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Thread: Fort McHenry

  1. #1
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    Default Fort McHenry

    After having stalled out on this project for almost a year, I am moving forward again. New buildings from Brigade have been ordered, and the shoreline has been glued to the land. Due to the size of the piece I chose to cut out the middle of the shoreline. I found in the past that changes in barometric pressure make large foam pieces expand and contract and the plastic doesn't. Hopefully this will allow the fort to stay level.

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  2. #2
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    This afternoon I started researching for Castel san Angelo which is also known as Castello Argonese.
    It looks as if I am going to need a few houses and a church or two to surround the works. The good news is that from the look of it on old maps, Taranto township only consisted of the island. all the other stuff is later modern works.
    So nothing nearly as complex as Dubrovnik was to model ans no scratch built buildings this time.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  3. #3

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    Of course you'll now need to paint up some bomb vessels!

  4. #4
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    I already have a few of these Eric.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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    It's unfortunate that by 1815 most bomb ships were ship rigged and looked more like regular sloops. The ketchs look so much more the part, but were old technology.

    Maybe I'll have to build a ship rigged one.

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    My buildings for the fort have arrived! They don't look like exact historical matches, but the capture the feel. I'm also wrestling with the fact that Fort McHenry had grass and trees! Not very fort-like.

  7. #7
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    Have you a picture of the fort as it is today Dobbs?
    You could always sand off the faces of those terraced houses to look more accomodation block like.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  8. #8
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    Here's a picture of a diorama that I believe is on display at the fort. This is a representation of what it looked like in 1814.

    Mine from the same angle.

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    In comparing the two side by side, I've just now noticed that the buildings in the original are only 1 story. That suggests that my fort is kind of big.
    Last edited by Dobbs; 07-23-2022 at 06:44.

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    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    Well it looks in keeping with the model Dobbs. We all have to make a few adjustments to fit our supplies of parts and ability to be true to the original. I have yet to discover a good way to bend resin cast plastic curtain walls to form a curve. If I need that I have toresort to scratch building.

    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  10. #10
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    I now also have an order from Brigade on the way this coming week for the town and outerworks at Taranto.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  11. #11

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    This project looks promising, Dobbs.

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    Very nice work there Dobbs, I look forward to seeing this progress

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    I am working on making a convincing brown brick, but have not convinced myself of success. The red one was just because bricks are red. The brown one on the right is actually a lighter brown, but not particularly obvious in the lighting.

    If anyone has input to further my progress it would be much appreciated.

  14. #14
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    That middle brick looks the same colour as my house bricks Dobbs. The red end looks like our roof, but I always dull the roof colours with a brown wash which I wipe over to take most of it off as soon as it goes on. This gives that slightly worn and aged look. At these small scales I always slightly over do the contrasts otherwise they don't show up at a distance.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  15. #15
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    I'd note that *typically* the curtain only extends part way up the face of the fort, typically there is a small platform (kept as narrow as possible to prevent rallying an escalade out of the line of sight/fire), then the parapet is formed from a 45 degree slope, followed by a broad crest angled at 1/8, into which are cut the embrasures, which are arranged to sweep the glacis with grazing fire (and the musketry from the peak of the parapet to cover the "covered way" from around 2-3 ft above the surface as well as the entire face of the glacis, and to 'overlap' with the fire from the return of the pair of bastions at a height of 4ft above the centre of the wall. The entire upper surface of the parapet in earth, rather than masonry, to avoid throwing masonry fragments from grazing hits. The interior of the parapet, embrasures can an in fact need to be revetted, using fascines gabions or lumber in field fortifications, and strong masonry of the highest quality, often 'stepped' to prevent ricochets and fragments entering, and supported by mantlets and rope screens to provide some cover from observation and fire on the gun crews.

    I think the parapet looks too narrow for the style of fortification, but if the measurements are acceptable and/or corrected, paint the interior of the parapet and embrasures in either stone/brick or 'wood', and the exterior wall to the height of the terreplain in the stone/brick colour, then paint the upper section of the exterior wall (which should lie back at ~45 degrees) and the 'top' of the parapet thickness (which should be some 20ft or so) in grass (similar to the modern photo, but with the battery set up in embrasures rather than the later 'en barbette' style.

    I'd also reduce the 'platform height' you added inside the ditch ~ the wall is supposed to be largely concealed behind the glacis to help protect it from direct fires from a battery of breach.

  16. #16
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    Hi David, I understand some of your points. I facepalmed about the 'platform height'. That makes complete sense, but now I have to ponder more routering.

    I thought the curtains were the walls that joined the bastions?

    The parapets are what they are. The kit is the modular fort from Brigade. I have been planning on filling the gunports on the curtains.

    I've been planning grass on the curtains, much like the diorama in the earlier picture.

  17. #17

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    Dobbs your best bet would be to sail over there and check the color in person

  18. #18
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    The construction of Fort McHenry continues to stagger along. I'm aiming to finish mine in less time than the original took to build.

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    I removed the raised platform under the walls, at David's (Lieste) suggestion. It was an improvement, but two sinkholes opened up in the regrading. The landscapers will deal with it. It's in their contract.

    Eric, sailing over there is on my list of things to do, but if I drive, maybe you could come along and we could spend the day staring and pointing!
    Last edited by Dobbs; 12-18-2022 at 19:09.

  19. #19
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    You should never rush a good job Dobbs.
    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

  20. #20

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    I do remember standing by that J shaped trench and watching a battery of 24 pounders firing during a reenactment.

  21. #21
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    During the Quasi-war with France, the new Fort McHenry thwarts a French attempt to invade Baltimore, bringing down the Montgolfier Balloon #8.

    No, really, just gluing things down.

  22. #22
    Admiral of the Fleet.
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    Work progresses well then Dobbs despite the attack on your fortifications!
    I seem to be in one of those phases like writers get. I seem to have modellers' block.
    The bit about the Quazi War was very amusing. I have started using Gorilla glue for holding down parts on models. It is not instant setting but it is instant grab and also gap filling to an extent.

    Carry on the good work.

    Rob.
    The Business of the commander-in-chief is first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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