Maham Tower - Revised Construction

Revised plan for the Maham Tower, adding buttresses, log rifle pits on the ground, a mid-level platform and othe accoutrements. The figures are from Fife & Drum Miniatures.

This morning I let The Princess knock down the Maham tower mock up so that I could start on the model's construction. I thought that as long as I was rethinking the construction plans, that I should make a few revisions to improve it.

First of all, I decided that the foundation logs (the first 3-4 layers) required thicker and bigger logs to make for a stable model. So I went out into the back yard with my pruning shears and cut some more logs.

Close up view showing the exterior buttresses and the mid-level platform of the revised model.

Second, I decided to add a floor to the tower, approximately half way up. The sharpshooters would probably have climbed to the top from the inside, so an interim platform and some ladders were added. I haven't shown it yet, but there will be an inside ladder to the first platform and then another up to the crow's nest level.

Third, I created some protection for the sharpshooters in the crow's nest by adding a few more layers of logs above the top platorm. Thus the overall height of the Maham Tower will be approximately 6-inches. My planned fort will have 3-inch high stockade walls so by doubling the height of the tower, I can erect it a suitable distance from the fort and still be able to fire down inside the fort.

A longer view of the model that depicts all of the exterior accountrements.

For the fort, I will either try to make one from scratch, or buy the Grand Manner stockade fort which is very nice.

Finally, I decided to add some extra bling to the exterior: adding log buttresses to two of the sides, a wood ladder on the outside of the tower, and then some log fleches on the ground next to the tower for protection in case the defenders make a sally from the fort in an attempt to destroy the Maham tower.

The new pictures illustrate another unglued mock up, but they represent how the final model should look. Over the next several days I will start notching the foundation logs and commence the build.