Vauban fort - updated w/FIELDWORKS - Feb 6

[Mad Guru]

Over the past two months I've spent most of my hobby time painting a 13-piece Vauban style fortress, cast from the Magister Militum molds which were originally designed by the great Ian Weekley.

As is always the case with me, I took way WAY too many photos of the process.  However, unlike my previous terrain builds, I have not uploaded hundreds of photos all at once in one giant post on my blog.  Instead, I split them up into several blog posts, each containing a few batches of pics, so as not to force any kind visitors to my blog to overdose on red brick and grey stone work, to the point where their eyes glaze over!  If you think you might be interested in seeing more pics and reading more details about this project, please click the LINK below and stop by to visit my blog, and thanks in advance for your time if you choose to do so...

LINK:

https://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2019/10/painting-ian-weekly-vauban-fortress.html

Meanwhile, here's a handful of pics from the first batch:

[Mad Guru]

Posted Chapter II: Weathering, Stonework & Heraldic Door

If interested, click the LINK below to check it out, and thanks in advance for your time & attention if you choose to do so…

https://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2019/10/painting-vauban-ch-ii-weathering.html

And here's a few pics from this latest installment:

[Mad Guru]

Posted Part III about painting the Vauban Tower, Corners, and Ramps.  If interested, please feel free to stop by my blog for more pics & details, and thanks in advance for your time and attention if you choose to do so!

Meanwhile, here's a few photos from Chapter III...

[FifteensAway]

Love the heraldic painting on the door - may steel that idea.  But not finished yet!?  Oy.  Look forward to seeing it assembled in full. 

Red brown primer is a gamer's friend as is craft paint, use both profusely.

[Atheling]

Excellent work MG 

I'm wondering, as the resin is very light, did you give it a coat of matt varnish?

I usually use a gloss varnish followed by a (very) matt spray over the top of the gloss, but that's on more dense models.

[Mad Guru]

Thanks very much for the compliments gentlemen. 

Please "steal" away, FifteensAway!  I myself probably stole it from somewhere!

Darrell, the recently cast pieces are not light, and may not be resin.  Could be something more like ceramic.  And I didn't use any varnish on them.  Just pray primed and then painted with acrylic craft paints.  At the very end I covered everything with matte spray sealer.

ALSO, here's PART IV...

LINK:

https://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2019/10/painting-vauban-ch-iv-2nd-bastion-ramps.html

TEASER PICS:

[Atheling]

Thanks very much for the compliments gentlemen. 

Darrell, the recently cast pieces are not light, and may not be resin.  Could be something more like ceramic.  And I didn't use any varnish on them.  Just pray primed and then painted with acrylic craft paints.  At the very end I covered everything with matte spray sealer.

Really! I'm asking for selfish reasons as I'm thinking of postage costs to the UK but is the Late Medieval Castle, also a Weekely model, made from lighter of heavier resin/ceramic?

ALSO, here's PART IV...

LINK:

https://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2019/10/painting-vauban-ch-iv-2nd-bastion-ramps.html

TEASER PICS:

As usual very informative MG 

[Mad Guru]

Darrell,

The source is listed on my blog, and I thought I had mentioned it here as well.  Sorry for the oversight!  All these Vauban fortress pieces are available relatively close to your home, from Magister Militum, in Salisbury, UK.

Here's a LINK to a page with their 28mm Vauban -- plus a few related Renaissance era -- fortress pieces:

https://www.magistermilitum.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=28mm+vauban

And here's a LINK to Part V of my own Vauban painting saga, which covers upgrading the gateway doors from cardboard to wood, finishing painting, slightly repairing, and weathering the first Bastion, and adding a few more AWI figures to the WIP layout, to help keep my own morale up:

https://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2019/10/painting-vauban-ch-v-wood-doors-bastion.html

And of course the requisite handful of teaser pics:

[FifteensAway]

It occurs to me, your project being in 28 mm, that the real challenge in modeling such a fortification is that they were, generally, meant to present an all-around defense and the size of your works - not even done yet - would be hard put to find a large enough table for a proper set up.  Heck, I feel challenged with own 15 mm five sided fort with its outworks.  Well, I will when I get around to working on it.

