Hi all, started the river castle keep to go between the bridge & bldg., set on the wharfside.
Thats not a Martini its a glass of Aussie Great White wine. [ Hey I like it and its cheap good sipping Chardonnay - tools of the trade ]
The keep is meant to show an old, time worn structure not a recently bombed one. It will be dressed in ivy and have a sapling in autumn color growing in the upper turret area. The roof will be caved in partially and nicely aged with moss. The outside of the turret and most of the bottom will be covered with mortar except where age has worn it to show the stone beneath. - Cheyenne

Cheyenne, again you have shown us excellent work here. I have only one thing to critique, I feel the turret should be thicker. Just my opinion. Other than that excellent work so far. Youy have a great mind with everything you come up with. Cheers Kevin

Everything looks nice - including the Martini

Nice start to the castle

Thanks Kevin for pointing that out. I thought about that also, I'll be putting a course of stone on the outside covered with mortar. If it still looks to thin, then I'll just have to add another course of stone on the inside. At the very worst it will just mean more time working it.
Although with the slight overhang I might want to make the inside stone set atop the lower outer wall so it looks more like its built on top of one another.
Yeah, now that I look at it that has to be done anyway otherwise there's no means of support for the outer turret wall. Thanks Kevin for making me think [ yeah and the extra work l.o.l. ] Thanks again better to correct it now than later. - Cheyenne

Cheyenne,

I do like the start you have made, just a few remarks based on a question...and they might sound harsher then I intended...

If the top is another floor in the keep then you might have to add a way to enter that floor, either a door or a stair. And show that walls have been attached top it. And indeed the walls then need to be thicker (at least an inch).

Mind you that towers (even a keep in general) are almost impossible to build in 1/35. Walls easily reached 5-7 meters (15-21 ft)... towers were usually higher (add another 5 meters (15 ft) easily). Keeps easily reached the 20 meters mark (70ft). The more substantial ones you are talking about 30+ meters (100+ ft), almost 3ft in scale.


For a massive site on castles, this is an excellent one (though in German): http://www.burgenwelt.de

A pssible way out for this problem is to depict this as a 19the century folly.

Thanks Harm, I called it a keep for lack of a better name. How about bastion?
This will be placed in a dio on a river next to a building and a bridge sort of an ancient lookout or strongpoint. The bastion- keep will be shown as built against a stony riverbank grade so only maybe 3/4 of it will be seen with the base on a stone wharf and the upper turret part on a ground level with the bldg. and bridge roadway. Oh and yes there will be a doorway on the upper level. I'll take some more pics. with it laid out but you'll have to use a little foresight as it's far from complete. - Cheyenne

Out standing

The use of materials is great things i would never have thought of using i love the flag stone floors in the Keep/bastion, to be doing this in your head as you go along is mind blowing.
When this all comes together its going to be a work of art.
Huge undertaking but will be well worth it .....ozzie wine is good stuff.
Cheers Chris

Ok, heres a vague representation of the dio.
The bastion/keep structure will be placed built into the riverbank with another doorway in the turret for entry/exit at road/ground level. - Cheyenne

Cheyenne,
Like everyone else has already said...WOW!
I really like it especially with the plans for moss, vines, etc.
Are the stones made from cork? If so, I think it looks great.
Can't wait to see it further along with coatings.
Thanks for sharing.
Gary

PS. The 1:1 scale Martini glass is cool too! I usually model mine filled with beer instead of wine!

Awesome! Incredible work done so far! I can't wait to see this dio finished! Still, I do agree with some of the things said before! Have fun working them out!
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato

Cheyenne, this is amazing! In my innocence I thought the Gasthaus & bridge were the whole diorama, then you produce the barge, now this. I can't see where it is going to end, the whole concept is just so...huge! Could be expensive if you are using the pool table as the display stand! LOL

That dio is coming along very fine. I'm absolutely amazed by the size and the fact that you totally scratchbuilt every structure! Wow! Even I could barely do that.

I'm very much excited to see the final product.

One comment though: The Martini glass is waaaaaayyy out of scale. Ahihihihi..... :-)

Angela

Cheyenne I looked on this site just see what the tower was about and get ideas for som 25mm wargaming pieces- Man You have just blown me away -great work looks like the work some of the best Train modellers do(please take that as a high compliment mate because I have seen some of the best in my country and they up to the best in the world) Truely awesome together and look forward to more posts
Ian

stunning, simply stunning, all your hard work is really showing and I'm highly anticipating the end result

Cheyenne, I think your 'Bastion-Keep' is perfect as a Toll Booth. The rivers in Europe were ( and indeed still are) heavily used for transport, and as on roads, tolls were levied at regular intervals. just make sure that there is a hole in the wall at the river side, where the chain to block the river would have passed through.

It looks great, and better with every post. looking forward to the progres of this.

Cheers
Henk

Cheyenne,awsome awsome awsome!!!
You rank wright up there with a buddy that did a dio that was 6"x8".
You two are totally nuts!! :-) :-)
And I mean that in the best way!!!!
Jim

very, yes very impressive work !! I admire your courage to work on such an hughe scene.

Keep it up dude...you're n your way in creating a masterpiece.

Henk, Henk, Henk, thats a brilliant idea!! I could fashion a windlass type thingie to go in the turret with very heavy, very rusted chain. I won't have to use a hole though, just place it where the already crumbled gap is and hang a small length down a bit, - thanks man off to the drawing board - [ more wine and cigs. ]
Thanks everyone on your comments and suggestions also. I'm afraid to bring a 3/4 inch 4' x 5' piece of plywood into the house tho. If I do I'm afraid my wife will choke me in my sleep. Right now I can set the pieces up on the pool table to visualize the ongoing build then break it down and store it.
Cheyenne

cheyenne

As an aussie it is great to see you enjoying our wines - although I hate to dilute them with ice :-)

As a modeller.............. FANTASTIC. You take my breath away.

Brian

Cheyenne great work sofar but the officer looks greato where does it come from? Dragon -Verlinden...........?
Please let me know
Greetz Eric

Hi mate

Looking awsome starting to take shape, its going to be huge good job you have bloody pool table how many figs do you intend to have ?
Keep it up and there is no doubt that the ozzie wine makes you very creative ...lol lol
Cheers CHRIS
Have a great weekend and watch that knee.

Cheyenne,

Very nice work, you have an excellent talent in the world of scratch building. Maybe it is time I start drinking some of that Aussie wine. Keep the pics coming this appears to be the start of another gem for the dio.

Cheers

Jay

I can say nothing that hasn't already been said. You are truly a gifted artist. How exciting to see it all unfold, into it's completion . . here on the Big A.

Wow that is impressive its huge, can't wait to see it with some figures. I will be following this build to the end.