tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.comments2022-11-23T12:59:53.568-05:00Anchor Stone ConstructionsWilliam Seppelerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-22864098986122028242013-12-10T13:36:44.818-05:002013-12-10T13:36:44.818-05:00Thank you for your continued interest. I've f...Thank you for your continued interest. I've fallen on some hard times as of late, however I do hope to continue this work. I do appreciate the comments. They serve as a reminder to stay in touch and renew my interests.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-1418746002442422732013-12-06T05:08:02.484-05:002013-12-06T05:08:02.484-05:00Please continue your blog! It's been a year or...Please continue your blog! It's been a year or so. Your models are fun.Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13553345900276625612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-59765589815394989822012-08-31T18:34:01.880-04:002012-08-31T18:34:01.880-04:00Thank you for the suggestion, William! I am sure w...Thank you for the suggestion, William! I am sure we will take up the challenge in the days after Christmas. Here is the link to the three churches pics, I am still figuring out a better way for the lighting.<br />http://www.weisshahn.de/ankermod.htmAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17312072283939610329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-19694094366080828992012-08-31T10:14:11.475-04:002012-08-31T10:14:11.475-04:00Guido, thank you so much for the kind words. It&#...Guido, thank you so much for the kind words. It's been some time since I've created anything new. It's comments like yours that provide the motivation. Christmas is a long ways off, perhaps the extra set 6 designs will bide the time. When you're 6a box arrives, you'll have to attempt the 8_3(tower) design. It's tricky, but one of my favorites.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-60775245855663267182012-08-31T07:52:25.486-04:002012-08-31T07:52:25.486-04:00William,
I just purchased a set #6, my first anch...William,<br /><br />I just purchased a set #6, my first anchor set. My sons and I (even with help from my lovely wife) built some historic models from the booklet in the set. Then we found your site and the models published by Burkhard Schulz. Your constructions are amazing. Using the rather small selection of stones from #6, you have created buildings that are detailed and compact at the same time, and are great fun to build. We especially like the churches, the light house and the factory. We will place some photos on our homepage later and send a link. My wife is going to get us #6A for Christmas, so please keep up the wonderful construction work you do. Best regards, Guido form Dresden, GermanyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17312072283939610329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-32931923170631414082012-03-31T05:50:07.117-04:002012-03-31T05:50:07.117-04:00Looks great, my eyes popped when your site came up...Looks great, my eyes popped when your site came up this morning. Wonder if I will have to change mind as well.Model Builderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891761836351070942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-39531900135606205752012-03-30T13:27:48.755-04:002012-03-30T13:27:48.755-04:00Thanks Alan!
As always, you take the best photos....Thanks Alan!<br /><br />As always, you take the best photos.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-91564313168727937702012-03-30T00:19:49.453-04:002012-03-30T00:19:49.453-04:00Nice!
You inspired post & pictureNice!<br /><br />You inspired <a href="http://blockplay.blogspot.com/2012/03/anker.html" rel="nofollow">post & picture</a>Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11040774790050777890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-31990885500368795652011-02-12T16:08:37.822-05:002011-02-12T16:08:37.822-05:00This tower inspired my daughter to write a story.
...This tower inspired my daughter to write a story.<br /><br />I initially added it to the post, but due to it's length, I moved it here:<br /><br />Once upon a time there lived a beautiful baby princess that was named Snow White. Snow White was kidnapped at birth by a evil witch. Nobody ever found out who were Snow White's real parents. So the witch claimed Snow White as her own child. But, as the years went by Snow White got more prettier and even more prettier. Her hair was so long that it reached from her house to the well on the top of the hill. Then one day the witch looked into her magic mirror and said, ''magic mirror on the wall who is the fairest one of all''? And the mirror said,''Snow White is the fairest of them all. ''The witch was very angry. So she orderd her huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and lock her in a tall tower for one hundred years. The huntsman felt sorry for Snow White. But still he locked her up in the tall tower. When the huntsman was out of sight She began to cry. Then she heard a loud MEOW! Snow White jumped up.There right in front of her was eight black cats.One said''we are sorry if we scared you.''Snow White said it was O.K. Then Snow White asked how they got there. ''One said we used to be servants for the witch. The witch liked us very much. We would get toy mice every day. But, one day when we where working in the lab a experiment went wrong. The witch's house blew up. She was really angry. So she locked us in this tall tower. And we are trying to escape.''Oh thats a sad story,said Snow White. Snow White tried to escape, but it was useless. By lunchtime they where so tired, they went to the kitchen to get lunch. After lunch Snow White had a idea.'' We can use my long hair to climb down. Then you can get me a ladder.''Thats a great idea Snow White! So they used Snow White 's hair to climb down. Then they got a ladder. Snow White climbed down and went to find her home. When she got home she found out the witch was dead. The witch had fell into the fireplace and died. So Snow White built a castle and let the eight cats live with her. Snow White gave the cats new names too. Angel, Lovely, Fluffy,Sweetie, Furball, Catnip, Purr,and Fuzzy. After a few weeks a handsome prince came riding on his horse. Snow White and the prince fell in love. Soon they got married. At the wedding Snow White met her mother and father, and they all lived happily ever after.