole.

into

pole

from a slender twig with a wire loop at its upper end. Fit this loop over the peg at the top of the pole to make a swivel. Attach the other end to the top outside corner of the gate.

The to block

rear secret exit-tunnel can have a small log gate its

inside end.

It

should be concealed at

end by a heap of brush and stones, as

its

outer

illustrated.

BUILDINGS There are two small buildings and a tent inside the breastwork enclosure. You can add more buildings if you wish. The larger hut is made of pasteboard or plywood in

A

ROMAN FORT

shown in Figure 7. Assemble the shown. Glue them together with white

15

the dimensions

walls

and

glue.

roof, as

While the glue is drying, select twigs of various diameters up to one half of an inch, leaving the bark on. These can be glued onto the outside walls as they are, or they can first be split into half-slabs and glued on with their bark sides out. Rather than have all the twigs the same size on any one wall, try to vary their size for a

more authentic look. The smaller lean-to building is also constructed of pasteboard or thin plywood, as shown in Figure 7. Split twigs are then glued to the roof surface, bark side out.

The "straw" bedding

inside the lean-to

is

made of

very

sun and then cut into short lengths with scissors. The grass should be layered, not scattered, on a thin layer of white glue and fine

lawn grass that has been dried

in the

then gently pressed into place with the fingers.

TENT This replica of an Imperial Figure

7, is

made

Roman command

tent,

with a twig or short dowel, pasteboard,

and lightweight paper. First cut the round base from pasteboard. Next construct an ''umbrella" by glueing a pasteboard disc one and one-half inches down from the top of the tent pole. Place the pole upright on the base. Then cut the tent skin from some light, crisp white paper. Typing paper will do, but the fine rice paper used for building model airplanes and available in most model shops is best. Glue the tent skin into place as tightly as possible.

When

with water to

the glue

make

it

is

dry, lightly sprinkle the skin

drum-tight.

16

Make Your Own Model

Figure 7

Forts

&

Castles

A

ROMAN FORT

17

Make Your Own Model

18

Add

the scalloping

Forts

&

Castles

around the roof edge and small

triangular flags of colored paper. Paint the tent in the

pattern

shown or devise your own pattern. base green or brown to match the base of the

and

Paint the

colors

fort.

DETAILS AND FINISHING The Imperial standard

ground in front of the tent can be made from a dowel and cut pasteboard. In this case it was made from a cocktail stirring rod that happened to have a fancy decoration on the end. Crimson fingernail polish and gold paint give it a regal look.

You can

thrust into the

glue together a similar device

made

of old plastic model parts (called sprue) or old costume jewelry.

Train yourself to keep an eye out for such "found" objects that might be converted for use in a present or

Making imaginative use of materials one mark of a good model builder.

future project.

hand

is

at

For other details and finishing see other sections of this book. For example, if you want to landscape the terrain surrounding the fort, see pages 69 and 100 for methods and materials.

BASIC TEXTURING

AND COLORING The assembled

fort

can

now be

finished

with

A

ROMAN FORT

watercolor or tempera paints. As

19

we have mentioned,

tempera or poster paints offer deeper colors and easier coverage, but watercolors are adequate. Unless you have used brown clay for the breastworks, they should be painted brown. (You can add paint or dye to the recipe for the salt-flour mixture at the

beginning of

this chapter,

but the result will be a light color, and the material will

have

to

be painted anyway.)

First

cover

all

"earthen" surfaces with light brown

adequate water to quickly "wash" on the color. Next add texture by dipping the brush in a darker brown and then dabbing it here and there or dragging it sideways across the surface of the wall. You can also add texture by splattering the paint with a stiff brush or paint, using

dabbing

on with a sponge

page 73 for further details of this method). Finally touch up lightly here and there with a brush dipped in earthy orange or yellowish brown. Things in nature seldom have pure, simple color, but are usually made up of mixtures of tones and shades. Texturing will give your miniature constructions a subtle and multicolored effect of authenticity. The surface of the base outside the breastworks of the fort can be painted dark green and later textured and highlighted with lighter green. A blue stream meandering past one corner can be added. You can paint all the inside area light green, or you can paint most of it green and make the areas around the buildings and at the entrances light brown. These areas represent places where the soldiers walk the most and wear away the grass,

it

(see

thereby leaving the earth bare.

Carefully add

touches of texture, such as streaks of green in the blue

water and specks of yellow on the green grass. Trees and underbrush and grass can also be added

by using the materials and suggestions presented on pages 69-70.

20

Make Your Own Model And

the

Forts

&

Castles

model can be further textured with

a final

spraying of selected areas in shadings of gray or black, as described on pages 72-73.

CONCLUSION With your most basic of

Figure 8

Roman

fort

completed, you possess the

fortifications in

model form, and you have

A

ROMAN FORT

21

exercised the basic modelling skills— planning, construction,

modelling, painting, and texturing.

ready to

move on

You

are

now

more complex and challenging of the American frontier. But first

to a

project— a palisade fort

there are other possible uses for your

completed work.

ALTERNATE USE Breastwork fortifications have been used throughout

human want

to

probably from the very beginning. If you use this fort with caveman miniatures, cover the

history,

tent with imitation skins rather than painted canvas.

For

an African village you might want to make the huts round, like beehives, instead of square-cornered and to replace the pole gate with a tangle of miniature thornbushes to keep the lions out, as shown in Figure 8. Breastwork forts were used by the pirates in the West Indies, during certain distant campaigns of the Napoleonic wars, and during our American Civil War.

Project 2:

FORT PHIL KEARNY

Figure 9

The stockades or palisade

log forts

marked

a

new

stage in

development of the art of fortification. These forts, made of wooden logs, were easily broken down and set afire by artillery. In most parts of the world, they were soon replaced by stone forts. This was not so, however, along the American frontier, where timber was plentiful. The frontier was continually changing and moving westward, and wooden forts could be erected quickly and cheaply. The forts were intended to protect settlers and travellers from the Indians, who were brave and determined antagonists, but who had no artillery. In most cases a wooden fort that was manned by two hundred men with a few field cannon was sufficient to hold off^ a thousand or more Indians the

When Indians threatened to overwhelm a fort, women and children were often sent to hide in powder magazine, which had a

the the

That secret hiding place is a special feature of this model. This project also includes instructions for setting up a small Indian village. The village can be enlarged by simply adding more tepees. false floor.

23

Make Your Own Model

24

Forts

&

Castles

Figure 10

TOOLS AND MATERIALS There are four different methods for building model:

Method Method

this

1.

Pasteboard with log effect painted on.

2.

Pasteboard with twigs glued on to look like logs.

Method Method

3.

4.

Plywood with log effect painted on. Plywood with twigs glued on to look like logs.

The knives and brushes acquired project will be sufficient for the

first

second two methods require other 10.

To

cut the

better yet,

plywood you

will

for the previous

two methods, but the

tools,

shown

in

Figure

need a coping saw. A, or

an electric-powered saber saw,

B.

A

drill will

be useful— either a hand drill, C, brace and bit, D, or electric drill, E— and an assortment of bits up to one half of an inch in diameter. You may also want to use a wider assortment of paintbrushes and perhaps a selection of paints in aerosol spray cans.

For method 1 you will need heavy pasteboard or a good construction board of the kind used to make the huts for the breastwork fort (Project

1).

Plywood

is

more

FORT PHIL KEARNY

25

and more permanent construction. For the base you will need halfinch plywood. The walls of the fort can be made from quarter-inch plywood. An inexpensive commercial plywood panelling with Philippine mahogany on one surface is ideal for the purpose. It is available in most lumberyards and can be cut (in a straight line) with a difficult to

work

with, but

it

makes

a sturdier

craft knife.

For methods 1 and 3 you will need only pasteboard or plywood. (The points of the logs will be cut along the top edge of each wall, and the surface will be painted to resemble vertical logs.) But for methods 2 and 4 you will need a large quantity of twigs or small tree branches. Ideally these should be already weather-dried, because green twigs tend to twist and curl away from the surface as they dry out. You can use smooth dowels, but they should be roughed up a bit with a knife or a file to give the look of barked logs. If you have a set of construction logs, such as Lincoln Logs, you may want to build all or parts of your fort with them. They are particularly helpful in making blockhouses. This fort has only two blockhouses, but if you use construction logs, you may want to put a blockhouse at each of the four corners. Other materials needed are twine, cotton cloth, toilet-tissue tubes, grit or sand,

and a

salt-flour mixture (see

white glue, spray paints,

page

1

1).

BASE AND GROUND PLAN Half-inch plywood will

make

is

best for the base, although

the whole project heavier than

if

it

you use

Make Your Own Model

26

Forts

&

Castles

quarter-inch plywood. If you intend to

make

the fort

dimensions shown in Figure 1. (The fort can be made larger by extending the length of the walls.) If you intend to include the Indian village, you will have to make the base larger. However it is best to build the village on its own base or even to place each tepee on an individual base. When using the fort and village outdoors, you can sprinkle earth, dust, or gravel lightly around the rim of the base to conceal its outline and make the terrain look more natural. Using a light pencil, draw out the ground plans for only, cut the base to the

the fort

and

village

1

on the base boards.

CUTTING WALL PARTS The next

step

is

cutting the various parts of the fort

out of pasteboard or plywood. First draw the various

shapes directly on the surface of your material with the help of a ruler and triangle.

Follow the dimensions

indicated in Figure 12.

Then saber saw.

cut out the shapes with a coping

You should end up

with

saw or

electric

five pieces for the

outside wall or palisade: two front pieces; two sides;

and

one back. The top edge of each wall should be smooth, if you are going to glue twigs onto the surfaces. Or the top edges of the walls can be cut to resemble the points of upright logs, as shown in Figure 12, if you intend to paint

on the log effect. Next come the two front blockhouses. Mark out the pieces and then cut them out. You should end up with four wall pieces for each blockhouse (sixteen in

all),

half

i

FORT PHIL KEARNY

27

of them with the narrow gun sUt. Each blockhouse roof is made in the shape shown, Figure 12, lower right. You may cut these out of construction board even if you are using plywood for the rest of the construction.

To

achieve the relief effect of methods 2 and 4 (see

page 24), lay out all the wall and then glue them in place. If

you plan

to paint

parts, cut the twigs to

on the log

effect,

do

it

fit,

before the

and glued in their final positions. In fact it is best to stop working on the construction of the fort itself at this point and to start getting the interior buildings ready. The final assembling and gluewalls are assembled

much

ing of the inside buildings will be

easier

if

the fort

walls are not already erected.

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Make Your Own Model

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FORT PHIL KEARNY

29

Make Your Own Model

30

Forts

&

Castles

HEADQUARTERS BUILDING We

have included only three buildings inside our fort— the headquarters building, the powder magazine, and a lean-to cook shed against one palisade wall. The real Fort Phil Kearny had many more buildings, as well as a parade ground. The fort can be enlarged to include more buildings by simply extending the length of the

and placing them on a larger base board. The main structure of the headquarters building is simply a box made of pasteboard or plywood with doors and windows cut at the appropriate places, as shown in Figure 13. You can paint the log effect on the outsides of the walls, or you can glue half-logs horizontally along the outside for a more realistic look. walls

14.

