The defensive wall on the landward side of Khartoum was long, and on my model of the terrain it worked out at being approximately 40-inches (100cm) long. I cut four ten-inch lengths of thin plywood to form the base of the wall, and cut the ends so that they were angled.
I then took the lids of two of the cheap wooden boxes that I bought in THE WORKS, and cut them in half to form the basis of the four gateways that formed part of Khartoum's defensive wall.
I fitted each gateway with a (non-functioning) gate, either side of which I added a small fire-step, each large enough for a single figure.
Once the glue was dry, I then glued one of the gateways to the piece of thin plywood that will form the eastern end of the defensive wall.
At this point, I realised that the finished wall was going to be too long to store or handle easily, so I made dovetail connectors between some of the pieces of plywood so that the three parts of the defensive wall could be clipped together when required.
A second gateway was then glued at the join between this and the next piece of thin plywood, and this process was continued until each joint was reinforced with a gateway.
I then glued blocks of wood that would form the wall's fire-steps at various points along each strip of plywood.
These also provided reinforcement to the thin plywood wall sections when they were glued in place.
Once all the wall sections were glued in place, any weak points in the construction were reinforced using strips of matchstick or small pieces of wood.
Before being given a couple of coasts of PVA to seal the wood before painting, the wall sections were assembled to ensure that all the parts fitted together.
I then took the lids of two of the cheap wooden boxes that I bought in THE WORKS, and cut them in half to form the basis of the four gateways that formed part of Khartoum's defensive wall.
I fitted each gateway with a (non-functioning) gate, either side of which I added a small fire-step, each large enough for a single figure.
Once the glue was dry, I then glued one of the gateways to the piece of thin plywood that will form the eastern end of the defensive wall.
At this point, I realised that the finished wall was going to be too long to store or handle easily, so I made dovetail connectors between some of the pieces of plywood so that the three parts of the defensive wall could be clipped together when required.
A second gateway was then glued at the join between this and the next piece of thin plywood, and this process was continued until each joint was reinforced with a gateway.
I then glued blocks of wood that would form the wall's fire-steps at various points along each strip of plywood.
These also provided reinforcement to the thin plywood wall sections when they were glued in place.
Once all the wall sections were glued in place, any weak points in the construction were reinforced using strips of matchstick or small pieces of wood.
Before being given a couple of coasts of PVA to seal the wood before painting, the wall sections were assembled to ensure that all the parts fitted together.
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Looks great Bob.
ReplyDeletePatG,
DeleteCheers! I'm really enjoying doing this project.
All the best,
Bob
Clearly Sir you are cast in the same mould as our own household: "Never use any serendipitous find for its original purpose".
ReplyDeleteWhiskers,
DeleteI certainly do not like throwing stuff away or not buying something that might be useful. The downside is that one's house can end up a bit crowded!
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteVery nice modular solution you have devised- I was wondering how you were going to do the walls of Kartoum- now seeing it-I'd have to say you've been very clever. Kartoum is going to look great on your Terrain Boards in 15mm. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteTurning an idea into something that works is very rewarding, and in this case I am very pleased with the result. I am just hoping that it will look as good once it is painted to match the terrain boards.
All the best,
Bob
Looking good and definitely fit for purpose.
ReplyDeleteIt felt a bit odd to read this as I'm also working on some modular walls & towers at the moment, not for any particular purpose, just because it felt a fun idea (and I had some suitable scrap wood). My inspiration is the Great Wall of Morobad, not from the picture in "Wargames in Miniature" but from memories of another picture that I saw some 50 years ago (possibly in an issue of Wargamer's Newsletter?).
If anyone can remember this photo - assuming I didn't imagine it - I'd be interested to learn where I might find a copy.
Mike Hall,
DeleteSome years ago, I built my own 'Great Wall of Morobad' for a game. (A battle report can be found at http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-attack-on-morobad.html ).
I used the photograph from an article Joseph Morschauser wrote for the WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER (The text of the article can be found at http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-morschauser.html ) to help me build my 'Great Wall' ... which was made from small Jenga pieces bought in ASDA.
Good luck with your wall project.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeleteThat's a very good battle report with a really attractive set of photographs: well worth the read.
Your other posting sent me back to the September 1967 Wargamer's Newsletter and as expected the article is there but, unfortunately, no pictures, so the only one I currently have is that from Joseph Morschauser's book. Maybe my memory is playing me up - it is 50+ years ago - and there were no other photographs, or maybe it was in one of the American magazines that I sometimes got hold of?
Some of the memories of that time remind me that the "good old days" had distinct downsides, in particular of the long and convoluted process one had to go through to manage to subscribe to an American magazine.
Mike Hall,
DeleteSomewhere in the depths of my ancient memory I can remember a photograph that showed a wargamer (it may have been Jack Scruby) standing over a tabletop with part of the Great Wall of Morobad just in front of him.
If I can find it, I'll let you know!
All the best,
Bob
PS. Getting anything from the US was always difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. Luckily things have got better ... just!
Great use of those boxes to make the gates :)
ReplyDeleteTamsinP,
DeleteCheers! It was one of those light bulb moments when I realised what I could use them for.
All the best,
Bob
Brilliant! You have a knack for turning things like those wood boxes and blocks into terrain pieces that suit games like your portable wargames. I like how you did the dovetails and the gatehouses to hide the joins.
ReplyDeleteAs far as "the good old days", it was similar going the other way, too. Getting stuff ordered and shipped from the UK to the US. Sending off an order form through the mail, maybe without even knowing the quality of the items, not knowing if the order and payment was received or when the package would get to you. I suppose the main "saving grace" was the anticipation and that day when the package finally arrived and I got to open it up and see what I had bought.
Fitz-Badger,
DeleteCheers! I think that years of model making has help me to develop a way of looking at things and seeing their potential.
Thanks to the a Internet, things have got better over recent years with regard to ordering stuff from other countries, although I've been stung a couple of times by additional charges. In one instance, the Post Office charged me nearly £20.00 to collect less than £1.00 in unpaid import duty on an item that was worth less than £10.00!
All the best,
Bob