Out of this rubble will rise Festung Hohensalzburg. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, this 122 part citadel fortress will mount the foundations seen here.
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Out of this rubble will rise Festung Hohensalzburg. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, this 122 part citadel fortress will mount the foundations seen here.
[Blocked Image: http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/6490/therubble5cb.jpg]
Well, that was one way to introduce this Schreiber model. It was designed by Kurt Fehling. The dimensions are 56 L x 26 W x 18 cm high. The scale is 1:400.
I must say that I do not have high expectations for this model. The structure itself is quite unromantic - a functional military fortress with little adornment. It is at the opposite end of the scale to Hohenzollern. Very stark and blocky. The picture below shows window detail. That's about as exciting as it gets.
This is the first time I just kept cutting and cutting parts. I didn't have any real desire to get on with the construction. Over 70 hours are represented in the photo above. If you have ever questioned the need to colour edges, one look at the photo on the cover sheet of this model package and you will change your mind. It's terrible. The roofs are maroon in colour, the walls sandy brown. Colouring the edges is a must on this model.
The watercolouring techniques on the walls of this model are quite good. The patina of the plastered walls comes through, with colours ranging from browns, through oranges to shades of grey. Replicating the shades for edge colouring was interesting.
Hi, John
I totally agree with you on colouring the edges and the terrible look of the cover model. Looks as if yours is going to look much better!
I'll stick to your progress. Once in my life I have to see the original, must be an impressive sight!
Best regards, Thomas
hi!
i´ve build this model two times but never finished. i think the proportions are not exact. i´ve seen this castle many times and it is much longer, not so short - but maybe i´m wrong.
good luck
waltair
Here are the first nineteen parts assembled on the upper courtyard and sitting high atop the raised piers.
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I must comment on the round thing in the shot above. It is supposed to be a fortified tower. I do not understand why it was fashioned in this way. It looks like a water tower or a soup can. There is no parapet formed on its top. It is drawn in two dimension on the flat lid of the cylinder. For a while I wondered what the darker section rimming the top represented until I realized it was meant to be a shadow cast by the non-existent parapet. Strange.
Sorry about being critical here, but I couldn't let this one pass without comment. You might ask that if I was that bothered by the tower, why didn't I fashion a parapet to place on top? Well, the model has not gained my respect yet...
Waltair, you wished me good luck with this model. I think I see why it may be needed.
John
I wish you luck and fortitude - a certain amount of reluctance seems to have been there right from the start?
I know you're building your way systematically through all these castles. But sometimes it is allowed to give up...
If you keep on, it'll still be nice to follow your remarks & criticism. No harm done there, I think.
L.
Thanks for the support Leif. You hit the nail right on the head. Reluctant from the start. Does it show?
But now that I'm into it, the challenge of wrestling with the parts and making the best of things is the fun part. Rather than give up, I'll persevere to the end. The model just may not come out of its box much.
Who knows? I could be pleasantly surprised by the overall appearance down the road.
It is amazing how one part can change the whole complexion of a project. This model has just gained a little more of my respect. Part 24 is a major part that hangs like a curtain from the edges of the roofs of two buildings down past the courtyard to the baseplate of the model. Without a footprint clearly marked on the baseplate, it would be impossible to orient the upper courtyard. It floats on a pier. Only this wall pins it in the proper position. All went well.
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Here is the courtyard sitting on its pier.
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Here is a wonderful website showing the citadel fortress. It features a 360 degree panoramic view of the walls, the tower, above the town and south Salzburg.
Once the upper courtyard was fixed firmly in place, the other two keyed off its location. The tricky fit was the ramp that came down from the upper couryard to a lower one and turned on itself to continue on down another ramp to an entrance.
I can see how some parts on this model could cross the eyes of many a cardmodeller. The architect places high demands on the builder to fold multi faceted parts that are both building and wall. I'm convinced that unless templates are used to hold the exact footprint of some parts, those parts will compromise adjacent parts. ( A template is patterned from the footprint printed on the baseplate and glued inside the part above the tabs.)
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The ramp mentioned above is between the little building and the larger building whose back wall forms part of the outer wall.
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In my opinion, the battlements on castle towers look much better when the crenels (embrasures) are cut out. The eye seems to expect this. In the cover photo below, you will see the tops of the towers with straight tops. Looks odd. Cutting them out is well worth the effort.
On one round tower, however, no provision was made on the inside of the parapet wall to indicate where the crenels would be. The part had many slits so that it could be curved round, but no gaps were shown. The expectation, I presume, was that the top of the tower would be straight and that the painted in gaps on the outside would cover this solid inner wall.
I chose to cut out the crenels on the outher wall. This meant that the inner wall had to be altered. I cut off the tabs which would become merlons...
...and attached them to the back of the tower.
The remaining tower floor was glued to a thick card. The tower wall was then wrapped around the parapet floor.
Good save there with the round tower. And several new terms. Crenels I could sort of guess, although the term in my own language alludes me at the moment, but what is a merlon?
I'm glad you seem to be warming to what you're building in any case...
L.