Notice the corners of the building shown in Figure If you are glueing half-log twigs on the wall surfaces,

by allowing alternate ends to stick out an extra one half of an inch. If you decide to paint the log effect, you can cut each corner edge of each wall in a pattern indicating alternate extended log ends. These alternating "notches" can then log-cabin corner effect

you can

get

be

together easily to give the effect of logs, as

fitted

the

shown in Figure 14. The porch is made of pasteboard or plywood panels that are supported by boxwood or twig uprights and decorated with stairs and railings, as shown in Figure 13. Windows and doors can be elaborated with strips of pine or balsa to simulate window frames, sills, and doorsteps. The porch roof is a panel of pasteboard or plywood, as are the two panels that make up the main roof. Paint the wall and roof sections before they are assembled, since the logs

on a

flat

it is

much

surface.

easier to lay

down

the lines of

FORT PHIL KEARNY

/^

R EAR U'A LL

t."

tn

^

^

i7". \>^

FRONT cr (1) l^.'/VB

ir

po

r=2.

Of-

cTy^

Po/RC

l\cio F

nf^^x>OF='

r/

If

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.71 //

7^

po RC H /=

O /- o

rr

PoRcvli

CrMT Figure 13

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31

Make Your Own Model

32

Forts

&

Castles

PAINTING LOGS

AP^ ROOF SHINGLES You can

use watercolors, but tempera

is

better.

Luma-type dyes, and even colored felt-tip pens are adequate. Crayons are a bit dull, but they will serve. If you use chalk pastels, spray the

Acrylic paints, inks,

finished surface with shellac or acrylic spray (available in

most

art stores) to

prevent smudging.

First paint the wall surface light,

medium brown.

Next lay out the horizontal edges of the logs with straight edge and pencil, spacing the lines five sixteenths of an inch apart. Now outline the logs in dark brown, taking care not to draw absolutely uniform lines; let your brush

Figure 14

FORT PHIL KEARNY wander a

little

to imitate the

33

rough bark texture of the

shown in Figure 14. Use the same brown to suggest knots and bark texture. Next use light, yellowish brown to add highlights along the top of each log to log's edge, as

indicate hght falling

number

from above. Finally use a

fine

brush and black paint to accent the divisions between the logs and to emphasize such features as knots 1

and wood

grain.

FELT-TIP The

painting

PENS techniques

described

and

here

elsewhere in this book will produce the most convincing surfaces, but there felt-tip pens.

a convenient shortcut—

These pens are particularly

cardboard. They Particularly

is

come

in

sets

effective

on

of brilliant colors.

good are the Paper-Mate El Marko larger areas of color and the Pen-tel

markers for pens for fine black lines. A set of colored pens will cost more than an equivalent amount of caked watercolors, but probably no more than tempera or acryhc paints. However, you will not need to buy and care for brushes, and the pen colors dry quickly. The disadvantages of the pens are that the colors do not cover any darker undermarking and they

work

poorly on such rough surfaces as plaster, stucco, sand,

and plywood.

The

roofs can be painted dark green, dark brown, or

dark gray and shingle

that way, or they

One way to indicate surface medium brown and

eff'ect.

paint the

left

can be given a

shingling

is

to first

then outline shingle

shapes in dark brown or black. Shingles can be

more

Make Your Own Model

34

Forts

&

Castles

by actually cutting courses of shingling out of brown construction paper and then glueing them down on the roof like real shingles. effectively suggested

Both roof and wall panels may warp or curl at the corners after painting if you have used pasteboard or construction board. Wait for the paint to dry.

Then

place

and wall panels on a flat surface and put books or other flat weights on top of them. Let the weights stay in place overnight. Pressing the back of the piece of board with a hot iron may help to flatten it out. the roof

ASSEMBLING

HEADQUARTERS BUILDING First

put the walls together,

fitting the

notched edges

Glue with white glue or epoxy. Then glue the assembled walls in their proper positions onto the ground plan. Next put the porch base in place, then the uprights, together.

then the porch roof, then the railings.

roof in place, as shown in Figure

Then

glue the

main

13.

LEAN-TO COOK SHELTER The and

shelter

twigs.

Roman

It

Fort.

is

is

made from pasteboard

or

plywood

similar to the lean-to in Project

The roof can be painted

1,

the

plain brown, or

it

FORT PHIL KEARNY

35

can be shingled. The upright posts can be twigs boxwood pine. The lean-to cannot be positioned until outside walls of the fort are up, but you may want to parts of the lean-to ready at the same time you build

or the get

the

other inside buildings.

POWDER MAGAZINE The powder magazine was used for storing gunpowder and other explosives. It was built of heavy logs set upright in a pit in the ground, with mounds of earth heaped up against the outside. The shape was most often circular. The thick walls were meant to protect the stored ammunition and arms from a stray shot from outside and the rest of the fort from a possible explosion.

You can make

magazine from real "logs"— cut twigs set upright in a circle and held in place by heaped clay or a salt-flour mixture, as shown on the top of Figure

the

15.

The

wall

can

be

made

also

of pasteboard

or

construction board and later painted to resemble log

Cut a

of heavy construction board to the size indicated. (If you use grocery box pasteboard,

construction.

make

strip

sure the corrugations run vertically.) Place wide

masking tape along the "back" side of this strip. Mark the vertical bend marks every two inches, as indicated by the word "fold," Figure 15. Now score or cut along each of these marks, pressing the craft knife blade down into the board about one half of its thickness, but take care not to cut through the far side. the vertical cuts,

Once you have scored

you should be able

to

bend the

all

strip at

36

Make Your Own Model

Figure 15

Forts

&

Castles

FORT PHIL KEARNY

37

keeping the side with the masking tape on the inside of the bend. Bend by bend, bring the strip or wall around into the circular shape, as shown in Figure 15. each

cut,

Next cut the gun

slits

with your craft knife.

the outside to resemble logs or planking set

Then paint

up

vertically,

using the painting technique discussed on pages 32-33.

When

the paint

with tape.

You

is

dry, close the circle

will

and glue or secure

then have the circular wall of the

magazine.

Now

cut the false floor of the

into this circular shape.

Add

been hinged with paper or 15, top.

Then

magazine

to

exactly

fit

the secret trapdoor that has

cloth, as indicated in

set the circular wall in place

plan of the fort interior and glue

it

Figure

on the ground

into proper position

on the base. Next mix up the salt-flour mixture, using one half of the amounts listed in the recipe on page 1 1 Or you can use one of the alternatives suggested for the breastworks .

of Project

1,

such as Plasticine, Claycrete, Celluclay, or

homemade papier-mache (see page midway all around the wall, as shown

100). in

Heap

Figure

this

15.

Next glue eight or more small blocks of pine or balsa at regular intervals around the inside wall. Rest the false floor on these blocks and glue it in place. This floor and the interior wall of the magazine can be painted to resemble planking or can be left as they are. You can make some powder barrels by painting small plastic or aluminum thirty-five-millimeter canisters bright red and adding white XXX's or the word DANGER. Miniature ammunition boxes can be made from pillboxes or matchboxes and also painted red. Stack the boxes on the false floor, perhaps one covering the secret trapdoor. Cut the roof of the powder magazine from pasteboard or very stiff' paper, following the pattern given in Figure

15.

Add

small

wooden

lugs to hold the roof in

Make Your Own Model

38

Forts

&

Castles

pushed down over the circular wall. The roof should stay in place by its own weight, but it can be lifted off when you want to see inside. Now the magazine is ready to receive fugitives. If the defenders are overwhelmed by a siege of the fort, the commandant may order the women and children to retreat to the magazine, let themselves down through the trapdoor, and conceal themselves in the secret compartment under the floor. He may send a soldier or two in, and if the Indians get over the wall and seem sure to take the fort, he may order the soldier to blow up the magazine to save the noncombatants from torture or capture. Or he might remove most of the explosives, retreat to the hiding place with his few remaining men, and hope that they will not be discovered (and that the place

when

it is

Indians will not set

fire to

the fort before returning to the

wilderness with their loot).

Now painted,

that

the

and glued

inner in place,

buildings it

is

are

assembled,

time to assemble the

walls of the fort.

ASSEMBLING PALISADE WALLS up the main walls, following the ground plan drawn on the base board. Glue all walls along the bottom and at the corners with white glue or epoxy. Prop First put

the walls in place with blocks of

wood

or bricks until the

glue takes hold. After the two front walls

and three other

and glue together each of the blockhouses and then place one on each front comer of the fort, as shown in Figure 12, upper right.

walls are firmly glued, assemble

FORT PHIL KEARNY Make

sure

into

angled position until the glue dries.

39

two walls with gun slits are facing outwards from each corner. Make the log underbracing of each blockhouse out of pine or balsa and pin or tape it its

the

Cut the front gateway from pine or balsa and glue its three main timbers in place. Then add the two gates, which are made of either pasteboard or plywood, painted to resemble planking, and hung on hinges of either leather, cloth, or tough paper. False bolt heads can be added later to these hinges, either as dots of paint or as droplets of one of the liquid metals described on page 54.

CATWALKS AND LADDERS Catwalks run around the inside of the wall high enough for a sentry to see over the tops of the palisades. Make the catwalks from strips of pasteboard or plywood.

Cut uprights from pine or balsa and glue them in place. Ladders can be made from pine or balsa, with matchsticks or dowels for rungs.

EXTRA DETAILS Make

the sign across the front edge of the porch

roof of the headquarters building with

a

section

of

pasteboard or a tongue depressor. First paint the sign with a wood-grain effect. Then add the white lettering.

Hang

the sign with fine wire.

40

Make Your Own Model The

Forts

&

Castles

flagpole in front of headquarters can be carved

from pine, balsa, or a peeled tree branch. Its lanyard can be white grocery string or fishing line. The flag can be made of paper or cotton cloth. Make the hitching post out of the same kind of twigs as the catwalk uprights. Storage drums can be made from paper-towel tubes cut into segments and papered across at top and bottom. Make the watering trough out of pasteboard or plywood. Fill it with clear acrylic to resemble water or fit it with a mirror painted with a light wash of blue. The well at the corner of the stockade was made from an old face-powder box, but it can be made with another type of round receptacle. Whittle pine for the well's uprights and crossbar and use heavy grocery cord for its rope. The rifles stacked in two sets in front of the hitching posts can be carved from pine and painted or can be purchased from a store that sells models and miniatures.

FINISHING chimney of the headquarters building is made from plywood or pasteboard, it can be painted to resemble stone. First brush on a coat of off'-white or light gray, the color of the mortar between the stones. Allow If the

Then paint the stones dark gray or medium brown. Make them irregular in shape, with the the paint to dry.

mortar showing through, as indicated in Figure 16. For other stone eff'ects see page 57. The base can be painted with watercolors, but tempera gives a denser color. Because tempera and all

FORT PHIL KEARNY other water-soluble paints often smudge, against smearing by spraying with fixative.

For more permanent

shellac

color, use

"fix"

41

them

or acrylic

model enamel of

the Pactra type.

You may want simply to paint the ground around and inside the fort medium brown or two shades of green to represent grass. You may decide to follow the painting brown areas paths where men and horses have worn

ground plan shown simulate the

down

the grass.

in Figure 16.

Light green

is

The

light

used for the parade

Dark green represents tall grass and underbrush. Or you can use a matting of artificial grass made for model landscaping (see page 69). ground

grass.

yUkt^UA^m^^^

Figure 16

Make Your Own Model

42

Forts

&

Castles

SAND SPRINKLING For added authenticity sprinkle the work areas with sand. This is a popular method for giving surfaces the gritty texture of sandy earth. You will need one cup of clean sand or grit and white glue. First spread a thin, even coating of the glue on the areas to be sprinkled. White glue can be thinned with a small amount of water if necessary, and a fairly wide brush (about two inches) spreads it more smoothly. Be sure to cover every part of the surface you wish to texture. When the glue becomes tacky, sprinkle it with the sand. You will get a more even distribution if you sprinkle the sand through a piece of

window screening

or spread

sanded surfaces with the

it

flat

with a flour

sifter.

of your hand to imbed the

grains firmly in the glue. After the glue dries,

board and gently shake

off'

Pat the

tilt

the base

the excess sand.

