New Castle design

What are you making?
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After several years of putting up and taking down the castle facade for the ren faire, the general consensus is that it needs to be lighter and easier to transport. To that end, I’ve begun to mull over ideas for v2. My thoughts are thin wall tube frame and then something wrapped around it. Square towers are easier, but we have that now, and I think the change would be appreciated. Other polygons have been suggested, but I don’t recall seeing castles with hexagonal towers.

Foam for the outer skin has been sort of okay, but it is somewhat fragile, requiring repair each year. Still may be the best bang for the buck. I had also thought vacuum formed HDPE or ABS which could be painted. Fiberglass could also be an option, I think. Vacuum forming would require a form into or onto which the plastic could be pulled. Fiberglass would require a mold, but once that is made for each piece, the rest would be fairly simple, if not a little labor intensive.

Easy assembly is desirable. Alignment dowels and latches backed up by one fastener per joint would be my goal. Made correctly, the parts of the castle would be easily paired up to their mating pieces and would only go together one way.

As it would be lighter, fewer people would be required to stand it up or take it down. It is possible to make it so it could be erected by a single person, but that is probably not necessary.

The current structure requires significant anchoring. Ropes pulling the structure back onto the tent have kept it upright, but some are still concerned that a strong gust could push it back harder and possibly damage the tent or even collapse onto it. Ropes anchored the other direction are not desirable since they would extend out into the walking area and could become a trip hazard. I believe the new castle can have a solid brace extending rearward along the sides of the tent that can be anchored which would keep the facade from toppling either forward or rearward.

A quick sketch gives a bit of an idea of what I have in mind.

Thoughts? Comments?

oblique
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preliminary framework
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It could definitely be fun to put platforms in the towers for some high altitude heckling. :slight_smile:

The biggest pain with the old one is having to lift up the entire assembly once built. If the towers are in two parts, we might be able to build the entire upper half as an assembly, and then lift one side at a time onto a leg, and hopefully reduce the number of people we need to lift everything while also skipping the need for a ladder.

The other sticking point i’ve had is needing a 14+ ft long trailer to transport it. I have been extremely thankful for your help as well as Wes’s for transporting the castle for the last two years, but moving that sucker is a bit nerve racking and can be a bit combersome moving around the fair during setup and tear down. By being able to break down the pieces to fit into a pickup bed, it opens up a few more options for us.

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Here is one in Wales, Raglan Castle - Wikipedia

and here is one in spain. Castillo de Alcalá de Guadaíra - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

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That is an interesting look. I don’t dislike it. I’m not sure it looks like what I envision with the ren faire. Is that what everybody wants?

Btw, I did some looking at the cost of fiberglass. I don’t think it’s ever been cheap, but it’s definitely expensive now. Not that the foam is inexpensive either.

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Here’s a quick rendering of hexagonal towers.

image
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I think between the two i like round better. Not that i dislike hexagon but i think the round ones show off some flare.

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Hello, if you can avoid the circular design, something like a square or hexagon could have the advantage of being made to store flat.

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Or a round face with a square frame.

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That’s the only reason I see for not using a round design. I’m not a fan of any of the polygonal designs.

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I see your sketches but have not assembled or disaassembled such. So my suggestions remain naive and not pushed firmly. . I may be missing some aspect of structure or process. But im willing to help.
Ok, i’m probly not going to be a lot of help.
But I have built “sandwich panels” utilizing foam - bonded between the white showerboard. Its a stronger assembly than you might guess. But limited in attach points. And punchable.
In order to bond a strong boltable or hinged edge, i built a 2x2 picture frame surrounding the foam insert. The 2x2s act as edge close-outs. [Aerospace parlance for sandwich panels (structural) edges… ]
I have more than one bonding adhesive option. I prefer "Pond and Stone urethane foam, which I spread with a disposable roller to [mostly] collapse the foam.
This panel can take a fair amount of abuse. But not sharp impacts. But joining panels into a supported structure is a big part of structural integrity. This option might not work. But gets us down towards 4x8 ft or 4x4 ft segments.

I can put one together for you as a demo
Cheap and easy. And useful for something somewhere.
The black foam offgasses an unhealthy component, so i always use it outdoors. Or in an open garage with fans or breezez.

The alternative masonite panels are heavier. The white showerpanels are dense and strong. But we would have to do a solvent or slurry wipe to remove silicone to paint the panels to look like rock. Im just foisting an example. Not a full fledged plan.

