This will take a few posts to get all of the pictures in. This is a repost from the old forum of this build. Because this is a repost. The pics and the descriptions are not matched up like they were originally.
Note: This is not a beginner project.
Have some others projects under your belt before you try this. You can see a reconstruction picture of Harlech Castle. You can see the gatehouse that is my inspiration.Luckily Harlech Castle is super well documented online and you can find lots of floorplan pics. I made a few modification to the basic floorplan, but the proportions are pretty close.
- Gatehouse 1.jpg (896.84 KiB) Viewed 671 times
The first decision to make is whether to go with castle blocks as in Mold #40 Basic blocks or with the fieldstone blocks as in Mold #70 Fieldstone Walls. Since I have both, I am using mostly the fieldstone molds for the bulk of it and the castle blocks for details. I also used #704 4" Ruined Tower and #75 Ruined Fieldstone molds as I did with my Round tower castle build. This is completely optional and may not even be a good idea. I just did it for affect. It does complicate the build however and slows things down.
The first thing I did was to lay out the floor. I used Mold #203 Cracked Floor tiles but any floor will work. Depending on what molds you have, the 4" round tower has three options:
- Gatehouse 2.jpg (775.45 KiB) Viewed 671 times
I used the middle one from #704.
Then I laid out the flooring before finalizing everything. I then added walls (Unfortunately I don't seem to have a pic of just one row of wall) and glued it together.
I used that as a template to cut out a base board for the whole thing. I used 1/2" hardboard but you could use whatever works for you.
I like the thicker piece of wood because it gives me some confidence that it won't break unless I truly drop it hard. Just like the round tower castle
I plan on building a terrain piece for it to sit in.
After gluing the floor and wall sections on to the baseboard, I added 2 more levels.
You can see that I started to add some other mold pieces into the mix. I used the arrow slits from Mold #63 Octagon Tower and the small blocks
that form the sides of the entrance way are from Mold #60 Prison Tower.
Again, I had the molds and liked the look, but they are not necessary. Arrow slits and the archway blocks can be created with the blocks from Mold #70.
Or don't put the arrow slits at all. I wanted to make the entranceway a kill zone.
- Gatehouse 3.jpg (713.45 KiB) Viewed 671 times
Bruce normally just uses key stones to align the the next level for stacking like this:
You then build the next level on top of this, being careful not to glue the two parts together. Refer to Bruce's tutorials on multi level buildings and towers if you have questions.
I used Mold #704 4" Ruined tower and Mold #75 Ruined Fieldstone to make the transition. This is unnecessary and possibly and bad idea as it makes the bottom a little touchy
to move off and set aside. I do like the idea of having an optional ruined version of the gatehouse though.
If I really wanted to do this up right I would have the whole thing come apart in pieces so it could be destroyed in game play. But it was a little too much for me to figure out.
Maybe next time.
From here you will just start adding layers of blocks:
The ruined sections are glued and covered with 3 layers of blocks all around.
From here I started to do a lot of dry stacking make sure my next step was satisfactory when pieces and proportions.
I then added pieces as support pieces for the flooring. I used #70 but also Mold #79 3" Fieldstone Tower to add support for the floor. You can file a 4" piece to do this and it will work fine also. I did cut the flooring in the round towers to support the stairs and make room for the stair coming up.
I also finished the archway. I used Mold #53 Travellers Bridge for the arch, but you could use one of the fieldstone arches to make it. I think you could get creative with #70
to make it also.
For the flooring, I cut out a piece of hardboard to lay inside and glued wood flooring from Mold #220 Wooden Plank.
I glue it on top and trim it to shape.
I glue the planks on.
Weigh it down while it dries to keep it flat.
Then flip it over and trim it to shape with nippers and a rasp.
It is not a perfect fit, but it will be cleaned up in the final paint job.
I was also working on the stairs at this time. Again, you have 3 choices in 4" round flooring:
I choose the one on the left. You will notice that it is a little funky and has a double level to it. This is to support gameplay with miniatures.
It is not a realistic look but very handy with minis.
From here I started to add Arrow slits and more layers.
The arrow slits are from Mold #52 4" Circular Tower. The doorways are from Mold #60 Prison Tower for the sides and
Mold #45 Dungeon Builder. You can make them with the pieces from #70 but you will need a door. I decided to use the prison door
from Mold #44 Gothic Additional Accessories. However, you could also use Mold #71 Fieldstone Accessories which will also get you
an arrow slit in fieldstone.
And another layer of ruined blocks:
You can see the matching blocks lined up ready to glue.
The flooring was installed on the first floor:
I have added holes in the floor for murder holes over the entrance tunnel.
Layers was built up and another flooring support was added.
Those supports pieces were attached with a ton of clamps:
Another flooring piece was added.
The next level of walls, arrow slits and doorways were added.
A layer of ruined blocks were added.
As I moved higher. The round towers in the back had to be dealt with differently since I wanted them to rise above the main building.
I started to make the tower round and had the straight walls intersect.
I kept building up the layers. And then at the floor level I added a 1/4" thick block for the flooring.
This next picture has a bit going on. I continued with round layers from the 4" tower and also added the archway from
Mold #704 4" Ruined Tower. You could make an opening with other parts if you don't have this mold. I plan on filling it with
a wooden doorway anyway.
The towers needed to be finished. The tops come off of these too so I did a layer of ruined blocks.
From here I have a few options for the finished look.
I wanted it to match my round tower castle build, so I was using a combination of different blocks to achieve that.
The finished tower is like this:
And the finished roof battlements look like this.
Well almost. I got this far and realized that I did not a straight triagular toper and that despite all of the molds I have, I didn't have Mold #50 Wizard's Tower.
So I bought it.
You will notice that there are two doors at the back with no stairs and doors on the sides that connect to nothing. I haven't built the stairs yet but will share that later.
I am also building castle walls that the doors on the side will connect to. I will share that later too.
Here is a mock up of what that will look like.
I have also started alternate tops to all the towers and building so that I can change the look of the castle when I want.