The sand-sprinkling technique can also be used to add texture to walls, as described on page 57. The fort walls and the buildings should now be retouched to make sure there are no unpainted areas. Selected areas of the model can then be spatter-painted or sprayed to give them an overall even tone. This advanced finishing technique is discussed on page 73. Trees, bushes, and other undergrowth can also be added, particularly around the base of the outside fort walls.

For suggestions on such landscaping see page 69.

INDIAN VILLAGE Fort Phil Kearny was built within the boundaries of the traditional Sioux hunting grounds.

The Sioux were

FORT PHIL KEARNY nomads, following the buffalo herds and changing

camps

at least twice a year.

Their

43 their

tents, called tepees,

were made of buffalo and deer hide and could be folded up quickly and trailed behind a horse to another location.

TEPEE ground plan, using an oval sheet of quarter-inch plywood for the base, as shown in Figure 17. Or you can build each tepee on its individual circle of cardboard or plywood. Next cut tent poles (ten for each tent) from tree branches or dowels. Two of the ten poles should be one inch longer than the rest. When the tent is erected, these two poles will extend above the others and help to hold the smoke flap open. The poles will look more authentic if you taper them at the top. Bore eight holes about one quarter of an inch deep around the ground-plan circle of each tent. Glue the base First lay out the simple

of each pole into

its

socket, gather all eight poles at the

and tie them with a piece of cord, as shown in Figure 17. If you wish, you can now add detail to the interior of at least one of the tents— thongs hanging down to hold weapons and food, a small cooking fire, bundles of furs and blankets, and a medicine man's dance mask. Cut out an outside covering for each tent, following top,

The covering can be cut rice paper used for model airplanes. Select a brown paper and cut and glue it into place on

the pattern given in Figure 17.

from the yellow or the poles.

When

with water.

It

the glue has dried, sprinkle the paper

will

draw

tight across the poles like real

44

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

'i

Figure 17

FORT PHIL KEARNY

45

can then be painted with watercolors, poster paints, or airplane dope. You may want to cover the tent hide.

It

with fine cotton fabric or, lacking anything else, shelf paper.

You can

fold

back part of the covering

to reveal

the interior.

and glue position around the bottom rim of the tent, one

Finally cut small pegs from matchsticks

them

in

peg next

to the

base of each pole.

DETAILS AND FINISHING The base can be painted following the painting plan offered in Figure 16. The brown areas are the places where horses and men have worn down the grass. You you wish, following the directions given on page 42. Trees and underbrush can be added (see page 69) as well as papier-mache stones (see page 57). The whole village can be spray-painted for texture (see page 74). The pegged buffalo skin near one of the tepees can be cut from good cardboard that has been dampened to warp it a bit. Paint it brown and then peg it to the base

can sand-sprinkle the base

if

board with short lengths of matchstick glued in place. The tripod for the large outside campfire can be made from pine and painted black. The pot can be made from an old wooden door pull covered with Liquid Steel (see page 54). The fire can be made of charred sticks glued in a circle and sprinkled with ashes; a small wad of red and yellow cellophane, representing flames, can be glued to the sticks.

46

Make Your Own Model The war

lances and the

the village can be

Forts

&

Castles

bows and arrows

made from

bits

of

lying about

bamboo and

or they can be assembled with plastic

model

paper,

scraps.

vwtWWv

,;.i .*«. '.. ....'.I

'

'.•'/^•.'J

t./i

>*''**•-*•*•'•*'''*•*»'••• '»•«*»*-*.'

I . ' . i;i j.i^ i ..i ' .i.; ' i^ i ;.

*

*-' '-* *'

—

'

' ' I * ;'.. .

'

*..

fy'H'^'^ i r'

*«-« '---'».*-'». «-»

.

»

' .

..

i

.*.*»»«»...-*. -*-.- *|-»" «-»

«.*-»-«

Figure 18

ALTERNATE USE The Indian historical

can be used to recreate many engagements between the American Indians village

»«*.».«..

..

FORT PHIL KEARNY

47

and the U.S. Cavalry, such as the Wagon Box Fight and the Fetterman Fight. With a few more tepees you might stage the Custer Massacre.

PaHsade log

forts

were

well as for the fur trade in

built all

Canada. Log

used by the barbaric tribes particular the Vikings.

along the frontier, as

were also of northern Europe, in forts

Project 3:

A NORMAN CASTLE

Figure 19

Some

scholars say that the art of fortification reached

its

peak during the Middle Ages, the time of the great castles. Most castles were built before effective artillery was invented. This project involves the construction of a relatively simple castle of the sort King John may have used during his campaign to rid Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood and his troublesome yeomen. Such squarecornered castles were built all over Europe and in the Near East during the tenth through the fifteenth centuries. A more elaborate, round-walled castle is presented in Project

6,

Castle Gaillard.

49

Make Your Own Model

50

Forts

&

Castles

TOOLS AND MATERIALS You

need most of the tools used for the previous project, in particular a good jigsaw or electric saber saw for cutting plywood. You can use clamps to hold the parts in place while the glue sets. You may want to add a few new paintbrushes to your collection, especially a number 00 brush for very fine work and a two-inch brush will

for dry brushing.

The

castle

is

made almost

entirely of quarter-inch

plywood, preferably of good quality and smooth on both

you intend to finish the castle in stonelike relief, you will need patching plaster, as explained on page 57. For finishing you will need sheet metal, cord, small chains, and some kind of artificial metal, such as Microweld or Liquid Steel. sides. If

^

;DI^AWBRiD(liiiil!!

% poRTcauus K,

CORNER

Vo PLATFORMS u

ff

__, i4

K Figure 20

m"" IH

/v

rf

X

V

A

NORMAN CASTLE

51

BASE You can

build the castle on a half-inch- or one-inch-

plywood base, in the dimensions shown in Figure 20. However, the castle is designed so that it does not have to have a base. Building it open at the bottom, without a base, makes it easier to use indoors on any kind of simulated terrain, such as a wrinkled blanket. Or it can be used outdoors on a piece of real landscape, such as a rocky hummock, and a real moat can be dug around it and actually flooded with water.

CUTTING AND ASSEMBLY Cut the parts in the dimensions shown in Figure 21. Note that the back wall extends upward, also forming the back wall of the keep or donjon. Assemble and glue the four main walls so that the front wall laps over the butt edges of the side walls, and the back wall does the same.

To hold

the walls in place while the glue dries, block the

walls into position with stacked books or

cement blocks.

These corners can be secured further by the careful driving of small finishing nails. Make sure the glue is dried thoroughly before you assemble the other parts.

GATE This gate can be closed

in

two ways— with the

drawbridge drawn up outside and with the portcullis lowered along the inside of the arch. Many castle gates were also equipped with big wooden doors.

Make Your Own Model

52

Forts

^

//

ir"

DD

^K

Castles

D

/\

7

&

^

1"

9

nL

LJ

re:

W/^ LL A/

Ltf

(1)

^

.70


1

N/

^S-W-E

-U-

.^.

^

-M

NSIP E

7

W

-^FOWIl

7

A/

^

^r

WAM L

3i^

TOWE

(1)

F?.

^^tAffPOftM

n I'r

3;

7

V Figure 21

V

V

A

NORMAN CASTLE

53

Figure 22

The drawbridge, shown

hinged at the bottom, either to the base board or if there is no base board, to a wooden stringer running across the bottom of the archway. The drawbridge is drawn up by means of two fine chains or two strings running through holes or pulleys beside the door. (You can find inexpensive fine chains at the costume jewelry counter of your local dime store.) There is a bead or knot on the end of each string or chain which helps in the pulling and which can be locked into the notched block to hold the drawbridge up. The portcullis is a gridwork made of timbers and iron or just iron. It is meant to be dropped quickly to block the gateway. forth

from the

When

in

Figure 22,

is

a raiding party that

had

sallied

castle returned with the besiegers in

pursuit, the portcullis

was dropped

just as they passed

inside to safety. This often prevented the pursuers

getting

any further than the

The

hot

from

gate.

can be cut from plywood, or black sheet plastic, or sheet metal, such as aluminum. Or it can be made from pine or boxwood pieces that are carefully whittled to size and then glued. The metal portcullis in Figure 23

Make Your Own Model

54

Forts

& Castles

CROSS- SECTION PULLEY

FROM SIDE

FROM ABOV/E

5

/

poFcrcuLLis ^t-^ ^5i-JD&5 IN 5LOTS

Figure 23

Strapping at the corners and sides can be

cardboard that black.

The

is

made from

glued in place and painted dark blue or

bolt heads can be

made from dabs of

liquid

Micro-Weld or Liquid Steel. If the portcullis does not have enough weight to lower smoothly, plugs of lead or other metal can be pushed or metal,

such

as

glued onto the beams.

The

portcullis slides

down

a pair of

glued to the inside of the archway.

It

boxwood is

slots

and shown in

raised

lowered by means of the two cords, arranged as

Figure 23. If you wish, you can use real pulleys for a

smoother

section.

DONJON The word donjon sounds dungeons were indeed often

dungeon, and the the basement of the

like

in

A

NORMAN CASTLE

55

donjon, a central tower to which the defenders would

whenever the enemy got through or over the outer walls. This fortress within a fortress was also

have

to retreat

called the keep or inner bailey.

Your keep can be observation platform.

chamber

at

a simple square tower with an

An

alternate plan calls for a secret

the back of the keep, with a secret exit

opening out from the base of the back wall. As you can see in Figure 24, the tower is divided by a plywood or cardboard partition into two rooms. The front room can be entered from the doorway at the base of the keep. A ladder leads to a trapdoor in the tower observation platform. The other trapdoor at the rear of the platform gives access to another ladder going down into the secret rear chamber. From this chamber one of the large stones at the base of the rear wall (actually only a small door in the plywood wall) can be pushed out, allowing a person

i_r

^ 'I

P

I u

h <

i

o o

r

Q

I

1

D

i

liJ

a

'$ <(

<

i r^ a.

Figure 24

I

_i Side

v\//M-u

lil

Make Your Own Model

56 to

Forts

&

Castles

escape to the area behind the castle. The hidden

chamber may be used as a dungeon for prisoners, or it may be kept as an emergency exit in case the enemy is on the

verge

of

taking

possession

of

the

observation

platform.

DETAILS Glue or

nail

the triangular firing platforms onto

each of the three other corners, as shown in Figure 19 at the beginning of this chapter. Then glue a firing catwalk

around the inside the tops of the arrow notches or

into place all

The

walls,

two inches below

crenellations.

from a length of pine. A flag can be made of painted paper. Fold it to resemble a hanging banner and then spray it with shellac or acrylic or coat it with isopan resin. The first two materials are available in art supply stores; the latter two can be found in model shops. Special details then can be added— strips of wood glued under windows to simulate stone sills, and triangles of wood glued on the outside corners to give a buttress flagpole can be whittled

eff'ect.

FINISHING The quickest way to finish the castle is to paint it, as shown in Figure 25. Off'- white is recommended for the

A ground

color.

Once

NORMAN CASTLE the base coat

stones, letting the white

The handling of window

dried, paint in the

is

show through sills,

57

as lines of mortar.

door arches, and so forth

is

suggested in Figure 25. Note that the stones are often a

toward the base of a stone wall. The secret exit in the back wall of the keep and castle is camouflaged to look like one large stone. bit larger

Figure 25

You may to

paint the inside surfaces of the

resemble stone, or you

neutral gray.