Cool project nonetheless.

[Mad Guru]

Fifteens,

Thanks!  And you are absolutely right.  About a decade ago I played a bunch of 28mm Medieval sieges.  They were a lot of fun. but were always laid out with one curtain wall along the long end of the table, sometimes with corners turning at both ends, and a siege camp and lots of siege equipment opposing.  I think the same will hold true for this fortress.  If and when it is used for a siege game (as mentioned on my blog I hope to play one game with it before packing it up and mailing it to its owner!), I think it will work the same way.  In order to have enough table space for an all-around siege, Medieval or 18th Century, you'd need a super wide as well as long table.  I've seen it done a few times at conventions, with tables arranged so there's open space in the middle for one or more defending players.  Otherwise, I think it would have to be much smaller figure scale, smaller than your own 15mm.

[Mad Guru]

Here's #6 in my 7-part "How I painted a Vauban fortress."

This 6th Chapter ends with virtually the entire thing painted -- except for one particularly tricky piece, which continued to frustrate me.

If interested in reading and seeing more, kindly CLICK on the LINK below, and thanks in advance should you choose to do so!

https://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2019/10/painting-vauban-ch-vi-bastion-2-ravelin.html

...But should you choose not to, I won't let you escape without catching at least a glimpse:











https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UAH0ugwNx30/XbENwROB_UI/AAAAAAAATQQ/aLjwn7mCC2svxFt3rxN6FcCz8gznx5jJACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_6829.HEIC

[FifteensAway]

Well, now you've forced me to invent a new word.  That thing is hugetremongess!  Your friend is a lucky man, certain sure, to have you painting such things on his behalf (or her as the case may be).  Though I do wonder at the towers within a Vauban fortress.  Going to have to do some back research just to satisfy myself of the hows and whys of such things, the towers, I mean.  Awesome bit of work.

Hope you manage to get "at least one" game in with that construct, shame not to.

[Friends of General Haig]

Wow - that is a fabulous set up.  I wouldn't fancy being the attacker! 

Very useful to have the painting guide.

[Mad Guru]

@FifteensAway:

Thanks very much, but as a follower of your own recent Peking Legations/Boxer Rebellion efforts, I think this project is somewhat dwarfed in size and scope by your own, despite your inferior scale!  Whoops, sorry, I of course meant to say smaller scale!

How historically accurate the Vauban Towers are... is a good question.  I've seen fortifications where Vauban built new style ravelins in front of old Medieval walls that already included towers, but that's a different thing.

Looking through the one book I have with lots of photos and other illustrations of Vauban forts and parts thereof, I couldn't find a single image of a free-standing tower designed by Vauban, but online I did find this photo of the polygonal tower of Camaret sur-Mer:



It looks to me like the towers I painted may have been designed to hold a gun or two on its roof.  The tower could stand independently some distance behind the wall, giving fire support.  Or they could be incorporated into the wall itself.  The latter may be less likely, based on the nature of Vauban's designs, with their lower profile.

All that being said, there may well be some Vauban octagonal towers out there, and if not, I still think these two look good, though maybe my friend who owns them will banish them to defend Imaginations only! (Not that it matters, but he is a he.)

Thanks for your good wishes, and if I do get to play a siege game with this stuff, I'll post about here!

@Friends of General Haig:

Thanks very much, and I'm happy to hear you think the painting guide can be useful.  I wouldn't fancy being the attacker either, and I imagine if I do succeed in setting up a siege game before sending it to its final owner, I will definitely be part of the garrison!

[duivelindoosje]

an other vauban tower in ambleteuse cote opal