Introduction
Sava and footsteps recently started discussions on archer loops at Classic-castle. The plans discussed so far assume a two-stud-thick wall. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could create an archer loop that was one stud thick. It seems easier to me to scale it up from one stud to two, than to scale a two-stud-thick approach down to one. However, James Brink has a very elegant solution for a two-stud-thick wall, so I've described my version of it below.
One-stud-thick Sloped Archer Loop
| This thread on Classic-castle discusses this design.Minimal frame, to place the window in a wall. The view is from what will be the outside of the castle, looking in. The second full brick level from the top is offset vertically by one plate height, and the "headlight" bricks are separated by two plate heights.Inventory: 1 1×1 plate; 4 1×2 plates; 1 1×8 plate; 5 1×1 bricks; 4 1×1 "headlight" bricks; 2 1×2 bricks; and 2 1×8 bricks. |  |
| Clockwise from upper left: left breteche wall (looking from the outside), right breteche wall (looking from the outside), and stone seat. These are the left and right sloped walls of the arrow loop, and a smooth stone seat.Inventory: 1 1×2 tile plate; 2 1×4 tile plates; 2 2×2 tile plates; 2 2×4 plates; 1 1×1 brick; 1 1×4 brick; and 4 2×2 reverse-slope bricks.
I used 2×4 plates instead of 2×2 tile plates to better bind all the pieces together. The seat could have been made with 1×2 and 1×3 bricks instead of 1×1 and 1×4 bricks. |
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| "Other plates" to bind the walls to the frame.Inventory: 4 1×1 plates and 4 2×2 'L' plates. |  |
| The frame with the seat and "other plates" in place. All that needs to be added are the breteche walls. |  |
| View from the outside of the castle, with everything in place. |  |
| View from the inside of the castle, with everything in place. |  |
| View from the outside of a Black Falcon castle. I substituted two 2×2 'L' plates for each 2×4 plate. |  |
| View from the inside of a Black Falcon castle. |  |
Two-stud-thick Sloped Archer Loop
| From a solution by James Brink.Minimal frame, to place the window in a wall. The frame is symmetric around the vertical plane where the 2×4 bricks at the base meet. The bricks with holes are separated by two plate heights. Each "level", composed of a brick height and two plate heights, is 6+2+2=10 fifths of a 1×1 plate width, which is equal in width to a 1×2 plate.Inventory: four 1×2 plates, two 1×4 tile plates, eight 1×1 bricks with holes, two 1×2 bricks, two 2×4 bricks, and one 2×6 brick.
Four 1×2 bricks with two holes could have been used instead of the 1×1 bricks with holes, but I didn't have those in light grey. |
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| Slopes to be fitted directly to the inside of the frame. The studs are above the tiles when each slope is in position to be attached.Inventory: four 1×2 tile plates, four 1×2 plates, four 2×2 reverse slopes. |  |
| Two slopes fitted to the frame. This is a natural, but very tight fit: I had to disassemble the frame to detach the plates from the bricks with holes! |  |
| View from the outside of the castle, with everything in place. |  |
| View from the inside of the castle, with everything in place. |  |
| I placed a 2×6 plate below the 2×6 brick, to make the frame exactly six bricks high. I also centered two 2×6 bricks in place of the top bricks and the bottom bricks. This prepares the frame for close repetition of the arrow loops. |