The

may want

to

main walls

make

the walls

outside walls of the keep or donjon

should be painted with the stone pattern, of course, but the inside of both the front

and the

secret

be painted nonglossy or matte black to difficult for the

rooms should make it more

observer to see that the front

room of

the

donjon does not occupy the full depth of the tower. For a more elaborate stone eff^ect use plaster of paris, Pollyfilla, or any smooth spackling compound available at a building supply outlet. Mix the compound

58

Make Your Own Model

Forts

^^

&

Castles

-^

-^^^

Figure 26

and spread While this layer

to a fine, pastelike consistency

layer

on the wall

inscribe

it

with a

surface.

damp

it

is

in a thin still

wet,

matchstick, outlining the irreg-

ularly fitted shapes of stones.

The

inscribed line

made by

becomes the mortar lines between the stones. You may have to do one small area of the wall at a time, depending on how fast-drying the plaster is. the matchstick

When

the plaster

is

dry, paint each stone gray or

brown

and perhaps highlight each with a small brushstroke of yellow or white.

Or you may consider using one of the scenic effects that are sold in cards or sheets in model stores. They are in full color and often embossed. They represent a wide range of textures, including grass, crazy paving, cobbles,

There are also various wood-grain and stone effects in wallpaper and in contact paper sold in many houseware stores. You may want to cover your

stone,

and

gravel.

A castle walls with

NORMAN CASTLE

59

one of these materials, thus eliminating

paint. If

want

you build your

castle

to decorate the floor

the cobblestone

eff^ect.

of

on a base board, you may its

interior courtyard with

For landscaping the base board

outside the castle see other landscape notes, particularly

on pages 69-71.

You can paint catwalks, platforms, and all other woodwork with tempera or watercolors, following preon page 32. contact paper for the

vious suggestions about wood-grain

You may even

find a suitable

eff'ect

and other areas. more textured and convincing

catwalks, doorways,

A

finish

may be

obtained with the dry-brushing techniques discussed on

page 73.

ALTERNATE USES Many

Middle East were of a basic square design and were defended during wars involving the Turks, Greeks, and Arabs. Hundreds of such castles still exist in Spain, Portugal, France, and Germany. And those built by the Normans still stand in northwestern France and in the British Isles. of the Crusader castles built

in

the

Project 4:

THE WESTERN FRONT

Figure 27

The next

beyond breastworks and the rifle pit are trench and bunker systems designed for long-term infantry warfare. It was from such defensive systems that the Central and Allied Powers faced one another on the Western Front during the four years of World War I. The trench systems of that war were often very elaborate; each front consisted of many trench lines, one behind the other. This tabletop diorama shows two front-line step

by an area called No-man's-land. However, this piece of fortification could easily be inserted into a larger system of trenches dug outdoors. With more room you could include artillery, which was usually located quite a distance behind the front lines. You could even add barrage balloons and aircraft for an imposing panorama of battle, as shown in Figure 27. As you can see, this is an ambitious and timeconsuming project— one that may take several days to complete. But the result could be a handsome display piece as well as an authentic battleground. trenches separated

62

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

TOOLS AND MATERIALS You

need most of the tools collected for the previous projects, plus a two-inch-wide brush for dry brushing, a trowel for plastering, a good pair of pliers, and a pair of wire-cutters. You also will need quarterinch and half-inch plywood; assorted light pine; unpeeled twigs; fine, coiled wire; a few inches of sisal rope; at least five pounds of plaster or spackling compound; and paints and other finishing materials. will

BASE AND GROUND PLAN The base of this tabletop diorama is a double-deck construction. The ground plan of the bottom panel shows only the trenches, Figure 28. (One of these is zigzagged

Figure 28

THE WESTERN FRONT

63

enemy from taking one portion of it and directing enfilade fire down the length of the trench.) The top panel can be marked to indicate the two lines of to

prevent the

barbed wire and the three different shell pits. There is one large bottom panel, and there are two top panels, one large, the other narrow, as shown in Figure 29. There is one end panel, and there are two side panels, all narrow and rectangular. Cut all six of these panels from quarter-inch plywood with a jigsaw or skillsaw. To cut the shell holes, first bore a smaller hole with a brace and bit or electric drill and then cut the larger opening with a hand or electric saber saw. Finally you will need about twenty short studs and two-and-oneX 2 pine. Other sizes of scrap half-inch lengths of lumber can be used for the studs, which will eventually be hidden by plaster. 1

ASSEMBLING BASE The two decks of in

the base are assembled, as

shown

Figure 30. First glue and nail the studs so that they

stick

up from

the

bottom panel

in

the proper places.

Notice that along the zigzag walls of the trenches there are one-quarter-

The

to

one-half-inch spaces between the

on the trench wall by clinching into these spaces between the studs. When the studs are glued to the bottom panel, position the top panel and check the positioning by trying the side panels. Glue and nail the two top panels into position. Then glue the side panels into position and nail them with small brads. The nail heads will be covered by the finishing. As studs.

plaster can get a hold

Make Your Own Model

64

N

L^

Forts

&

pAn

D

Castles

e

.

1—

I

/^

J 1

^

,;/i" >/^

y'

<

V

s.

y^

'

>-i;l

ll

Top PANEL A

4"

.

six^

T

'V

xl

3"

/^ V^>1 "XL >4>

^r^ -l

_

TOP ^ANEL_ B

J

f

U

zd

Z < a

7

3"

ll

Z

-1 1

< III

n

1

^ ^

1

-A r<

1

1

1n /U

\. p^

\-

^

°

(S)

-J

i/]

r-

:^

4\\

\1

,

Figure 29

liJ

^^-'

>

"^^

/^y"NJ

1

THE WESTERN FRONT

65

Figure 30

you can see, space is left open at opposite corners for the two headquarters bunkers. You may choose to cut a third opening for the machine-gun emplacement.

TRENCHES Trenches were first dug in the earth, and then their walls were reenforced with sandbags, wooden planks, or mats of woven tree branches, called wicker. Figure 31 shows examples of all three, but you may want to limit your trenches to only one or two kinds of reenforcement.

Make Your Own Model

66

Forts

&

Castles

Figure 31

Make

brown Stack them the

the sandbags out of light muslin or

cotton and stuff

them with

dirt

or sand.

same way bricks are stacked. If they do not stay in place, glue them in place or apply a coat of plaster and press the bags into place against the plaster.

Planking can be of real wood, such as boxwood pine or old cedar shingles. Nail or glue the planking in place or apply a coat of plaster and then imbed the planks in the plaster.

Weave

the wicker screens

from green

twigs. First

and then press the screens into place against the plaster, allowing some plaster to bulge out between the twigs as real earth does. (Before the plaster the trench wall

wicker

is

pressed into place, the plaster can be color-

tinted, as suggested below.)

Those portions of the trench wall not reenforced by wicker or sandbags can be made to look like earth with a mixture of plaster and earth. Brown tempera paint or dye can be mixed into the plaster-earth mix, but the tint will be weak, and the plaster will probably have to be painted a second time once the plaster dries. Carefully trowel the

mixture onto the trench walls. Make sure the first layer is pressed against the studs firmly enough to force some of the plaster to go

between the studs and

to

bulge out a

THE WESTERN FRONT

67

on the far side. This helps clinch the plaster in place. Once the plaster is trowelled on, you can sculpt it. Dip the trowel or knife into water to help you to stroke the plaster more smoothly. Make the walls rough in some places and smooth in others, just like real earth. Imbed stones here and there, and add small heaps and scatterings of rubble to the bottom of the trench. For this you little

can use gravel, sand, cork, pencil shavings, or sawdust. Pour plaster off the tip of a spoon to resemble little slopes of sand spilling from the sandbags or

down

the earth

walls.

Because plaster dries very quickly, work on only a five- or six-inch section of the trench wall at a time and mix up a fresn batch of the plaster-earth mixture each time.

BUNKERS The bunkers. Figure

32, are

made from

sections of tree branch with the bark left on.

be

made from

Figure 32

''planks," strips of

boxwood

"logs," short

Or they can

or old shingle.

Make Your Own Model

68

Forts

&

Castles

Figure 33

Try

to

judge

stacking

how many

them

such logs you will need by

loosely in position^

Then prepare some

and spread it on the floor of the bunker in a layer that is no more than one quarter of an inch thick at the center and thickens as it reaches the walls to perhaps three quarters of an inch. Line up the logs around the walls and imbed them in this flooring. Glue or nail the ceiling beams in place and trowel a final plaster-earth mixture

thickness of plaster-earth mixture across the top.

sandbags

to the

Add

roof of the bunker for protection against

Use the plaster-earth mixture to patch up any gaps in the bunker walls. The machine-gun bunker has no roof, but it is put together the same way as the larger bunkers. artillery hits.

NO-MAN'S-LAND The area between

the opposing trenches

was called

No-man's-land. Before an attack from either side there

was usually heavy

artillery shelling

of

this area.

When

THE WESTERN FRONT

69

were ordered "over the top," they climbed out of the trenches and hurled themselves across the barren patch toward the other trenches, from which came withering machine-gun and small-arms fire. Such attacks from either side, however, seldom succeeded. The rapidfiring guns were too eff^ective. Thus the war remained stalemated in the trenches for four years, and many men the troops

died.

To prepare

the shell holes in No-man's-land,

first

"pouches" in the openings in the plywood. The pouches can be made from heavy paper or from cloth that has been soaked in shellac to make it dry stiff'. Or you can look for suitable shapes in extruded styrofoam of the sort used to pack appliances and dry goods, as shown in Figure 33. A cup from a styrofoam egg carton will serve as the smallest shell hole. The pouches for the other two shell holes might be cut from the styrofoam sheets used to pack avocados and grapefruit. Place these pouches in the openings and glue around the rims. sling

LANDSCAPING Make

a fresh batch of plaster-earth mixture.

Trowel

expanse between the trenches. Heap it up around the rims of the shell holes, adding small stones or bits of cork and other rubble for an authentic look. (You can use papier-mache instead of plaster, see page 100.) There should also be some rubble it

thinly across the entire

along the edges of the trenches and at other

You

random

sand on certain areas. First apply a coat of white glue and then sprinkle it with sand. places.

also can sprinkle

70

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

Figure 34

pencil shavings, or sawdust. Before the plaster dries, cut

lengths of sisal rope or twine, grasp each length firmly at

one end, and tease the other end out into individual strands, as shown in Figure 34. These little bundles of sisal strands become small bushes when inverted and pushed into the surface plaster. Bushes and other undergrowth also can be made from twigs, pieces of seaweed, and green and brown sponges sculpted with scissors to look like full, rounded bushes. Many flower shops sell tiny dried plants that can be cut short and glued in bunches. There is also a variety of forest moss, or lichen, that can be dried and made into small bushes. It is sold in model shops and can be found in the woods in New England and sometimes in the Southwest. Impressive plastic models of bushes and trees are sold in

many model model

shops, particularly those serving

There are also commercial models offences, walls, bridges, and the like. Large hobby shops usually have mats of artificial grass, known as Vaupe or Noch-type mats. Sawdust or pencil shavings scattered on a thin layer of white glue and then painted bright green can be used for a grassy surface. We have already discussed the achievement of stone eff'ects (see page 57). railroad

buff's.

THE WESTERN FRONT

71

^-^ ^^

\\^j^^^

r\v—/l^v/ j^(^\

Q'

^-—"

—

T'^^

f/>iy

(~~"^^\ T^'^'K^iC^u^^ ^

^^

y

u

^^3 -i^^

Figure 35

A study

of natural land areas will give you a feel for

miniature landscaping. Notice

how undergrowth

tends to

bunch up, often accompanied by accumulations of stones or rubble and hummocks of earth. You will also notice that almost nothing in nature matches perfectly— tree trunks are crooked more often than they are straight, and the smoothest-appearing field

is

not actually smooth.

