Ok, after hanging around for a while I've finally plucked up the courage to post some details about my current major modelling project - but being a newb to this forgive me if it goes a bit wrong to begin with! Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only person who looks at 40k Cities of Death buildings on the web and thinks "well, that's ok but I'd like to see a BIG building" or "wouldn't it be nice to see something a bit more intact"? So here's my (still a long way to being complete) effort. It's in theory going to be the basis of an Armies on Parade display some time in the future, but thought I'd get some feedback in the meantime... NB - this really is my first ever building (no, really, it is!)
That's looking pretty awesome so far. Do you have plans to make the ceilings come off so units can occupy it as well? Either way it looks awesome so far. Very jealous.
Ok, didn't expect feedback that quick! Cheers guys...
The building is actually 'ruined' on the other side so the interior will be pretty accessible, so the roof will probably be left in place - ill post a pic shortly. It's basically (ha!) mostly basilica, shrine of the aquilla and sanctum kits all thrown together, plus a few odds n sods from a well known online auctions house - has taken a fair few hours so far, mostly trial and error. It really, really is my first building too, as my long suffering partner will attest!
Ok, after a busy week at work thought I'd better actually post some updates.. While the major structures are basically completed, I thought I'd show how I've constructed the side wall sections. Everything (at the moment) is modular in order to aid assembly and painting - also means that its easier to rectify mistakes!
However, in order for the lower floor to help support the 'cloister' roof I needed to reverse the walls so the the 'lip' that supports the roof was on the outside, which meant cutting off the supporting upright and gluing it on the opposite edge:
NB- the container currently holds all the rivets removed from the various supporting columns where other pieces will be glued against them - but as I can't stand things not being symmetrical (damned OCD) they are in the process of being laboriously re-attached. This is not a riveting way to spend ones time (haha... Groan) but should in the end be worth it. I hope.
Posting multiple image links in one post is fairly easy. I utilize the Dakka gallery to host my images...many people browse these forums from work, and many offices block image hosting sites like photo bucket, etc....so half of the images show up as broken links!
The Dakka gallery is less likely to be blocked by a given company's IT department. Its fairly easy to use, and you can upload several images at a time as well as create unique folders for each category. Once your pictures are in the gallery, if you click on the image it will take you to it's gallery page which will have several URLs listed under it depending on how you want to share it. I use the 'FORUMS' link. You just copy the URL and paste it into the forum post editor.
Another benefit of this is the fact that visitors can zoom in and check out small details in the original image through the gallery link.
Your building is epic in scale (reminds me of the old Forgeworld Epic scale Cathedral). Very impressive. This project is definitely not for the budget minded hobbyists, thats for sure!
Ok, here goes my first proper attempt at multiple pics in one post (thanks for those who gave advice on how - hope im doing it right...!)
Today has mostly been about floors for the rear tower:
The trouble I've found is that when the walls are constructed, the floors are just that bit to big to fit. Very frustrating. So I've had to saw about 1mm from each side:
Ok, so that sorts one issue. Trouble THEN is that the 'lip' on each wall to support the floor is too wide. So THEY have to be shaved down as well (sigh):
And because that would be too simple, various bits of detail also need trimming before the floor will slide in:
Finally, once all four walls and the floor are trimmed to size, the damned thing fits:
All in all has taken me approx 3 hours (on and off) to get this done. Only 3 more floors on the rear tower to do. And then the 4 on the main tower. And roofs. Glad I'm not planning on having this finished until next year... Or maybe the year after....
Oh, and Fango, you're absolutely right - not for the budget conscious. If I'd known at the start how much it was going to cost I'd never have started
Click on the image, scroll down to where it says share this image (bottom right, obviously you found it already ), pick the one that says forums is the easiest since you can just dump it right into your post.
On another note, amazing building, I'll be watching this. Your titan has paint, oh boy am I excited to see this with paint. Tell me it will get paint!
Very quick update (work and buying an actual house taking up all my time ATM):
(Oops - now with pic the right way up!)
Decided that although this is supposedly a building for quiet contemplation and reverence that as its 40k it would look better with some big shooty guns. Thankfully was able to source 3 aegis quad guns and a bastion defence laser off eBay - the quads are perfect for the wall-sticky-out bits
Anyway, more as soon as time and finances permit. Thanks for looking!
