Medieval Fortified Village by Ekis - 1/87 scratch base kit Aedes Ars

[fnick]

On a slightly related side note general de Gaulle once saw a banner saying "Mort aux cons" (I'll let the non french speakers Google that one! 😁) To which he replied "vaste programme" or ambitious program.

 

And back to your build Ekis which is absolutely brilliant. Not sure if you've answered this but are you going to add figurines?

 

Nick

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, fnick said:

On a slightly related side note general de Gaulle once saw a banner saying "Mort aux cons" (I'll let the non french speakers Google that one! 😁) To which he replied "vaste programme" or ambitious program.

 

And back to your build Ekis which is absolutely brilliant. Not sure if you've answered this but are you going to add figurines?

 

Nick

Chuckle.... "Mort aux cons" Context is everything.... (mostly paraphrased from wiki)

 

Death to the idiots is the name of a Jeep from the 2nd French Armored Division of General Leclerc. During the Second World War, Captain Raymond Dronne of the Free French Forces 9th Armored Combat Company, La Nueve of the Chadian March regiment of the 2nd French Armored Division, baptized his Jeep, "death to the idiots"  She was the first Allied vehicle to enter Paris, August 24, 1944, during the battle for the liberation of the capital. Regarding the inscription, Charles de Gaulle would have declared Vaste program or Lourde task in comment, but the forms of the anecdote vary, proposing other contexts. Jean-Louis Delayen reports in his memoirs, (Le Baroudeur - The four wars of General Delayen) having used it during operations in the French Indochina War (Vietnam) the acronym MACVP, for "Mort aux cons, vast program!" (ie The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Program).....

 

Death to the idiots.... Sounds to me like Capitaine Dronne was being prophetic in August 1944.... (as General Delayen tried to remind the French High Command of during the run up to the Vietnam War)

 

To make it clear, The quote, in the context Delayen used it, represents an ambitious project, ran by idiots and what happened to the idiots in the end..... (there is no evidence that General/President DeGaulle ever commented publicly on it)

[Ekis]

The gate of the village has advanced quite a bit: the central stone part is almost done. 

The outside with the pointed arch. The interior with the half columns on each upright of the double arch.

 

There is still a sanding, joints to be made, the top to be filled in.

The towers are still being worked on, but will be glued on each side. 

 

Then will come the wood work, with the doors, the hoardings, etc... And finally the roofs.

2 series of photos of the building site, a few days apart. 😅

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

nicely done!  

[Kurt Johnson]

Ekis,

 

That is a handsome structure. It looks like it will blend in with the the rest of the village perfectly. Each structure gets better than the last, but I guess it should. 
 

In the evolution of a village like yours, would the entire perimeter wall be built simultaneously, or in sections tower, gate, etc? And do you think the church building would have been the first thing constructed and the rest followed? Actually I guess what I’m really asking was a fortified village built with that purpose in mind in planned steps from the onset, or just sort of just developed over time?  My guess would be both. 

 

Kurt
 

 

[druxey]

You appear to be having altogether too much fun. Bien fait, monsieur!

[Ekis]

2 hours ago, Kurt Johnson said:

In the evolution of a village like yours, would the entire perimeter wall be built simultaneously, or in sections tower, gate, etc? And do you think the church building would have been the first thing constructed and the rest followed? Actually I guess what I’m really asking was a fortified village built with that purpose in mind in planned steps from the onset, or just sort of just developed over time?  My guess would be both.

 

Actually, yes, you're right: they're both true! 😉
In history, the bastides at the base were like today's housing estates of individual houses: everything was planned in the alignment of the streets, the church and each house in the village. The wall was totally programmed to collect a precise number of buildings.
But often by deformation, the word bastide was attributed to all the fortified villages over time.
In my village example, I assumed that the church and then the cloister were there first. Then a small community grew around it with the arrival of a small nobleman to share the rights.
So it would be normal for the enclosure and this village gate to be newer than the small monastery.

 

 

1 hour ago, druxey said:

You appear to be having altogether too much fun. Bien fait, monsieur!

Merci beaucoup !

Indeed, I'm having a lot of fun with this village. In any case as much as building my fully customized HMS Victory! 😁

 

And once again, thank you all for your follow-up and your comments!

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful work, Ekis!