BARBED WIRE The barbed-wire entanglements can be prepared before the plaster is laid down. The tripods are made from clothes-hanger wire or wood painted black. The wire for the entanglements is number 30 galvanized, a very fine wire that comes on a small wooden spool and can be rolled off' in one-inch loops, as shown in Figure 35. These are loosely supported by the tripods, and the tripods and wire are lightly imbedded in the plasterearth surface.

72

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

DETAILS You may of course add such details tables made of pine or balsa. You can

benches and use tools from commercial toy sets or carve them from wood and plastic. A miniature tea set can serve as cups and saucers. The radio equipment in one bunker can be made with a kitchen matchbox that has been painted and decorated to look like a receiver. The duckboards along the bottom of one trench can be made of balsa painted brown. The bomb-shattered tree in the midst of No-man's-land can be a small sapling, uprooted, bent and broken, its branches actually smoked in a fire. You can add other details to your No-man's-land— the wreckage of a burntout tank and the bent remains of a downed fighter plane. as

PAINTING The

plaster walls of the trenches can

be painted with

tempera or watercolors. You may wish to use a more permanent paint, such as those manufactured by Tester, Humbrol, and Pactra and sold in most hobby shops. Historex also makes excellent paints, which are sold in the better

model shops. Whatever

you will most of the

the brand,

want a matte rather than a glossy finish for landscaping. You will need black and white paints, plus the range of colors off'ered in a basic paint box of twelve colors, and matte clear varnish. You will also need paint thinner and brush cleaner. Ask for the printed material given out by the manufacturers; it contains advice on the use of thinners and cleaners and includes color chips.

f

THE WESTERN FRONT

73

These permanent model paints are more expensive than tempera or poster paints, but the latter can be made permanent by spraying them with shellac or acrylic. In your study of natural landscapes you will notice how the colors of nature tend to blend gradually from one tone to another and how color in nature is almost never pure, but is almost always made up of many colors that combine to give the impression of a single hue. Therefore give your

multi-chromatic,

work a more

color-textured

effects

will

true-to-life look.

For the trench walls use medium ochre or dull yellow for the ground color, and cover all wall surfaces with it. When the ground color is dry, begin shading it by adding areas of a darker color, such as medium brown, in those places where there are likely to be shadows— for instance, on the undersurface of the stone. Such shadings should be carefully blended with the ground color. You may want to add second or third colors of yellow or brown in some areas. Finally add highlights of whitishyellow to certain spots where sunHght might be reflected, such as the top surface of a stone.

The shading may be brushed

on,

or

it

can be

on from a wet brush. Draw the brush across a stiff piece of metal or cardboard and direct the splattering droplets toward the surface being painted, as shown in Figure 36. You may also want to dry-brush the tops of rocks and the rim of the trench. First prepare a mixture of dust and facial powder, perhaps adding a touch of dry ochre tempera. Dip a dry brush in the mixture and then snap the brush over selected areas that are still wet with paint. The powdered material will adhere to the paint, giving it a lighter-colored highlight with a powdery, matte finish. You can drybrush with just about any color, carrying the tone of the base color toward a darker tone splattered

or toward a lighter one.

74

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

y-'--h^''^^^ 2„»: •

-.

'1-

•

.

<*

\

' •-«

;

•

•••

:':Ji^"'' .:'.

.w•

,.

'•

•,.... .•

;>

.:.••.'

Figure 36

Finally

the

burnt and smoked-over look of the

added

diorama by judicious use of spray paints. Even if randomly applied, the fine shadings of sprayed black or off'-white paint can give your landscape the subtle color-textures. Determine the places where the spray should strike thickest. One battlefield

Figure 37

can

be

to

the

trench

THE WESTERN FRONT way

to

do

this is to

decide the location of an imaginary

sun over the trenches. If the sun left

of the display— darken the

the side in shadow.

75

Keep

to the

in the other shadings. Lightly

is

low

left

to the

west— to the

side of each trench,

same location of

the sun

spray a fine shading of

black inside the bunkers and on the shady side of the

barbed-wire tripods, of any wreckage in the

field

and of

each stone.

ALTERNATE USES This project also could be used for play with toy

and equipment representing periods other than World War I. Bunkers and trenches have been used in all the wars since World War I, including the wars in Korea, Vietnam, and even the Middle East. soldiers

Project 5:

THE MAGINOT LINE

The Maginot Line of French

in

the

fortifications

was

built

by the

1930s in the hope of preventing the

Germans from repeating

their

World War had been

I

invasion of

built during Giant concrete forts World War I, but the Maginot forts were larger, stronger, and far more complex, stretching nearly two hundred miles along the northern French frontier. When World War II began, the German Panzer Divisions simply went around the forts, through unfortified woodlands, and into France. However, the Maginot Line remains the most elaborate set of fortifications ever built. The larger forts, called ouvrages, consisted of an enormous complex of gun emplacements and underground tunnels that sometimes occupied two or three acres. This project is a reconstruction of one of the medium-sized forts— a reenforced concrete casemate for one seventy-five-miUimeter artillery piece and one fiftycahber machine gun, complete with underground storage and living quarters for six crewmen. The model can be used indoors and hung on a wall, as shown on the title page of this book, or it can be taken outdoors and buried in a bank of earth, as illustrated in Figure 38.

France.

TOOLS, MATERIALS, AND ADHESIVES You

need an especially sharp craft knife for cutting styrofoam. You will also need the kind of plastic cement that dissolves the plastic at the point of application, in effect "welding" the parts together. This cement comes in various forms under various brand names. There are thick varieties for the rough work and liquid Mek-Pak for the finer, more delicate bonding jobs. The will

77

Make Your Own Model

78

common,

thicker variety usually

probably adequate for

You

Forts

&

comes

Castles

in a

tube and

is

this project.

need five-minute epoxy glue. There are various brands available, such as Devcon, Britfix 19, and Foxy Poxy. Epoxy glue comes in a twin-pack— one pack contains the adhesive and the other the hardener. Equal quantities are mixed together and applied, and in five minutes the bond is set. The advantage is that this adhesive successfully joins materials normally not compatible, such as styrofoam to paper and wood to metal. will also

This project calls for particular shapes of styrofoam,

but you can use whatever odd shapes you might discover.

Extruded or molded styrofoam is the white, corky material used for the cushioning and packing of various industrial and food products. It is usually molded or shaped to fit exactly against the packaged item, and thus its shapes are very peculiar and interesting. Keep an eye on trash cans and refuse bins for promising styrofoam shapes. You might ask your local appliance dealer, hardware store, or grocer to save interesting styrofoam forms for you. Styrofoam also comes thick

and

6x2

house insulation.

made from

this

in sheets,

usually one inch

Most building suppliers sell it for Our Maginot casemate box can be

feet.

one-inch styrofoam.

Other materials needed for this project are plywood, boxwood, balsa, nails, paints, and assorted hardware.

BOX AND GROUND PLAN In this case you will not need a base board, but will

need a box

to contain the unit.

The box

will

you

encase

THE MAGINOT LINE

79

gun casemates on top and the storage and hving quarters underneath or "underground." You can construct the box from plywood or use an apple box. To some extent the selection of one element of the project may determine the size of the others. For instance, if you find styrofoam appliance packing that is suitable for the main concrete casemate at the very top of the fort, the fort, with the

the size of the packing will determine the dimensions of

box which

house the living quarters. Styrofoam when it is properly finished resembles concrete. An ideal box would be one made of thick styrofoam. If you are unable to locate a molded styrofoam form that exactly fits your need for the top, glue three pieces of one-inch styrofoam together to form a laminated threeinch block. Then carve it into shape with a craft knife, rounding off' the corners. Construct a box out of one-inch styrofoam in the dimensions indicated in Figure 39. Add "floors" of oneinch styrofoam, each cut to allow the elevator shaft to pass upward. the

is

to

Next find some styrofoam forms suitable for the dome-shaped turrets at the top of the fort-one for the big gun, another for the machine gun. The grocer might give you a molded sheet of styrofoam with deep, wide cups used to pack avocados or grapefruit. (These domes can also be made from papier-mache, see page 100.) Cut one of these cups free of the sheet and glue it atop a paper collar to make a main gun casemate, as shown in Figure 40. A cup from a styrofoam egg carton can be the turret for the machine gun. Do not glue the turret in place, but fit it into a cardboard collar, so that it can turn in a 360-degree circle and cover all approaches to the fort. Glue the collar in its circular socket in the main casemate block.

80

Make Your Own Model

Figure 39

Forts

&

Castles

THE MAGINOT LINE

81

DETAILS Make

from the tubular body of a plastic felt-tip pen by cutting the tubular body into three pieces to form the two angles and then glueing the pieces with plastic cement. Or make the periscope with dowels or any tubular material of the right size. The ladder tube can be the pasteboard tube from a roll of kitchen paper towels. Insert a balsa ladder and cut

away

the periscope

a section of the tube to

show

the ladder.

The

various water and air supply and communications tubes

can be

made from

plastic tubing, old

plastic drinking straws

rubber hose, and

of various colors. The thinner

conduit can be single-strand insulated electric wire. Strip single-strand copper wire of

various

its

and use it for door pulls and

insulation

hardware purposes, such as

handrails.

A

styrofoam packing form used for protecting a flashlight is just the right shape for a circular or tubular

The elevator shaft also can be square. The elevator can be made out of a container for frozen orange juice with a metal top and bottom and cardboard sides. Cut away half of one side to show the elevator elevator shaft.

interior. First paint

it

The cables that pull woven cord from an other flexible cord.

Figure 40

black and then add details in white.

up and down can be of Venetian blinds or any

the elevator

old set

Make Your Own Model

82

Forts

&

Castles

The various "machines" in the equipment and air conditioning rooms can be styrofoam forms that have been modified with a

DoUhouse

craft knife.

can

be

used in the living quarters, or pieces of furniture can be made from furniture

pasteboard, balsa, and scrap pine.

Certain pieces of equipment in (there

was no radar

assorted hardware.

ing

up from

plastic

in the 1930s)

The

the

radio

room

can be small items of

three tiny glass insulators stick-

the control console can be the tops of clear

pushpins that have been thrust into the top of the

The instrument panels can be parts of a plastic toy spaceship. The crescent-shaped control panel can be a decal from a model plane kit. The elaborate wiring

console.

panel can be from the inside of a broken transistor radio.

FINISHING Paint or spray the two gun cupolas iron gray to

resemble

steel.

The

easiest

of reenforced concrete

is

way

box the look before adding

to give the

to spray-paint

it

such details as conduit, air pipes, furniture, machinery,

and electronic equipment. You can purchase aerosol cans of paint in some hobby shops and larger cans in most hardware stores. You will need a matte, or dull, finish rather than a glossy, enamel finish. To finish in one coat, use medium gray and spray lightly, building up the

You can get a more subtle effect box medium to dark gray, letting

color to the right shade.

by

first

spraying the

that coat dry,

and then spraying

lightly with off-white.

Once you have painted those parts of the model that are meant to be concrete, begin fitting in the construction details— air tubes and conduits, machine-gun and artillery pieces, and elevator and elevator cables. Paint

THE MAGINOT LINE selected items with Pactra

enamel model

ing silver for metallic parts. finished,

you may want

When

all

83

paints, includ-

the details are

to spray sparingly with

medium

gray paint to obtain the slightly-soiled-overall effect that

equipment acquires after being in one place for some time. Finally add the movable details, such as furniture, working tools, and cooking electronic equipment, utensils.

