28mm fortified manor house/church stronghold

[Captain Blood]

The evidence is that many, possibly most large stone medieval buildings, castles, churches etc, which we see today as stone coloured structures or ruins were rendered and painted. Harlech Castle for instance was rendered and painted white, so it would have appeared a brilliant and shock and awe inspiring statement of power and prestige, high on its sea cliff - something like Minas Tirith in the movies...

[Mason]

I think I may add a little more color to it just to break it up a little from being too monochrome...make it a little more interesting to the eye.

Carl, it really is a cracking build and I love the shape of it.
I do think it would be taken to the next level by adding a little variation in colour.
'Flat' grey does not do it justice.
If you look at the picture that Scurv so thoughtfully provided you can see the point I am trying to get at perfectly.



Stone is not USUALLY one tone but several.
A few diluted brown ink washes would really help achieve the effect in the above picture and, in my opinion, improve the effect of the paintjob.
Slightly differing tones, easiest to achieve by watering down the washes as you go, on a few of the individual blocks would do the job nicely without having to repaint the whole thing.
 

I look forward to more pictures.
 

[roadskare63]

OK!!!!...As promised...MORE pictures...BEHOLD!!!...

[roadskare63]

[OSHIROmodels]

Giving it those extra colours really does lift it 

I like what you've done for the interior as well 

cheers

James

[roadskare63]

There are numerous floors for action play...the walls of the "church" section are removable if it is desired as simply a Great hall...and there are living and eating quarters in the tower section...the lord's room is at the top floor...the soldier's bunk room is second floor...either a library, or servant's quarters third floor of couse the ground floor is the meet and greet and would have tables for dining and the fireplace would be the kitchen...i have a trap door into the sublevels that would be used for storage and livestock/horses in times of siege.
I did brownwash/weather some to the extent I was happy with to break up the "battleship grey".
I think it turned out pretty well and I may lay in some minor details later, but at this point al the major construction and paint work is complete.
If you look inside the :church" section you will find that the walls are removable as desired ...this could be a fortified manor house OR a fortified church depending on the game.
Anyway, let me know what you think...ALL criticism is welcomed.

Thank you ALL again for helping to inspire me to move forward with my craft!!

Cheers,
Carl

[Mason]

That has come out really well.
The brown washes really help add some nice variation to the initial flat grey colour and add some depth to the walls.
 

The interior is excellent and should provide plenty of options for gaming taking it to another level.
 

Well done, sir, for producing a great build with loads of gaming potential.
 

[tomrommel1]

I like it very nice indeed

[Malamute]

Lovely model.

 Adding the extra colour really breaks up the dull one colour effect and brings it to life. It looks much more realistic, I bet you are pleased with the results of your labours.

[Belisarius]

Superb model , I can only marvel at the artistry displayed on this forum.  The work involved from initial concept to completion is obvious to the viewer . Sit back and pour yourself a beer / coffee and give yourself a pat on the back, thanks for posting .

[roadskare63]

Hey, I must thank each and every one of you for stating your opinions!!...It drives me to keep doing what I love to do and keep growing!!

Personally, I love BOTH versions...the plainer "battleship grey" and the later weathered and stained version as well...i will continue to complete both versions as I see fit...or depending on how LAZY I may be at the time
 Anyway...again I bow to you on this site as y'all really DO have a part in what and how I build.
Cheers to ya all!!...
Carl

P.S....this one was a suggestion from the wife...I went a lil overboard, but I am proud of what I made.

 

[tomrommel1]

you can be very proud indeed

[Emir of Askaristan]

Can I make a suggestion on the interior walls?

We're used to seeing castles in films and to wth bare stone or plastered walls. Main rooms and even corridors were panelled or covered in tapestry. Where they were left bare they were often detailed with paintings or mouldings.

If you have a Google at Stirling Castle, where a lot of work has been done on restoring the interior to its former medieval and Renaissance splendour, you'll see what I mean.

Great work though!

[fastolfrus]

I think a little more colour. Hear me out. At a distance it looks good closer up it looks almost like rust. I personally would have left well alone because the first version looked great to me.  But it is your toy so you do what ever you like.

The other thing is I thought with a castle wall they would have used the one type of stone for the bricks forming the outer wall. The hardest stone they could cut nearby would be the logical choice. Hence would it not all be a 'uniform' sort of colour. The interior stone might be a mix as it was more a filler product and getting as much as possible from close as possible as easily as possible would make sense regardless of the type of stone it was. I can see that being sourced from multiple locations but not the outer bricks of the walls.

A little more colour would make it look like it was quarried from somewhere where all the stone was brownish grey.

But stone is a natural material, and can vary quite a bit. Take a look at a cliff or a quarry wall and you will often see stripes of different colour, or just subtle changes of shade. Also, some walls attract moss etc which is another natural material that comes in varying colours and doesn't grow uniformly.

[flags_of_war]

If you need to see good stone colours for a period house this is the one that i have been using as a ref, when planning to build my own Fortified Manor.

It's Provanhall House in Glasgow.