Roman turret, part 6, in which woodwork is put in place

Read the previous posts about this project: part 1, part 2,  part 3, part 4 and part 5.

Now I can finally return to inserting the horizontal partition and the ladder. But first I need to build the stone steps. For these, I used wooden craft cubes, taking a long time to turn perfect blocks into uneven stones. Then I built the steps, stone by stone, leaving gaps that I then filled with mock mortar.

 After many trials and errors, I glued the ladder into the partition.

This turned out to be another, really big error, which just shows how even a tiny miscalculation is fatal in this scale. The bottom of the ladder came too close to the side wall, which did not look natural. So I had to detach it (and after drying overnight, it was a challenge). To move it, I had to detach one of the beams. It took three more attempts before I got it right, and not quite right anyway, but no one except myself will know.

While things were drying over and over again, I made a second door.

 

I haven't got exactly the same knob, but it doesn't matter. I don't think the Romans were too particular about the aesthetic bit.

With doors glued on and some utensils added: 

I am not happy with the fire: it doesn't look right, so I will have to think about it. There are other details I will be adding, particularly on the upper floor which at the moment looks rather bare. And of course it will be weeks before I have enough egg cartons to finish the walls. But the main part of the project is completed. I am really proud of it.

Roman turret, part 2, in which stone masonry is improved

It is remarkable how looking at pictures of your project you see flaws better than looking at the project itself. I have realised that the walls of my turret are too thin. Of course they would be the thickness of at least one stone, possibly more than one. I should have thought about it and added more cardboard on the outside. Now I could either tear down the whole wall or sacrifice some space and add a layer on the inside. I opted for the latter, which also gave me an opportunity to do a more natural finish of the edges, with proper cornerstones. 

As you have probably guessed, I have come into possession of another egg carton (not enough; I should have asked husband to order five dozen eggs), but I didn't finish the second wall, instead making a gable. It is not fixed yet, just testing. Not even sure how to fix it. This is a very challenging project because I have no instructions. There are images on the web, but I couldn't find any tutorials.  And images are for a different kind of turret, although there are helpful details. For instance, not all turrets are whitewashed on the inside. But I believe the interior details will be better displayed against white background. It's a long time before I come to interior details. It's now time to consider how to make the partition without cheating too much.

This needs some clever engineering - Romans were very good at it. Of course they would build with scaffolding, while I just have to decide in which order to make the ladder, the beams, and so on. I am testing everything with thin card before I make final constructions.

This is probably the most rickety ladder you have seen.

I wouldn't want to climb it. And a Roman carpenter wouldn't take me on as apprentice. There is also a problem because my turret is not deep enough so there is no space behind the ladder on the upper floor. But maybe it can on the other wall. And rickety it will be, with some railing.

Now I need to cut an opening in the partition, not too large, not too small, just Goldilock.

And I think this is as far as I can get today, because I also need to "whitewash" the interior walls again, make the flagstone floor downstairs and wooden floor upstairs, add beams and other woodwork. But I am pleased with the progress. Come back soon.