Wow phutarf, this is a truly an incredible build, I totally agree with you on looking at the COD terrain and thinking yes.....but it should be stupidly big! nothing in 40k knows any sense of proportion, its all very over the top!
What you have made here is absolutely what I think of when I think of 40K buildings, cant wait to see it progress some more, I know its a way off yet but have you thought about painting it yet?
Ok, so it's been nearly a month since the last update but to be fair, house buying and an exceedingly busy month at work meant the the project has basically been on hold :(
However, having been to Games Day this weekend I now know the standard required for a decent Armies on Parade board so need to plough on ASAP if I have any chance of getting this ready for 2014 - not to mention needing to improve my modelling and painting skills
So, have only been able yo do a small amount today: working on the "grand staircase"... However, am in a quandary over which version I prefer:
Option 1:
Option 2:
And how it links to the first floor of the main tower:
So, thoughts please - which do you think looks better?
Yeah, I tend to agree, although they fit better that way!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also had to fashion a new baseplate for my comms tower as it wasn't included when bought from eBay - slicing the nuts off the back of an Aquila wall and getting them in place was fun....
I am so glad I found this thread. Your work is impressive and the vision you have is driven. Looking forward to seeing more and more of your work. Stick around, always room on Dakka for brilliant terrain builders.
Ok, so yet again have not had much time to make progress until today. At this rate the bloody thing will never get built, let alone painted or have minis on it Have to say - mould lines are the bane of my life
Anyway, mostly I've been trying to sort out the joins between walls. Easy, I hear you say - just stick them together at right angles and away you go. Ha! If only... The problem is there are internal facing walls joined to external ones, which means either reversing wall panels or cutting/filing things to fit. And then adding bits of plasticard to make up for the inevitable bits where plastic has been lost:
Point in case: one "reversed" wall on the lower floor and two walls on the upper floors where the supporting girder has had to be trimmed. So all these require the extra plasticard, which then had to be cut/filed to shape. Such fun. Not to mention the chore of cutting and scraping to get the abutting arch looking half decent...
Below is an example of exterior walls that are now interior ones, supporting a roof section - requiring some "fun" filing and scraping in order to fit:
So that's been most of my afternoon / evening. On a lighter note, have finished the "grand staircase" and am pretty pleased with the way it's come out:
Hurrah! A week off, so time to get this project moving again
The unfortunate thing about this build, I have discovered, is that all the fiddly, vital to get right bits are the ones that no one but me is likely to ever see/know about, and getting them right is bloody laborious. Anyway, today I have mostly been working on the most complex junction of walls in the whole building, that between the main tower, "cloister" area and private chapel:
As you can see there are various joins, inner-to-outer, inner-to-inner etc, and getting them to all fit together neatly has been a major headache. However, after lots of trial and error (not to mention swearing) I've finally got everything lined up and have now made progress on getting the upper most flooring sections to fit:
The trouble with being a perfectionist is that I wanted the floor sections to join as neatly and closely as possible, which has meant trimming floor plates by 1mm on certain sides due to the way the walls fit together...
Internal to the main cathedral will be a walkway around the wall, leading into the main tower. This meant leaving a void in the wall to allow access, but in order to provide support required the wall below it to be reversed (see earlier post).
Anyway, time for a break. Next thing to tackle: the upper internal & external walkways and wall/roof... Oh joy....
Phutarf wrote: The unfortunate thing about this build, I have discovered, is that all the fiddly, vital to get right bits are the ones that no one but me is likely to ever see/know about, and getting them right is bloody laborious.
There is the option of not worrying about fiddly bitz that no one will ever see or know about.
Skalk: yes, you're right, there is that option, but sadly my OCD like tendencies won't allow me to do that - I'D know and would bug me forever...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Anyway, today I have been doing some general tidying up and working on fitting the first of the three roof sections on the 'cloister' area. Slow and painful due to having to cut and shave the tiles to fit:
Note the stupid little notch I had to shape on the edge of the main section - this is to fit round the supporting wall girder - see below - a right pain to carefully file down.. (And yes, dinosaur feet slippers are cool ). In order to fit the access tile in line with the other tiles meant cutting off the rear lip - filing away the underside of the access tile in order to allow it to sit on the wall's corresponding supporting lip was also a right pain:
Anyway, everything is now fitting snugly and looking pretty damn good in my humble opinion. Will need to fill the gap between the main and access tiles but as this will mostly be hidden by a buttress not too big a worry:
And the (nearly) finished section:
Just need to add addition rivets to the wall girders, file off the mould lines on the buttresses, fill the gaps, glue it all together, paint the thing... And repeat for the other wall sections...