<br /><br />The End<br /><br />Epilogue:<br /><br />A few years later Snow White had a baby girl. She named her Flower Blossom, and they truely did live happily ever after.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-47568085729221905552011-02-10T09:49:32.417-05:002011-02-10T09:49:32.417-05:00Some of You may have noticed a slight change in ho...Some of You may have noticed a slight change in how I create plans. I normally use Gimp for post processing of PNG images output from AnkerCAD. I'm now experimenting with ImageMagick.<br /><br />ImageMagick is a set of command line tools for image manipulation. Instead of touching up each image then combining them into a single layout, I now run a single command that'll grab all my images and arrange them evenly spaced. It was a time consuming process that now takes a few seconds. So for anyone curious about how I create plans, this is my process:<br /><br />1) Create design in AnkerCAD<br />2) Set viewing perspective to an isometric view.<br />3) Use the cutting tool to take snapshots of each layer.<br />4) When taking snapshots, I set the window to full screen. I save each snapshot as model[a..z].png<br />5) I pull up a terminal Window (ie: command line) and run ImageMagick with the following command line args:<br /><br />montage ${1}[a-z]* -transparent white -trim -geometry +10+10 -gravity southwest -background none -shadow png:- | convert - -trim +repage ${1}_plan.png<br /><br />The $(1} argument is replaced with the model name I'm working on. So for this model, it was 6_15.<br /><br />The post processing is minimal. All I do is make the background transparent. I let ImageMagick choose the best layout based on how many images I have. It wasn't difficult doing this activity in Gimp, but it was time consuming.<br /><br />I should also mention that I do all this in Linux. OpenSUSE to be specific. I run AnkerCAD using WINE (ie: the Windows emulator). However, ImageMagick is available for Windows. I'm sure one could do this in Windows just as easy. I've also done this in OS X, but I find OpenSUSE easier to use when I just want to get work done.<br /><br />From click to finish, this plan took a total of 10 minutes. That includes firing up AnkerCAD, drafting the model, taking the snapshots, and arranging the layout.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-72001148587273262302010-10-25T15:47:17.408-04:002010-10-25T15:47:17.408-04:00Still haven't got myself that 10A set - but th...Still haven't got myself that 10A set - but that 12_3 is a nice design, and i guess Christmas is coming... <br /><br />I'm not a fan of autumn or winter, so I thought I'd share <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bomia/sets/72157625115836977/" rel="nofollow">a bunch of photos</a> taken earlier this wonderful summer!bobossehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13339515766072545075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-71094925573848057502010-10-06T12:45:19.018-04:002010-10-06T12:45:19.018-04:00Tina, you will need boxes 6+6a+8a+10a to build thi...Tina, you will need boxes 6+6a+8a+10a to build this model.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-69519791530301353262010-10-06T12:37:36.233-04:002010-10-06T12:37:36.233-04:00Can your castle design be done with the 12A model?...Can your castle design be done with the 12A model?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00085237278518539258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-6795940706564402342010-08-10T18:52:53.297-04:002010-08-10T18:52:53.297-04:00thanks for the link! I thought the pictures would ...thanks for the link! I thought the pictures would be on the internet somewhere, but hadn't found them before.<br /><br />the fort looks nice, I find the 'gables' in the hall roof quite innovativeMichael Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084820846388961162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-13906494910350233542010-08-10T08:53:47.608-04:002010-08-10T08:53:47.608-04:00If you want to navigate this blog better, you coul...If you want to navigate this blog better, you could select "8" under the Label section. That'll display only the posts relating to set 8.<br /><br />There's a nice structure I think I called Fortress. That's another nice building to make.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-58463392641589228532010-08-10T08:48:49.346-04:002010-08-10T08:48:49.346-04:00The best place to find Anchor Stone material is to...The best place to find Anchor Stone material is to follow the link in the Link section called "Anker material". It'll redirect you to a site in Germany.<br /><br />At the site you'll see a side bar on the right. Select the folder "GK-NF". That's the series of stones you'll need. Under that folder you'll see folders for each box set as well as another sub folder for instructions (labeled Schitte). That's the actual documentation that goes with each new box set.<br /><br />If you want to get actual printed material, you could contact George Hardy (under Links section). He's the supreme resource on everything Anchor Stone.<br /><br />Hope that helps.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-18535417771430662662010-08-10T05:40:47.337-04:002010-08-10T05:40:47.337-04:00This tower looks quite interesting, I plan to buil...This tower looks quite interesting, I plan to build it soon.<br /><br />now I have inherited boxes 6 + 6A from my grandparents, but I am missing the sections booklet for box 8. do you have it available? if so, we could work out some way to get pictures to me.