So, here is some more progress, not yet the time to show an overall picture, this will be in the next update.
This is a tutorial to make a stone pattern around a round tower. (i admit that i snot probable that anyone wants to do a tower)

Here is the tower, roughly cut from Styrodur. It is the so called with tower.
The original

and the first steps to build the copy


For the builds of the two round towers on the castle i used slices of my plaster copies to get around the curve and remodelled the joints. The diameter of this one is a lot smaller and using slices was not an option as those would be so small, that hardly anything worth would be left from my stone pattern.
That's why i needed an alternative. I fellow german modeler gave me the idea i will show you now.

After i made a silicon mould of a wall section i used wood glue, applied two or three times, pure, and letting it dry nearly completely inbetween the layers.
A quick dry process is needed (i placed it near a radiator) as the glue has the tendency to retract and leave millions of air bubbles.




That's the look when it's dry


The glue wall (what a name!) is easily removable from the mould



With some more wood glue i am glueng it to the Styrodur, prepainted dark (to be sure that nothing blue will shine through)


That's the look of the tower now


The black color shines through it.

The glue wall is to smooth anyway and because i also fear that it is not really well accepting paint, i treated it with a mix of sifted earth, glue, plaster and a bit of water.
I wipped it well away after to let the stones stand out. It looks more like a real wall now i think.





Next update wil be the building and tiling of the roof on top of this.

Cheers
Claude

Casting with white glue ??, now thats pure genious!!!

Good work - as allways, just one question, how about all that junk that normally finds its way to a attic, I know that ours is piled high with stuff?

Cheers/Jan

Hi Claude, stunning work mate! Brilliant. Thanks for the tutorial! One question?

I bet you must have a massive stash and supplies for this one, I would love to see it!

Jan, thanks and yes, putting stash into the attic was indeed an idea, but i admit, honestly, that for once i let my own lazyness take over here.
I could tell you a story about the fact that there was probably nothing left in the attic after years of inoccupation of the building, the need for all stuff of the Clervaux citizens (wood, furniture, etc) during the last 4 years of war, but i will not do that and simply plead guilty of betting on the mostly destroyed roof and the mostly unvisible interior.

Martyn, i will try to take some pictures of my working area(s). It is a mess, i warn you.


Claude

Hi Cladue,

been a while since I dropped in and the building has turned out another stunner. I like you destructive aproach, the damage looks perfect. Great to see the internals of the building so well constructed. Brillient stuff.

The glue wall is a really cool idea and looks good.

This post never ceases to amaze me. As always thanks sharing this fabulous work.

Al

A wall actually made of glue? Now that's something I've never seen before. Neat!

Matt

Once again - sitting here shaking my head and smiling. That idea is genius. Once again I'm glad I checked in.

Alan, Mathew and Bill thanks to you !

Let's quickly move on and finally come up to where i really a right now in the progress.

I need to build a roof for the chapel
Here is the reference again


not an easy one, rounded mostly but flat on one side.
Let's start for once from the back, here is the final result


To build it i started with cutting out a thin plate of wood. I simulated floor boards in the case anyone would look into the small area i need to destroy it (adjacent to the other roof)

Some sanitary tube is used for the middle part.
The surface to tile on is made like this



and i started tiling with a special tile design, rounded on one side. Those are no where to buy :-), that meant cutting them somewhat excatly with a scissor and sanding it round.


Finally after two weeks

The flat part was also tiled with an extra method of finishing the ends

A lot of extra work, but it looks worth it

I tried a shortcut to tile the straight part, layed the shingles in easy to make rows and

I needed a bit of persuasion


Tiling the "hat" was in the end the most easy part


I certainly used between 3 and 4000 tiles to get this done, all individually rounded and sanded.

Here is , especially for Glenn, a picture of the actual dio situation.


The tower is not attached, so it is normal that he may not be aligned correctly, also i will make him about 1 cm higher.

A Sherman will be placed exactly where this one is, and there will be one more building at the other end of the Styrodur.


Hope you like it

Claude

Hmm I'm ridiculous with my 300 tiles.
Sure I like it, again, great work. You amaze me Claude.

Salut,
Alex.

Gday Claude
Fantastic work yet again. Your persistence in getting the finicky things right like the shape and repetition of the tiles is definitely to be commended! Do you have any troubles with your hands/fingers when doing such intricate work? Mine seem to 'lock up' a little when in one position for a while, especially when sculpting...
Brad

Hallo Brad,
Good to hear from you!

Indeed, this time , i had problems with my left hand, as such a lock up and even the beginning of an inflammation develppoped because i needed to hold the tiles between the fingers to cut and sand them.
I am doing the tiling always with a brand new blade and pick them up with the knife, so this is no problem at all.

I will paint and attach this two pieces now and then i will finish our Sherman.
As soon after i need to construct another building, i want a bit of change.