Wow, what a labour of love and a seriously impressive project. The staircase is one of my favourite features thus far. Looking forward to updates and sub'd
Cheers Ruglud: but honestly, you have no idea what a labour this thing is... I'm beginning to think that my idea of using this as a base for the 2014 UK Armies on Parade might not happen at the current rate of progress...
Just the one update today - have spent the best party of the day sorting out the roof of the cloister - now 80%ish done. Honestly, EVERY single floor/roof tile had to be trimmed in some way - just need to fill the gaps and glue the whole thing together into one piece now.
Of course, now I've glued the rear doors to the wall, I can't decide whether I should have opened it up. I wasn't planning on displaying any models inside, but it would allow more light inside so you can see the floor... Any thoughts?
Anyway, enough for one day - time to break out the vacuum and clean up the shavings and plastic dust :(
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh yeah - anyone know if you can re-name threads? "My first building project..." Sounds a bit lame in retrospect - "imperial Cathedral / money pit" would be far more apt!
Phutarf wrote: Skalk: yes, you're right, there is that option, but sadly my OCD like tendencies won't allow me to do that - I'D know and would bug me forever...
I was honestly hoping that you would not say that, but it isn't unexpected. Hobbyists seem to be a very particular (if not peculiar) lot. At very least I hope you take a lot of pictures and make sure people see the work you are doing.
I know how absolutely huge that model is. About a year ago I spent a lot of time putting together GW buildings. I made some that were huge (and then tore them apart for smaller buildings instead) but the size I was working with is completely dwarfed by what you are building. It is going to take you months to finish this project.
Cheers inmygravenimage - blog re-named as hopefully you'll find . Oh, and yeah, I think I'll need to open them up too - guess what I'll be doing tomorrow....
Skalk: sadly I'm somewhat obsessed, and I'd rather take YEARS to get this right rather than do a bodge job. Well, that and it's cost me an arm and a leg already!
What kits are you using? And more importantly, how many of each are you at so far?
How modular is this going to be at its end-state? I know you mentioned building and painting it in pieces, but how much will it come apart when finished? If your vision is one complete buliding, forever glued together, then have you consideredmagnets for connecting large sections together in a more easily transportable fashion?
And finally, have you thought at all about paint schemes?
Automatically Appended Next Post: And have you considered stained glass at all?
Kit wise - here's a pic of what I lovingly refer to as 'the pile':
To date (and hopefully not too much more!)
x1 Imperial Sector
x2 Sanctum Imperialis
x4 Basilica Administratum
x6 Warhammer movement trays (although 1 unused - went a bit over there lol)
x7 Shrine of the Aquila
Oh, and an Honoured Imperium kit for the statue - nearly forgot that!
PLUS: extra Basilica doors, floor tiles, Quad guns from Ageis defence line and Las canon from Imperial Bastion, all from eBay.
The main issue with doing a project of this size (aside from the obvious expense ) is that the kits only have a limited number of complete bits per kit - I wish GW would do bits packs of these do you didn't gave to have to go to the expense of whole kits, or root around in the secondary market..
One of my secondary goals, aside from making a decent BIG, semi complete building, was to only use GW kit parts except where absolutely necessary (such as filling gaps with plasi-card). I think this was to show that you can do more with the kits than just make the obligatory ruined-corner-of-buildings that everyone does. I realise that not everyone has the disposable funds to do something like this (tbh nor do I lol) but just shows that with a bit if imagination and perseverance what can be done.
I'm building it in 'sections' simply because it's easier, and will need to paint certain bits before they are glued together as I'll never be able to access some ares again. Not planning on making it modular as such - possibly the roof sections will be detachable, but that depends on the construction as it goes on.
And yes, I've toyed with the idea of stained glass for some of the windows, but on the basis of the how tricky that's been I'm not sure. What I DONT want to do is put a sheet of plastic on the interior of a window - if I'm going to do it I'll have to actually fit individually crafted panes INTO the holes.....
