Building "Fort Kalypso" - Incidentals

The well method.

Just a quick posting today.  I want to illustrate both the "well" for pouring glue into a building and just how rough the basic oasis structure can be whilst remaining workable!

Cutting a large cavity into the base of a structure enables the gloop to enter from inside as well as out.  This aids absorption and thus speeds up the process.  If your construction isn't too fragile to invert - I would advise doing this.

As can be seen, I used some offcuts of oasis to build this little tower and had to use a goodly amount of cocktail sticks to pin it all together.  It looks messy and indeed it is - however the end result will not betray the hodge-podge nature of the skeleton!  I hope this shows anyone giving this a try that they need not panic if the base structure looks rickety.

Tower built from waste.

The look I am working toward is a definite pastiche.  I want the fortress to look "Eastern" or as they would say in the C18 - "Turkish".  Thus I am thinking of a period production of "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" rather than an architectural model of such and such.  In fact this tower appears a bit "Hittite" to me!  That said, it will look perfectly good once coated and it was built from waste materiel that would otherwise have been trashed.

The other face of the building is more interesting with Ogee arches and a balcony but I didn't manage to snap it before the camera battery went flat.

On a tangent, a TMPer suggested foamcore buildings are much faster to produce.  This is true, as far as the skeleton is concerned, however it misses the point of this method.  Foamcore is great but it is flat and straight (unless you buy it from Hobbycraft UK) I want buildings that are not truly straight and that have undulating surfaces.  Anyone who has been to a real fortification in the East will be aware that whilst straight from afar they are far more "organic" close-up.

This roughness would be hard to model on a foamcore base and adding lots of filler to such a skeleton is also a real pain in the rump.  But if you are content that your structures are box-like with a sprinkle of sand or a thin layer of plaster filler to roughen the surface - then clearly the "Oasis Method" is not for you!



Incidentally, I ordered some of Mega Miniatures' rather excellent "Arabian Nights" figures to dress the set!  At only $1.50 they are a steal.


Proper posting to follow shortly along with a new review.