I always liked to collect and paint military figures. Make scenarios to go along figures is also very pleasant. It is possible to use objects that many people would consider as garbage like kebab sticks to that purpose. Some months ago I bought a small wooden fort in a flea market in Cascais. My purpose was to add some features clearly missing, like doors, stairs or towers. Here I’m going to show you how I’ve made these elements.
In the beginning it was like these. The barracks had no doors and soldiers suffer from cold at night. The stair that came with the fort was very big and soldiers were unable to use it to reach guard positions. Some refurbishing was necessary.
- How to make a door. First I measured the door emplacement and made a frame using card from cookies boxes.
The cardboard frame was painted dark brown and two bits of kebab sticks were used as axes and were fixed with small nails in order to permit the door to open and close.
The door is almost done. Now we must fixed it to the place were it belongs.
The first door is already in place. Two more are needed. A small tent helps to accommodate workers…
Making a stair
In the first place I made a small box to facilitate the gluing of the bits of wood. I got the wood from ice cream.
First step in place (a bit sideways…)
A small stair is ready to be put in the fort
How to make towers
I made two small towers at the back corners using kebab sticks cut as necessary
The base is laid on
More rows were added. This is a time consuming work as it is necessary to wait that the glue dries.
I add internal reinforcements to obtain straight walls
It is necessary to let some overtures so the defenders can shoot at the enemies.
After walls are complete it is necessary to design a roof.
The base was made of cardboard and wood on top as follows.
Finally I’ve got two complete small towers with roof on. The roof was not glued to the walls in order to be able to put figures inside towers very easily.
I din’t like the watchtower that came with the fort. It was very big and lack a overture and a stair. I decided to make a more elegant one.
As usually I made a cardboard base were pieces of wood could be glued. Notice the overture to allow access to the high floor.
The wood pieces were glued, firmly secured and let to dry.
The two floors are united by 4 cut kebab sticks secured with small headless nails. The four pieces on the left will support the roof.
The frame to support the roof is in place.
The emplacement of the watch tower.
The watchtower is in place but still lacks roof.
The basic frame of the roof. As always cardboard and wood
The process of gluing wood parts
A general view of the fort after many hours of pleasant work