Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I have a complete tutorial that shows you how to cheaply and easily make a spartan shield. It looks just like the ones they used in the movie 300.

But first you might want to take a look at a real spartan shield. The picture below is a shot I took of a real spartan shield in a museum in Athens Greece. The plaque reads: Bronze Spartan Shield - loot from the Battle of Pylos 425 B.C. This shield has seen some action.

If you want a closer look I have a bigger picture on my website here: A Real Spartan Shield

I also have a home video of the monument at the actual battlefield of Thermopylae where the battle of the 300 took place. It is on my youtube channel here: The Battle of Thermopylae monument

If you want to make your own Spartan Shield the tutorial is here: Make a Spartan shield 

Here is a picture of what it looks like when completed:

I do a lot of different dioramas and I do a lot of different siege engines. If you have been following me for a while you have probably seen some of my catapults, trebuchets and miniature castles. I recently got an email from a web visitor who has tied all these things together by making a large diorama of a castle with a very big front gate. But he also built the various siege engines that are attacking it.

This is a pretty cool project and it includes a trebuchet, battering ram and a Mantlet which is a portable shield that was used to protect warriors from arrows and other projectiles.

You can see the various aspects of his project on my website here: A Medieval Siege Diorama Project

You may also want to check out my 8 foot diorama called “The Battle Between Good and Evil” It has a castle with lighting, a mountain and a working waterfall.  A picture of this diorama is below.

I have been having a lot fun delving into the genre of the vampire novel and I have a new section on my fantasy guide website that is all about vampires. This includes a brief history of the vampire story which goes back quite a bit further than the classic Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I also have a guest reviewer who has been writing reviews of some of the more popular vampire series which of course includes the Twilight Saga. If you are interested in vampire stories you can check out my new section here: The Fantasy Guide to Vampire Novels

And… I am always looking for reviews of Fantasy novels. If you read in the whole epic fantasy or high fantasy genre and would like to contribute a review of your favorite book or books then make sure you contact me through that website!

You won’t be bringing down any castle walls with this trebuchet but it is a pretty strong floor model sized siege engine. It hurls a tennis ball.

The big thing I focused on with this trebuchet is “fast and easy”. I wanted to try to put together a powerful treb without all the hassle. And this fits the bill pretty good. It took me a few hours to design and make it. You should be able to build it in a couple of hours. I try to improvise all common parts and it uses just a few pieces of two by four and two barbells for a total counterweight of 20 pounds.

The project is located here and I will be posting to that page a youtube video explaining more and showing it firing off. The Tennis Ball Trebuchet

Fantasy Wall Diorama Part 7 The Underground Castle

I show how to make a castle out of cardboard, tubes and sheets of paper. I also show how I wire it up with lights. This is part 7 of the Wall Diorama (Shadowbox) Tutorial.
More stuff on my website : http://www.stormthecastle.com