ALTERNATE USES Similar large concrete bunkers with gun emplace-

ments and machine-gun cupolas were

used

by

Germans in their defense of the Normandy coast end of World War II, as well as by other military

the

at the

forces

around the world— in Singapore, Corregidor, and the South Carolina coast of the United States. This underground complex might also be converted into a more modern and electronically sophisticated Missile Com-

mand

Center (see Figure 41).

we^a^^^y^

Project 6:

CASTLE GAILLARD

Figure 42

model of a round-towered castle, believed by some experts to have been the most perfect small castle ever built. This model can be built so that it may be used indoors on a table or rug or carried outdoors and set up on a rockv terrain similar to that for which it was Here

is

a

designed. Altemativelv.

it

mav be

built with

its

own

working moat. Either wav. it is one of the most ambitious and time-consuming projects in this

terrain, including a

book.

Chateau Gaillard was built in 1199 bv the English king Richard the Lion-Heart to protect his possessions in Normandv against the armies of Kins Phillip Augustus. Phillip wanted to win back Normandy for France and to chase the Endish back across the Channel to Britain. Richard called Gaillard his **Saucy Castle" and was convinced that it would never be taken by assault or sieae. However. Gaillard did have one small but fatal flaw, and our model will have the same.

86

Make Your Own Model

Forts

& Castles

TOOLS AND MATERIALS You

need

will

and utensils plus those needed for

most of the

required for previous projects,

tools

making papier-mache— a large pair of scissors, receptacles for mixing, and broad paint brushes for laying down paste. You will also need a good stapling gun, plywood, pasteboard, modelling clay, balsa, and scrap pine or boxwood. Add materials for making papier-macheflour, salt, old newspapers, and a few ounces of formaldehyde. Other materials needed are two yards of vinyl sheeting, scenic cards with cobble and stone effects, a variety of paints (both in cans and spray containers), and perhaps some plastic plumbing pipes and fittings. Materials and tools will vary, depending on how complete your model will be and whether you decide to use plumbing fixtures for your towers or make them from papier-mache. Read through the instructions before making up a list of materials.

TERRAIN You must

first

decide whether you want to

make just

on which it stands. Instructions for the castle alone begin on page 91. To make the castle and its terrain, you must first build the rocky hill on which the castle will stand. This hill should be typical of the usual and ideal castle sitesteep slopes on at least three sides, with possibilities for surrounding the castle with a moat filled with water. If you decide not to include the moat, the building of the hill is relatively simple. To make the rough basic shape of the castle or the castle

and the rocky

hill

CASTLE GAILLARD the

hill,

87

use a box, a pair of papier-mache bowls used for

hanging plants, or just about any other bulky form that can be fixed to the base board. This form can be elaborated with pieces of styrofoam or wood and then covered with a skin of papier-mache that has been molded to resemble rocky terrain (see page 100). But if you want the hill to have a moat, the

more complicated, as shown in Figure 43. First build a skeleton or framework of the hill. For this you will need quarter-inch and halfX 2 and inch plywood and pine or spruce lumber in 2x4 sizes. The square base board is cut from half-inch plywood. Next cut the two smaller pieces, A and B, from quarter-inch plywood. These two pieces, one circular and the other more or less triangular, will form the top level of the hill where the two main parts of the castle will rest. Next cut four pieces of 2 X 4 lumber, each six and one-half inches long. Glue and nail these into the construction job will be a

little

1

positions indicated.

These "legs"

will

support the two top

Then position small "tables" on the base board and glue them into place. Use finishing nails to level pieces.

"toenail" the uprights into the base board.

Now

frame the slopes of the hill. First cut wedges from 1 X 2 lumber as shown in Figure 43 D. These wedges must be glued and nailed to the base board at crucial locations around the hill. Cut side panels in the dimensions shown and glue and nail them to the wedges, making sure they lean at an angle to form the slopes around the hill as shown in Figure 44. These panels need not fit perfectly, but they should be tight enough that the papier-mache will not sag too much or fall through the spaces between the panels. Create a definite slope, but with enough variation that the papier-mache can be apphed with the irregularities of a natural rock slope. To add even more irregularity, glue various odd-shaped

88

Make Your Own Model

Figure 43

Forts

&

Castles

CASTLE GAILLARD

89

and there on the slopes as the top of Figure 45, and then cover them with

pieces of styrofoam here

shown

at

papier-mache skin

to

represent outcroppings of rock.

You may

to

add a styrofoam form, see Figure

also

want

be covered with papier-mache, to give the effect of steps cut into the stone slope of the hill. Next cut the irregular shapes of quarter-inch

44, later to

upper surface of the hill, as shown at the top of Figure 45, glue and nail these pieces into place. But leave space for the moat, which will run around the outer tower and around most of the main castle at a width of about four inches.

plywood

Figure 44

to

fill

in the

90

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

FRAME WITHOUT V/NYL

PRESSING- VINYL INTO fMoAT

FRAME WITH VINYL STAPLED

Figure 45

CASTLE GAILLARD Create covering as

the

down

shown

moat by

slinging

into the slot that runs

in Figure 45.

You

will

a

watertight

91 vinyl

around the towers,

need a sheet of green or

blue vinyl at least one yard square.

Lay

this sheet

over

Then use your fingers to poke the vinyl down into the moat slot to make a channel about three inches deep. The vinyl will wrinkle on the turns and will the entire

hill.

can be manipulated to form a watertight channel for the water with ample vinyl left over on both sides of the channel. Now place glue all along the edges of the channel. Press the vinyl down and staple it firmly on both sides along all edges. There will vary in depth, but

it

be accordion folds and wrinkles, and staple these firmly,

plywood top of the hill. Before going a step further, test the moat by running some water into it. If you do not get a complete ring of water around the outer tower and on three sides of the castle itself, you must readjust the vinyl. Drain the moat by siphoning out the water with a small rubber hose. If you have found leaks, seal the holes with vinyl cement or with swimmingpool repair patches. Finally use your craft knife to carefully cut off the excess vinyl. Cut a small circle on the tower platform, exposing the plywood so that the tower may be glued in place. Cut away the vinyl from the as they are, to the

center of the triangular area, then cut

away

around the outside edge of the moat. Now you are ready to begin building the

the excess

vinyl

its

rocky

hill.

(Finishing the

hill

comes

castle

upon

later.)

CASTLE As you can

see from the

Gaillard has five distinct

ground plan. Figure 46, lines of defense which an

Make Your Own Model

92

must get past

attacker

steepness of the third barrier

fourth

is

is

Forts

&

to take the castle.

hill itself.

The second

is

Castles

The

the moat.

the separate tower, or outer bailey.

The

last

bailey, or donjon. This

line

of defense

The The

is

the inner

tower must be taken before the

conquered. If you have decided not to construct the is

the

the second drawbridge into the middle court-

yard, or bailey.

castle

first is

finally

your model, you will need a base board of half-inch plywood that has been cut in the dimensions shown in Figure 43. Once the castle is glued down on this base and finished, you can paint a flat moat in blue. The castle has two large round towers— the outer bailey and the inner bailey, or donjon. There are also two smaller towers guarding the corners of the middle

Figure 46

hill

for

CASTLE GAILLARD

93

These towers can be made from balsa or pine and papier-mache, or they can be made more easily from plastic plumbing pipe and fixtures. bailey's courtyard.

papier-mAche towers To make

a round tower from papier-mache,

first

cut

round forms from cardboard, soft pine or balsa, as shown in Figure 47A. Glue stringers along their edges, starting with four, then adding enough to complete the tubular form. Add a skin of papier-mache. Since this surface should be smoother than the rocky slope, use a more watery flour mixture and lay each strip down carefully. Smooth down all roughness with your three of the

fingers.

When

the tube has thoroughly dried, use a razor

blade or craft knife to cut the crenellations, or arrow slots, along the top rim. Finish these details with small strips

of papier-mache. Finally paint the outer surface in

a stonelike pattern (see page 40).

The two smaller towers can be made

in the

same

manner, or you can use cardboard mailing tubes or other types of commercial pasteboard tubes that can be converted for the purpose.

PLASTIC

TOWERS

plumbing pipe comes in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be purchased at some hardware stores and most plumbing outlets, see Figure 47. For this model Plastic

94

Make Your Own Model y\

Forts

&

Castles

/

PAPIER- MACHE

PLASTIC

r

1=LJ14V

R-H Pig,

Figure 47

need three four-inch straight couplings, B, two five-inch flange couplings, D, two eight-inch lengths of two-inch pipe, C, and two flange couplings for two-inch

you

will

pipe, B. If these parts are not available, the

plumbing

dealer should be able to find equivalents after studying the drawing.

A

special

cement

is

sold for glueing these

For the outer bailey tower you will need four-inch coupling with one five-inch flange

parts together.

one straight

shown on the left of or main tower, should have

coupling glued on the top of Figure 48. The inner bailey,

it,

as

I

PLASTIC

Figure 48

two straight couplings and one flange on top. Each of the two small corner towers should have a length of pipe topped by a flange coupling. These parts can be glued together with the special cement, or you can use epoxy glue.

Cut the pipe with a hacksaw or an electric saber saw. For a quicker method of cutting, heat the blade of an old knife and use that. The blade will cut the plastic like butter for a few moments, but then you will have to reheat it and cut again, and so on. This method can leave a gummy and ragged edge, but the edge can be sanded or smoothed with a craft knife once the cut has dried. Make the windows and doors by first drilling a hole and then cutting the rest of the shape with a saber saw. Or make a rough hole with a hot soldering iron and then cut the rest with a hot knife blade. As you can see, the

Make Your Own Model

96

&

Forts

Castles

one opening onto the outer drawbridge, the other forty-five degrees around the tower and opening onto the inner drawbridge. Each of the smaller corner towers has two narrow doors, one at outer bailey has two doors in

base,

its

the base inside the courtyard, the other at the catwalk level,

also inside the walls.

The main or inner

bailey

tower has one door opening onto the inner courtyard and

up to its upper firing platform. The two larger towers have crenellations, or arrow notches, the trapdoor leading

along their top walls.

You can

cut similar notches into

you wish. Or you can put pointed roofs on the two smaller towers. These roofs can be made from conical paper drinking cups, or they the top rims of the smaller towers

from above

CRENE:LLATioNS \

\

/

/

K

if

\

/

\

/

inside 5urfA(

/

\

.

OUTER

-^ ;;".

Surface

>i

;i^

A

/-k—jJ— -J \ Y

^^

I

^

^

-4

.

1

[_

1 1

1

1

7/

> ^JT t^\ Y

1

.

/

f

F

1

I

V

1

Figure 49

1

i|

—

1 '

1 1

1

1

1

3"

1

1

'

!

'

1

1

1

-r

1

— V

>

1

^

1

1

CASTLE GAILLARD

97

can be fashioned from cardboard, with perhaps a shingle effect.

Drill small holes flanking the top of the

outer drawbridge.

door

The cords or chains from

to the

the bridge

should then be threaded through the holes and drawn up to the tower's top platform,

from which the bridge may

be raised and lowered. Before the towers are

mounted

in place

on the

hill,

them in a stone pattern (see page 40). Paint papiermache towers with watercolor or tempera. Plastic towers should be painted with model enamel of the Pactra type paint

with a dull matte finish.

When

the towers are ready, glue

them

into position

with liberal amounts of epoxy adhesive, as

shown

in

Figure 50.

Next the walls must be prepared and put

in place.

