Part Two: The Gatehouse
The gatehouse is four inches across and deep, and seven inches high. I used the special corners, the large arches, and small window arches from the Prison Tower mold. Halfway up I have left gaps for the doors that will be made from pieces from the Wood Plank Mold after the rest of the gatehouse has been painted. There’s a similar piece (taken from the Fieldstone Accessory Mold) that will go on the roof as well. The doors on the side of the tower will lie flush with the floor of the walls after they have been assembled.
When building the tower, I used forms composed of Duplo blocks to provide right angles to lay the bricks against as they dry. The good news is that with a totally rectangular tower like this one, keeping the walls flat is fairly easy.
On the upper half, I’ve deliberately staggered some blocks to make a small ledge for the roof.
I cheated a little bit on the roof, using a custom mold I made out of RTV Silicone to allow me to cast most of the roof as a single piece, rather than glue it together. You can find instructions on making the mold on the Hirst Arts site. For those who don’t want to go to the hassle, I’d consider reinforcing the floor with a bit of cereal box cardboard.
Here’s two shots of the tower put together. I’ll be leaving it in two halves to make putting in the door easier.
Next: the exterior walls. Thanks for looking!
