{"id":16824,"date":"2025-08-29T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/?p=16824"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:28:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T10:28:20","slug":"a-cluster-of-castles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2025\/08\/a-cluster-of-castles\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cluster of Castles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Apparently there’s no recognised collective noun for a group of forts or castles. Google’s AI overview (for what that’s worth) suggested ‘cluster’ as one possibility – can anyone do any better ?<\/p>\n

Anyway, Phil has come up with a fine quartet of fortifications from around the world for our Small Scale Scenery range. All modelled at 1\/1000th scale, they range from the tiny Fort\u00edn San Juan de la Cruz to the rather more imposing Fuerte de Loreta.<\/p>\n

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Working up in size order, Fort\u00edn San Juan de la Cruz is a small coastal fort in San Juan Bay, Puerto Rico. It guards both the harbour on one side and the Bayam\u00f3n River on the other. It was bombarded by the US Navy during the 1898 Spanish-American war (remember the Maine ?) although it seems to be debatable as to whether it was manned or armed at the time. It originally sat on a rocky islet, but is now connected to the mainland by an artificial causeway.<\/p>\n

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Next up is Fort Saint Tropez. Renowned nowadays as a tourist resort on the French Riviera, the village has a chequered history involving pirates, a murdered saint, occupation by Saracens and the distinction of being the first place liberated by the Allied landings in August 1944. Overlooking the harbour is the Citadel of Saint Tropez, the hub of which is a hexagonal keep with three towers. Built between 1602 and 1607, it’s not clear if its guns ever saw action, but it was present when fleet of Spanish galleons was repulsed in 1637. As well as a standalone piece, it would make a good alternative keep using our modular castle components.<\/p>\n

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Porto Palermo Castle is an Ottoman castle near Himar\u00eb on the mountainous eastern coast of Albania. It sits in Porto Palermo bay on a small islet that, like Fort\u00edn San Juan, is now connected to the mainland. It has an unusual shape, a bit like an isosceles triangle with a bastion at each corner. It was built in the early 19th century by Ali Pasha of Yanina, an Albanian ruler, who seemingly almost immediately offered it to the Royal Navy. It was apparently used as a barracks in WW2, but other than that we can’t find much else about it. But it’s a great design – and look how thick those walls are !<\/p>\n

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Finally for this week, Fuerte de Loreto is a large fort in the city of Puebla, Mexico. One of a pair with the smaller Fuerte de Guadalupe, they overlook the city. The fort as we’ve made it was built in 1816 on the site of a chapel, and was crucial in the famous Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862.<\/p>\n

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SSS-8218<\/a> – Porto Palermo Castle – \u00a33.75
\nSSS-8219<\/a> – Fuerto de Loreto – \u00a36.00
\nSSS-8220<\/a> – Fort Saint Tropez – \u00a32.00
\nSSS-8221<\/a> – Fortin de San Juan de la Cruz – \u00a31.25<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apparently there’s no recognised collective noun for a group of forts or castles. Google’s AI overview (for what that’s worth) suggested ‘cluster’ as one possibility – can anyone do any better ? Anyway, Phil has come up with a fine … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Some new forts and castles in the 1\/1000th Small Scale Scenery range today, ranging from the very tiny to - well, a bit bigger.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-releases","category-small-scale-scenery"],"views":1703,"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CastlesAug25.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26BWy-4nm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17321,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/02\/more-coastal-forts\/","url_meta":{"origin":16824,"position":0},"title":"More Coastal Forts","author":"Tony","date":"February 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Today sees three additions to the 1\/700th Coastal Scenery range of forts and castles. Matara Star Fort was built by the Dutch in Matara, Sri Lanka, and completed in 1765. It was designed to defend the main fort in the city from attacks from the river, as happened during the\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2026\/02\/more-coastal-forts\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/FortsFeb26.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/FortsFeb26.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/FortsFeb26.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/FortsFeb26.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12182,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2021\/06\/castillo-de-san-anton\/","url_meta":{"origin":16824,"position":1},"title":"Castillo de San Ant\u00f3n","author":"Tony","date":"June 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Phil's been very busy lately, designing all manner of new forts, castles and other bits for our Small Scale Scenery range. Today's offering is the Castillo de San Ant\u00f3n, a rather uniquely shaped starfort built in the late C.16th to defend the Bay of Coru\u00f1a in northern Spain (and not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Releases"","block_context":{"text":"New Releases","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/new-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SSS-8167.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SSS-8167.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SSS-8167.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SSS-8167.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10139,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2019\/06\/new-stockist-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":16824,"position":2},"title":"New Stockist","author":"Tony","date":"June 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Man, Last Bullet have begun stocking our Small Scale Scenery alongside their own excellent selection of pillboxes and other battlefield fortifications. They cover a different spread of shows to us so should widen our catchment area. They've started with a small selection of our forts and castles, but assuming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Small Scale Scenery"","block_context":{"text":"Small Scale Scenery","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/small-scale-scenery\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SSS-8056a.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SSS-8056a.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SSS-8056a.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SSS-8056a.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9260,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2018\/10\/castles-in-the-air\/","url_meta":{"origin":16824,"position":3},"title":"Castles in the Air","author":"Tony","date":"October 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For some time now we've wanted to produce some tiny castles for the Small Scale Scenery range. But it took a while to work out exactly what form they would take - a brief investigation showed that there was no such thing as a 'generic' castle, they're all very different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Previews"","block_context":{"text":"Previews","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/previews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Castle-Bits.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Castle-Bits.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Castle-Bits.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Castle-Bits.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9915,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2019\/04\/up-on-the-roof\/","url_meta":{"origin":16824,"position":4},"title":"Up on the Roof","author":"Tony","date":"April 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The second of our new Small Scale Scenery releases this week are three new sets of components for the Modular Castle range. These are roofed towers which are more common in continental castles - there are round, square and octagonal versions to match the existing roofless sets. All come in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Releases"","block_context":{"text":"New Releases","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/new-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RoofedTowersWall.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RoofedTowersWall.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RoofedTowersWall.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/RoofedTowersWall.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13157,"url":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/2022\/08\/castle-upgrades\/","url_meta":{"origin":16824,"position":5},"title":"Castle Upgrades","author":"Tony","date":"August 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"We have a trio of new add-ons for the budding 1\/1000th scale castle builders out there. First up is a new large bastion to fit the Vauban Fortifications range. This is the Baluarte de San Domingo, part of the walls of the Colombian coastal city of Cartagena de Indias. We've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Releases"","block_context":{"text":"New Releases","link":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/category\/new-releases\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/SSS-8192-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/SSS-8192-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/SSS-8192-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/SSS-8192-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16824"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16839,"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16824\/revisions\/16839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brigademodels.co.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}