Casting Tips

Due to requests for more ornate pieces, I've included a special decorative brace. When casting these small ornate pieces, the following tips will help you eliminate air bubbles.

The easiest way to get rid of air bubbles is to use the Wet Water method. If you use this method, then the other tips shown here aren't needed. If you're not able to use the "wet water" method, then flex the mold to stretch out the area with deep recesses. This will leave fewer narrow crevaces to form air bubbles.

Also, after you pour the plaster in, use a toothpick or dull pencil and trace around the shape to release air bubbles. Mixing the plaster slightly thinner will also help. Be sure to tap the mold often to release air bubbles. If small defects occur, don't worry; real stone buildings also have defects. Besides, when you put the whole bulding together you'll be so impressed with the result that you won't be able to find them anyway!

Building Instructions

You will need to fill this mold 18 times to have enough blocks to build the circular tower. Be sure the blocks are completely dry before gluing them together. For detailed instructions on pouring the blocks, see the Casting Instructions Page. To get a copy of the printed plans, you can download thems from the Building Plans Page and print them out yourself.

1.	We'll start by making a circular form to build around. Take 3 sheets of typing paper and line them up end to end in a perfectly straight line. I used my wall at home to help. Tape them together as shown. Measure 9 1/4" from one end and put a mark. Roll up the paper (starting from the unmarked end) and match the line you've drawn to the edge of the paper. This will form a fairly exact 3" diameter circle.

2.	This roll of paper is used to hold the inside diameter of the tower while you build it. You simply stack the blocks around it and they will line up much more straight. One of my customers had suggested using a Pringles can for the core. You will have to cut the metal rim off the bottom before you can use it. I tried this and it works excellent! If you can get a Pringles can I would strongly suggest it.

3.	Glue the floor plan down to a piece of thick card stock or cereal box. You can download the plans from the Building Plans Page and print them out yourself. Glue down the floor tiles to the plan. Be sure you follow the guidelines shown in the gray area.

4.	Now we will make the circular stair pieces. Start by placing a round block in the center and adding the 2 step blocks shown. The top step overlaps the bottom ones half way. Glue these together then remove them from the base. We need to use them seperately to build the circular staircase. Make 8 of these.

5.	Glue this ring of smooth base blocks together along with the thin blocks in front of the door. Then place a pringles can or roll of paper in the center and continue to build around it. The short rounded blocks go on each side of the doorway and the rest are regular blocks.

6.	Here is Row 3 and 4. For a printed plan showing where every block will go, visit the Building Plans Page. Be sure to occasionally remove the pringles can in the center to be sure you have not accidentally glued blocks to it.

7.	Glue this row down and leave out the 2 blocks shown. We want the tower to come apart so I marked the top of this row with a marker to remind me not to glue here. Place the blocks shown in green down but do not glue them. Then, place glue on top of these blocks only.

8.	Do not glue the next row down but do glue the blocks to each other end-to-end. The two loose blocks underneath will stick themselves to the bottom of this row. Continue to glue the next few rows on until you finish row 8.

9.	When you've finished and the glue is dry, you'll notice that the tower will come apart in the middle. We need it to come apart so we can paint the inside and add the stairs. Turn the tower around and look at it from the back side. Do you see the doorway at the bottom? Take a magic marker and draw these marks on it as I have done. Be sure they are centered over the doorway. Draw the arrow as well.

10.	These marks will help us put the circular stairway in the right place. Pull off the tower top and place it upside down on the table. Now glue a stair piece in the position shown. Be sure it is also upside down and the floor tile touching the table surface is placed between the marks.

11.	Glue in 4 floor tiles face down around the left of the stair piece. Now add 3 more stair sections on top of the first. Make sure that each additional section halfway overlaps the floor tile under it. You can use the block seams on the inside of the tower as a guide.

12.	To continue this, place the tower bottom into place (upside down as well). I've marked the stairway section with a marker to remind me not to glue the next set of stairs onto this one. If you glue the stairs together here, then the tower will not come apart again. Now continue gluing 4 more step sections onto the inside of the tower. The final step should be halfway in front of the door.

13.	If you have trouble getting the stairs to reach from the top to the bottom (they seem a little short), it's probably because the stairs have leaned or sagged inside the tower. To remedy this, you may have to hold them in place by hand while they're drying to keep them from sagging. When the glue dries, flip the tower right-side-up. The stairs should now go around from the bottom to the top as you see it here. The tower should also come apart in the center where the black line on the photo is.