Paint wise - not sure yet. I'll worry about that later!!
Anyway, this is all getting a bit wordy - must press on!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Poor progress today sadly due to various reasons, so not much to update - just a quick series of shots to illustrate the level of detail I'm going into to achieve the best result I can - over the top to most I suspect but that's just the way I am...
Basically it's the link between the upper walkway and the top of the main tower through an open doorway, which I want to run flush: trouble is the deck plate is just that little bit too wide:
...so needed tiny bits filing out of the corners:
The door lintel also needed the upper row of rivets removing (and saving so they can be glued on elsewhere later...):
Sir your need for perfection is becoming pathological! Just the way all good hobbyists should be =p
Really having not checked in for awhile the progress you have made is incredible, the attention to detail is inspiring andI really cant wait to see this grow further, it will be easily the most inspiring buildingI have seenmade from these kits.
Quick rant- The person that designed those plates and the quality control manager that signed off on them should both have their favorite miniatures topple and fall off the walkways on a frequent basis. I carved every one of those skulls off my plates and it was a time-consuming and annoying task.
Wow! I've been building some of these kits lately as well and have pondered doing something on this scale but don't have the vision to pull it off. This is going to be insane once it's completed. Consider me subscribed!
Cheers for the comments guys - good to know there are people out there interested in my rambles lol
Skalk Bloodaxe wrote: Quick rant- The person that designed those plates and the quality control manager that signed off on them should both have their favorite miniatures topple and fall off the walkways on a frequent basis. I carved every one of those skulls off my plates and it was a time-consuming and annoying task.
Totally agree with you Skalk - they are a pain for various reasons, and a right bugger to cut off too without damaging the rest of the tile surface.
Biohazard wrote: Wow! I've been building some of these kits lately as well and have pondered doing something on this scale but don't have the vision to pull it off. This is going to be insane once it's completed. Consider me subscribed!
Well, hopefully my efforts might inspire you Biohazard - I know I've stole... *ahem*... Been inspired by various ideas/techniques I've seen on here and elsewhere!
Anyway, no real progress today as have been busy doing other things, so instead as a slight divergence from the main theme thought I'd show you another long term WIP that may well end up on the display:
Not sure the tea light idea is practical - atmospheric maybe, but would be better achieved with some mini LED's - but that's waaaaay outside my modelling experience!
Anyway, re-reading me previous posts realised that I've not shown too much if the ruined/open side of the building - so here's a couple at current state of play - still loads more to do given I've been concentrating mostly in the intact exterior this week:
The scale of this continues to blow me away. I hope you have a local store that'd be keen to display it! As for lights, you can get good small leds with mini batteries very cheaply. The wife uses them on cakes (tardis, optimus prime etc.) Another option is the ones from inside light-up balloons.
inmygravenimage wrote: The scale of this continues to blow me away. I hope you have a local store that'd be keen to display it! As for lights, you can get good small leds with mini batteries very cheaply. The wife uses them on cakes (tardis, optimus prime etc.) Another option is the ones from inside light-up balloons.
Just moving the damn thing around on the desk is a pain - moving it once it's done is going to be another headache. As for public display, maybe, assuming that I a) ever get it finished, b) enter it in Armies on Parade, c) win a store comp, d) win an award at games day!
On reflection, I think I will investigate lighting options before the build gets too much further - it would be a shame to have dark areas...
I really do think to that some lighting on this model is a must - but to get the atmospheric feel, some flickering lights are essential - with the tea lights you can easily strip them down to the basic elements, but maybe the better idea is to invest in some actual model railroad lighting kits? At the right scale (N guage I think), you can get not just pre wired kits but also actual lamps and I'm sure there's some gothic style victorian gas lamps for sale out there...
Here's some useful links though to get you thinking
I thieved a couple of lights off the wife. I worked out that you could cut the longer hanging cod lights And mount the whole battery unit below. If you were very very patient/obsessive you could actually mount it within the hanging assembly.
Phutarf wrote: Thanks for the comments guys - funnily enough changing the blog name has garnered somewhat more interest! Lol...
