"Painting a Vauban Fort, part 2" Topic

When I put up the first of these threads a few days ago, I thought I would just keep posting progress on the project from start to finish on that same thread here on TMP.

Though the first post got a decent number of visitor hits, my follow-up second and third posts on the same thread, detailing further progress, didn't earn any further comments, or too many more hits.

So in an attempt to stay relevant I've decided to start a new thread detailing my next step in progress painting this Vauban fort. This section covers Bastions, Towers, and Ramps.

If interested in learning a bit more about the project and seeing a lot more pics, please CLICK on the LINK below, and thanks in advance for your time should you choose to do so!

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And never one to leave out visual stimuli, here's some pics from Vauban Chapter IV…

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I have read your blogs with great interest. I have a couple of questions. The ramps each have three cross members or pieces, do you know what these are for? Why did you paint the stonework red?

I'm loving this. And a question: why are the towers different colours? (picky bunch, aren't we?)

@ochoin: It's a Work-In-Progress pic. When all is said and done Tower #2 will closely match Tower #1. Keep reading/viewing the posts and you'll see for yourself!

@Eleve de Vauban:

I discuss it a bit in one or two of the posts on my blog. It was a conversation between my friend who I'm painting the fort for -- who knows much more about 17th and 18th Century fortifications and warfare than I do -- and me, whether to use an all grey paint scheme or use red, offset by contrasting grey. We went with red, for a combo of stronger visual impact (at least in our opinion) and a bit of an old school "Toy Soldier" feel.

I believe there are some Vauban works built with red stone and/or red brick, and/or red colored render over stone.

Going by your TMP user name I'm guessing you know far more about Vauban and his fortifications, sieges, etc., than me. You may well have seen some or all of these photos before:

I've visited the Relief Plans Museum at the Invalides in Paris, and I think the walls on several of the model fortifications attributed to Vauban are represented as being red.

If it turns out the red color scheme for the walls is historically inaccurate to the point of being all wrong… well, I guess it will serve as a fortress for one or more 18th Century Imaginations, as I probably won't be repainting it!

Actually… if my buddy wanted me to, I might. But it would probably have to wait a while!

Another day, another chapter in my Vauban painting saga!

Just posted part V on my blog, featuring an upgrade from cardboard to wooden front doors, a slight repair, more painting, and weathering of big imposing Bastion #1, and adding a few more AWI troops to the WIP layout to help keep my own morale from faltering!

If you'd like to read some more info and see a whole lot more pics, please feel free to CLICK the LINK below, and many thanks in advance should you choose to do so:

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…but even if you don't, you can see a few selects from the 70+ pics in that latest post:

@Eleve de Vauban,

Just realized I didn't answer your question re: the cross-pieces on the ramps.

It's just my supposition, but I think they are meant to help brace cannon wheels from rolling backwards down the ramp, so crews can rest for a moment if needed while hauling them up to the gun positions on ramparts, bastions, etc.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge of the topic can weigh in with a more certain answer…

All righty then…

Here's #6 in my 7-part tale of "How To" paint a big Vauban fortress. This 6th Chapter ends with virtually the entire thing painted -- except for one particularly tricky piece, which continues to frustrate me.

If interested in reading and seeing more, kindly CLICK on this handy dandy LINK provided for that purpose:

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But should you choose not to, I won't begrudge you a glimpse at a small fraction of the visual feast for your wargaming eyes which awaits you on my humble blog…:

Excellent work! Want to do nother one?

Impressive scenery and fortress! I like the red-orange walls.

I didn't realize that some Vauban fortresses had that color. I see that you took reference photos of a Vauban fortress in Europe. It looks like a lot of the stonework was covered in stucco? I have seen other photos showing this stucco texture. As I am thinking of building a Vauban-style fortress, I will be following your posts.

Cheers!

Gallo

Thanks for the compliments, Sloth & Gallocelt!

@Sloth1963: Never say never. I painted this one for a friend. If I do another it will either be for myself, or because someone offers to pay me a great deal of money!

@Gallocelt: Glad you like the color. The owner and I debated between this and an all grey color scheme, and decided to go with the more vibrant and colorful red. Yes, the amazing Vauban fortifications in Cabaret-sur-mer are covered in red stucco. I've been lucky enough to visit a few Vauban sites in Canada and France over the years, but I can't take credit for any of those pictures, I just found them all via Google!

Since you are thinking about building a Vauban of your own from scratch, I think you will want to check out this 2017 thread from the Lead Adventure Forum, showing the amazing Vauban fortress built by the immensely talented DintheDin:

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I hope to post the final installment of my own Vauban painting saga before too much longer, detailing the solution I came up with for how to paint the breached wall section, which posed a real challenge for me. Then I will post some scenic pics showing the finished fort together with various troops and terrain. Until then, here's a preview for you guys, since you were kind enough to take the time to post comments on this thread…

For anyone who made it this far and would like to see the Vauban paint-job conclusion, here's a handy LINK to my next TMP thread, which gives you the highlights and provides yet another LINK to the appropriate post on my blog:

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And here's a hint of what lies in store for you to see: