Fishing boat (scratchbuilt)

Another Little scratchbuild for Bodstonia, a fishing boat which will see Service on the great lake and be anchored  at Boddington.
Again, all scratchbuilt, mast an old Paintbrush, anchor chain from old jewellry chain, Tiller a toothpick, deck hatch flyscreen material etc etc.
It was going to be the Basis for the Ship mill but it didn´t look right, too oval shaped but the hull was already finished so why waste it, and my Daughter insisted on it being finished  so we can take it to the local Pond and float it.

The fishing net is made from some old flyscreen material with  some broken tackle blocks from a 1/100th scale ship kit as floats.

I saw a way of shaping sails over at Vol´s Blog A miniatures Hobbyroom on his post  Scratch Built 1/1200 Third Rate 80 Gun Ship of the Line ,look at the link,  you´ll be amazed  how small and beautifull the finished ship is.
Vol´s sails turned out looking lovely  so I thought I´d give it a go.
Stupidly, I used  material, a Piece of old Cotton sheet. Even after the PVA had dried it didn´t hold it´s shape which meant I had to Hand sew a length of thin wire into the bottom to create the curved effect.

Still, I know know why it went wrong...The relative size. Vol used Card and his sails are tiny..so next time  I´ll use the same  method to shape them but the materials I used fo the Pirate Cutter, a Sandwich of paper between two layers of micromesh net curtain.

The Fishing boat as the "Tomplot Blenny" at work in Bodstonia HERE

The "Tomplot Blenny",  on the local Pond.

Ship mill (scratchbuilt)

An old build that got buried and forgotten in the house creation Project.
Used in any era  from  Ancient Roman onwards..there´s a few still being operated (newly built ones that is..not ones from the ancient romans)
Quotefrom Wiki ;
"A ship mill is a type of watermill. The milling and grinding technology and the drive (waterwheel) are built on a floating platform on this type of mill.
Its first recorded use dates back to mid-6th century AD Italy"

As with the Horse-Powered Ferryboat, These Mills come (came) in a wide range of designs which gives some freedom in creating my own Version

As far as I can tell, this type of Mill would be "parked" further up stream  from where it was to be used and when the grain was loaded for Milling, it would be set adrift (using ropes tied to the bank so it didn´t drift away entirely) until it reached a Point where the river flow was strongest and the wheel would be more efficient. When the grain was milled, it would be pulled back to the riverbank or serviced by boats.

Others seemed to have been attached to Long poles and pushed out into Position, to ropes stretched across the river from one bank to the other and pulled out into Position  or permanently attached to some sort of ramp/Dockside

Medieval Ship mills in a painting from 1411, The Martyrdom of St Ursula at Cologne

For a  really good write up on Boat mills, Hanging Mills,  Bridge mills  and all thier varients go HERE. In fact..if your interested in weird and wonderfull machines and "forgotten" Technology, the site is well worth a browse..I mean..who wants to miss out on learning about windpowered chinese wheelbarrows..? :-D

During construction...

As ever, it´s all scrap material, mostly Card with  bits of insulation foam and paperclips, heads of Pins for bolts etc. 

A small whinch has been made to aid in hauling it back to shore

 Obviously this will end up in Bodstonia...and it´s shown in "Action" HERE

Medieval Town

...also to be used in Bodstonia
50% of it finished ..planning permission for the other half has been asked for.
25 individual buildings (some stuck together in Groups of three or 4) 23 scratchbuilt from Card, the other two from Fredericus-Rex.
The idea to create a housing block was abandoned after I turned the Corner around (the White rose cafe and attached houses) and it created a new street. I prefered the effect that was created.
Just visible (top far left second row of buildings)..the last house hasn´t had the Roof tiles added as it will have another building attached.

New " industrial road" created by attaching some of the buildings I first made (now with new roofing etc) together.

 

The back of the "yellow house" street...the Rose Cafe to the left.

Along the "industrial" estate road looking towards the end of the "yellow house" street

The "industrial " street from the other end.

The rear of the main street ..the "White rose cafe" on the top left Corner

I´ll have to work out what I´ll use for road surfaces but  as I´ve said..it´s far from finished and the layout might Change as more buildings, town square with fountain and especially functional buildings  like a smithy, Stables etc  are added.
Cost of the Project so far? €6 for A ltr of woodglue, €3 for a combined (Brown, White and a bit of yellow)  litre of acrylic wall paint ..a wee bit of talcumpowder to thicken the paint...10 euros tops..works out at less than 50 Cents a house .

