Monday 17 February 2020

Terrain 11 it's all Ray's fault! The walls of Florence 1500

So Ray of the "don't throw a 1" blog is very good at covering shows and supplying copious photos, a year or two ago there were photos on his blog of a demonstration game with a renaissance city and a number of people said
" oh we could do with one of those" and  I made a comment saying I could do with one of those castles, "castles what castle?" Says Ray.
The castle in question is actually a toy castle I bought from Debenhams before they went bust, £13 and I have already posted the keep as terrain 6, I first saw this castle on the blessed Mr Awdrys 28mm Victorian warfare blog. When I say I bought it, actually my nephew bought it on my behalf as he was passing and then decided it was such good value he'd get one for himself too!
Unfortunately he realised that he didn't have room in his flat for the whole castle and just wanted the keep, so he gave me the walls and so I decided, I know I'll build a renaissance city! I didn't want a  city with slopping walls, really I wanted late medieval to suit 1495-1530 ish.
I wanted  Florence!














So starting with the pair of toy castle sets I needed to add a thickness as the step supplied with the castle was insubstantial. I had a redundant flush panel door which I ripped down with a skill saw and then cut to the right widths with a cross cut saw. In the ends of the cut down doors I filled them with sawdust and pea and gravel so that when I needed to add collapsed wall pieces it would look like a cross section of the wall. I also wanted all the pieces to be modular so that the towers could act as corners, which is why I didn't add any doors, in addition I had to fill in the large arrow slots but I think that works fine.  I was going for Dubrovnik style limestone (as Dubrovnik is a renaissance walled city designed by an Italian)
Apart from the Mediterranean church ( subject of a previous post) the buildings are work in progress of tt combat mdf Venetian buildings that I am coopting for more general Italian,  they're still wip because I want to add pitched tiles roofs to them as flat roofs are great for carnival (tt's game ) but not really correct for period. Still overall feel is pretty good and I look forward to a siege, maybe Rome 1527?
I'd be happy using it as a French city,100years war and with a change of internal buildings I can use it for ECW too,I just need a  bigger table! So it's all Ray's fault, thanks Ray!
Best Iain 


47 comments:

  1. Holy crap that’s awesome. I want one!

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  2. Godi, Fiorenza, poi che se' sí grande,
    che per mare e per terra batti l'ali,
    e per lo 'nferno tuo nome si spande!Dante Alighieri .

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    1. Thanks Ronin! I really liked Florence when I visited it!
      Best Iain

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  3. Awesome! I want one too! Do you have a spare?

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  4. What a great bargain, the results are stunning Iain, and with the additions of your buildings, really taking shape as a walled city

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    1. Thanks Dave! Getting there with the buildings,taking longer than I want though!
      Best Iain

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  5. Impressive and stunning! Amazing gaming area!

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  6. The city looks fantastic, Iain! Nothing to add, so great!

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  7. Great looking castl and'or fortress and/or walled city ! Well done making the pieces so versatile and useful for many periods.
    Most of all though I like the paintjob as it's not grey tones !

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    1. Thanks Joe! Yes I wanted to avoid grey and go for more limestone type colour.
      Best Iain

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  8. That is a stunning bit of kit! Just lovely.

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    1. Thanks Norm! I know, too big for the kitchen table...!
      Best Iain

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  9. That is fantastic Iain, that city will grace any battlefield.

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  10. That looks superb. You would not recognise it as a toy castle, but rather a dedicated war gaming piece costing many times more.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence! Yes it works surprisingly well!
      Best Iain

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  11. That's really outstanding scenery Iain..hope to see it in a game some day soon!

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  12. That's great and all from Debenhams for just £13! I clearly shop in the wrong places... when do we get to see a siege game?

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    1. Thanks Rob! Yes it's amazing what you can find! It'll be a while for a siege but I'm tempted to just have it in the background!
      Best Iain

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  13. Oh my goodness, what a result! Love this so much Iain, can't believe that is the same castle. Brilliant job Sir.

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    1. Thanks Michael! Looking forward to you finishing yours, I'm sure it will be better!
      Best Iain

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  14. That’s fantastic! Great job! Amazing! Now I want one. 😀

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  15. This is brilliant Iain, you have done a magnificent job. It really sets the atmosphere for Italy and will be really useful. I am looking forward to a write up of your first siege!

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  16. I'm in awe. What a work you did there! I'm totally absorbed by the feel of the walls, I think you nailed it, congratulations!

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  17. Wow wow wow..........that is some piece and very nice indeed, yes you need a bigger table !

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    1. Thanks Matt! I know, realisation dawns!
      Best Iain

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  18. Wow, that is really quite something! Can't believe you found that for £13.00 and the entire walled city together looks amazing. Scales up so well too.

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    1. Thanks Lee! I was prepared to put up with some scale difference for the price but actually it's pretty good!
      Best Iain

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  19. Joining the long queue of people with tongues lolling out 😛.
    That colour is perfect. Looks ripe for siege by Charles VIII

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    1. Thanks a lot! Yes, definitely ripe for a siege!
      Best Iain

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  20. That's bloody brilliant Iain!

    Now I want Stew to get one! LOL

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    1. Thanks Dai! Better get on to Stew to get one done!
      Best Iain

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