Under construction

Motte and Bailey

Another blast from the past.  I made this a long time ago now, but figured it was worth cataloguing here.

I have a fondness for castles and was asked by a friend if I could build a Motte and Bailey for the Dark Ages.  Never one to shy away from a challenge I jumped at the chance.

First up the basic shape was drawn onto a piece of MDF and straight away I could see this was going to be a big build. (28mm figure shown at the front for scale purposes)

The main structures were built from foam-core and again the wood panels were added with balsa and stirrers, just like when building Sandringham.  Between the panels I used normal surface filler to create a more interesting texture.

I used high density polystyrene foam to create the earthworks and a mixture of Balsa wood and Coffee stirring sticks to build up the wooden sections.

I kept all the buildings removable so that they could also be used as individual towers if desired.

Roof shingles were individually cut and attached.  It’s a long and boring task but I find the finished result looks nicer than tiles made from long strips.

I used normal household paint from the local hardware store.

I deliberately left off the foliage so that it could be added to match the foliage used on the rest of the table.

The castle has a working drawbridge and removable buildings.  The main tower also comes apart to allow access to the interior.

The whole model is huge and really dominates the tabletop.  I’m still not convinced with how practical castles are on the average wargames table, but they sure are fun to build.