All the new command bases were done ...
And the layout configurations were convincing ...
A new paste-table battlefield was then hurried into being.
The construction followed the same principals as I used for Naseby, Bosworth and Newbury ...
Strip out all the leg gear from inside the table, remove the hinges and reconfigure the table from 6x2 to 3x4 before refixing the hinges*
The inside is then used to build a polystyrene battlefield that will fold away for transit and storage ...
(Naseby build: expanded polystyrene offcuts are then covered with the battlefield surface and weighed down while the glue cures ... the battlefield is then painted with household wall paints ... and can be folded away for transit and storage) ...
Northampton features a large fortified camp and artillery position, which I built as a separate module. I speculate that the rampart was made by digging out the natural watercourses and piling the spoil against wattle and improvised screening - I placed the defenders in position before fixing the wattle fencing so that everything would be guaranteed to fit when finished.
Once the fences were up, the polystyrene was carved away into the steep banks (allowing a perimeter shelf where wood filler would pile up against the fencing to complete the job)
Meanwhile I carved out the basic arrangement of Hardingstone hill (rising to the corner where the Eleanor cross will stand ... ) ...
(Hardingstone hill: OK - taking shape against the background of a different battlefield but just to help me get a visual feel for it ...)
At this stage I painted and groundworked the camp module (mostly to reassure myself that it was all going to work nicely ...) ...
And then glued them both into the new box ...
(the new battlefield with its key components placed: the battens have been lowered where the land drops away and poly tile will surface the space between hill and fort leaving hollows for ditches and watercourses)
It will be evident that the Abbey itself is not on the battlefield: I decided that the space works best this way and that the Abbey can be a free standing unit on the Northern edge - we don't know that much about the medieval buildings, and this arrangement allows me to enhance and adapt the Abbey as information allows.
The main texturing of the open fields of Hardingstone is the ridge and furrow of medieval ploughing.
This was cut in with sandpaper wrapped around the side of my hand, roughly following the orientation shown on the old maps of the area ...
(the area of the model is within the white square. I have tilted the projection by about 10 deg. anti-clockwise. The area of light green field immediately south of the Abbey was probably not ploughed in 1460 and is inside the Lancastrian perimeter)
At this prototype stage, the battlefield went off for its test exposure to the public at Delapre ...
Of course, this is a reconstruction of the landscape directly outside the room we were in, and it was good to hear that it helped people understand what they were looking at when walking the field. That was an important test.
There are a few more enhancements to come, plus the fields will have some additional texturing and flocking.
*in fact, due to time, in this case the hinges did not get refitted straight away and I went ahead with the model in two parts ...
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