Anyway, just a quick addendum to highlight my detail obsession - first pic is one of the main tower floor plates:
Pretty dull, so what? I hear you say... Well, for me, it's the bit that frankly no one will see unless the are good at contortionism - the underside:
The skulls HAVE to all face the same way.....!
I need to get a life....
Detail obsessionists unite! My best contribution is how I built this 3800 piece model:
All the bricks have to face the same direction - even the ones you can't physically see! Back on-topic, this looks amazing! I can't wait to see it finished!
Yeah this cathedral is looking awesome It would be an awesome place to play a small scale skirmish game! Deathguard are also awesome. I saw the dread and was like cool is that a techmarine contemptor or something? Then I read a comment about the scythe, looked back and BOOM, very very cool. Looks like he could cleave tanks in half! It was blending into the background
Thanks for the comments guys - defo some musings to be done on the lighting front - very useful links, thanks Ruglud. Oh, and -Shrike- : even I'm not that obsessed with detail!
Anyway, week off virtually over so have had a quiet day on the project in favour of loafing a bit, as such only a small amount of progress, thus time on the neglected front upper balcony. Where I left off:
Needed a floor for starters:
Now I've seen a few balconies on COD buildings where the floor is like this (sans hole in the middle admittedly!) but they just look wrong to me: how is the floor being supported?! So in order to get round that decided to disguise mine - welcome back movement tray surrounds . Now, the easy thing would be to use them as they are but me being me thought I'd do things the hard way and use them upside down to create a gutter effect, which of course meant more cutting and trimming:
The trouble with gutters is they tend to run their full length without obstructions, so needed to cut to size and carefully file out the central section - great fun...
But once in place was worth the effort IMHO:
Handily, the strip cut off the main section was just the right width to plug the gap between the two floor plates:
And now back in situ with one of my minis giving it a test run - (proper old school metal, no "Finecast" crap here!)
Even on this loads to do to join it up with the main tower - need to finish the guttering on the sides, work out how to fill the gap between the rear of the balcony and the front of the tower, probably lower the door to meet rather than having a huge step etc etc etc - will get there in the end, one day. One day.....
BTW - feedback appreciated on whether I'm giving too much detail - lots of viewings but only a few comments to date. Would you prefer I just shut the hell up and get on with it?! Lol...
Your are an obsessed madman with those gutters, real dedication to go that far... Then again most of us on here are also obsessed madmen (& women) so you fit right in
I must admit, I was trying to convince myself that your epic skills were not matched in your painting abilities. But they are. Excuse me, I need to go and cry...
Seriously though, I love this thread. How much has it cost you?
(Monies, not blood or tears, even if that's a bigger figure)
Again, the sheer size of that building is incredible. It almost hurts my stomach to think about painting somehting like that. All the pieces I've been doing lately have been built on 40mm bases.
I must admit, I was trying to convince myself that your epic skills were not matched in your painting abilities. But they are. Excuse me, I need to go and cry...
Seriously though, I love this thread. How much has it cost you?
(Monies, not blood or tears, even if that's a bigger figure)
Lol thanks L CplAwful - cost wise - I kinda gave up once I passed the 'could have bought another Forgeworld Reaver Titan' mark, mostly so I could pretend to myself I hadn't spent that much....
And as for my painting skills - well, I wouldn't say they were that good. A couple of my more finished mini's below (my own as yet un-named chapter that I'm planning on using for my Armies on Parade entry), plus a wip of a jetbike:
Given the length of time it takes me to paint these size models, the cathedral might not get finished this side of 2020....
Well, now I know what to expect when you start painting the cathedral. Give yourself a lot of credit for your skill and application (I know, I know.... you can find 17 things 'wrong' with it). Your style and technique are excellent. Execution is solid. End result is an amazing piece.
I was looking forward to seeing what you did w/ the cathedral. Now I really (really) am.
inmygravenimage wrote: Seriously? You don't think you're good? They're awesome! Something quite beetle-y about them, to my mind.
Thanks happygolucky - ok, I'm not bad but certainly not going to win any Golden Demons! And well picked up on the insectoid feeling - the main inspiration for the colour scheme is actually the Japanese Hornet:
Anyway, some progress on the build tonight - more work on the balcony. Decided not to join the balcony to the Eagle as such, as finding pieces to do so, plus the amount of work needed was frankly too much. So decided to extend the guttering fully around:
(Nb - anyone else stupid enough to try making these gutters - cutting the tiny piece to size to fit on the side between the two corners was pain in the !)
but invert the movement tray piece at the rear in order that there is a lip which will handily fit onto the top of the wall, keeping it in place!