Corrugated vinyl and or Masonite and other “pressboard” options are out there. Styrofoam or urethane foam work for this. Likewise, laminating foam and cardstock posterboard ten layers thick would be amazers TOUGH and still light. I can ask Royal Plastics about this in 4x8 sheets, and or the corrugated plastic options. Im also knowing that Posterboard Lam is easier to paint and finish. All are tough enough to fall on or walk on and not be broken unless you are … ponderous of mass. And can resist cloudbursts. But not 3 days of rain. Or storage room puddles.

I could mix a portland slurry to do two finishing tasks at once… dissolve off the silicone coating… and leave an “earthy primer” behind that can take “castle paint” topcoat. A demonstration test is required to see if the silicone IS completely lifted.

I suggest choosing a panel design first. Maybe build a few 4x8 panel options, and then let the designer say what does and doesnt work. And mod or downselect candidates. Or maybe even mix them.

Should we build a trial thingy like an entryway castle front for use in the hallway? You know, about the same size as Lucy [of Peanuts comic] who has a “The Docter is in” sign on her “booth”. Only do a mini castle front.

My experience with showerboard is it is mostly water resistant. But lets put a sandwich panel out in the weather soon… to get a better feel. The pond and stone adhesive has an achilles heel. It only withstood one hot summer right in the sun. But when used underwater and out of the sun… it seems to last ten years plus.

Could the permanent storage of same become the board meeting backdrop and live, maybe even as an inside out castle in a main meeting room?. Making our place an even more interesting venue to rent for … graduations, weddings, hamfisted radio classes, SCA hockey games, i mean fights.

/s
I discarded the marshmallow sandwich panels idea unless selling off bites of the castle every year is a useful idea. And then there is the problem of rain and soggy grahams. But maybe a parapet s’more sale could be tried. Whilst yelling about “yer mother was a hamster” fake insults to help boost sales. I think it works for the drumstick vendors. And they dont have a parapet. Or a moo launcher. Wait, dont WE have a wee trebuchet? And ive been thru food handlers, but dont have an immediate feel for allowability of delivering moo burgers with insults over a smore parapet via trebuchet.

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MAKEICT GATE
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Here is a rough sketch for the new ren fest gate.
The two white poles toping the turrets are 16 feet tall made from to 8 ft sections. Note could be less than 8 ft
These provide pulleys to lift the turrets and anchor the structure to the ground.
The surface is painted canvas.
The span is spilt into two 6 ft sections joined in the center, and drrawn into position using their pulleys.
This should all be stored in a closet with the longest peice being 8 ft.
While I sketched a hexagonal turrent they don’t have to be hex square to round work too.

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Since “flat and stackable” is a front-of-mind goal… a strong aspiration,… im going to presume the hex shaped towers are two 6 ft sections? I doubt if our customers are judgy about square vs round vs hex castle gate details. So Im focused on “ease of manufacturability” as well as flat stackable.
If i take a two by four, and split it with my home table saw blade tilted at 60 degrees, and use this as the side edges of my picture framing… for my sandwich panels, this is a demo panel i can start planning to put together. Aaron squarenuts wants a sandwich panel demo for hex core. I would just do both demos on the same night or weekend. Showing up with the needed materials.

I see the most labor in the canvas covering. Painting it brickish… before or after applying it?

I have another time saving idea…

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I watched a utube maker making "outdoor hot tub curtains …where [he] takes a [forest print, brick print…] printed bedsheet material, and using a naptha and clear silicone paint mix, … dips them and makes them waterproof. The same mixture would bond right onto the waterproof surface of the showerpanel, with just a bit of prep on the siliconed oily showerboard surface. Would it last ten years? Not outdoors in the sun. What about a few weekends a year. Yup. Should be good for ten years plus. But lets take my demo panel and really test it in the elements. [See test suggestion below].

I see 3 ft x 6 ft panels as EASY picture framed sandwich panels. I have a clear and goopy gorilla coating for painting edges to preserve them. But its not sunproof. So… just for edges of wood frames.

Would we like stryofoam vs more expensive urethane foam sheets? I kinda lean towards urethane sheet coz thats what Im bonding face sheets with. And thats also better for an indoor storage fire code.

This plan lacks some detail like metal connector joinery, [nested or foldaway] handles, bolt-ups, etc. But since we are so many hella Creative fabricators, I am anxious to build you a demo panel and then ask how to incorporate handles n boltups buried in the edges.

Then… a structure demo test, eventuals. Im open to suggestions. Mini tower?

While it does its weathering test out back. Maybe it can become a scarecrow? [If edges sculpted].
I may also silicone-applique a beedsheet [ in the manner described above] from Goodwill to also weather demo the covering suggestion. Which i have not tried nor weathered yet. But i have confidence in it. For ten years storage. And imo, panels should be planned to be as identical and interchangeable as possible for swapping to hide damage. And maybe wing panels made to act as eventual spares?