Making a reinforced concrete base for my model (Construction #1)

Work begins. There’s a lot of excitement on the construction site, but at the moment I have no idea what’s coming: the blog, the e-books, the book... Even the idea of photographing all the stages of construction will come to me only with the making of the bricks (ch.2), so this incipit is definitely lacking. 

The apparent incongruity of building a concrete base for a medieval house is quickly explained: anticipating the heavy weight of the finished model, I needed a solid base that would allow me to move it at will without risk of unpleasant surprises, and this seemed the best solution. If I were to do it again today, I would also add two side handles.

For the construction, I work as follows: after assembling a wooden frame and preparing a smooth and waterproof surface on which to place it, I proceed to make the cement. Since I have no idea about the right dosage, I do a little research on the Internet and find (of course) everything and its opposite. The most common proportions state that for every part of cement, one part of water and two parts of sand should be added. I decide to trust it and move on to mixing and pouring the mixture into the frame.

Halfway through I insert a thin wire mesh into the fresh cement, then finish pouring the rest and let it dry, covering everything with a wet cloth to avoid cracking. 

Nevertheless, the result is a failure. The next day, the base crumbled at the edges when I touched it with my fingers. Obviously there is too much water or sand. A false start. 

I rebuild the frame and repeat the whole process from the beginning, mixing cement and sand in equal parts. This time the result is convincing and does not fall apart. 

Now I can move on!