12th Century Castle

Usborne OO/HO Scale Scenery Review

Usborne Card Models.

Usborne models of the castle, cathedrale, town and village have matching bases which may be placed adjacent to each other to create a larger display model. Town and village models may be used as stand-alone wargame models instead of fixing them on the base permanently. Paper cut-out models are a cheap and readily available source of scenery for wargames and dioramas in 1:72 scale. Paper models are frequently based on famous buildings, they tend to be well researched and accurately recreated in miniature. Minor modifications and conversions of paper models are easy to do, wall section, doors, windows and other accessories may be swapped between buildings to create greater variety.

Contents

  • 12th Century Castle
    • 24″ × 18″ Base
    • Castle Keep
    • Gatehouse with Towers
    • Square Tower
    • Six-sided Tower
    • D-shaped Tower
    • Kitchen
    • Small Buildings
    • Five Wall Sections
  • 40+ cut-out Figures

Evaluation

Colourful scale model with superb detail. Stone, wood and tile surfaces look very convincing in this scale.

Good playability. Town and village models are laid out in a way which immediately lends itself to skirmish gaming. Buildings are not accessible, but they are spread far enough apart on the base to allow figures and equipment to be placed between them.

Easy to assemble, the entire castle consists of fewer than 70 pieces.

Card stock is very sturdy, yet easy to cut and glue.

Good choice of subject. In conjunction with the other 12th century models, the castle can be a focal point for a campaign style skirmish or role-playing game.

The base is compatible with model bases of the village, town and cathedrale model from the same publisher. Some flocking will be required to hide joints.

Cut-out figures supplied with the model may be used for instant skirmish gaming and role-playing. Unfortunately, the beautiful miniatures and vignettes are not printed on both sides.

Not a dedicated wargame model, building interiors are not accessible and there are no ruins to replace a destroyed location or wall section.

Historical Employment

  • British Isles, 12th Century

Possible Conversions

  • One of the wall sections could be breached to provide a possible point of assault. Rubble from the destroyed wall might have fallen into the moat, acting as a bridge.
  • The configuration of walls and towers may be changed to create variations of the basic castle model.
  • The gatehouse and wall sections may be used to represent medieval city walls.
  • Lift-off roofs and interior floor sections may be added to provide figure access to buildings and towers.

Usborne’s medieval castle is an excellent model, full of accurate historical detail. Walkways on castle walls and towers may be used to display figures and there is enough space on the castle grounds for a small diorama display. The model is too large to be used in a grand-tactical level wargame, but skirmish gamers and role-players will have a lot of fun exploring the terrain as they fight for possession of the castle keep.

Buildings and Scenery for Wargames and Dioramas