The only (only!) problem then is the stupid amount of wall between the interior and exterior floor plates - I've toyed with the idea of a small flight of stairs but that will spoil the look and take up too much room, so figure I'll need to cut the doorway lower - just need to cut out extra and insert some additional door frame supports using the base of the buttress pieces:
But that's definitely a job for another day when I've got more time....
Parting shot: an interior view of the private chapel - a pity no one will see it once the build is finished, but I'll still have to paint the bugger!
I may have missed the reasoning, but could you not position the guttered balcony higher, so that it is either in line with the interior floor or near enough for only a couple of steps?
Dr H wrote: I may have missed the reasoning, but could you not position the guttered balcony higher, so that it is either in line with the interior floor or near enough for only a couple of steps?
Sadly, the balcony IS in line with the interior floor, it's just the the doorway on the Shrine Wall is positioned higher. The kit comes with its own set of steps but they are huge and would take up over half of the balcony floor space, so a no go I'm afraid... (You can see them on the bottom left of the last picture in fact)
One of the few design 'flaws' with the kit as it is :(
Hi folks - back to the slow burn on the project, what with work etc. anyway, I'm getting there on the building frontage. Now I know I said a few posts back that I wanted to use as much of the actual COD parts as possible rather than sculpting my own, but there are two areas that I just had to: the lower balcony triangle floor plate sections. So here's my attempt.... (With apologies for the poor pics but lighting is a bugger!)
Started with some 5mm plasticard cut to shape, and then some 1mm as a smaller triangle to match the footprint of the 'real' tiles:
Then cut out the central section and filed this down slightly so there was a small gap surround:
Glued everything together and scored out the 'mini' tiles on the central section:
And then glued these to the side windows and front entrance:
Still need to finish filing out the notches so that everything sits flush but running out of patience tonight
Also made a start on opening up the doorway to the upper balcony and fitting the extra support pillar sections:
Going to have to use some greenstuff on this to get it looking good in the end methinks... Right that's if for now
Ok, it's been a busy couple of weeks so not been able to make much headway on the build until today.. And as I can never finish anything thought I'd do some work on the ruined section for a change..
So having glued a few of the wall sections together, thought I'd fill in a two tile floor section. Easy huh? Nooooooooooooo.... Turns out that the way I've constructed everything, the narrow sections leading from the main tower to the interior are just that bit narrower than ever, requiring some major cutting to get things to size:
Original size tile on left, severely cut down versions on the right.
To add misery, this also means the wall section require additional trimming, namely the 'lip' at the bottom. Now on certain tiles this is easy, but on these sections cutting them back to the flat if the 'wall' is a right bugger:
Original on the right, shaved to flush in the middle, reduced to wall on the left. Of course, doesn't help that I'd already glued the wall sections together as it's a hell of a lot easier to do when they're on their own...
Anyway, finally got everything trimmed, shaved and filed to size (I won't bore you with what I had to do to the undersides if the tiles )
And how the interior lower walkway will abut (on this side)
And how it looks ATM from the front:
Still sooooooooooooooo much to do though, even on this section: more floors, walls, damage.... Sigh
Wow, and I thought my building was big. Damn! Yeah, the floor sections are a real b**ch to fit, especially when you try to get creative with the architecture. I REALLY like your staircase and will likely loot your idea for future projects of my own. Really impressive stuff; looks great so far.
GrimDork wrote: Still, even work in progress, this is stunning! Keep it up, I absolutely can not wait to see this come together (and perhaps, get paint?)
Paint? PAINT?!? You'll be lucky sunshine - this build will be going on for years I recon before paint....
Anyway, it's finally the weekend again so hopefully some more progress. I did do some last weekend but haven't had time to post, but before I do I need some feedback.. So here's the current state of play with the front of the building:
Now this is all well and good, but the top of the main tower is level with the roof of the main building, aside from the surround. My question to anyone looking at this thread is this: do you think I should build and extra level on top to give it that little bit more height and visual impact? I'm currently torn - here are a couple of VERY rough mock ups using whatever pieces I had left to hand to give some sort of indication - I figure it would be a kind of "lookout/observation deck" affair:
Or is this a step too far? Thoughts and feedback gratefully received!
