I've been there a couple times. A very scenic place, but the walk up that hill.... I never knew they made a model of the place. This will be interesting to watch.

stikpusher

I've been there a couple times. A very scenic place, but the walk up that hill.... I never knew they made a model of the place. This will be interesting to watch.

 

Walk?....HAHA sucker! We took the horse cart. Me and my Dad coulda done the walk without issue...my wife...maybe?...my mom...no way!

Work continues...

Did some rough painting on the base. Painted up the stone walls and gave em a wash. Buildings are all painted...other than the detail/weathering of the roofs. Gotta gloss and wash as well. 

Nothing is glued down yet.

Notice the distinct difference in colors on the towers of the gate house...

Hey fermis, I was stationed in Germany for 3 years and my wife and I made it there too.  It is awesome isn't it?  I did not know they had a kit of her either!  Very cool build, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.  Thanks for posting!

Eagle90

Hey fermis, I was stationed in Germany for 3 years and my wife and I made it there too.  It is awesome isn't it?  I did not know they had a kit of her either!  Very cool build, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.  Thanks for posting!

Eagle90

It was quite impressive, for sure...as was most everything else.

I never lived there, although, I was conceived there. My Dad was stationed there in the early 70's...they lived in Erlangin (SP?), just outside Nurnburg. He was a tank commander on M60-A1's...then put in for aviation...I was born in "Mother" Rucker, while Dad was in flight school (Huey's).

I wasn't aware of the kit either, until Doogs old thread popped up, and I just happened to look in the dio's section(I'm not a frequent flyer in here!)

There's quite a few details missing and/or overly simplified. It bugging me. I gotta keep telling myself "just build it...just build it"! My wife won't notice those little things, or even care that they're not there.

fermis

 

 

stikpusher

I've been there a couple times. A very scenic place, but the walk up that hill.... I never knew they made a model of the place. This will be interesting to watch.

 

 

 

 

Walk?....HAHA sucker! We took the horse cart. Me and my Dad coulda done the walk without issue...my wife...maybe?...my mom...no way!

 

 

Looking good so far.... 

The first time I was there, as a strapping young 19 year old PFC, the Gebirgsjaeger that I was with would not have allowed the horse. We were walking. The second time 20+ years later with my family, we took the horse cart ride... 

Looking awesome Fermis! Sorry to say I missed this at first, saw the title and figured someone had kicked The Doog's thread back to the top again. 

I like the texture you've added to the hill but if you cover the thing with trees will it even show that much? And I love the autumn photo, going with fall colours on the trees would look even cooler than the green IMHO. 

Gamera

Looking awesome Fermis! Sorry to say I missed this at first, saw the title and figured someone had kicked The Doog's thread back to the top again. 

I like the texture you've added to the hill but if you cover the thing with trees will it even show that much? And I love the autumn photo, going with fall colours on the trees would look even cooler than the green IMHO. 

 

Donkeyshorts! (that's German for "thank you"....I think!)

The texture on the hill is all molded. By the time I'm done, only one area of that will be seen.

The area below the tower on the gate house is quite smooth...

That area will be paint and washes/weathering. There's also quite a few rocky outcrops around the place. The molded detail just doesn't cut it...I have a plan though...involving plaster and some rubber molds! The rest will get covered up with ground cover, shrubs, and trees. We were there in December, and everything was bare...but I am thinking Fall colors would be more fun to look at! 

One more thing about this that was bugging me, was the "patio" areas. These areas are molded flat with a rough texture...like asphalt or concrete. The lower area, just inside the gate house had square pavers/cobbles in a stacked bond pattern. Easy enough to scribe that in. The upper area had much smaller cobble stones, in a swirl/arched pattern....NO WAY! I just scribed the same stacked bond pattern as the lower area. Painted and dark "washed".

The buildings are pretty much finished. The roofs were painted black, then semi-drybrushed with dark grey, light grey and a mix of medium grey/Russian topside green. Dark wash on those as well. May do a bit with some pastels later.

I'm still debating on painting the paintings on the front side of the main building. I have yet to find a really good picture of them to refer to...I haven't really been looking for it yet either, though.

I'll be adding...or at least attempting to add some of the rocky outcrops around the base. My first attemp came out pretty good, as far as the mold went...

Problem is, I used light weight hydrocal. Not completely useless, but it came out really "chalky" and I have doubts about staying put. So...I went with regular plaster for #2. Four hour later...still wet...trash. Went to the hardware store and got a new batch of plaster. This time, rather than filling up all the spots completely, I made more, smaller rocks, and rounded off the backs of them so that they will be a better fit to the contours of the base.

