"Building Kragenvale Keep— a Review" Topic

Back when Toshach brought this out, I bought a copy and wrote up a review… and then didn't do anything with the article. So here it is now, as my latest blog entry.

link

Proof that paper modeling for small scales can be very impressive indeed!

Very nicely done tutorial and review.

Jim

Parzival-

Thank you for that excellent tutorial. I am thrilled you are happy with the model, and I appreciate your very constructive comments and suggestions.

Kragenvale was one of the first models I created, and it was probably a bit too ambitious. You pointed out that the side walls are open-ended. In the early prototypes the side wall ends were closed, like a box, but no matter how I tried, and how carefully I calculated the geometry of the angled walls I could not get the front, back, and two sides to match up well enough. So I ultimately settled on leaving the side-walls open ended to allow some flexibility in the joins.

The variability that the open ended side walls allowed for made determining the exact size and shape of the courtyard impossible. So I chose to undersize the courtyard base and leave it to the builder to determine the precise shape and size of the courtyard surface. Not the most elegant solution, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.

Nice work, BTW. Interesting idea about the stairway and the naked tower. The pdf isn't locked so you should be able to open it up in Photoshop or Illustrator, and blow it up to the appropriate size. In the meantime, I'll put it on my list of modifications to do.

Thanks again.

Tom

Try using either black, or brown, or gray markers to cover the white edging. It makes a dramatic difference in the end result. Paper models are fantastic, relatively quick, and relatively easy. The results are amazing, at arm's length. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!

Very cool, thanks for posting.

What a great review, and what a lovely model.

Try using either black, or brown, or gray markers to cover the white edging.

I did do that, though the photo flash seems to have washed it out in some instances. Also, the model is designed with printed highlighting on the crenellations to create a bevel effect. It looks great in person, but looks white in a flash photo; it's possible you're noticing this effect.

Glad everyone enjoyed the review! Stick around— there are more posts to come.

Very nice model and very well put together.Great blog you have there mate.