One for the purists. A common perception is that there should be at least a small Stone/brick plinth /Wall supporting the beams on the bottom floor.
Not always..Just a couple I´ve found without (or the wall painted black)  since starting this project
Weobley, Corner House and Red Lion Inn
Bowes Morrell House in Walmgate
From Machynlleth Town
Weald and Downland Museum (the medieval shop originally from Horsham)

Another 20 plus (and the roads) to go...Possible by the end of the year?

Medieval street (Pt5)

I wasn´t really that satisfied with the look of Some of the buildings I first made (Card Houses Post) so they have all had a make over, for example the roofing changed and chimneys added.
One of the three storey houses was cut in half and had the lower floor removed..there were simply too many three storey houses and it was getting a bit of a  "all the same height" look.
Also..some housing / Workshops are needed for the lower orders and artisans.

Storage shed ?, Stables? Workshop?

Some of the other houses are getting "add ons" as well like These Bay Windows which help break up large Areas of walls

The Weekend approaches so I´ll get stuck in and hopefully get the rest finished!!!

Medieval Street (Pt 4)

Another Addition , this time a "Corner building" and based on, what is now,  Gert and Henry's Restaurant, Jubbergate, York.
I originally found a Picture which Shows it with a large  White Rose on the front  and called, logically enough, the White Rose Cafe.
I´ve left the rose off and Extended the Roof over it´s gable end.

A really good resource, sometimes with scale plans for Timber framed houses  is BHO (British History Online)
I advise using the search function as the site is huge and can be a bit confusing.

Medieval Street (Pt 3)

Another two additions
The middle house is based on a real life one (but I forgot which one and I´d also  deleted the pic  found on the web...doh!!)
The one on the far left is made up.

The Housing block so far. Another 8 or so to go to complete the square.

Some of the previous buildings (from the first attempt) are undergoing a make over..like this one.

Printed Roofing removed, cut out tiles/shingles added

Stonework on the bottom floor removed and replaced with timberframe effect.

Dragon beam Ends and dragon Posts added.

Chimney added.

Making the tiles is driving me crazy!!!
One small Roof at 10 cm´s width (most of them in the Group shot are  13cm´s wide, the one with the "tunnel" is 10cm´s wide)
For one Strip with a tile every 1/2cm = 38 snips.(it takes 2 snips to create the small inverted triangles between each tile) .
Then each Roof has an average of 9 strips to get to the top...= 340+ snips for one side..= 680 for both sides!!!!  900+ for a 13 cm wide Roof!!!
For the ones pictured above, roughly 7000 snips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still..IMHO they look better than the printed Versions. :-D

Medieval street (Pt2)

The "Yellow house".
This one is  based on another house in Broadstreet, Ludlow.
I couldn´t work ourt exactly how the beams on the top floor (here they are called"Andreas crosses" ) had been positioned so I went with vertical beams as with the first two floors.
A bit of modernisation has taken place..chimneys are being added.


Added to the two previous buildings.

A recent trip out revealed another candidate for a model based on a real building..a barn with house attached at the back.
The Thing is massive, roughly 23 meters Long and 12 meters wide.

 

The barn and attached house are open to the public (for free)

The main house (Haus Kemnade)
I won´t even contemplate re-creating this..it´s way to big.

120 meters Long and 80 meters wide at the front, 50 at the back.

The Museum inside the Castle has some great bits and pieces...like the carvings on one of the staircases and in the ceilings...the one in the Picture is about 2 meters across.

And, last but not least, flagged up on Volomirs blog , a georgeous Diorama by Francesco "Franciuus" Farabi.
Simple is design but the layout and the use of colours etc are expertly excecuted ...just lovely.
A Sherwood Tale

 

 

Medieval street (Pt 1)

Making single (detached ) buildings is ok, but it doesn´t really create the classic "higgle-piggle mix and match" look of medieval streets (like the "Shambles" in York) and it saves a bit of work as creating single "stand alone" buildings means designing, creating and painting  all  4 (at least) sides.

 To save a bit of work and to introduce the "higgle-piggle mix and match" look ,  I´ve come up with an "front and Back, add as I go" Approach.

This is the first building which I can then add more to..based on number 1-2 Broadstreet, Ludlow. The plan is to add a couple more (so there´s 4 or 5 to each side) to the left and right, then add another couple of Corner buildings and eventually  create a square and base the lot with added courtyards, outhouses etc in the middle.