14.	No matter how carefully I design the blocks, sometimes there's one little thing you have to fix. The arrow slit for the curved tower is about the most difficult piece I've ever carved. After all my calculations, it's still 4/1000's of an inch too wide. Take that measurement times 8 arrow slit blocks, and the tower will bulge 1/16th of an inch on one side. To remedy this, sand a little off the arrow slits as shown and test fit the blocks together before you glue them.

15.	Now we will continue the tower. There is no need to continue building on top of the existing tower. Instead we'll start building the next rows from the table to so the bottom will be nice and flat. With the pringles can back in the center, here are what rows 9, 10, 11 and 12 look like. You'll notice that we're putting the arrow slits around. Compare how the arrow slits fit on top of the first row of blocks that has no arrow slits on it. If the rows with the arrow slits bulge out, then you need to sand a little more off of them.

16.	Glue this row down and leave out the blocks shown. We want the tower to come apart so I marked the top of this row with a marker to remind me not to glue here. Place the blocks shown in green but do not glue them down. Then, place glue on top of these blocks only.

17.	Do not glue the next row down but do glue the blocks to each other end-to-end. The loose blocks underneath will stick themselves to the bottom of this row. Continue to glue the next few rows on until you finish with row 15. This finishes the main part of the tower.

18.	Glue The blocks shown upside down to make the tower top. When dry, flip it over and glue on the blocks shown to finish the top.

19.	Let the top dry completely, then turn it upside down and glue on the last tower section that you had made. This is the section that includes rows 13, 14 and 15. Once this section is glued on, add the decorative braces around the outside edge evenly spaced out. I centered a brace under each decorative crellenation piece. The building of the tower is finished!

Painting Instructions

1.	For complete painting instructions, visit the Painting Instructions page. What's shown here is a short, quick version. Notice that the circular tower was built in 5 separate pieces. This will allow you to paint the inside more easily. Even in separate pieces the circular stairway is a little hard to reach.

2.	The first coat of paint is a dark gray. You can use housepaint or a tube of acrylic artist paint. Be sure to mix this first coat thin (about the consistency of milk). If you're using house paint, it's about 1 cup paint to 1/4 cup water. If you're using a tube of paint, add more water. Using a 1 inch brush, drench the paint on so it runs into all the cracks. If you used water based glue be careful! The paint will soften the glue. I usually paint the inside and let the model dry overnight, then paint the outside. Once the first coat is on and dry, you don't have to worry about the paint softening again.

3.	Mix up your medium color of gray. It should be a shade lighter than the color of the finished building. Do not thin the paint! Using a dry brush, dip it in the paint and try to wipe all of the paint off onto a paper towel. Brush over the surface with a light to medium pressure. This is called dry-brushing. The paint will stick to the highlights of the stone and all of the texture will show up. It's works the best if you have almost no paint in the brush and use more strokes to cover the area.

4.	The last coat is light gray (4 shades lighter than the medium gray). For this coat, wipe the brush completely dry and barely touch the surface when you brush over it. Here is a close-up of the finished tower. If you intend to do a lot of wargaming and other activities with the tower, be sure to give it a coat of flat varnish or laquer to protect it.

Using Connector Blocks

1.	The connector brick looks like this. It's especially made to connect your circular tower to straight walls. I haven't had time to make a model showing every possible way to use the brick, so I'm going to show diagrams of how you can use it.

2.	This shows a layout using the circular towers on the corners. You can lay this out easily on regular graph paper. Start by drawing 1" square floor tiles (don't put the outside walls on yet). Then set your compass at 1 1/2" and draw a circle using the corner of your floor as the center point. Now draw another circle with your compass set at 2" (same center point). This represents your curved wall secion. Now draw the straight outside wall around your floor tiles.

3.	Now you can use your graph paper to draw in the blocks that represent the wall. For the first row we'll use the connector blocks. On the second row, we'll use only the curved tower blocks and straight blocks. You can see that I've alternated the blocks so they overlap each other. It lines up nice and straight. If you wanted your towers completely round with a circular staircase inside, simply add a few more curved blocks to close off the inside (except for your doorway).

4.	This example shows using the connector blocks to add curved walls onto a flat one. Once again, you can continue the circle all the way around if you want a circular staircase, or you can leave it empty to add interest to a flat wall. Circular walls can also be used for balconies, especially with the decorative braces along the bottom and finishing caps on the top. Experiment with the blocks and see how they stack up. You'll find a lot of interesting uses for the curved sections.