Under construction - 1

Tile & miter box with basic shell of left bank tower.

The Central span arches with basic components for comparison.

The left bank tower & columns.

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Due to some glitch affecting my browser I was unable to update this blog yesterday. Whatever it was that caused Internet Explorer such angst seems to have cured itself, so, on we go.

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Work has begun on the bridge for 17th century-plus wargaming. As mentioned before I'm using components made of the extremely tough Herculite 2 plaster cast in Hirst Arts molds for the majority of construction. As it happened I didn't need to make as many casts as I'd planned, as I have plenty of spare components in store that suit the project. To make it easier to transport the whole structure will be made in three separate parts comprising the two towers with side spans, and the wide central span. All will be mounted on bases made from two layers of thick card laminated with PVA and sealed with Klear/Future floor polish. MDF might be better in some ways but I find card easier to work with.

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The top picture shows the beginning. A perfectly flat surface is essential for constructing buildings using the plaster blocks as any errors that creep in tend to become magnified as work advances. I use a spare ceramic wall tile for this purpose, and a miter box to ensure perfect 90-degree vertical angles for the walls. Legos are ideal for this job but I gave mine away long, long ago...

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The blocks are glued together using PVA adhesive: Aleene's Tacky Glue is good too. Both types of adhesive allow some time for parts to be adjusted before they set. In the event of an error being noticed afterwards, the blocks can be soaked in water, separated, dried and re-glued without harm. Some of the components require sanding to remove the occasional irregularity where the plaster is poured into the mold but this is easily done. The irregularities can be avoided altogether using the techniques described on the Hirst Arts website. Each component is in multiples or fractions of inches, which makes it easy to calculate the number needed and the area they'll cover. The base shell of the left-bank tower is shown next to the miter box, and measures 5 inches long by 2 inches wide.

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While this was drying I assembled the arches that will form the central span of the bridge. Bruce Hirst cleverly designed these components so they can make either 4-inch or 3-inch wide archways depending on their alignment. My span uses the 4-inch version here; 3-inch arches will be used in the tower gateways.

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The smaller 2-inch wide arches shown in the lower photo are formed from 4 pieces, and will make up the two smaller spans between the towers and the central span. The photo shows two of the arches being checked in the dry assembly stage before gluing to the left bank tower. A roof made from thin card will arc between the tower and the pier on the right. Before this is fitted, I'll paint everything within the area to be enclosed as it'll be too difficult to do afterwards.

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In the forefront I've shown two of the Gothic columns that will stand on the corners to the right of the arches. Although the photo doesn't show it that clearly, the finials are designed in the shape of heavily-bearded faces. I think it'll add a nice distinctive touch to the design, as they'll frown down at anyone passing under the bridge as if warning them to behave and respect the river!

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Both towers will butt up to blue insulation foam terrain tiles sized to fit in with those used by the New Buckenham club. I'll make these last, and they'll have stone-flagged quaysides with bollards.

Forward planning.

Whilst I can't expand on my imaginary armies at present, there're plenty of things I can do. The campaign map I drew up some months back left me less than satisfied, so I'm revising it on a different scale of one hexagon = 5 miles. I'm also expanding the size of the hexagons themselves, to make the details held in each easier to read.

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I've looked over the Front Rank figures and reckon I can convert them to Babbington's Legion without much trouble. The poser is what to do with the scattering of light infantrymen. As mentioned before they come with the "Jockey cap" style of headgear issued to British light infantry of the period. They don't look compatable with the Hetzenberg army. I've a mind to paint them up as Margavate light troops in black uniform jackets.

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Work has begun on casting components for my most complex Hirst Arts construction yet - a multi-arched bridge with towers. It requires 16 casts from the molds to get the number of parts needed, and 10 of these have now been done. I'll use some foamcore throughout the model to save weight, but the majority will be plaster. As with any large construction, forward-planning and a dry-run in fitting components together is a must. The components all have to marry up to each other in the right way to avoid gaps and misalignment.