WALLS The main outer

walls of the castle, called curtain

can be constructed of balsa and papier-mache or made from one-inch lumber. However, they are more easily made with styrofoam, which can be finished to look very much like stone. Cut the walls from a slab of walls,

one-inch foam, finishing

shown

in Figure 49.

off'

the

top crenellations, as

The notches should be narrow on

toward the rear to allow the archers a full sweep of the terrain below the walls. With a craft knife, cut the archway of the main gate into the front wall. Use a ruler and a straight edge to draw the lines of the stones on the outside of each wall. the outside but wider

98

Make Your Own Model

(T)

WALLS

IN

Forts

& Castles

PLACZ.

Figure 50

Draw them

very lightly with pencil and then

work over

By pressing firmly that is deep and dark,

the lines with a felt-tip pen.

into the

foam you can make

actually

a line

throwing each stone into exactly alike; break the

relief.

No

two stones should be here and there and let

hne a bit on selected

smudge slightly stones. Now we come to the matter of the fatal weakness of Gaillard. The castle had been under siege by King Phillip's army for several months, and the attackers had only managed to get across the first drawbridge and to the ink

CASTLE GAILLARD

99

break into the outer bailey tower. They had to somehow get across the second drawbridge and into the middle bailey. But the moat was deep, and the defenders poured

from the walls above the moat. The French attempted to drain the moat, but there seemed no

a withering

way

tp get

fire

named Peter window high on

through the wall. Then a soldier

Snubnose happened to notice one small the wall above the inside gate. For some reason

had no bars. A sewer pipe ran down the wall beside this window. Under cover of early morning darkness Snubnose and it

window and chmbed in. They then banged doors and made enough noise for a hundred men. The ruse worked. Convinced that the whole French army was inside the his

men

scaled the drainpipe to the level of the

walls, the defenders retreated to the inner bailey tower,

or donjon. That was the beginning of the end for the

"Saucy Castle."

A

few weeks

later the last eleven

men

of

the garrison surrendered.

Cut the strategic window high up on the wall, as shown in Figure 49. For the drainpipe use any kind of tubing, such as a plastic drinking straw.

*

Use epoxy glue to secure the three curtain walls into place between the towers. If you have painted the stone effect correctly, the lines of stones on the towers and walls will match and be continuous. Glue into place strips

of styrofoam as catwalks along the top of the inside

and one-half inches deep. Stairways also can be cut from styrofoam and glued into place at appropri-

walls one

Ladders can be placed into the various towers. If you make the towers from plastic plumbing fittings, cut round discs from one-inch styrofoam and fit them into the tops of the two main towers as firing platforms. Inscribe the top of each disc with the outline of a trapdoor. Cut discs from cardboard for the firing platforms of the smaller towers.

ate spots.

Make Your Own Model

100

Once give the

the towers

hill its

Forts

and walls are

&

Castles

in place,

it is

time to

skin of papier-mache.

papier-mAche You can use a commercially prepared papier-mache compound such as Claycrete or Celluclay, but because the consistency of such compounds is more like modelling clay, they are better for

modelling objects than for

creating a strong, thin skin for the

may want

to construct

hill.

However, you

random rock forms with Celluclay

These forms should be covered with the papier-mache skin, as suggested in rather

than with

styrofoam.

Figure 50.

newspaper into

one quarter of an inch to one inch wide. Variety in the width is desirable; you may want a broad strip to cover a wide hole or a narrow strip to take care of a smaller detail. When the paper is ready, prepare the paste. (You will probably have to prepare several batches of paste.) Put three cups of flour in a large bowl. Mix in water until the consistency is between soupy and pasty. Stir in three teaspoons of salt. Also add formaldehyde to discourage insects from eating the model. Formaldehyde is sold in chemical supply outlets and comes in diff^erent degrees of strength. Ask the salesperson how much to use for your First cut a

strips

purposes.

Now

one of the wider paper strips and drag it through the flour and water in the bowl. The mixture should be wet enough to thoroughly soak the paper. Squeeze off' the excess mixture between your thumb and select

CASTLE GAILLARD forefinger, but

be sure

both sides of the

to leave a thin coating

strip.

Now

101

of paste on

place the strip across the

perhaps at an angle to the right. Lay the next strip across that at an angle to the left. Let the ends of some of the strips come to rest at the rim of the moat on the top, but firmly paste others to the base board at the bottom. slope,

around the place some more horizontally across it. Gradually

After you have laid the strips vertically slope,

cover the entire slope

the

all

all

way around. Then begin

to

some character by building up a suggestion of rocks or outcroppings of earth. Pinch up folds and add httle wads of saturated paper. Overlay these folds and wads with lengths torn from the narrower strips. Smooth out air bubbles and cover unwanted pits and holes with

give

bits

it

of soaked paper.

A process,

hair dryer can

but

it

is

be used to hasten the drying

best

to

let

the

papier-mache dry

While it is still only partially patch up the rough spots. Once it is

naturally for several days.

you may want to thoroughly dry, you are ready

dry,

to paint.

PAINTING You can

paint

the

and various or you can use one of the

inner courtyard

inside paths with a stone effect,

commercial cobble or stone scenic cards. To finish the slopes of the hill and the area just across the outer drawbridge, first paint the landscape a neutral color, such as medium brown. Then add darker tones to appropriate spots— those that might be stained, pitted, or cast in

shadows. The more coats you use, the

Make Your Own Model

102

Forts

& Castles

more variations in color tone you will achieve, and the more natural the landscape will look. You can also sand-

Add

sprinkle the level areas.

spots of green for moss,

yellow for lichens on the stones, blue for small puddles,

and red

for flowers.

Add

highlights of off-white or yellow

to indicate the

sharp edges of stones and places where

sunlight might

hit.

brown or gray

Finally use a fine spray of

medium

broad areas of the hill and the castle. On cloudy days the sunlight never falls evenly on the earth or even on a house or a castle. The sun is moving, the earth is moving, the clouds are moving. Light never really comes to rest outdoors. That is the effect you want to simulate by spraying broad areas. In other words you should imitate the changeable, patchy to lightly tone

nature of daylight.

FURTHER DETAILS For the making of drawbridges, see page 53. For this model the outside drawbridge only is workable. Its draw chains run through holes beside the doorway and up through the tower to the platform above. You can make the inside bridge

movable

as well.

Colored shields can be hung along the outside wall of the castle or on an inside wall. These are the shields of the knights of the castle; each is different and represents the arms and devices of the knight or his family. You can make the shields from pasteboard or carve them from styrofoam and then paint them with tempera or model enamel.

Bushes can be added to the slopes and ledges of the

CASTLE GAILLARD hill.

You can make them from

103

sponges, dried seaweed, or

combed-out tufts of sisal twine (see page 69). Sills for windows and arches can be elaborated by adding carved styrofoam details. If you wish, carve statues for decoration—a pair of lions to guard an entrance or the figure of a hero for the courtyard.

ALTERNATE USES Most of

the castles of the late

the round-towered type. This to recreate the siege

same

Middle Ages were of castle could

of Toledo or El Alcazar

be used

in Spain, the

an old Crusader castle by Lawrence of Arabia, or any one of the many small-castle sieges in English

siege of

history.

Project 7:

MOUNT CASSINO

Figure 51

i

World War

Armies landed at Anzio in central west Italy, but their invasion was held up by stiff German resistance. The Americans and British were In

II

the Allied

particularly frustrated in their attempts to take a fortified

monastery atop Mount Cassino. The fort finally only after weeks of intensive infantry assault,

bombardment, and This project

Cassino

is

fortress.

purposes, but the

fell,

but

artillery

air raids.

a reconstruction of the

It

is

famous Mount

simplified considerably for play

Germans and

Italians

had

a series of

underground fortifications within the shell of the monastery and a honeycomb in the rocky top of the hill. As the bombardments slowly reduced the outer buildings to rubble, the German fortifications were slowly revealed. This model is a complex and challenging undertaking. But if you have come this far, you have learned a lot and are probably ready to rely on your own skills and imagination. Do not hesitate to follow your best instincts, changing and adding materials as you see fit.

Make Your Own Model

106

Forts

& Castles

TOOLS AND MATERIALS You

need approximately the same collection of tools required for previous projects— sculpting tools, saws and drills, hammer and nails, painting equipment, utensils for mixing papier-mache, plywood, balsa, boxwood will

pine, pasteboard, construction board, paints, clay, glues,

dowels, assorted plastic model parts, and materials for

making papier-mache

You

also will

items,

such

and old newspapers). be able to make good use of spare model as buildings, fences, machinery, and (flour, salt,

furniture.

BASE BOARD AND MOUNTAIN The base board should be made of half-inch or oneinch plywood, as shown in Figure 52. The second level, or top of the mountain, should be

made of

quarter-inch

plywood, with a rectangle cut out of its center for the secret gun emplacements. First build a framework upon the base board using

2x4

studs

and

side panels, as

shown at the bottom of Figure 52. Consult pages 62-63 on the possibilities of framing a double-deck model. Then see pages 87-88 for the process of applying papiermache to the rocky slopes of the hill.

SECRET GUN EMPLACEMENTS As you can

of Figure 52, our fortress within a fortress consists of a rectangular tray that fits see, center

MOUNT CASSINO

Figure 52

107

108

Make Your Own Model

Forts

&

Castles

mountain to make a pit and artillery. Once the guns

into the hole in the top of the

deep enough to hold soldiers and troops are in place, carve a block of styrofoam to resemble a concrete roof. Put it in place over the gun pit. Next the town must be built up around the guns.

GROUND PLAN shows a provisional ground plan for placement of the buildings clustered around the hidden gun pit. But feel free to vary this plan as you see fit. The Figure 53

availability of certain materials

Base Bqar^d 2-ND

Figure 53

L-EVEU

may

suggest a change. If

MOUNT CASSINO

109

you have some Lincoln Logs or other toy construction materials, you may want to build one or more of the buildings with those materials. If you own one or more plastic models of buildings for a train layout, you can save yourself work by including them in your Mount Cassino cluster of buildings. Or you may want to make extra cardboard buildings and convert the headquarters building from logs to stone (see page 40). As you can see in Figure 53, the monastery proper consists of a series of three walls, one inside the other. Lowest on the hill is the outer stone wall, which is fivesided like a pentagon. Next is the first facade wall, quadrangular in shape. Finally there is the highest inside facade of building fronts, triangular in shape. Each of these three-walled enclosures runs along its own ground line. Run wooden stringers of half-inch pine along each of these ground lines on both sides, creating slots to hold the walls upright, as shown in Figure 54. The width of the slots depends on the width of the material used for the walls— a touch more than one half of an inch if you are using half-inch plywood, a touch more than three

you are using one-inch pine. The wall sections should sit tightly enough in these slots to remain upright, but loosely enough to be knocked free during a bombardment. There is an easier but less permanent way to hold quarters of an inch

if

the walls in place. Instead of building the slots, use small

I

1 Figure 54

'X'X'X'X'X'XvX'.v.* ^:o C>^ -X'X'X'X'X'X'Xv.v

P

110

Make Your Own Model

wads of papier-mache or

balls

Forts

& Castles

of window putty or

hold the walls upright, as shown on the right end of Figure 54.

modelling clay

to

CUTTING THE PARTS Cut all parts with a jigsaw or saber saw from halfinch plywood or one-inch (three-quarter inch finished) pine or spruce. Cut windows and doors into the two sets of building facade walls, as indicated

in

Figure 55.

Next cut each of the twelve wall parts lengthwise in irregular, zigzag lines, as indicated in Figure 55. These are the lines of destruction— the points at which each wall will crumble and break in half as the result of bombardment.

