"Three 15mm Late Medieval Houses" Topic

Here are three more enhanced paper models (foreground), this time late medieval. All my models are 15mm scale. These would be typical of the towns of northern Europe, perhaps 1350 to 1480 or so, probably France, Netherlands, Burgundy and western Germany. I designed them based on old paintings and illustrations. There are actually a few houses like these still standing and I referred to photographs of them as well.

In the back of two of the houses there are garderobes (toilets) projecting from the second floors. Sanitation was rather crude in those times but fortunately, late at night, a peasant would come through with a wagon and a shovel and remove all the accumulated dung to sell to farmers for fertilizer. History ain't pretty sometimes . . .

That completes my house project for the time being. I have many figures to paint and a German schloss to design.

Cheers!

Gallo

Great work! A lot grander than the usual hovels!

Thanks, Beauchamp1265.

These are meant to represent row houses in a town as opposed to a farm village. I think these would be houses where people lived, although I have a suspicion that the middle house is more like a pub. I can imagine the wooden porch would make it convenient for guests to drink and look outdoors. They could quaff their ale, bier or wine and still be protected from the rain.

Cheers!

Gallo

You've captured that so well. There are three near me , one of which was an Inn. They are 14th century . The church behind is older -Saxon. My ancestor John was buried in there in the 17th century.

Hi Beauchamp1265,

That is a very cool photo you posted of medieval houses. I assume the photo is in the UK. The framing of the half-timbered houses with the curved beams on the faces of the third floors, is interesting. It's also of note that on two of the three houses, the floor beam ends are exposed. On the wooden-topped house that I modeled, the floor beams would be exposed but the vertical wood panels of the gable side cover the ends (but not the bottoms) of the beams. My center house has the second floor beams exposed.

So the church is Saxon. The stonework is impressive. I'm curious, was the tower rebuilt at a later time? Also I have made a model of a medieval stone church (that would still be used in renaissance times). The model has a modular steeple roof. I wanted the option of making the steeple top flat, with a low wall around the edge – more in keeping with Anglican and other church architecture in the UK. By the way, I'm a fan of the "Father Brown" TV series from BBC One, mostly because I like the architecture.

Cheers!

Gallo

Hi Gallo, yes , this is Oxford , in England. The tower is substantially as built in 1040, and used to adjoin the medieval city wall's North Gate. It must have been altered,as the illustration below shows the tower on the left of the Northgate just before it's demolition. Note the tower has crenellations at this point.

I associate the window style with that of the Norman's architecture. The church I was married in (St Leonards, Wallingford) is Saxon , and stone , but it's tower is a later addition. Look forward to seeing your Schloss develop!

The crenellated tower of the church in the illustration you provided is exactly what I had in mind as an alternative top to the model church I built. You can see the model here:

TMP link

The tower roof of my model pulls off and I planned to build an alternative as in your illustration. Haven't gotten that far as yet. Also, I still need to add a few buttresses, so the piece really isn't quite finished.

The Schloss will have to be completed in pieces, starting with the gatehouse. I would want to use it for the Thirty Years War period.

Thanks for providing the photo, the illustration and a healthy dose of inspiration!

Cheers!

Gallo

Wonderful church model, and a cunning way to make it multi purpose. ECW history is all around me here. Recently purchased some Burgundian and Swiss troops, so will need to consider European buildings!

What scale are your Burgundians and Swiss? Just curious, everything I have is in 15mm scale.

Cheers!

Gallo

15mm scale ! Mirleton minis mainly . A recent acquisition.

Here's an interesting one for you. St Georges tower, Oxford Castle. Predated even the wooden motte and bailey castle , it is made of coral rag. Originally a rare Saxon stone structure forming a watch tower at the Westgate. It's seen a lot of action!

Thanks for posting the picture of St. George's tower. I had to look up coral rag as I was unfamiliar with the term. Limestone from old coral reefs, eh? The tower looks huge. I'm not sure how I would model something like that but I would probably not use printed card stock.

I do have a few Burgundians and Swiss in 15mm from Mirleton. They are excellent, I think. I have a few painted. I primarily intended to use them for very early Italian Wars. I also have some Minifigs, Roundway and Essex that would be appropriate for the wars of Charles the Bold.

Eventually I will be designing and making a few more late medieval houses. It's very hard to find what I want in the current market (in 15mm) so I'll have to continue DIY projects.

Cheers!

Gallo

I think you are on the right track-these appeared as discontinued NOS on UK ebay-with the usual issues of cast models. Door height is 20mm seems a bit overscale to me.

That house looks like it would be great for the period. Not sure if you are familiar with using Milliput or other putty, but one can always fix features and add details to resin models. The doors on many of my houses are (on the average) about 18mm high. In my modeling I am using 3mm to the foot. That might be a bit large for some 15mm figures but seems to work well when one factors in scale creep. I was thinking of making a large medieval house that would stand alone and would have more of a French influence. A bit like this one:

This house is in Noyers, France.

Also, I would like to make a smaller model house that is mostly constructed of wood. A film that came out in 2019, "The King", a modern retelling of Shakespeare's "Henry V" has some interesting French wooden houses that (I am hoping) are fairly accurate for the early 1400s.

Cheers!

Gallo

Here's an image of the medieval French wooden houses from the film, "The King".

Cheers!