Should be good to go now!

You have your castle looking great, Fermis. This is interesting to watch.

Ah sorry, misunderstood where you were going there. Love those outcroppings you molded though, looking forward to seeing everything come together. 

fermis

 

 

Hey fermis, I was stationed in Germany for 3 years and my wife and I made it there too.  It is awesome isn't it?  I did not know they had a kit of her either!  Very cool build, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.  Thanks for posting!

Eagle90

 

 

 

 

I never lived there, although, I was conceived there. My Dad was stationed there in the early 70's...they lived in Erlangin (SP?), just outside Nurnburg. 

 

I used some CA to glue the "rocks" to the base.

At this time, I think it looks pretty dumb...but, carry on.

There was a lot of gaps between the rocks and the base, so I whipped up some more plaster to fill those in a bit, plus help to solidify the rocks to the base.

On to painting. I started with a black base, then worked with shades of brown - tan. Based off a pic I found. It looked pretty good. Then I looked at some more pics, along with pics of the surrounding rock/mountain...seems to be a lot more grey. So, back to the paint booth, and this is what I have...

As of now, this is just paint...no washes or weathering.

Moving along...took the base out to the garage and cut a base...for the base. This will make handling a lot easier when it comes to doing the ground cover...plus, it'll give it a nice finishing touch.

Traced around the base for the rough shape...jig saw and a router took care of the rest.

Some cherry stain...

Now...I wait.

Is that a skull on the floor...or are you just happy to see me? 

Revenant

Is that a skull on the floor...or are you just happy to see me? 

 

Yes...and no......wait...yesss???...I mean...

Got the base mounted on the plaque base, buildings secured...

Ready to move ahead with the ground work.

The kit give you this...

Uhhhh....no thanks!

I swung by Michaels today, while I was out and picked up a pack of happy little trees and "grass". The rest I already had.

The flock grass is a bit much for the grassy area by the entrance, but should work just fine around the rest of it.

Wow, she's lookin' pretty darn near perfect there! 

And thank God you didn't go with that awful sponge stuff. It'd be like painting a Ferrari with 99 cent spray paint from K-Mart... 

On with the groundwork.

I covered the base with the flocking...like so...

I used a "Fall blend" of trees...from Woodland Scenics, as well as some other stuff.

Have this one side just about wrapped up...

Wow...I was a little sceptical about those rock outcropping, but since you applied the trees and grass I really think you pulled it off...What scale is this thing anyway? How about a nickel or penny pic for comparison?  

Danka....and yes, it was looking pretty dumb before the ground cover. Having the ability to "visualize" is a good thing!

It is 1/220 scale...17" long X 6" wide.

I finished up the ground work on the other side, last night. I may still add some more, the side I started on looks a bit thin and short...I dunno, whatta ya'll think???

There's some other stuff yet to do also, not quite ready for finish pics.

There's a quarter there, on the upper deck of the courtyard.

Wow, Fermis it looks Amazing! 

Xena

Wow, Fermis it looks Amazing! 

 

Agreed, you did a splendid job. It was fun watching it come together and you're right, you do have good vision.

The landscaping is great indeed, but your toning and weathering of the castle itself is not to be overlooked.

fermis, you never cease to amaze me!  The castle is fantastic.  I've lived all over in Northern Europe for five years and it was so beautiful.  The people, the culture, their history, and their architecture are just nothing short of phenomenal!

Toshi

Thanks guys!

I can probably have it all wrapped up in a matter of an hour or two. Just gotta do a little bit of weathering on the buildings, they're just a wee bit to plain for me. I put a ton of hours in on it, and I'm totally burned out on it right now. Off to the side, for a little break!

Fermis...dude...I'm speechless!  Awesome job man!  The detailing is super.  Thanks for posting these.  Think I'll be on the look out for one myself now.  

Eagle90

Wow.  Real nice job.

Beautiful model!

Thanks again guys!

Finally got this one finished up.

I painted a rough interpretation of the murals on the main building (would have been a LOT easier to do before the building was added to the base!), added the spikey/ball thingies to the sharp peaks and did a little pastel weathering.

Some outdoor shots...

Wow...this is a real gem...the murals look pretty good from what I can see, and I love your little, spikey balls...

I wish I were the size of a grain of rice so I could move into your castle on the porch...as long as you left a candle in there cause I see snow...