The painting of miniatures for the early Hundred Years War project is complete, now on to the construction new terrain features for this period. One item, the watermill, has remained on the back burner for years, and after a few weeks of wrestling with its construction, here are photos and a brief text of the process.
Construction
Materials used are the same as those for other buildings
made; dense foam board, 1.2mm triplex for bases, Milliput (superfine white), an
old needle for scoring and heavy grade paper for the wheel.
Step 1
Two mills were planned, each differing in architecture. Sketches
were made to determine the size of the wheel in relation to the building, a
reminder to the reader, structures are smaller than 15mm scale and fit our DBA
games.
Step 2
Cut and shape dense foam board (pink); length, 45-50mm, width,30mm, height, 40mm. The structures were glued to a 1.2mm thick triplex base.
Step 3
Two sides of the walls were covered with Milliput superfine
white and score supports, windows, doors and stone work with an old needle. The
superfine white needed a full day to cure, but when hard, continue covering the
structure. In two steps, you have avoided the unnecessary corrections,
elimination of finger prints or misshaping of walls.
Step 4
The early style watermill will have a thatched roof and this will be the last step. The second mill will have a tiled roof, to be added after the building is painted. (See Late Medieval Building post of 24 May 2024)
Step 5
From illustrations, waterwheels varied in size and after a
number of sketches a wheel with a diameter of 22mm seemed right. A mockup was sketched
with spokes to serve as a guide during its construction.
Step 6
Construction paper is cut in 4mm wide strips to be shaped
for the wheel and blades.
Begin curling one strip to serve as the wheel and glue.
Two lengths, a few millimeters longer than the diameter will
make a cross.
Fixing the cross to the wheel, cut sections from each and dovetail
the pieces together.
Seal the joints with white glue.
Step 7
Cut the strips in lengths that will radiate from the center
and beyond the wheel.
Sections are cut to dovetail the “spoke” to the wheel.
Seal the joints with white glue.
Step 8
Joining the wheel to the building proved another puzzle, as
the part of the wheel should appear submerged in the water. That part should
become flush with the water surface, this meant trimming the blades and flatten
that portion making contact with the water surface. This will be painted to
match the water.
Final step
Two combination river and rough ground pieces were made for the
placement of the watermill. The larger piece can accommodate some greenery and
trees.
Finished
Earlier medieval model
Later period
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