Digital model of Fort Duquesne created for Buttons and Beads reference
If you follow us on Facebook you may have seen a preview of the virtual three dimensional Fort Duquesne model. Fort Duquesne was the French stronghold located on the Ohio River forks-- the site of modern downtown Pittsburgh, PA-- and a pivotal location in the ongoing fur trade conflict with the English.
It was in 1755 that the English launched an unsuccessful attack against the fort. Returning in 1758 they found that the French, who had lost the support of their Indian allies, had fled already, leaving a burnt fort behind them.
The English (to the Indians' dismay) further established their own presence in western Pennsylvania by building the much larger Fort Pitt on the same site.
Pencil sketches as seen above will be based on the digital model, which in turn was based on period plans and drawings of the fort as seen below.
Old French map of Fort Duquesne
Digital "blueprint" of Fort Duquesne created for reference. Created with Google SketchUp. Fully rendered version (top of post) created also using Shaderlight. Cannon appearing in the model created by A.J. Unknow.
4 reader comments:
I'm in the process of doing a few fort drawings to be used in future paintings. Any suggestions or tips on how to approach the sketchup drawing portion of the project? Thanks. ~Gary
Hi Gary-- what I did was to create a model based on a real fort. You might start there. Fort Duquesne and its successor Fort Pitt are both well documented. You can find online maps and diagrams, as well as view three dimensional models made by others for dioramas. This will help you figure out how various kinds of forts were constructed and help you create your own virtual model. Try to include many details-- all the interior buildings, the materials from which they were made, doors, stairs, etc. You''ll be very familiar with the fort by the time you are done, as if you'd been there yourself.
Actually I have quite a reference library on the period. The first thing is to have a better working knowledge of Sketchup. Wish I'd had found this blog sooner. I would have been more than happy to share what I have. Having a deep interest in the period I really appreciate the lengths you have gone to for this book project. This book will be into my personal library when it comes out. Good luck. ~Gary
Gary thank you! The book should be in print very soon (this month). It was quite a project just getting the research done!
SketchUp is designed to be intuitive and it is possible for anyone (literally anyone) to learn how to use it. Try this page of self paced tutorials to start with: http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/training/
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