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Author Topic: Toppleless tower  (Read 2978 times)

Offline Hammers

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Toppleless tower
« on: February 10, 2020, 01:42:40 PM »
I recently built this guard tower for my Jazz Age India Army field hospital compound.


I quite soon realised that the bastard would fall over at the slightest provocation as I had made it rather top heavy with all the Celluclay sandbags lining the perch. My gaming board is rather uneven so I didn't want to make a base board for the whole thing. Instead I did this:




My shed stores many wonderful things and treasures, among them a largish sheet of lead. I cut four 3 by 3 cm squares from it and banged the surface, particularly the edges, with a ball hammer to get an uneven, more natural looking surface.




The lead squares were pinned and glued. This was the  first time I tried this Gorilla glue I have been hearing about. Rather slow drying time, no? And the stuff expands in a weird way.







I fastened the lead squares at the bottom of each pillar.




...like so.




The lead squares concealed by the usual pebbles and sand. Voila! The centre of gravity of the thing transferred considerably downwards.




And, for the hell of it, a picture of the jig I used to make the ladder.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2020, 06:19:34 PM by Hammers »

Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2020, 01:46:02 PM »
Splendid idea  8)
cheers

James

https://www.oshiromodels.co.uk/

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Offline Malamute

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2020, 03:18:12 PM »
Excellent, very clever way to keep it upright!
"These creatures do not die like the bee after the first sting, but go on age after age, feeding on the blood of the living"  - Abraham Van Helsing

Offline Codsticker

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2020, 05:21:02 AM »
Impressive! Great idea to make it more stable.
This was the  first time I tried this Gorilla glue I have been hearing about. Rather slow drying time, no? And the stuff expands in a weird way.
I really like it- it is very strong.  I think it is an hour to set up and 24hr cure time; so not something to use when you are in a hurry.

Offline FifteensAway

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2020, 05:46:38 AM »
I tried gorilla glue once - and threw the crap out it was that bad!  Worse glue I've ever touched by a factor of about 100.  Probably used less than 2% of the container before tossing it.  So many other, better options - why bother?

Nice solution for the tower stability.

Offline Codsticker

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2020, 04:27:01 PM »
I tried gorilla glue once - and threw the crap out it was that bad!  Worse glue I've ever touched by a factor of about 100.  Probably used less than 2% of the container before tossing it.  So many other, better options - why bother?

Nice solution for the tower stability.
Really? Lol, not that bad in my experience. It's worked in many instances when others haven't.

Offline Wirelizard

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2020, 06:20:29 PM »
I tried gorilla glue once - and threw the crap out it was that bad!  Worse glue I've ever touched by a factor of about 100.  Probably used less than 2% of the container before tossing it.  So many other, better options - why bother?

Nice solution for the tower stability.

Gorilla Glue and it's expanding properties make for great stone walls, rocky scree, etc. I made a bunch of stone walls a few years ago now with it, and it worked out really nicely.

http://www.warbard.ca/2013/02/19/new-scatter-terrain-part-one/

(one reason I love maintaining my own blog is moments like this, where I say, "Wait, didn't I do those stone walls with Gorilla Glue a few years ago?" and lo and behold not only did I, I wrote it up for Future Me to find. Thanks, 2013 Wirelizard!)

Offline Joe Fish

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2020, 06:40:19 PM »
I wrote it up for Future Me to find. Thanks, 2013 Wirelizard!)

 :) Having done something similar several times in the past, I can appreciate the comment!

Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2020, 06:42:53 PM »
I use the white wood Gorilla glue and have never had any problems with it. No expansion which is the problem with the brown stuff. 

Offline SteveBurt

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2020, 10:42:06 AM »
I find 5 minute epoxy easier to use for most purposes than the Gorilla glue - which is excellent for fixing irregular shaped stuff together, but not so good for other things.
Nice idea with the lead sheets!

Offline Hammers

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2020, 12:09:46 PM »
I think I should add  that while lead is very useful for above purposes, it is a VERY potent poison.  Use gloves and consider giving it a couple of coats of laquer to contain it.  Do not under circumstances file or sand  it as ingestion of lead dust will lead to accumulation of lead in your body and eventually to lead poisoning.

Offline Codsticker

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2020, 06:49:55 AM »
I find 5 minute epoxy easier to use for most purposes than the Gorilla glue...
That is also good stuff. I think I have close about a dozen different adhesives on my desk.  :D

Offline James Morris

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #12 on: February 18, 2020, 08:30:36 AM »
That’s excellent - great finish too!  I routinely use lead sheet for basing trees, though as you say, important to treat it carefully and seal it. I’ve got a tower build coming up and have a collection of old/ damaged metal models who will be lining the bottom storey for ballast purposes.

Offline SteveBurt

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Re: Toppleless tower
« Reply #13 on: February 21, 2020, 11:34:01 AM »
That is also good stuff. I think I have close about a dozen different adhesives on my desk.  :D

I regularly use liquid superglue, gel superglue, bostik/uhu, plastic cement, 5 minute epoxy, wood glue, PVA and gorilla glue depending on what I'm gluing. Good to use the right tool for the job at hand