A walk down memory lane... thru a Motte and Bailey Castle.

The Shell Keep
Overview of the keep Ah, memories. My dad has been a gamer since he was a child. His collection of books, resources and material is unsurpassed. When I was in high school, I needed to write a report on the Middle Ages. Obviously, he wanted to help. What I didn't expect was, he told me to bring my whole class. A horde of kids came in to our house for a lesson on the Middle Ages. Hand on, armor, swords, models, books, and history. On whim.
Gate and decking work. He was always like that. When I was a toddler, I recall a massive Motte and Bailey castle in our living room. And some times part of the dining room and kitchen. It was a huge undertaking. I have no idea where that castle went, perhaps it was broken in our many moves from the projects in Lockport to the Eastside of Buffalo and finally to Tonawanda. It wasn't the only castle he had, it was one of dozens.
Side view These pictures are of a castle in the classic motte and bailey design that I loved so much. I'm not sure when dad started building this, perhaps Dad doesn't know when he started building this, but here it is. Sometime in 2018 or 2019, perhaps. This one is 4 by 3 feet. It's tiny compared to some of the work he has done.
Inner gate detail.  This is my favorite view of the Keep. Dad always painted details on his gates, in classic blue, yellow and red. I am not sure of the historical details of those colors, but these remind me of Dad.
Inner ward This shell keep has 3 inner buildings, with multiple floors. Since this is used for a wargame, the rooves, floors and ceilings come off.
Opposite side view. This is a work in progress, so the exterior details are missing. There will be trees, stones, grass and perhaps water features in the finished work.
Rooves Again, the windows and doors have those colors.
Rooves and floors removed. The interior is incredible.
Second floor in place.  In this view, you can see the doorways leading to the interior spaces. When he builds these things, he scales them 15 or 25 mm. I suspect this one is 25 mm.
Other buildings, rooves removed.  The scale is important because wargamers use a particular basing for the figures. He needs to be able to fit those bases inside the structures.
Possibly a kitchen area. Not every part of the keep is for military purposes. This is a cooking area.
Main gate, roof removed.  I love the way he plans areas to be removed for the game action. This is the main gate.
Walkway of the parapet removed. Latrine area.  And bathrooms in the walls. Waste would fall into the moat, for an extra deterrent.
The Bailey.  The exterior area has a couple of buildings, with thatched and wooden rooves.
Interior with rooves.  The Keep has stone or tile rooves, not show in this image. The smaller building have blue slate. That is my favorite color.
The Keep I love the circular pattern of the keep's ward.
Bailey gate.  And finally, our journey ends at the outer gate.
If you want to see more like this be sure to check out my dad on Facebook and on the web. Classical Hack on Facebook Classical Hack on the web