Monday, November 26, 2018

Reader Built Trebuchet, Siege Tower and Battering Ram!

At Battleground Hobbies we enjoy sharing our love of designing, building and collecting scale models for table top war games. Sometimes we even get great feedback. Among our top posts are "How to Build a Siege Tower" and "Battering Ram" We recently received a comment on one of these. 

A reader from Moscow left this: "Thank you. It's great! My son used your ideas for historical school project. Something was difficult and I helped him. He did this nice siege tower and trebuchet".

Reader Built Trebuchet, Siege Tower and Battering Ram
We thanked her and asked for some finished photos to share with everyone. We received this reply along with some photos: "I've sent you some photos of our siege engines. We also did a battering ram. There are plastic knights from my childhood on the photos. They were made in the mid 1970s."  

Here they are!!
Reader Built Trebuchet, Siege Tower and Battering Ram
Her son shows perseverance and determination!!

Reader Built Trebuchet, Siege Tower and Battering Ram
And he built a very nice trebuchet!!

Here's our post they refer too: "How To Build A Trebuchet"

Reader Built Trebuchet, Siege Tower and Battering Ram
and his Ram!! Keep modelling mate!!

Reader Built Trebuchet, Siege Tower and Battering Ram
If you have completed a project inspired by one of our posts, please share it with us!!

Have A Great Battle!!
The Old Crow

Monday, November 19, 2018

Sarissa Precision Town Villa for Gangs of Rome

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
A few months back we did a post on a simple Sarissa Precision kit and today we'll be looking at one a bit more complex, the Town Villa. When the three main sections are completed it will measure approximately 11.5 x 14.25 inches.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
As mentioned in the previous Sarissa post, the instructions are plain straight forward illustrations which are easy to follow.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The kit consists of 11 MDF boards and 3 of heavy card stock for the roofs, doorways and windows.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The front section is a simple affair with the four outer walls and two inner dividers. The colonnade out front is the most complex part of the kit. Each column consists of 10 pieces. The two main vertical pieces interlock, the small ring slides on the bottom fist, then the larger ring and finally the square base. The four smaller vertical pieces then tuck into the four inner corners and base. Lastly the cross like cornice goes on the top.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Once all the columns are assembled they line up under the support structure on the front of the villa like you see here.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The roof for the colonnade has an MDF base and five low triangles which have tabs that go into slots on the card-stock roof.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Once dry, the colonnade roof tucks onto the front of the building like so.
Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The rear of the first section has nine small window frames along the roof line, a rear doorway and small porch roof that will interlock with the middle section.


Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The sections main roof has a long vertical ridge beam and five trusses. We found it helpful to glue one side first, let it dry and then do the other side. We also glued some extra MDF pieces along side some of the trusses for additional support.

And when both sides of the roof are thoroughly dry it will sit very snugly on top.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Now the mid section! The first side starts very much like the front with four outer walls but with only one dividing interior wall. There is a courtyard piece on the base plate in the middle of this section. The inner courtyard porch roof sticks out into this area.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Then you get to do it all again for the opposing side.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Once you finish this section you'll have two buildings with a courtyard in between.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The rear of the front section  will face the courtyard......

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
... and tuck into it like so.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The final middle section step, besides the roofs, is to attach the porch support for the rear sections porch roof.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The third and final section has a simple first floor, very much like the front of the villa, and then you'll need to build the second floor which is just as simple.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Attach the rear porch roof like so.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Here is the courtyard side of the rear section with the second floor on top.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The upper and lower back of the section has several window frames to install.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
The flat top roof was a slight pain to get glued all together at the same time but it is doable.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
and there is the rear section.

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Now put the Town Villa sections together and there you have it!! As we mentioned it measures approximately 11.5 x 14.25 inches and is quite a center piece for whatever tabletop game you have planned!

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
Here is the top view,.....

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
and with all the roofs removed you can see plenty of space for action inside!

Sarissa Precision Gangs of Rome Town Villa
With a few additional kits and some ingenuity you'll have an entire city block before you know it!

Have A Gret Battle!!
The Old Crow