The sides have been left free so other buildings can be added..........

.....like this  building (not based on any real life one)

Any alleyway to allow access to the backyards.

Medieval timber framed Church..

..and a Barn with house attached.
Okay, I did plan on making a building based on either ...Stokesay Castle gatehouse or Bayleaf farmstead next (sorry Ray, Bayleaf farmstead is coming at some Point) but the church caught my eye and the barn was half finished anyway.

The barn with attached house is purely made up......and the gates are large enough so a carriage can be parked inside.

.......but The church is based on the village church in Linow (HERE).....

.and even though I can´t see a bell in any of the pics from the web I assume there is one.

In a medieval role it will be used as a church but for my Imagi-Nation of  Bodstonia it will be the local Meeting hall ..and the bell will become part of the narrative as the "Oak Bell"

Medieval Guildhall - Thaxted

This one proved to be a total headache..not only the fact it has Jetties on three sides  but the open area underneath and the shape of the Roof!! Adding the tiles/shingles was "fun".

As ever..the planning stage.
It started well but as it went on the positioning of the uprights on the top two floors had to be changed three times and trying to space the large Posts for the open area took half a dozen attempts.
Worse came when putting the finished walls together......First, some idiot had forgotton about the jetties  between the bottom and second floors for the side walls. Luckily it´s not the whole length of each side so a Piece could be added.
Then due to the small supporting area of the ground floor, the upper floor sagged towards the front,  similar to a concertina,  which meant adding extra bracing pieces inside.
Then..as the Roof was being added it caused the front and back walls to bow inwards which meant adding even more internal bracing pieces.

Underneath.
I´ve left out a couple of crossbeams and (it can just be seen in some pics on the web but not 100% clearly) the "kingspost" , which should roughly be (in this model) near the middle but it took up space and wasn´t necessary so got left out.

What next?. A break from houses...maybe?
Or...Stokesay Castle gatehouse or Bayleaf farmstead ? Or a freestyle made up building?

Leigh-Pemberton House

Leigh-Pemberton House, Lincoln 

As with the "King John's" Hunting Lodge -Axbridge  some bits and pieces have been altered..the White shop Windows for instance or the Stone base and the rear and right walls (In real life they are attached to adjacent buildings) are entirely made up.

Roof tiles/shingles and Dragon Beam Ends plus Dragon Posts added.
The Roof has roughly the same surface area as the King John´s Lodge but this time I added 9-10 rows of tiles instead of 7-8 (reduced the area of overlap)
 It means more  snipping  but the result is better.

The "planning stage"

Basically this one is a mirror Image of the King John's" Hunting Lodge -Axbridge  building (the jetties are on the other side) which makes it good for creating a "Dark alley" Scene.

Next one? The Guildhall, Thaxted  looks interesting..

"King John's" Hunting Lodge - Axbridge

"King John's" Hunting Lodge -Axbridge  or as near as I could reproduce it from photos found on the web.
Re-creating a reallife building is way more time intensive than just making one up, measuring etc so it will end up looking near enough in porportion (the plans below) but the result is, IMHO, way better.

I´ve made a couple of changes from the real life Version;
1. The shop Windows I made smaller as the construction was impossible using Card.
2. The back wall and right Hand wall I´ve made up , the original back wall is a massive Stone affair.
3. I´ve left the chimney off.
4. I left off the fretwork above the Windows.

Basic history and info on the original can be seen HERE

Rough sketch (to scale) to plan out how it will actually Transfer to the model..and it allows for small changes now rather than wasting  time and cardboard later.



 

 

Roofing tiles made from thin Card , strips 1cm wide, marked at 1/2cm intervals and the edges snipped with scissors. In the pic the Strip is 2 cm´s wide which makes easier to Hold during snipping. The snipping can be toe curlingly boring but way easier than sticking the tiles individually.  

I´m pleased with the way it´s turned out so the rest of the houses will get the same Treatment...so hours of "fun" ahead :-)

A slightly sterner Version of the kings head sculpture that adorns the original building.

The Windows are made using mesh from a bag of oranges, cut to size then painted black and thin pieces of scrap plastic from Containers behind


.............and just to Show it´s virtually all  made from scrap Card.....

I reckon I´ll Need to add a Pub to the town, so I might have a go at this one,  Leigh-Pemberton House,