Dan Becker's 28mm Scale Siege Towers

This article discusses a 28mm scale siege tower made mostly with coffee stirrers. Besides the coffee stirrers, there are a few basswood beams, wooden dowels, and wooden discs for wheels.

In addition to the materials, you will need glue, a way to cut your wood, and whatever paints for your towers.

This is an inexpensive scratch built model that you can use with miniature battle games from antiquity, the Dark Ages, and medieval times. Construction tips are given later in this article. But first, a little dramatic presentation with 28mm Normans and Romano-Brits.

A Battle on the Wall

The siege towers approach! The Normans have built three towers and are pushing them to the wall. Archers from the both sides fire furiously.

One tall tower and two smaller towers are moved closer. Norman attackers ready to swing the ramps down onto the walls. The Romano-British defenders on the wall stand ready.

The ramps swing open!

Attackers push out from the center and the right towers.

Attackers also push out from the left.

The defenders push back and hold.

At this height a fall from the ramps would be deadly.

A fall from the parapet would be deadly also. The battle rages on.

Siege Tower Construction

This part of the article shows how the towers are constructed.

The frames of the towers are made with 1/4 inch (6mm) square basswood beams. The dimensions are estimated with the idea of having nine to twelve 28mm soldiers on each level. It is about two to two and a half inches from floor to floor to allow the figures and their weapons to fit.

The front beams are vertical to fit against a castle wall. The rear beams are slanted so the ladders tilt a bit forward. The ladders are made with thin wooden dowels. All items are glued with white PVA or yellow carpenter's glue. .

Siege Tower floor planks from coffee stirrers

This photo shows the siege tower floor planks with a 28mm figure for scale. The boards are made from 1/4 inch coffee stirrers.

Be careful with your source of coffee stirrers. Some are narrower or wider, thinner or thicker, and stirrers from different batches will be highly variable. Try to buy enough of one brand to do an entire project.

I used diagonal cutters to cut the planks. This causes slight variations in length that you would expect with a tower built in the field.

This photo the painted frame and protective cladding boards. The rear side with the ladders faces away from the castle walls and does not need arrow protection.

The tower top has crenellations, and the other floors have windows so the archers can fire.

The frame was painted with household enamel spray paint. Unfortunately the thick paint makes the wood look just like plastic. I changed my painting strategy for the outer walls.

This photo shows the siege tower wheels. They are made from wooden discs and dowels for axles.

Originally I was going to make wire "U" brackets so the axles could turn. However in the end I just glued the axles and the wheels to the frame. It does not have to be that authentic!

This photo also shows the back side of the ramps in place. There is a wood dowel glued to the ramp so it can pivot up and down into the open and closed positions.

This photo shows the siege tower trio completed. The outer walls were painted with oil based stain. I thought this looks more realistic than the spray paint. I also only painted the exterior of the boards. I rationalized that this "fire-resistant tar" is expensive and only needed on the exterior.

When I started this project, I was going to build one siege tower. Then I thought that a single tower would never win a siege, why not build three? Next I said "what will they attack," and thus I justified building a castle wall.

This photo shows the castle wall structure built from foam insulation board. It is very inexpensive and available at most hardware stores. The foam cuts with a razor knife or a hot wire cutter, both available at hobby stores and online.

The hot wire is great for cutting the crenelations on top and also the wedge shaped pieces to make sure the wall does not fall over. The foam board is scribable with a ball point pen or awl, and I made some destruction in the wall façade.

This photo shows the castle wall painted front.

Beware, you cannot spray paint foam with enamel spray paint. It will melt the foam! This was painted with cheap latex home interior paint. I did spray clear matte finish onto the painted foam, but even a light spray slightly melted the foam. Oh well, it adds to the aged look.

This photo shows the castle wall reverse side where the defenders stand. The wall was made with two inch (50mm) thick foam. The crenellated wall was made with one inch (25mm) thick foam.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the photographs, descriptions, and details of these 28mm scale siege towers and castle wall. With some wood and glue and paint you can make some nice castle scenery for your miniature battles.