<br /><br />Many thanks!Michael Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084820846388961162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-51001954589012327292010-05-28T15:41:21.690-04:002010-05-28T15:41:21.690-04:00Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your new...Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your new hobby. I too find Anchor Stones very relaxing. I like the smell of opening a fresh box of stones. The models on this site are relatively simple, but they all give a nice sense of accomplishment.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-23090912155973608612010-05-28T14:31:11.933-04:002010-05-28T14:31:11.933-04:00I have really enjoyed your past blogs with the pla...I have really enjoyed your past blogs with the plans. Thanks for putting up your creations. I have been secretly wanting a set of stones for years. Recently I decided to purchase set 6 and 6A.<br /><br />I'm thrilled with them. Very peaceful and calming activity for the end of the day. Thanks so much for your posts!Kate Wattumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12975594625448874031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-12927639177018344922010-03-30T17:11:10.040-04:002010-03-30T17:11:10.040-04:00Before attempting to build this design, know that ...Before attempting to build this design, know that the plans did not render correctly in AnkerCAD. This makes the plans look far more complicated than it is. I tried to correct the problem by rotating the model slightly before taking a snapshots, but it didn't work. So let me give a few hints.<br /><br />1) All the stones line up evening. There are no odd placements. Just keep this in mind while building.<br /><br />2) The trickery in how two peaks appear to be joined. Where one might expect to see a 265 corner stone, two 262 stones take it's place.<br /><br />3) The trickery in the placement of the 262/265 stones is amplified by AnkerCAD refusing to render the blocks correctly. The render issue is where two 15R stones (stacked on top of three 17R stones) butt up against the corner of the larger peak. In the first layer of 265/262 stones, two 15R stones sitting on top of three 17R stones butt up against a corner formed by two 262 stones. AnkerCAD makes it look like one of the 262 stones is cut in half (or lying down). This is not the case. If the corner is done correctly, the slope of the roof will exactly match the offset formed by the two 15R and 17R stones. The blocks really do match up exactly. You'll know it when it's done right.<br /><br />4) The most tricky part of the model is the tiny protruding window which sits under the smaller peak in the red tower. Due to the offset caused by the merging peaks, the window does not appear to line up exactly with rest of the tower. Here's a hint: The bulging window itself consists of four 17R, a 31R, and two 69R. You can build the window by itself and set it aside. You'll know if the window is built correctly if the back corner (the size of a 28R) is missing. It's that missing corner is how it fits against the rest of the structure. However, because of the slight offset caused in the peaks, two 69R stones (stacked long on top of each other) make up for that offset.<br /><br />I wish I could fix AnkerCAD to render the plans correctly, but I've given up. The plans don't show it, but the blocks do mesh together to give the illusion of two peaks joined together. Along with red trim which appears to merge into the larger peak. It's a nice effect and adds to the overall appearance of the model.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-39995961477348911122010-02-17T13:58:22.833-05:002010-02-17T13:58:22.833-05:00Thanks! Of the set 8 designs, this one is a littl...Thanks! Of the set 8 designs, this one is a little more tricky.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-80145225262799393472010-02-17T10:23:31.525-05:002010-02-17T10:23:31.525-05:00I really enjoyed this design. Nice job William!
I ...I really enjoyed this design. Nice job William!<br />I took some pictures that I can send if you'd like. I actually built 2 of these towers (mirrored) but then realized they'd have looked better side-by-side if I had reversed the yellow turret so that they were facing out (which would receive a gate between nicely). Not your fault in design, just my poor planning.bloefeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09772358400843845871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-58738146874735857332010-01-13T00:03:10.361-05:002010-01-13T00:03:10.361-05:00Thanks for the feedback Bloefeld. I updated the p...Thanks for the feedback Bloefeld. I updated the plans to fix the problem area.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-57825629439768522812010-01-12T22:53:36.847-05:002010-01-12T22:53:36.847-05:00It was a fun little building to build and I really...It was a fun little building to build and I really enjoyed the layering. I did have some issues with some wobbliness at the base of the tower because the 4g kept dropping 1-2mm through the hole created by the pair of 100r's.<br /><br />I sent some pics to you via email.Bloefeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844411006384344065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8212207797265262891.post-60760238429932272342010-01-09T09:44:55.026-05:002010-01-09T09:44:55.026-05:00I'm glad you liked it. I like it too, but the...I'm glad you liked it. I like it too, but the door looks too big. The door was the first thing I created (the initial idea). The challenge was to create a church the door would fit on. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough blocks in a set 10 to do it justice. However, it's still a nice building. It's taller than it looks!<br /><br />I've not been active with anchor stones, but I have started working on something new. It's a set 12 design and it's probably my most complicated one yet. I don't know how it'll turn out yet, but it already has some nice visuals. No promises on when it'll get done. Sometimes I complete a design in days. Sometimes it takes months.William Seppelerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01284402557702089267noreply@blogger.com