Walls of Troy project

[serran]

I'd buy the stelae too- great for Pulp as well!

Roderick

[swiftnick]

I would buy those walls definitely....

Really wonderful work.

[GamesPoet]

Wonderfully executed project!

Will there be more than this tower and wall section?

[Vongoosewink]

Hi !

Superb work !

But what is "Beesputty" and where could we buy it !?

Thanks! 

Beesputty is a sculpting putty that can be cured at low temperatures in a home oven.  It is easy to work with, but unfortunately the end result is still fairly soft, even when cured (a bit like the hardness of soap).  It is good for making masters that you intend to cast though.

You can get it from the manufacturer here: 

http://beesputty.com/

I've mostly used the 'Beesputty plastic' formula, but the Beesputty Firm is pretty good too. 

Wonderfully executed project!

Will there be more than this tower and wall section?

I'm planning a gate too, and maybe some buildings for the interior.  Was there something else you wanted to see? 

If these turn out well, I may do more stuff later, but this immediate project is just for the basic city walls.

They look great! Nice addition.
Have you read the Age of Bronze comics? Excellent series,  and full of inspiration.

Thanks!  I have not read Age of Bronze yet, but I keep drooling over the comics when I go by the bookstore.  I intend to get to them sooner or later!

I'm not sure if I can commit to buying a "Walls of Troy" set should you have them cast up (although, yeah, okay, probably...), but if you make those Stelae I'll buy a set.  They are a fantastic addition to the project!

Thanks Alex!  I had not really planned on casting the stelae, I was just going to paint these for my model - but if there is real interest in them I may try to find a quality resin manufacturer and hand them over to them to produce.  I expect the stelae would be a lot easier to produce than the wall elements.

Thanks everyone! 

-Chris

[GamesPoet]

I'm planning a gate too, and maybe some buildings for the interior.  Was there something else you wanted to see? 

If these turn out well, I may do more stuff later, but this immediate project is just for the basic city walls.

I like the idea of a gate structure.  I also like the idea of having some interior buildings.  Another idea would be to have a corner tower where the walls can turn at a 90 degree angle.

And although this is a bit ambitious, I could see having a keep like structure that is perhaps twice the height of the towers, and perhaps 4 times their footprint.

[Vongoosewink]

I like the idea of a gate structure.  I also like the idea of having some interior buildings.  Another idea would be to have a corner tower where the walls can turn at a 90 degree angle.

And although this is a bit ambitious, I could see having a keep like structure that is perhaps twice the height of the towers, and perhaps 4 times their footprint.

Well, I'm not really building a castle, rather a round, walled city with some towers and gates.  Mine won't be 100% historical (what version is?) but I do want to keep it close.    There was a central citadel, but that would be more of a palace than a keep.  

Here's a nice picture I found online of a reconstruction of the historical site.  Mine won't be nearly so grandiose, but you can see what I'm basing it on.  Just imagine the bottom 3 inches, and that's what I hope to get onto the tabletop:

http://www.crocodilegames.com/content/general/wall10.jpg

(Mod edit: Image may be copyrighted, so no repost, please!)

[James Morris]

This is an inspiring project! Really well thought out and executed. Love the stelae too.

[Argonor]

What a terrific project.  

[WuZhuiQiu]

The placement of the outer towers is interesting, since they're all at one end - might there be an association between the siting of gates and the siting of towers?

[GamesPoet]

Well, I'm not really building a castle, rather a round, walled city with some towers and gates.  Mine won't be 100% historical (what version is?) but I do want to keep it close.    There was a central citadel, but that would be more of a palace than a keep. 

Here's a nice picture I found online of a reconstruction of the historical site.  Mine won't be nearly so grandiose, but you can see what I'm basing it on.  Just imagine the bottom 3 inches, and that's what I hope to get onto the tabletop: ...

That is quite good to see!  So no corner towers, the walls curved around in places instead.  Interesting that the inner wall had multiple gates going into the inner and palace area, and some of the towers had doors facing out.

[Erik]

I know you have already had many praises, but wow  . That is really shaping out to be a litterally droolling project. I can see from the thread that you have given the idea of producing some for selling some positive thought. Again; I would be very interested.

Cheers

[Vongoosewink]

Now that the walls are done, I'm planning on adding some buildings to go inside.  Again, I didn't see any that were commercially available, so I'm going to make a few simple buildings that can be easily cast, and then put together in different ways to make them look a little different.  These are going to be humble houses for the common folk of Troy, not the fancy dwelling place of King Priam and his royal family - I'll save that for another day, when I'm less busy!

Here's the plan - 3 buildings, a small one roughly 10'x10', a medium one that is about 10'x20', and a larger one that is 2 stories, maybe 12'x24'.  According to the Osprey book, Trojan buildings would have had stone bases, with mud-brick and timber tops.  Their roofs would likely have been flat, with timber cross-supports, with woven reed over that, then a final layer of pressed clay.  It all sounds sort of primitive, but it was 1200BC, and mud-brick houses actually look pretty neat when finished and seen all together. 

Reference image from the Osprey book:


Here's the first step, a frame cut from 1/4" plywood, and then glued together.  The stonework was sculpted on the smaller one in Beesputty, then I made a press-mold with some heat-malleable plastic that my buddy Roebeast45 gave me, and used that to make the taller building's stonework base.  It needed some correction and clean up, but it did make the second one go twice as fast.

Then I added the plasticard timbers with superglue, and finally the green-putty mud-brick upper section, with texture pressed in with a toothbrush. 

The door and shutters are beesputty, I just sculpted them flat on a piece of brass, and then popped them off when dry.  On the larger building I'll just reuse the door and shutters from the first so I don't have to sculpt them again.







Some finished pics of the medium house, with a WarGods Trojan for scale:





Round the back:



And that's it - the first one is done, just the detailing on the last 2 left to go.

[GamesPoet]

Excellent.

[Mindenbrush]

Top class work and if you were Herb's 'apprentice' years ago then you have mastered the art of making miniature buildings  

Whilst the book illustrations show solid floors in the towers, they also show wooden beams protruding from the walls so would the floors be wood rather than stone?

On the casting question, would Warlord Games be a good option? I have just received 3 Indian Longhouses (designed by Herb G) and they are made from a lightweight resin that almost seems to be a 'plastic'.

Cheers,

Graham W

[LeadAsbestos]

Gorgeous! You made it look so easy!

I absolutely need these!