Cheers
Claude

You have patience that goes beyond words. Truly unbelievable work. And I really enjoy the reference pictures that you display along with the work to date. Mesmerizing stuff.

Matt

Reading this with my mouth wide open. Absolutely amazing stuff!

Thank you Matthew and Rob!

Have a nice sunday

Claude

I have the strange feeling that i posted to many updates during last week compared to my usual pace.
Most of those interested in the progress probably didn't realize that. So consider this post as a shameless push to the top of the discussion.

Cheers
Claude

Claude, it's fantastic!

That whiteglue molding is a brilliant idea. Hope to hear you soon!!!

László

ive been following this since the start must say amazing work a master at work thanks for sharing

Hi Claude, superb mate. It looks amazing. It is coming on great.

Claude!

Excellent idea on the towers moulded surface!
I'm waiting for the next step...

PS.: Halaci, thanks for the book! It's also an excellent work for both of you!!!

Hey Claude ........... absolutely beautiful work !!!!

I'll have to try that relief - glue - rounded thingie - it turned out great and dosen't appear to be too time comsuming.
Thanks for the overall shot - the big picture. Everything looks great.

Did you say you were gonna do a Sherman ? with all the different types and dates and classes ............... well let's just say take pics. of it from far away , l.o.l.
It could take you as long as what you've done so far on Clervaux , what with all the research !!!!
If you have questions ask I'm sure you'll get 100 different answers, l.o.l.

All kidding aside ............ I'm sure as long as it looks, quacks and walks like a Sherman you'll do just fine.

I'm doing a Panther A for my dio and what with early, mid, early - late, zim - no zim, it should take forever .

Great update, thanks man.

Glenn

How did you know that i intended to do exactly that ? I think it's the fear of the diorama maker to show something not up to the level people are used to see. You are in the same category as i am!

Hey, it is 4 years now that i build the last tank, so it took me some time to get over my fear!

The Shermie is already finished ! Just need to refix these bloody PE guards around the front lights and paint it. I had a good reference (the one parked in front of Clervaux Castle) and the big help of our friend Bradley to get this done somewhat right. It actually was fun to ad some details only found on the one in Clervaux. Local historians also made all the research work for me and type and markings are well known.
Bradley game me his ok (always considering that i never wanted to do a Shermaholic version of it) and i will show i only after painting and hidding all my errors with luggage and other stuff

Thank you all for the comments!

Lazlo, you will hear from me, in a few weeks!

Cheers
Claude

Claude you builds are truely amazing works of art... i normally tend to stick to braille (1/72) scale ... your eye for detail is amazing i wish i had half your talent

Claude sorry for not posting.I've been busy of late'.

The glue wall looks great! very intereasting!>.

The photo of the whole thing really gives us some idea of the sheer scale!. Master piece!

superb work my friend!

Bradford and James, thank you guys!

Hey, don't miss the feature on the Castle on the Homepage of Armorama.
Unfortunately Henk linked the discussion to the Armor forum and if you are like me, i bookmark directly the forum page and seldomly look at the frontpage.

You get to see the castle in it's final look, i obviously missed to update you with those pictures two years ago.

Cheers
Claude

What! Three months without update! That's hardly a Blog anymore!?

Ok, sorry, but i admit being very lazy with all writing stuff lately, so while i was negligent in updating this thread i wasn't for he building stuff.
It took me nearly all this three months to build a replica of this building

forming the entrance to the outer courtyard.
The house has a lot of special features, different levels for front and back, curved fassades, a tunnel, a weird roof form, so i had plenty of challenges here (again).
Also, a side entrance had to fit exactly with the stairs coming from the module "Village"
The house is 50x30 cm.

In this case i made a mockup with cardboard to get a sense of the measures.

I did only have one bad picture taken from far to replicate the backside. The front was documented a bit better, no pics exist from the left side.

My method to build houses did not change. Stonework on top of Styro, frames for the window cases, the windows made from plasticcard and the glass made of clear resin.


Assembled


The fassade is done with a mix of sand and plaster. After smoothing with wet fingers i sifted a bit of sand on top of it. On the picture, left before, right after. This all without glue.


The roof is mounted. Balsa wood on top of a few beams, nothing special here. I wanted again to tile to roof separately, so i needed to builf the truss removable. I could only do so as far as seen on the pict, the rest was to complicated to built beforehand.

Tiled


Once glued in place i build the rest


Here a picture from the back, all the colors are temporary and are only to get a first cover on the plaster.


Nearly done


I only need to paint and wheater it now (at least the backside) before i placed it on the module.

After that, cobblestones and painting of the whole stuff. I probably have an expo in three months , so i need to get it done.

Have a nice summer

Claude

before i forget: Soon to come: www.diorama-clervaux.com