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I plan to have two quayside sections from which the bridge will spring. These will have paved edges with bollards. The towers will have open arches, where mediaeval gates once stood. Now the bridge serves as a convenient customs/tariff post which can be barricaded at need. The center arch will be a seperate unit. Eventually I'll make a ruined version to depict a demolished span for those "blow the bridge!" games.

Another review picture.

Another shot of the current units of the Hetzenberg army. IR1 Sleibnitz leads IR2 Wohl in review past Brigadier-General Schmaltz, watched by the Liebgarde Grenadiers and the Bishop of Guggenheim's Regiment of Horse. The row of town houses is scratch-built from foamcore, with cartridge paper timberwork, all painted with craft acrylics. The model will be finished with premade doors and windows.

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Some time ago I acquired a number of Front Rank SYW British line infantry. Although half-finished as the 1st Foot (Royal Scots), I've a mind to finish them off as Babbington's Legion, a mercenary regiment operating in the vicinity of the Grand Duchy and the Margravate. A number of British light infantry in "jockey cap" style headgear came with them, and they'll be put to service in some way too.

There and back again...

Due to the complexities and sheer bureaucratic obfuscation of the post 9/11 immigration rules to the USA, I'm back in the UK until the paperwork goes through. In the meantime, the Hetzenberg army is resting in barracks in St. Louis, Missouri. The picture shows the review of (foreground, left) IR 1 Sleibnitz and (foreground, right) IR 2 Wohl, by the First Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Schmaltz. To their rear stands the Bishop of Guggenheim's Regiment of Horse and the Leibgarde Grenadier regiment. All troop figures are RSM95 by the Dayton Painting Consortium. The figures for the Guggenheim command and the General Schmaltz vignette are Holger Eriksson.

"Monstrous regiments?"

An interesting thread of discussion concerning female units arose on the Society of Daisy Yahoo loop recently. Another loop has some pictures of 28/30mm figures of SYW persuasion here. I must admit they do look nice, and I can certainly find room for a unit or two in my imaginary armies. History shows that more than one woman fought in disguise during the Seven Year's War. Why not get them out in the full light of day? Does anyone have such "monstrous regiments of women" in their ImagiNation, or are thinking of raising them? Comment and let me know!

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My latest order from Hirst Arts arrived Monday. Excellent service, as I only ordered them Friday. I'm looking forward to casting from them. They will give me the wide arches needed for the bridge project, along with other useful components. For now I'm making preliminary sketches to get an idea of what will be required for the construction.

Pootling along...

A rather grainy shot of the work in progress...

Not an awful lot to report to date. Bureaucratic paperwork is acting like a lead blanket over everything to the point I will probably have to return to the UK until things get sorted.

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In the meantime, the Hetzenberg town houses are basically complete, needing only the timber-frame effects added and the paintwork. I found an excellent source of inspiration from back issues of my fiancee's genealogy magazine! Recent articles featured tips on researching ancestors from Germany and middle Europe, and the cover photographs are of ancient towns in these regions. Plenty of gables, intricate woodwork and towers in evidence, usually in charming pastel colors.

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I have also placed a new order with Hirst Arts for the basic block and gothic accessories molds and they were shipped today. These will help me expand the scope of my projects quite dramatically. The bridge of Kimmelsbrucke is still on the to-do list. Unfortunately I'm not able to order any of the excellent RSM95 figures from Dayton Painting Consortium at this time.

A street in town...

A week in a new country and a new town has gone by rather quickly. My Hetzenberg figurines survived the trauma of air travel - up to a point. A few men were left at drunken angles and more than one bayonet was bent, all in spite of magnabasing and bubblewrap.

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I've not had much time up to now to do anything constructive wargaming-wise, but today I put some foamcore board and Aleen's tacky glue to good use and constructed the shells of a trio of generic 18th century German-style town houses. Lacking access to my Hirst Arts molds at the moment I'm going to make the roofing out of poster-board card and thinner card cut for tiles. Pictures will follow once they're finished and painted. Now for some more RSM95 figures...