TOWER STRONGHOLD
 Ideal for Any Miniatures Battle


Ruined CathedralHave you ever had wanted a castle tower that actually allowed you to place minatures both inside as well as out? I choose to purchase the War Hammer plastic Tower, and cut it in half to allow easy access for both me and my miniatures.

Materials

This tower is of the classic square design: The walls are molded plastic pieces from the Warhammer Fortress Towers set and meant to be moudlar with the Fortress walls and gate. I chose this plastic tower because it has has excellent detail in the stonework and crenelations. I added a wooden base and a plastic first floor. The entire structure was lightly coated in plaster of Paris, painted, detailed with some small plaster of Paris sculptures and other debris. It is also mounted upon a hard wood base. The materials necessary include:

  • Warhammer Fortress Towers set (cost me $15.99 US).
  • thin card taken from a cereal box.
  • A 5x5" wood or corregated cardboard base (I used a 1/4" particle board cut from a 8x4 sheet bought from my local DIY store for $4.00 US).
  • Balsa wood.
  • Plaster of Paris from hobby shop.
  • PVA glue (white wood glue).
  • Paints and flock.
  • A rotary tool, scroll saw, or similar implement that cuts plastic

    • Method

    The tower comes in four pieces. First, use the rotary tool to cut out any doors or windows slits that you wish. This tower has one ground floor door, two upper level doors (in case you wish to add second floor access to defensive walls, four window slits, and a top floor hatch.

    		Ruined Cathedral
    Ruined Cathedral
    		Now cut each of the four wall pieces into a top and bottom half. This will permit good access into the tower. Glue the four bottom pieces onto the 5x5" wooden base, and then glue the upper four pieces of the tower together. Cut small pieces of card in the shape of small stone bricks and then glue them around the door cut-outs and along the top of the of the bottome half of the tower. This will help hide interface between the two halves.

    Coat the ruins with three to four layers of plaster of Paris to give it a tough, stone-effect finish. Mix up 1 part plaster powder to 2 parts water by volume. I also throw in a bit of sand to add texture. Each layer with set quickly (10 minutes or so), so don't make up too much at once. Paint rapidly all over the polystyrene and foamcore, and then add a bit to the plastic wall as well. Be sure to seep as much mixture as possible into the polystyrene cracks. With each successive layer, irregularities and details will slowly form in the finish.

    		Ruined Cathedral
    Ruined Cathedral
    		Now it is time accessorize. Removeable doors and ladder were made out of balsa wood, while the first floor was simply cut out of thin plastic.

    Coat the entire structure with black primer, and then dry-brush on mustard ,followed by blue-gray for the cornerstones. Paint the floor tiles like a mosaic. This floor was painted in a checkerboard pattern of pearly white and very dark purple. This gives it a more gothic appearance. Mix a little metallic paint coloring into your paint to give the tiles a more marbly look. Note that a few of the cardboard tiles split to reveal the corregations when the plaster of Paris was applied. Simply leave these sorts of flaws the way they are - they add character.

    		Ruined Cathedral
    Ruined Cathedral
    		Put all the pieces together and you end up with a great looking tower modular tower. Its easy to move your miniature in and out, and up and down.

    michael kolb, 12 august 2001 text&photo