 

Steven

[Ekis]

This time, the stone construction is done ! Let's move on to wood...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then will come the roofs. 😁

 

[Ekis]

Some details of the wooden structures added for the moment...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the only pictures that will show the portcullis down. 😉

 

 

 

[Kurt Johnson]

Ekis,  Now that is cool! I like the winch and counterweight set up. I think the picture just before the last one should have a group of tourists ( probably some “beefeaters” ) having a group photo being taken in front of it. It looks remarkably real.  Excuse me, could you please direct me to the ( as he glances at his translations booklet) Vespasienne ? 
It’s coming along nicely.

 

Kurt

 

 

[Ekis]

😂

Kurt, it's been a long time since I've read the word "Vespasienne" in a sentence !!!

Again, thanks again to all of you for following this thread!

[Edwardkenway]

Impressive workmanship once again!! Have you ever thought of applying for a post with your local UNESCO branch? I think you'd find actual size a breeze 😁

[Canute]

Outstanding job on the gate complex.

[Egilman]

2 hours ago, Ekis said:

Kurt, it's been a long time since I've read the word "Vespasienne" in a sentence !!!

Me I prefer to find the pissoirs.....  {chuckle} (French can be such an interesting language, quaint, fastidious at points, but very definitely direct and to the point....

[Ekis]

So here we are, concentrating on trying to make the best out of a traditional medieval French fortified village, and we find ourselves in the pissoir... What a sad fate! 🤣😂

[Louie da fly]

Well, in a castle it was normally known as a garde-robe and it opened directly above the moat.

 

 

Yes, that's the same word as wardrobe - they apparently kept their clothes in it because the smell kept the moths away . . .

 

And Richard the Lionheart's favourite castle in France, Chateaux Gaillard, was captured after some guys climbed up the wall into the overhanging garde-robe. I wonder if the general asked for volunteers!

 

Steven

[mtaylor]

Ekis, I can almost hear that gate creaking as it's raised. 

[popeye the sailor]

fabulous work.........the wood effects really make it look real    the gate is very well done.......your having fun.....I can tell!

 

Ekis said:.......

So here we are, concentrating on trying to make the best out of a traditional medieval French fortified village, and we find ourselves in the pissoir... What a sad fate! 🤣😂
.......this made me laugh!   

[Ekis]

Come on, the suite with the wooden structures! 😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack12477]

This is such a cool kit !  Don't think I would have the patience to build it but it is so unique and well done.

[Kurt Johnson]

Ekis,

 

Very nice. Things keep getting better and better. They were great to start with, too. It’s so easy to forget the size of everything. Just amazing.

 

Kurt

[mtaylor]

Just love this.   Will there be a postern gate hidden in the rear of the castle?  Usually tucked away behind a shrub or two.

[Old Collingwood]

33 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Just love this.   Will there be a postern gate hidden in the rear of the castle?  Usually tucked away behind a shrub or two.

Dont foreget the welcoming holes  where they used to drop boiling oil and things on un welcome  vistors.

 

OC.

[Ekis]

Thanks!
Don't reveal all that I still have to set up with the following buildings... A postern is well planned on the lord's house, and thus a hidden exit on the east side of the village. 😉

 

 

I have already put a stone hoarding on the other door (with the sundial), I didn't want to make this one too heavy...
But for example on the guard tower with the wooden hoarding along the length, there are many holes on the outside to receive unwanted guests with all sorts of things...

[Canute]

You mean the "murder holes" for the boiling oil and large rocks? Inside the portcullis /gate. Our barbaric ancestors.

[Louie da fly]

The technical term for those is machicolations.

 

Steven

[Ekis]

1 hour ago, Louie da fly said:

The technical term for those is machicolations.

Absolutly ! ☺️

 

Like this (or inside between walls) :

[Old Collingwood]

5 hours ago, Canute said:

You mean the "murder holes" for the boiling oil and large rocks? Inside the portcullis /gate. Our barbaric ancestors.

Thats the one mate.

 

OC.

[Ekis]

No more woodworking with, among other things, the doors, which I find quite nice! A photo version with closed doors to start with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we'll move on to the roofs! And finally, there will be the aging for this village entrance.

 

 

Small inventory of fixtures of the village:

 

 

 

 

 

 

An idea from the reference docs...