Building Balcarres' and Breymann's Redoubts (Part 2)

More progress, but as I mentioned last time, set your expectations low for the time to complete the project. I'm back to work tomorrow and expect it will only be at weekends when I can make incremental progress. I do have some figures to paint up to provide some vignettes to add to the redoubts and to supply extra artillery, so there is more than just construction to keep me busy in the coming months.

I started today by deploying an old breadknife and a saw to cut the foam to the shape of the baseboard, then to cut in the basic contours before finishing with the electric sander equipped with a 40 grit pad:

This really helped the basic shapes come to life. Compared to diagrams of the reqal redoubt the top end is a bit wider on the model and the bottom end a bit narrower, but the essential are there and I can adjust things a little as I cut and fit the firing step level.

The top end will need to wait for now as I need to finalise what I'm using as the Freeman's Farmhouse that was incorporated into the defences. I have a Perry/Renedra Farmhouse on order so might use that, even if it gets chopped down a bit. Until I have a house built I can't really size the bits and pieces that need to fit around it. 

What I could do next was to cut some artillery platforms from the timber, I went for lengtsh with a 60mm flat depth then a further tapering section of 4cm length. Not easy to cut with my old, rusty, manual mitre saw but I got there in the end. The real redoubt mounted 8 guns so I have gone for four platforms as in my games one model gun typically represents a 2-gun section.

At the same time, I cut the blocks needed for the firing step arounnd the lower end of the redoubt and dry-fitted them as you can see below:

I used this opportunity to make this section slightly wider.

Once I was happy with this, the artillery platforms and firing steps for the bottom end were glued and screwed together in a similar way to the lower frame, resulting in a solid piece ready to be attached to the model:

This piece was then glued onto the lower frame and screwed down for extra strength. The artillery platforms you can see on the northern half of the model are loose for now, but you can get an idea of how they will be placed:

Lastly, here is a "worm's eye" view of the southern hill and firing step with figures for scale:

The firing step will be fronted with a log stockade of another 20mm or so in height (enough so that the figures' heads will be visib;e and a firing figure can pop their musket over the top without needing cut-outs or crenelations. This is in-line with illustrations of the redoubt and will help keep a balance between the height of the model and the area of its baseboard - although the whole thing is clearly a huge compromise between figure scale  (1/60ish) and ground scale (1/450ish).

That's it for today. By next weekend I should hopefully have a farmhouse to add and can finish the firing step and artillery platforms for the northern end. After that I can think about miniature logs...