Monday 31 January 2011

Fortifying myself

A relatively simple African fort.
For a long time your author has been building various architectural models.  These have acted as both distractions and stress-relievers depending upon the date of construction.

The European side of the Beimbach-Schönau project does not really allow me to build anything impressive as the cities are far too large to depict in 28mm scale.

In contrast, the modest nature of our overseas possessions opens up the possibility of small forts and fortified harbours.

After some sketching and research over the past weekend, I have decided upon a small trading fort with a "Vaubanesque" flavour - although the structure will be far from textbook.  Perhaps a bastion and a few earthworks - remember this would have been built by a largely native workforce and the emphasis is on protection against local raiders rather than sophisticated European engineering.

In terms of size, something along the lines of a West African fort (such as St.Sebastian ) is most likely.  My plans, although drawn, are very rudimentary so I will refrain from sharing them at the moment!

Once this posting is made I shall be venturing into the black-hole also known as the garage in order to find a few bits and bobs that can be used in the construction.  I have enough flower arrangers' oasis to be going along with but I am unsure of the styrofoam and carpet roll stock levels...

3 comments:

  1. Cape Town is a classic example in the 1700's, the Castle is a 5 pointed star that is Vaubanesque, with a town that is a small admin function, a trading post, harbour / dockyard, and farming area.

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  2. Thanks for that.

    My Mother's family were from South Africa but the other side!

    I will have a look at this example pronto.

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  3. Fort Niagara in upstate New York is a good example of an 18th century colonial fort. It might be a source of ideas and inspiration. The British and their Iraquois allies captured it from the French in a scaled down version of a European seige.

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