Anyone recall "Castlemaster", plaster mould making kit?

[Silverblade The Ench]

I'm in UK, for reference.
Back when I was a kid in the 70s, there was a mould set sold for making castles, called CASTLEMASTERS .
I loved it! So, no wonder I got into D&D, lol.

It made a variety of blocks from plaster of paris (no other stuff available back then), typical block was 1" x 1/2" x 1/2", with a carved outer facing like fine dressed sandstone, not rough stone.
it also had gothic arch windows (small and large) , round tower sections, battlements etc.

Well today I was clearing stuff out and found the original instruction book, half of which was stuff about castles and illustrations, plus pics of the model castles, building techniques etc...sigh, nostalgia rush!! Alas, I think I threw the moulds out a few years ago in one of those "I R supremely Dumb" moments, gah!!

Been hunting around on the Net, but it seems the Castlemasters system has vanished without trace : /
Only reference to it I can find is this one, solitary, lonely page:
http://www.castlemaster.de/


Anyone recall the stuff that I'm on about?

Been tempted to make scenery castles, and that stuff was superb, tad heavy as the blocks were solid, but modern materials like dental plaster? would be a lot stronger.


There was also another toy castle system when I was a kid, it was plastic though, similar to, but not Lego. back in 70s', came in a blue, hexagonal box, with an "olde worlde" wax seal fastener, but can't recall name of that stuff.
Plastic blocks like Lego, but made just for castles, with lots of features like portcullises, battlements etc. I recall it had pointed round tower roofs, and IIRC, lot better than current Lego castle stuff, so it shouldn't be too bad for RPing, I think.

last I ever saw that plastic toy castle system (it had various sizes) was back in the late 80's at the "Walrus and Carpenter". An amazing shop in Glasgow that sold retro toys (swear the owner had a TARDIS, as he had perfect, fresh toys 20+ years old, still sealed!! No idea how he got 'em, lol. Folk loved that shop).

I may scan the Castlemaster booklet, let you all see some of it, IMHO, it was fantastic for its time. Maybe find one or 2 moulds left if I hunt the deepest dungeons of my cupboards and survive some random encounters

 

[Storminator]

Seen these?

http://www.hirstarts.com/

PS

 

[rgard]

Seen these?

http://www.hirstarts.com/

PS

That's my mold making company of choice! Never ran out of sphinxes or obelisks when running my Egyptian campaign.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Seen these?

http://www.hirstarts.com/

PS

Aye, I have wee bit expensive though..hey, I'm a DM...you know, gotta feed the plastic WOTC mini habit, and the D&D splat book habit and the...etc etc
Hirst stuff is tempting, though

problem with the old castles was I only had plaster of paris back then, 25+ odd years ago, that stuff sucks for strength, alas :/

My Dad came up with a brillliant way to make dioramas: he'd take the plastic sprue left over from model kits, heat and bend to shape, then fix it to a wood base, usually with wire or such, and then add extra plastic or fishing line liek a net across the plastic sprue
ie the sprue would act like a skeleton, framework

On top of the "net" he'd add grouting plaster or such, to build up walls. So I had awesome ruined farmhouses to play with, as well as castles....

*happy nostalgic sighs*

 

[rgard]

Aye, I have wee bit expensive though..hey, I'm a DM...you know, gotta feed the plastic WOTC mini habit, and the D&D splat book habit and the...etc etc
Hirst stuff is tempting, though

problem with the old castles was I only had plaster of paris back then, 25+ odd years ago, that stuff sucks for strength, alas :/

My Dad came up with a brillliant way to make dioramas: he'd take the plastic sprue left over from model kits, heat and bend to shape, then fix it to a wood base, usually with wire or such, and then add extra plastic or fishing line liek a net across the plastic sprue
ie the sprue would act like a skeleton, framework

On top of the "net" he'd add grouting plaster or such, to build up walls. So I had awesome ruined farmhouses to play with, as well as castles....

*happy nostalgic sighs*

Your Dad is smart! Builders use iron rebar in concrete for the same effect. I've used bent nails (the ones you usually throw out after you bend them) with small batches of concrete.

Your Dad's method makes the plaster more resistant to breaking.

Again about the hirst arts stuff. Most of my initial work was done with plaster and you are right that it isn't the most durable. I bought a box of the dental plaster that is supposedly great. The campaign is headed back to Egypt so I'll be making more obelisks, etc.

Once you buy the mold, you have it for as long as you will need it. I haven't had any problems with Hirst's molds. I need to get a couple of the tower and building molds. Once you have a sh...er...boatload of bricks cast, you imagination is the only limitation.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Aye, his stuff lasted a long time
The Castlemaster did too, because the bricks were thick, but the gothic windows were fragile, in fact, the large ones always broke coming out of the mould

hm, are there any light/strong moulding materials? Low weight = nice.

I[ve got lots of the WOTC card dungeon tiles, but problem with them is, alas, too light, no way to pin them down, which is frustrating.

 

[Scuba-steve]

I am pretty keen to get my hands on a set of Castlemaster moulds. Does anyone know someone that has any that they are willing to part with. I had a kit back in the 80s, and I cant find them.

 

[pogre]

These show up on ebay from time to time, but they are almost never priced more cheaply than Hirst Arts molds.

 

[HippyCraig]

Google search shows this but I don’t know anything about the site hosting the sale

CASTLEMASTERS Plaster, model building system : 4 rubber moulds : | #1618500453

HERE WE HAVE 4 HARD RUBBER MOULDS FROM THE 'CASTLEMASTERS' BUILDING SYSTEM, USED WITH PLASTER OF PARIS TO MAKE BRICK SHAPES TO ENABLE THE BUILDING OF MODEL CASTLES ECT. THESE DATE FROM THE 70s AND ARE

www.worthpoint.com