king derelict

This is going to be a very interesting build. I'm looking forward to seeing it develop Alan

I'm making progress with the main walls. I've laid the lower sections of the blocks almost round the tower now. I have found one less complication on re-reading the guide sheet. From my initial read and looking over the contents of the kit I had formed the idea that a tier of tiles ran completely round the tower at the green line on the formers seen in some of the photos which also marks the main roof level. This is partly why I had started the block work there. The other reason being that it was a chance to get the blocks to run level. The re-read showed that the tiles are only used on the curved section of the tower which will be a great simplification. I've started on the first windows and I confess to a cheat. I have shortened the windows slightly so that they only cover whole tiers of blocks rather than end with a messy thin section to try to blend into the whole wall. I don't think we are dealing with precise scale accuracy on this kit so I went with ease and neatness, This [part is going quite nicely. Not too much need to shape a lot of blocks and so far the windows have been straightforward. The curved section of tower should be interesting. The build will be paused for (I hope) a few days. My house was built with Poly butyl water pipes which are now 35 years old and considered prone to leakage. Homeowners Insurance and Real Estate people are starting to get fussy about it so I have the plumbers showing up on Thursday to replace it all with Pex. This will entail bashing holes in the drywall, frightening the cats and covering everything in dust. Cupboards under the sinks have to be emptied, washing machine and drier moved and the work bench has to be cleared out of what is nominally the utility room. So the castle will be moved out of harms way for a while. Hopefully normal activities will resume next week sometime. Thanks for looking in and all teh likes and helpful comments. Alan

Thank you very much. I'm enjoying this much more than the Rochelle Towers. More variety I think.

Beautiful recovery

The Jewel came out really well. The rigging is very nice and the bird is a great touch Alan

I am back with the blockwork. I gave myself an easy start. No windows and the blocks only run part way down the walls. The rest is covered by landscape. I finished the first bottle of glue provided with the kit. A full bottle of Weldbond has already been consumed too. Thanks for looking in and the comments and likes Alan

Thank you Mark I'm hoping the lighting will tone down when I add the roofs to the towers and rooms on the upper deck. If necessary I can add some paint to the leds too \Alan

Thank you Andrew This is my first attempt to light a model and in some ways its an easy place to start. There is so much depth in the landscape that hiding the leads is not going to be a problem. A lit ship model would be beautiful. I have used flickering leds and they do look nice. I ran out before getting to the outer walls and keep and I'm trying to decide whether to use the warm white constant leds I have on hand or buy more flickering ones. That would put the lighting costs pretty close to the close of the kit. I guess that's standard though. Rule 1 says you s[pend far more on aftermarket stuff than the basic kit. Alan

Thanks so much OC. I'm hoping the tower and the details will be quite fun. There is a curved tower with embedded columns and tiles that is going to be challenging but its not too big and thankfully doesn't need to be doubled. Alan

Thank you Steven and the cellophane is a good idea. I think the photo is much brighter than the final effort. There are still a number of exposed leds on the upper level which will be walled and roofed in. I think they are tending to dominate the lighting at present but will only be lighting small windows and maybe a door which may be posed part open. The main tower looked quite dim when I tested the lights there on their own and I was actually thinking I might need to add a few more. I should have access through to the end so I can adjust as I need, colour and quantity. Thanks again Alan

I've added the lights to the main tower and the smaller areas on the roof. Although I need some more leds I can progress with the main tower now. I tested the leds and all work. They are 3v 1.8mm leds in flickering warm white. I fixed the upper levels into place. I didn't rely totally on the card strips provided in the kit. I added some foam strips which gave a more substantial area to glue the top levels to. As you can see there are plenty of interesting feature, doors, windows, curves which will stop this being an exercise in slapping down blocks. Thankfully the landscape [profile means the blockwork doesn't extend all the way to the ground. For this reason I decided to start at the level where a tier of tiles is built into the wall. That also gets me a level start to the blocks. There is some fairly interesting work ahead. The lighting has been checked as the evening came in. I used blocks of closed cell foam to mount and glue down the lights with the leads threaded out through the blocks. It seems to have worked well. You can see the ones still exposed on the tower roof Light bleed looks like it won't be a problem Thanks for looking in and all the support Alan

