Roman Watch Tower 1:72

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Roman Watch Tower from a German manufacturer Imperial Modellbau.Nice piece, but 1:72, looks like it would be just too small for 28mm.

http://www.imperial-modellbau.de/webshop/product_info.php?info=p578_roemischer-wachturm-1-72.html

[The Baggagetrain]

Very nice

[Mad Doc Morris]

Interesting model. It seems a bit top-heavy, and the wooden inscription over the entrance looks just odd (Romans can do better!).
Nevertheless, despite its price tag this fort would make for a nice objective or camp on a gaming table.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

I quite like the design but looking at this one 1:72 figure on the wall I think that this entrance would be too small for a 28mm Roman.

[The Baggagetrain]

plus the base you looking at a 28mm figure coming way above the gateway

[Paul]

I´ve seen this live. A very nice model but it is too small for 28mm

[The Baggagetrain]

I don't think the'll fit in mine either

[Prof.Witchheimer]

EDIT- saw the price  

That

[ahpincis]

Interesting model. It seems a bit top-heavy, and the wooden inscription over the entrance looks just odd (Romans can do better!).
Nevertheless, despite its price tag this fort would make for a nice objective or camp on a gaming table.

Tend to agree about the inscription but overall not a bad model.

[The Baggagetrain]

EDIT- saw the price  
[/quote]

you'll all have to come down to a more rounded scale 10mm

[cataphractarius]

Hmmmm, not really happy with that. Apart from the tower itself - the roof looks far too prominent - the surrounding bank/ditch looks odd; Gas Ridge towers usually had ring ditches with an average diameter of around 25m, so the footprint of the model seems to be too small. Also, I'd like to see evidence for this combination of whicker fence and earthen wall made to look like stone, not to mention the strange inscription.

Personally, I'd prefer one of these:

http://www.fredericus-rex.de/shop2010/Green-Line-Gelaendebau/Green-Line-Gebaeude-1-72/category-0-174-175/Limes-Wachturm-ab-ca--145-n--Chr---Massstab-1-72-1297.html

or:

http://www.fredericus-rex.de/shop2010/Green-Line-Gelaendebau/Green-Line-Gebaeude-1-72/category-0-174-175/Limes-Wachturm-ab-120-n--Chr---Massstab-1-72-1296.html

These are all "true" 1/72 though.

[ahpincis]

Hmmmm, not really happy with that. Apart from the tower itself - the roof looks far too prominent - the surrounding bank/ditch looks odd; Gas Ridge towers usually had ring ditches with an average diameter of around 25m, so the footprint of the model seems to be too small. Also, I'd like to see evidence for this combination of whicker fence and earthen wall made to look like stone, not to mention the strange inscription.

Personally, I'd prefer one of these:

http://www.fredericus-rex.de/shop2010/Green-Line-Gelaendebau/Green-Line-Gebaeude-1-72/category-0-174-175/Limes-Wachturm-ab-ca--145-n--Chr---Massstab-1-72-1297.html

or:

http://www.fredericus-rex.de/shop2010/Green-Line-Gelaendebau/Green-Line-Gebaeude-1-72/category-0-174-175/Limes-Wachturm-ab-120-n--Chr---Massstab-1-72-1296.html

These are all "true" 1/72 though.

I tend to agree with you cataphractarius; the models, though smaller look more accurate and sharper. The Romans after all were great engineers even if their architecture was a tad crude compared with the Greeks.

Another option (in the larger scale) may be to scratch build? I think I would be happier scratch building in 28mm scale, though at a group build I probably will be having a go at 1:72 for something entirely different. Then I will know for sure!

[ahpincis]

Looking more closely at the inscription it rather looks like the attempts I see so often of people trying to imitate Arabic, though with Roman characters it should not be such a problem for most. Maybe the demise of Latin being taught in schools is the issue, and that is sad. 

[Mitch K]

Hmmmm, not really happy with that. Apart from the tower itself - the roof looks far too prominent - the surrounding bank/ditch looks odd; Gas Ridge towers usually had ring ditches with an average diameter of around 25m, so the footprint of the model seems to be too small. Also, I'd like to see evidence for this combination of whicker fence and earthen wall made to look like stone, not to mention the strange inscription.

The diameter of the outer ditch system is about 25m or so on average. In many cases there is evidence for an inner rampart with a diameter of 10-12m or so, which is probably more in keeping with what is being modelled here. Certainly there is only one rampart, rather than two.

Could the topheavy shape be a function of getting figures on bases onto the tower? This would explain a slightly odd set of proportions...

As far as the wicker top to the wall, my guess is that this is to a degree speculative: very little such material will have survived to confirm or deny such a construction method. Let's face it, in Scotland most of the sites consist of the central post holes and the ditches / ramparts, plus small finds. Essentially none of the rest of the structure survives.

Re the "stonelike" effect, the walls were built of cut turf, and depending on the inderlying geology, could have shown some lines between the slabs, at least for a while, unless they were covered and "landscaped" from the outset.