Roman turret, part 7, in which the legion arrives and a wall is built

Read the previous posts about this project: part 1, part 2,  part 3, part 4 and part 5 and part 6.

I have never used action figures in my projects, I believe mainly because they are smaller than 1:12, which is my preferred scale, and also they tend to be rather ugly. But I knew I would never be able to make Roman soldiers from the kind of cheap dolls I purchase for upcycling, and these are wrong scale anyway. So I bought a set of Roman figures from ebay, trusting the seller's information about them being four inches tall. They were.

Apparently they are collectibles, randomly packed to encourage children to beg for more. So not all of them are Roman soldiers, some are gladiators, but I will have to live with it. I will do some research into who they really are. But I already have a favourite. Can you guess which?

The project became much more interesting with figures.

But their presence immediately made me realise that they needed more space. I had thought from start that I might add a bit of wall on both sides of the turret, since a turret is by definition not a solitary structure. Just a little bit of wall. Just enough for a warrior to be on it.

A fortification wall,  whether Roman or medieval, consists of two elements: wall walk on which soldiers can stand and shoot at the attackers, and parapet, a narrow structure that protects the soldiers from attackers' arrows or projectiles. The wall walk should be on the level of the upper floor so that the doors lead onto it. In short, quite sophisticated engineering.

I obviously used cardboard, making a square box and attaching it to the side wall of the turret.  I considered stripping the turret wall of stone masonry where the wall was to be attached and decided against it. Too much trouble, and the stones would certainly be damaged. The inner door, as I have made it, is in the wrong place in relation to the outer door, but I will leave it for the time being.

The parapet will be built, stone by stone, from craft cubes, just as I built the stone steps.

  
I started building the parapet first because I still haven't got enough egg cartons for the wall. I cut each cube in two, as uneven as possible, distressing them further and then painting, one by one, for colour variations.

To anticipate questions - yes, it took a long time. A very long time. Occasionally I get comments on my piece-by-piece work: "If you do it this way it will be quicker". But I don't want it to be quicker. I am not in a hurry. My marking is done, and it is far too hot for gardening. My room is cool and nice. Cutting and painting wooden cubes is peaceful and relaxing.

This obviously does not look natural, so once again, mock mortar.

That's better, isn't it? And better still after adding figures.

I think the figures really make a difference as they emphasise scale and generally make the scene livelier.

I won't show building the left wall step by step, because it was exactly the same.

In a close-up picture, you can see some details of stone masonry that, again, make it all look more natural. 

And here are the warriors:

Now, while I am waiting for us to consume all those omelets and scrambled eggs to finish the side and back walls, I will resume interior decoration. Googling "Roman material culture" yields hundreds of hits.

Come back soon.

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 5, in which roof beams are raised

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

I ended with a cliffhanger yesterday, and I genuinely didn't know how I would solve the roof problem.

With some anxiety, I cut off the top of the shoe box.

However, by now the walls have been enforced by several layers and were absolutely steady. I then realised that I should have cut the back panel to include the triangular back gable. Too late! But if you want to replicate my project, make sure that you cut the back piece with the gable. I simply had to glue on an additional piece.

I then added a fake beam made of card to which I glued a piece of wooden strip. I borrowed it from another project because it was just the right thing.

Another large beam went on the back wall, and smaller beams along the side walls.

I then had to add some beams inside the roof that probably won't even be visible, but it's a matter of pride.

The inside of the roof is cardboard (but you can also what kinds of materials I am recycling. Modern archaeologists would be mighty surprised to find Felix kitten food in the remains of a Roman turret).

I painted it over, although it won't be visible from the outside. I then added some crossbeams, made from coffee stirrers, that I stained dark.

The roof is still not attached, and I am still not quite sure how exactly I am going to do it. I don't want to glue it until I am confident that it is the way I want it to be. So this is another work-in-progress picture. You may think I haven't made that much progress, but I have. Come back soon. 

Roman turret, part 4, in which a window is made

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

I started today by cutting a window in the back wall.  With a good scalpel, it's straightforward.

I could leave it like this, but a window in a stone wall would be as deep as the wall is thick, so I need to add at least one layer of cardboard to achieve this depth.

 

A large back piece, held together with masking tape while the glue dries. As I have no egg cartons at the moment, it will be a while until I can do the stone masonry on the back. But as you cannot see it from the front, it's fine so far.

Then I cut through the back for the window.  The depth also enabled me to add a frame that looks more realistic.

 

Close-up:

As you see, I made the frame from coffee stirrers, putting it in the middle of the opening, which emphasises depth. I added filler to the edges. I may paint it over for a smoother surface.

I think it looks very nice.

As a next step, I realised, I need to fix the roof. It feels I will never get back to the partition and ladder, but with them in place, attaching the roof will be a problem.

I could cheat and just put the roof with gables on top, but in my model picture, there is no ceiling on the upper floor, just massive beams that hold the roof. So now I need to figure out how to construct this beam system and how to fix them onto the roof and onto the main structure.

