First pics of my completed Georgian (Caucasus) highland village and packhorse bridge in 15mm.
In a nod to PP (while not strictly adhering to any specific set of rules) I'm trying to compress all my scenic builds onto a restricted template. In this case a village on an 8" x 12" base. Some Minifigs Russian Napoleonics are added for scale. This was a weird one visually for me since I'm so used to modelling single storey buildings. The two storey fortress houses had livestock on the ground floor with living quarters above with external access by stairs for extra defence. Similar in many respects to Afghan highland villages though materials are different. The long building is my take on a Caucasus 'Boseli' or stable converted into living quarters above accessed by an external gallery. The packhorse bridge is a common Byzantine/Ottoman design found in upland areas to span mountain gorges and streams/rivers. It spans a 5" wide river and is on a 4" x 12" base. There are RW examples in Epirus as well as the Caucasus. My one is based on a C12 example in Besleti, Georgia.
Lovely modelling, Neil. I particularly like that village!
Simon
Good evening Neil,
Very nice modelling and painting.
Best wishes,
Martin, from a small village near Grimsby
These scenery pieces are wonderful. When these are seen on a table they engage players and viewers instantly. This is the sort of thing that wargames need (in my opinion).
"Make tables look good". This could be on a baseball cap?
Good work Neil.
martin :)
Thank you all for your positive feedback.
This is one of the positives to come out of my 'annual leave' which has been spent mostly convalescing from Flu. Thankfully our hobby is full of 'pottering' activities when painting is not really an option...
Creating a plausible 'hilltop' village has always been on my bucket list since I first started gaming NW Frontier in 15mm with Peter Laing and Mikes Models eons ago. It has only taken me 40+ years!
Next up a Georgian church to finalise my scenic triumvirate. The shell is built and it needs to sit on a hilltop probably on an 8" x 8" base.
Neil
That is indeed great modelling.
A NW hilltop village would be very nice to see.
The bridge type you show is the central feature of the Serbian retreat into Albania prior to WW1. They do look most implausible.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/serbian-retreat-albania-1915.html?sortBy=relevant
martin :)
......and when icy underfoot :-\
The bridges are found all over the Ottoman and Byzantine world. There are even double and triple arch spans to be seen in Epirus. One thing strikes me is they may connect communities etc. but are only really good for foot and mule traffic. Certainly not intended for wheeled vehicles - locals might just get a cart over one gingerly. That makes anything larger than pack artillery 'challenging' to transport to say the least. With C18 and eC19 6pdrs coming in at 3/4 ton on their carriages that is probably the upper limit of what could be trundled carefully over one of these. More likely a 3-4pdr battalion gun was probably all you could reasonably manage with limited resources. Mule-borne pack artillery did not really come into service until the late 1820s.
Neil
More scenery for the 15mm Caucasus campaign. The Georgian church is still on the workbench. I have however completed a representation of a Svaneti tower, one of the 3,500 towers that are dotted around the highlands of Georgia... They are a cross between a Pele tower and an Afghan watchtower...
That's very nice indeed, Neil!
Simon
Great stuff, how did you do the brickwork?
Good scenery is always appreciated on the table. Keep it up Neil.
martin :)
Nice work, Neil.
Thx guys!
The stonework was made by using a propelling pencil to draw the stone layers on an insulating foam surface that holds the detail - subscribing lots and lots of ovals of various shapes and sizes etc. It is a relatively quick but tedious process. Make sure you add the corner quoins and detail around the windows and doors first.
Last up is the orthodox church which has better quality dressed stonework. It is actually trickier to do since the stone is of more regular sizes and shapes.
Neil