Thank you very much OC Praise from the expert is much appreciated. I imagine these are war gaming figures. I can't imagine painting an army. I am enjoying working on a few at a time though and hope to improve a bit. I think I will try a light wash and see how that comes out. I saw this on the Micro Mark website and am intrigued to know if its really any use. The steadiness of my hand is more of an issue with fine details and I'm not sure I want to see that magnified😄 Micro-Mark BrushCam (micromark.com) Alan

Thank you very much Steven. I will continue with artistic license regarding dress and colours. I believe the figures are supposed to be circa 14th century. The bombard might be stretching it a bit and although I like it it may not end up in the display. A lot will depend on how the landscape comes out. The gateway to the ramp and the main door will be the most populated area I think so may end being just a column of riders and some watchful foot soldiers. I'll see how creative I feel. I do like the little figures though and will paint more as a break from the blockwork. This will all be a bit of a confection; given the simplifications with the kit I won't be reaching for the ultimate in historical accuracy - but trying to not go too far astray Thanks again Alan

Looks great. The paintwork is really well done Alan

While I was waiting for the lighting kit to arrive I used the time to prime a few of the Pendraken 10 mm figures with Mr Surfacer metal primer. I then have them a coat of Vallajo white primer to see how the details looked I thought the detail looked quite nice so I had a go at painting them using a set of Vallejo medieval acrylic paints that I bought by mistake ages ago. I was a bit nervous about the coverage having had some bad experiences with Vallejo in the past. To my surprise the paints went on very nicely. I also tried a wet palette for the first time and found it very handy, especially as I found I was going round touching up areas as I found bits I had missed I have found very little guidance for the uniforms so this is pure imagination. I am going to add a thin wash to help with the details. I can't manage the details of teh reins so a wash may bring them out without needing to actually paint them. A wash may help add a bit of subtlety to the figures. I'm not sure whether the foot figures are wearing chain mail cowls or whether its luxuriant hair. I have painted them as mail but might try a few with hair. Be kind; these are less than 1/2 inch tall and I just couldn't get the eyes painted right. 😄 The bombard is a nice little piece. I haven't painted bases yet. They will be matched into the overall landscape when they get installed This was really an exercise in trying washes and highlighting but now we have a dragon for the castle The leds arrived this afternoon so I will be adding them to the tower formers and then its back to the blocks Thanks for looking in and for all the comments and support Alan

The BBC does that to me all the time

Yes; I hope to incorporate figures. I bought some metal 10mm figures from Pendraken in the UK and they look quite nice. Thank you for the kind words. Slow progress but its still fun Alan

That is a great video. Its a very interesting insight into both the construction and the lives of the builders and their mobility. I think they are faster than I am too. Thank you very much for posting it. Alan

Looking very good Jav. The masking is great Alan

The display idea is really clever and very effective. Large aircraft take up a lot of real estate around the house. I must try to remember this when the time comes. Your display is coming on nicely. The Eighth air force badge is a nice touch. The Vallejo paints do seem stubborn to shake. I have some in my future so the Tax shaker may be borrowed Great work Alan

Thank you very much OC. They look really very nice. I'll order a few to see how they look against the stonework. The 10 mm figures I got from Pendraken are probably just too small to do anything with. I did think of painting them white as ghosts of yesteryesr but I don't think it would work Alan

Thanks Jack I think I can do that in the castle. It looks like most of the areas are gravel or grass. Those are great dios by the way Alan

The Mosquito looks really nice in the PR blue. Beautiful model Jav. Alan

I spent some time today adding the upper layer to the main tower roof. Its a complicated layout. The numbers on all teh pieces make it pretty straightforward apart from a couple of odd pieces which need a bit of extra thought. The instruction / guide sheet is of little / no help - its more just a general outline of the build. There is going to be some fiddly brickwork here. Assembling the structure has made it easy to see which elements are closed in and have roofs and should be lit. I was wrong in my initial assessment and only about five parts will need lights so I have rather overordered on the leds. I'm sure they will come in useful and I suppose I could add a few in the base of the towers in the curtain wall The next step will be to assemble the roof onto the main tower but before then I need the leds so there may be a few days pause. I should have planned better but I hadn't expected to move quite so fast on the last bit of teh wall. Thanks for all the comments, helpful information and the likes Alan

OC, thanks - that may be a great idea to try. Those little figures have been bothering me a bit. They are o small that I can't think of an easy way remove them from the bases. Somehow they would have to be added and the landscape built up around them. Lots to think about here. Alan