I am sure you are curious about how I will manage it. Come back soon.

Roman turret, part 3, in which flagstones are cut

I finished my Roman turret project yesterday with rough estimates of how to insert the horizontal partition, add ladder and other woodwork.

But first of all I had to "whitewash" the interior walls again, and I also decided that at one place, whitewash has come off and some of the stone masonry is visible behind. Details like this add the sense of authenticity.

Remember that I had run out of egg cartons, and once again, I don't go shopping exclusively for something that will be recycled. But I still wanted to move on with the project, and the next step had to be the flagstone floor. In the absence of egg cartons I had to do with what I had, and yet another way to imitate flagstones (apart from clay and egg cartons) is a specially treated card. I think it used to be the back of an old college notebook.

 So first, obviously, cut strips of card and distress edges, as I did with the outside "stones".  Then moisten them between two layers of kitchen towel. Wrinkle up, then flatten and let dry. They will dry almost flat, but the surface will be slightly uneven.

I very deliberately left gaps between flagstones that I then filled with filler.

The dirt in front is real dirt from my garden. Just experimenting.

While things were drying, I started on some woodwork.

I showed the ladder yesterday, but I now I aged it by staining. I used Rustine's antique pine wood dye. The door is, like the ladder, made of coffee stirrers and stained. The floor was a bit more complicated with the opening in the middle, but it is so much smaller than the floors in my large house so it was quick to make. The simple rule is: sand until you drop dead.

I haven't even considered what scale it is because the shoe box was my point of departure. It is definitely smaller than 1:12, but larger than half-scale, so something in between, like Lundby or Playmobile. I will adjust all details as I add them.

The door must of course have hinges and a knob.

It will be a fake door, at least for the moment. Technically it leads out to the wall. If I add a bit of wall I may make a real, opening door. There should be two doors leading in both directions, but I will start with one and see how crammed the upstairs will look.

Before I move on I need to cut out a window in the back wall because it will be very awkward to do after I have added the partition. That's what keeps happening: I discover that I cannot move on until I have done something else. This is why instructions are helpful, taking you through the project step by step. And this is why I describe my project in so much detail.

But for now, with all the faults and incompleteness, here it is.

 

To be continued.

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.

Roman turret

My summer holiday this year was a walk on Hadrian's Wall. I won't tell the whole story (can just say that it was wonderful), but at one point we were reading a sign explaining how Roman turrets were built and used, and on the sign was this picture:

Oh my, I thought. this looks like a miniature. (It probably was, unless it was a computer simulation). I can make one like this, I thought.

So here we go.

As usual, I went about for a while deciding what to use, and a shoe box felt the most natural choice. Just think portrait rather than landscape.

But of course the walls of a turret would be much more massive so I glued thick cardboard on the outside. And I glued a piece of cardboard to the bottom because I may add a bit of wall on both sides and a bit of road in front.

I have never done it myself, but of course the best miniature stone masonry is done with egg cartons. My husband knows that for the next couple of weeks he must save egg cartons for me. Fortunately, he is used to my crazy requests.

Stones must be cut one at a time, and the edges must be distressed for natural look. They also must be painted one at a time, because no two stones are exactly the same colour. I miscalculated the brown ones - they turned out far too conspicuous and had to be repainted. 

 

Now the building can begin.

 

Not really, I will need about ten times as much stones, but we had only one egg carton at home, and running to a supermarket on Sunday to get eggs entirely for the sake of the carton felt overdoing it. But I wanted to test what it would look like.

People always ask what kind of glue and paint and so on, so I used simple watercolors and all-purpose PVA.

Gluing one by one, at random. but on the whole I think it looks too light, I should probably paint it over again, a bit darker. When the glue had set, I added "mortar" (filler) for proper look.

It looks more natural this way, but I believe I will paint the mortar greyish as well. And of course I will sand it when it is dry.

I had almost run out of egg carton, so I didn't do the other wall, but instead glued some stones on the front edges - again, just to test.  I had about enough material to test flagstone floors. I once made flagstone floors from air-drying clay, and it looked great, but this time I will make it simpler. I also lined the interior walls with lining paper.

The next stage is inserting the horizontal divider, with proper beams etc and with an opening for the stairs. This is quite a demanding bit of engineering so I need to think more about it and decide whether I need extra supplies.

However, I really wanted to move on with the project, so I made a roof. I have used this technology before:

 

You can glue tile by tile, but in this case it doesn't matter, and this method is quicker. Typically I don't necessarily use quicker methods, because I enjoy making things slowly, but anyway, this is what I did.

I may paint it or leave it as it is, because it has a suitable, worn-out look.

So here is my Roman turret-to-be, not in the order it would have been built in real world, and I am not using slaves. But as with all miniature projects, you cannot help thinking about how they made it, how much time and labour it took, and how much knowledge and imagination.

To be continued.