Updates on the Roman Arena Model --Building Stands for Spectators

This blog has been a bit too quiet lately, perhaps making people wonder where I am. Much of the history / blogging/ wargaming / miniature modelling time has been devoted to this, working on adding to my representation of a Roman arena for miniature wargaming of Roman gladiatorial battles.

As some can see, the actual arena was constructed some time ago and I decided to add stands to it and hope to do so before the local wargaming convention, the Council of the Five Nations, where I am scheduled to run a game using the Hoc Habet Hoc rules. 

Here's a few photos of the project under construction. 

While the model is quite large, 40" (101.6cm) in diameter, with three levels of stands, compared to the actual, historical arenas, it would be quite small. Therefore, it's safe to say it's a representational model, designed to give the feel and general look of a Roman Arena, quite suitable for gaming, but not an actual reproduction of one, and probably would not be suitable for a museum exhibit. 

As you can see in the above picture, the arena itself was already built (a project I should describe in a future post perhaps) and the "only" thing needed was to "just" add stands. I began cutting foam card and soon had two large half circles with a 20" (a little over 50cm) radius. 

Then I added three levels of stands, each curved on the outerside of the large circle, but being 8" ( a little over 20cm), 5"  ( a little under 13cm), and 2 1/2" (a little over 6 cm) deep. 

Next came adding wooden spacers to separate the levels of the stand. These were quickly cut from long square pieces of wood and made slightly shorter than the depth of each layer of the stand. 

The pieces were then attached to the wooden spacers with a heavy duty stapler and lots of carpenter glue. 

Here's a photo of the project as it currently looks.

A photo of the arena itself from a gaming session.