ASSEMBLING THE PARTS Now

assemble

all

the loose parts without glueing

them to be sure they fit in place along the ground line and at the comers. Wherever necessary, fill in the gaps with new chunks of wall. Then remove and put aside the top portions of each piece. Assemble the bottom portions, fitting them into their respective slots along the three ground lines (those of the outer wall, the second facade wall, and the inner facade wall). Once the lower portions of each wall are in place, mix up more papier-mache and work the ground surface up around the base of each wall for a more natural effect. Leave the slots open and loose. Now you are ready to place the top portions of each wall— to fit back together the jigsaw puzzle of the monastery so that you can add the roofs.

!

MOUNT CASSINO

Figure 55

111

Make Your Own Model

112

Forts

&

Castles

Figure 56

ROOFS The roofs can be made from quarter-inch plywood, pine boxwood, or cardboard. Itahan roofs are often tiled. You can achieve a tile effect by peeling one layer from a grocery store pasteboard, thus exposing the corrugated inner core. This corrugated core can then be painted

orange or red to resemble tiled roofing. Since the buildings have only front walls or facades, the roofs will not really roof anything. Most should rest independently at different levels on a single wall, as

shown

in Figure 56.

You may want

to glue

and

nail in place

some of

the

roofs— for instance, the one at the top of the highest bell tower. Others can be

made

to stay in place

without being

permanently attached, so that a bombardment can shake them loose. Drive several small nails into the top edge of the wall and then cut off the heads with pliers or wirecutters.

Then

drill

small holes in the roof, as

shown

in

Figure 56.

Chimney pots (usually two or three in a row) can be made of rolled and glued paper or wooden dowels, as

MOUNT CASSINO

113

Figure 57

indicated in Figure 56. Cut

them

to the

proper length

and notch them to rest on top of the roof panels. Doors can be cut from quarter-inch plywood and propped inside the doorways without hinges, ready to

Make Your Own Model

114 fall

away when

&

Castles

bombard-

the wall collapses during a

made from

ment. Shutters

Forts

light

plywood or pasteboard

can be attached lightly with straight pins, so that they too will fall away.

DETAILS AND FINISHING Odd

can be added as you see fit. Curtains can windows, and tiny flower pots can be placed

details

be hung in

on window sills. Paint some walls pale pink or pale orange

for stucco.

Paint others with a fitted-stone pattern (see pages 40

and

Chimney pots should be orange or red. Woodwork can be brown or pale blue. The hillside can be finished with bits of underbrush 57).

and

foliage.

ALTERNATE USES This model

World War planes.

It

II

is

designed for use' with the

miniatures— infantry,

range of armor, and

full

artillery,

could be any of the fortified places in the

Mediterranean area once destroyed by war, from the Troy of Ancient Greece to the Alcazar of modern Spain's civil

war.

Or

the

walled city of

model can be converted

Hue

in

Vietnam.

to the ancient

COMMON METRIC EQUIVALENTS

AND CONVERSIONS APPROXIMATE = = = = = =

1

inch

1

foot

1

yard

1

square inch

1

square foot

1

square yard

1

millimeter

1

meter

1

meter

1

square centimeter

^ = = =

25 millimeters 0.3

meter

0.9

meter

6.5

square centimeters

0.09 square meter 0.8 square

meter

0.04 inch 3.3 feet 1.1

yards

0.16 square inch

ACCURATE TO PARTS PER MILLION inches feet

X

yards

X

25.4

0.3048

X

0.9144

square inches square feet

X

square yards

X

6.4516

0.092903

X

0.836127

= = = = = =

millimeters

meters meters

square centimeters

square meters square meters

115

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Books

for Further Reading:

Ellis,

Chris.

Model Soldier Manual.

Kings

Langley,

England: Argus Books, 1976. A good how-to manual on painting and modifying model soldiers, with information on landscaping.

Herts.,

A vailable

at better

model

soldier shops.

Feathers tone, Donald. Battle Notes for Wargamers. York: Drake, 1974.

New

of important battles of history, with suggestions for making up rules for mock battles. Twelve other books by the same author include handbooks on buying and caring for model soldiers. Hindley, Geoffrey. Castles of Europe. London: Paul Descriptions

Hamlyn,

1968.

and photos of great castles, including on daily life in a castle and on the Siege of

Descriptions sections

Castle Gaillard.

116

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Josephy, Alvin M.,

Jr.

The Patriot

Chiefs.

New

117 York:

Viking Press, 1961. Excellent chronicle of American Indian Resistance, with historical descriptions of famous battles, including the Siege of Fort Phil Kearny (The Fetterman Fight).

Mallory, Keith and Ottar, Arvid. The Architecture of War. New York: Pantheon Books, 1973.

and text documenting the buildof the Maginot Line and other great

Plans, photographs,

and the fall modern fortifications. Maule, Henry. The Great Battles of World War IL York: Galahad Books, 1972. ing

Includes

historical

descriptions

New

of the battles for

Mount Cassino and Guadalcanal. The War Game; The Machinery of War, and other works by Peter Young, Brigadier, DSO, MC, FSA, FRGS.

Magazines

for Miniaturists

and Castle Builders:

Military Modeler

Challenge Publications

7950 Canoga Park

Canoga

Park, California 91304

Railroad Modeler

Challenge Publications

7950 Canoga Park Canoga Park, CaUfornia 91304

Model Railroader Kalmbach Publications 1027 N. 7th Street

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

118

Military Modelling

Model and Allied Publications P.O. Box 35, Bridge Street Hempstead,

Ltd.

HPl lEE, England

Herts.,

Suppliers:

Most

one good model shop offering landscape and diorama materials and painted and paint -yourself miniatures. High-quality metal figures are made by Cameo, Superior, Cavalier, Poste Hit aire, Coulter-Bennet, and others. For less expensive plastic figures, look for Historex, Airfix, Tamiya, Helmet, Segom, and others. For a list of retailers, see the Yellow Pages or Model Railroader Magazine. Here are a selected few who large

have at

cities

least

M

do business by mail order (inquire by

letter before

sending

money): Brookhurst Hobbies 18061 Magnolia Street

Fountain Valley, California 92708

The Grenadier Shop 810 South

Street, Suite 5

Decatur, Illinois 62521

&

Hobbies Unltd. 3 Quo Vadis Shopping Center Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879 B.

F.

Edmund

Scientific

Company

300 Edscorp Building Barrington,

New

Jersey 08007

Edmund's catalogue miniaturists,

lists

countless materials useful to

including balloons for trench

warfare

and mix-yourself foam for landscaping. Inquire for the current price of their excellent catalogue.

INDEX further details, 102-3

Arrow notches tions),

painting, 101-2

(or crenella-

papier mache, 100-101

56

terrain,

B

86-91

and materials, 86 towers, 93-97 tools

Barbed-wire

entanglements,

papier-mache, 93 plastic, 93-97

71

Breastworks,

meaning

1

1-14

of, 5

walls,

Brookhurst Hobbies (Fountain Valley, Cal.), 117

Buildings,

Roman

fort,

15

14-

97-100

Catwalks and ladders, 39

Crusader castles, 59, 103 Curtain walk, 97 Custer Massacre, 47

Bunkers, 67-68

D Castle Gaillard, 84-103 alternate uses, 103 castle,

91-93

Donjon

(or keep), 54-56

Drawbridges,

making,

53,

102

119

INDEX

120

E Edmund

Gem Company

Scientific

Razor Company, 7

German Panzer

Divisions, 77

Grenadier Shop, The (De-

(Barrington, NJ.), 117

catur,

117

111.),

El Alcazar, siege of, 103

H Felt-tip pens, using,

33-34

Fetterman Fight, 47 Fort Phil Kearny, 22-47

Headquarters building. Fort Phil Kearny, 30-31 assembling, 34

Hobbies Unltd.

assembling palisade walls, 38-39

(B.

Wakefield,

&

R.I.,

F.),

117

base and ground plan, 25I

26 catwalks and ladders, 39

Indian village, 42-47 alternate use, 46-47

cutting wall parts, 26-27

details

extra details, 39-40 finishing,

and

finishing,

45-

46

40-41

tepee, 43-45

headquarters building, 3031

assembling, 34

Indian village, 42-47 alternate use,

and

details

John, King of England, 49

46-47 finishing,

45-46 tepee, 43-45

K Korean War, 75

lean-to-cook shelter, 34-35 painting

logs

shingles,

and

roof

Lawrence of Arabia, 103

32-33

use of felt-tip pens

for,

34-34

powder magazine, 35-38 sand sprinkling, 42 tools

and

materials, 24-25

M Maginot Line, 76-83 alternate use, 83

box and ground plan, 7879

G

details,

Gates:

finishing,

Norman castle, 51-54 Roman fort, 15

81-82 82-83

tools, materials, sives,

77-78

and adhe-

INDEX

121

Metric equivalents and conPalisade

versions, 118

Middle East war, 75 Military Modeler (magazine),

38

(maga-

Modelling

Pickets, 10

Command

Powder magazine, 35-38 Center, 83

Projects:

Model Railroader (maga-

bibliography, 115-16 Castle Gaillard, 84-103

zine), 116

Fort Phil Kearny, 22-47

Cassino, 104-14

alternate uses,

1

fun and imagination with,

14

1-2

assembling the parts, 110 base board and mountain,

of magazines, 116-17 Maginot Line, 76-83

list

106 cutting the parts,

and

details

53-54

Portcullis,

Miniature fun, 1-2

Mount

King of

France, 85

zine), 117

Missile

Augustus,

Phillip

116 Military

assembling,

walls,

1

metric equivalents and

10

finishing,

conversions,

14

1

1

1

roofs,

112-14

Mount Cassino, 104-14 Norman castle, 48-59

secret

gun emplacements,

Roman

ground plan, 108-10

106-8 tools

scale,

and materials, 106

fort,

4-2

2-3

suppliers for,

1

17

Western Front, 60-75

N No-man's-land, 61,68-69 Norman castle, 48-59 alternate uses, 54

R Railroad Modeler (magazine), 116

Richard,

King

(the

Lion-

base, 5

cutting

and assembly,

details,

56

Heart), 85 5

Roman

donjon (or keep), 55 finishing, 56-59 gate, 51-54 tools

Robin Hood, 49 fort,

4-2

alternate use, 21 base, 8

and materials, 50

breastworks,

Ouvrages (larger

details forts),

77

1-14

buildings, 14-15

completion

O

1

and

gates, 14

of,

20-2

finishing, 18

INDEX

122

Roman

fort (Cont.)

93-97

plastic,

ground plan, 8-10

Trenches, 65-67, 75

pickets, 10

secret exit, 10 tent,

15-18

texture

and coloring,

18

Vietnam War, 75

20 tools

and materials, 6-7

W S

Wagon Box

Scale, 2-3

Walls,

Fight, 47

Castle

Stone Age men, 5

Gaillard,

97-

100

Western Front, 60-75 alternate uses, 75

Tent,

Roman

fort,

15-18

Tepee, 43-45 Toledo, siege

of, 103

Tools and materials:

assembling base, 63-65

barbed wire, 71 base and ground plan, 6263

Castle Gaillard, 86

bunkers, 67-68

Fort Phil Kearny, 24-25

details,

Maginot Line, 77-78

landscaping, 69-71

Mount Cassino, 106 Norman castle, 50

no-man's land, 68-69 painting, 72-75

Roman

fort,

6-7

Western Front, 62 Towers: papier-mache, 93

72

and materials, 62 trenches, 65-67 World War I, 61, 75, 77, tools

105

83,

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