Gallo

Thanks for the intel! That house from Noyers is magnificent. The wooden houses are neat.It's eerie to see the long grass and no people though. Wood is an amazing material, some spanish lads have just docked in England with this replica Carrack.

link

I think the wooden houses represent a peasant village near Harfleur, France (1415). My guess is that the villagers had all fled, having been warned of the English invasion. I have read about villages and towns in renaissance times and apparently, some had very few stone houses. Wattle and daub were common, of course, but I believe in many cases, there were wooden houses as pictured.

I enjoyed the picture of the carrack. It reminds me that when modeling wood in 15mm, the grain is not particularly visible. If I model a wood house, I will probably use cardstock for siding, then prime, paint and weather it.

Cheers!

Gallo

Hi there! Yes, i'm revising the way I paint wood after reading the 'Wargames Illustrated' guide to painting (bought from my local newsstand lately), there are three basic techniques, for fresh cut , dark oiled/stained and weathered wood outlined within.
The other find was a newly published book on Queen Matilda and the Anarchy of 1135-1153. She was imprisoned in St George's Tower briefly.

Cheers

Paul

I have a bunch of old issues of "Wargames Illustrated", not very easy to find it where I live. For tips on painting, I usually refer to internet articles or YouTube videos. I also have a book on modeling railroad scenery which has come in handy. Now that I'm retired I have more time to dedicate to my hobbies.

Cheers!

Gallo

Wow, retirement , I could , but the Government here is grovelling to those 10 million who have taken early retirement to return and boost the economy! Those model railroad guys have some good techniques.

I suppose if I cross a few things off my list I might go back to work, then again, there is that lead mountain and I know they're not going to paint themselves . . .

Cheers!

Gallo

Ha, took a day off work today and painted some minis. Dry run for retirement!

Visited Tamworth todau, one of England's nicest and oldest fortifications is there.

Hi Beauchamp,

Did you start painting those Burgundians and Swiss? I'm just about ready to begin the painting of 5 British units for WSS. They are 15mm Minifigs and Roundway with a smattering of Dixon in the command groups. These will be the first WSS I've painted.

Tamworth castle looks quite interesting, well-maintained. It would be great to explore and photograph.

Cheers!

Gallo

Gallo
Just about to.
Have been painting the Burgundian arty train and field positions (gabions defences and trapdoor shield) plus bombard.

Tamworth is lovely and very complete. Originally one of Lady Di's ancestors started it.

WSS British eh? Marlborough's seat,Blenheim Palace is just up the road from here. Hope those redcoats weren't about yesterday!

Hello,

I like the idea of the Burgundian artillery train. I have a few of those pieces but I've not assembled or painted them as yet. The trapdoor shield sounds very cool. Is that scratch built or something manufactured in 15mm? Gabions, I need more of, but wish there was an effective way to scratchbuild them in 15mm. I have a few in resin and I believe some from Roundway in pewter.

I guess it will be six British units for WSS. I've just finished priming them. Hoping that they will see action in Flanders and Spain.

Cheers!

Gallo

Magister Militum in the UK make this in 15mm…

Very nice! I really like your figure painting skills. Those Swisss look like they are ready to do some damage. The gabions and trapdoor shield are from Hallmark? I have ordered from Magister Militum but not since Covid. Have you seen Battle Honors 3D stuff?

link

I thought this looked useful for future renaissance excursions but my WSS project remains at the top of the list.

Cheers!

Gallo

Gallo
Ah sorry- gabions and trapdoor are by Magister Militum, they are trading still. Haven't seen Battle honours-will take a look. Thanks for the link!

Hello Beauchamp1265,

I took a good long look at Magister Militum. They have some really great items. I was pleased to discover that they seem to be marketing ranges that I thought were no longer available. Ian Weekly's "Battleground" scenery models, Polly Oliver and Hallmark figures, I remember those product lines back in the 1990s, available here in the USA. I especially like Hallmark's artillery, waggons and carts and specialty items like trench diggers and mantlets, many are in the League of Augsburg range. These figures are small 15s, by contemporary standards but still nicely sculpted, animated and detailed.

Here in the US we have Scale Creep Miniatures. They carry some of the products available from Magister Militum. I noticed they have a few Hallmark items and the Bueda gabions.

Cheers!

Gallo

I remember Ian's articles in the Wargaming press. I met someone selling his wares at a wargames show so many years ago, and bought some architectural mouldings. I still have an Orthodox Church 'onion' cupola of his, and somewhere a copy of his book on modelling!
I like Baeuda's products.
I've recently been studying the Anarchy and wonder if their figures might make a suitable 12th century army!

Late breaking news… Check these on Ebay from a USA vendor
auction

I bought several Battleground models many, many years ago. Some I've painted, some not. I have 4 Italian castle towers and a castle keep, a couple sections of Italian castle wall. I like the way Ian really seemed to capture the style of various medieval houses and buildings. They never fail to impress me on the tabletop.

Cheers!

Gallo

I have some Italian figs on the way to me- maybe I should invest in a castle!
BTW -keen to show my latest figs, but can't figure out how to post jpgs! Do you know how?

I would very much enjoy seeing a photo of your latest figures. I've been working on 15mm Marlburian British. I am seeing red coats in my sleep! Also, there is the matter of the flags. I plan to use references and design my own paper flags on the computer. I'm thinking I would make the British flags about 16mm square for my 15mm figures.

The only way I know to post pics of figures is to start a Flickr account and then follw the instructions given here at TMP:

link

Good luck and . . .

Cheers!

Gallo