Hi Leif,
Yes, the many alterations necessary to get parts to fit is adding challenge and interest.
The merlons are the high stone sections between the gaps in the battlement. The gaps or crenels were sometimes fitted with wooden shutters to deflect missiles. The merlons might also have vertical slits or loopholes in them for archers to shoot through. The slits were splayed on the inside to form an embrasure. Archers could then have a wider angle of fire than if the slit went straight through the stone.
Leif, you might enjoy David Macaulay's 'Castle' Houghton Mifflin Company Boston ISBN 0-395-32920-5 He's an outstanding illustrator. (wrote and illustrated 'Cathedral' in 1973) Well worth the hunt in your library.
P.S. This architectural term is where the magician Merlon of King Arthur's tales got his name!
P.P.S. Oops. Sorry about that. Freudian slip there. I meant Merlin, but spelled his name Merlon like the stone part that may have been the origin of his name. (?)
Here is the fortress to date...
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Merlon, Merlin, you're pulling my leg. And yes, I do love that kind of books. Got me one for the Empire state building (under the pretext of having something to read for the grandchildren one of these days; who am I fooling...). Will get the ones you suggest if I stumble across them at some sale or other. Thanks! - L.
Am I pulling your leg? I wonder.
John
It is nice to have the luxury of being able to modify the fit of parts so easily in architectural builds. I muse on this as I trim the edge of a roof repeatedly until it falls into proper position. You see, the building below the roof may not have been positioned properly. My hat is off to those who work to the close, unforgiving tolerances in other card modelling areas.
Difficult fit with some parts. Some did not fit at all without recutting.
In the last five shots, I turned the vivid option off on my camera. Don't like the effect. They look grey.
Here is a shot with more of the natural colour of the model. I can't say I'm happy with my joints on this model. When you start wrestling and fussing with parts, joints open or fray as you work them.
The parts did not fall cleanly into place.
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Great! =D> It looks good and it`s tidy. Good work! =D> =D>
The fortress may be finished today...
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Only the approaches up and one side tower are left to complete.
We'lll see if it can be finished today.
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Didn't quite make it. Here is the upper ramp area into the fortress.
This will be the area for the lower gatehouse and ramp.
There are only four parts left to glue into place before this model is completed. Sitll the parts have a mind of their own. Here is a classic example of what happens when you have to alter a part to fit.
This ramp must fit tightly against four walls. As printed it does not do this. Three of the angles have to be altered. These two shots show the ramp glued to the entrance area after the angles were recut.
But in doing so, the ramp became shorter. Recutting the angles at the upper end of the ramp meant that material was being cut off. (as well as the tabs) That shortened the ramp.
This would have not been noticed if there were no printed footprint. But alas, the error is quite evident as seen here. There is a distance quite noticable between the end of the ramp and the lower gatehouse.
This area will have to be painted.
Note: The gatehouse could not be shifted up to meet the lower edge of the ramp. There is a notch in the corner of the gatehouse that straddles the two sides of the curtain wall here. You can see the corner jutting out into the gatehouse footprint.
First a second layer of white paper was layed up against the ramp end. This added piece made the extension of the ramp flush with the ramp edge itself. Then the white piece that was added was lined for the walkway and painted grey. The surrounding area was painted green. It looks as though the green patch needs some rework. A bit light?
And here we finish Hohensaltzburg with the addition of the ramp wall and the lower gatehouse.
And so ends the saga of Hohensaltzburg.
The model does not stand close inspection, but the overall effect is acceptable.
There are things I would change if I were designing this model, but I am pleased to have it in a collection of early German works.
John
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Hi John,
An impressive model and, not surprisingly :D, very well built.
Schreiber-Bogen reworked some of their earlier kits. I built the 'new' Neuschwanstein and it seems to be a good improvement on the original one. Maybe they should do the same for this one. Anyway, it looks very nice on your pictures. Perhaps you could post a couple more?
perfect work! =D> =D> =D>
but: the model is not complete. the so called "nonnbergbastei" is missing. this is the part left from the round tower near the entrance.
but many of the schreiber models aren't complete. like the marksburg, kloster maulbronn or schloss schönbrunn
greets
walter
Hello Waltair and Ricardo,
Thank you for your kind compliments. I am in honoured company.
Ricardo, you mentioned that someday Hohensalzburg may be reworked. That jogged my memory. Waltair, I couldn't read your comments in German, but I assumed that you were inquiring on this forum about Burg Aggstein. It is out of print. But in the thread, you received a link that included a model of Hohensalzburg. Maybe THAT was the original version! As an aside, I wrote the restoration society at Burg Aggstein and there may be plans for a reprint.
Here is the link:
http://www.mtp-studio.de/forum/thread.php?threadid=1134
Hohensalzburg is featured here with Burg Aggstein. Hohensalzburg appears much more detailed in this black and white line drawing.
Ricardo, I am eagerly awaiting a backordered model of Kosci NMP w Posztornie. You brought my attention to it in your photos of models you built. Looking forward to getting back to Richard's clean, precise and accurate parts!
Cheers...John