Terrain that can hide a titan - epic. Love your attention to detail. I've got to say, of all of Games Workshop's kits, I think the terrain sets are generally great value
Million wrote: Terrain that can hide a titan - epic. Love your attention to detail. I've got to say, of all of Games Workshop's kits, I think the terrain sets are generally great value
Funny you should mention the Titan... You know you've created a piece of terrain when it dwarves one of these!
Thanks for the feedback guys - so yet another kit bought and after some experimentation have gone with Warboss_Waaazag's idea of a 'recessed' additional story to the main tower. It saves the Imperial Eagle frontage but still gives the height I think it was lacking. No other updates other than cleaning up the desk today - the other half was complaining about the dust/plastic shards underfoot...
I can't walk barefoot in my workspace anymore, too painy. I was thinking you might want to put a door on the front facing wall of that extra level of the tower. Just an idea. Also, have you given any thought to interior stairs?
thanks for the comments everyone - more pic updates soon I promise, but in the meantime:
Sledgio wrote:Wow, what a centrepiece for a board! I want to build my own now...
All I can say is good luck if you do - madness (and poverty) lays in wait though!
Alfndrate wrote:
Stormdrake wrote: I may have missed this but what is the footprint of your citadel?
I believe it's somewhere between DAYUM and That's Fething Huge!
Ha, yep, pretty accurate Alfndrate But seriously, it's on a 2'x2' board in order to comply with Armies on Parade rules Stormdrake - should I ever get it finished and mini's painted that is....
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:I can't walk barefoot in my workspace anymore, too painy. I was thinking you might want to put a door on the front facing wall of that extra level of the tower. Just an idea. Also, have you given any thought to interior stairs?
Indeed a door on both sides in fact, so both the main roof and the top of the tower could be accessed. However, since this pic I've decided to 'crown' the tower completely - the recess just didn't look right from the side to my liking, but means I'm having to do something complicated with the front windows now - sigh.... As for internal stairs, I'm relying on ladders and roof/floor hatches - I can't face trying to do any more fancy stairs!
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Warboss_Waaazag wrote: I just thought of something: does this piece fit through the door?
Just!
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Skalk Bloodaxe wrote: Where are you going to store that when it is done? Ha.
This build is making me want to buy a few dozen sets of Imperial Sector buildings. And your stairs still stagger me.
Goodness only knows where it'll get stored Skalk - moving it between houses next year should be great fun... Not....!
This is incredible. The only other modeller I've seen on here with this sense of scale and eye for detail is Blackadder, and that's saying a lot! Keep it up, it looks incredible.
master of asgard wrote: This is incredible. The only other modeller I've seen on here with this sense of scale and eye for detail is Blackadder, and that's saying a lot! Keep it up, it looks incredible.
Steady on there! I'm an apprentice at the foot of a master compared with Blackadder!
Anyway, on with updates. As I mentioned last time, the new story on the main tower will be all around, but on the front would mean sacrificing the Eagle's shoulders, right?. Wrong... Vcomplicated, but wrong! So instead, I'm carving up windows to retain the pieces...
Stage 1: cut off top spikes and crenellations support from Shrine of the Aquilla frontispiece:
Stage 2: carefully cut down to size a Basilica window (taking care to retain the central window strut for re-insertion later:
Trouble with that is the 'burner' bits under the skulls wouldn't look right just sitting on the window sill as the bottoms are cut off, so they need filing back in order for
Stage 3: frustratingly fiddly cutting down and filing of the extra bits off of the Basilica sprues (knew these would come in handy for something eventually!):
Stage 4: (so far) - add the bit to the front of the window and apply to top of Eagle et voila! Shoulder preserved but window retained:
As per normal, a whole host of other things needed to finish on this bit alone - central strut to cut down and reattach, new window sill to create, fill in the hole between window and shoulder, bloody rivets to stick back on (sigh), repeat on other side etc etc but once finished will look a little something like this:
(note to self - stop having 'good' ideas and finish the damn thing!!)
I'm glad it's on a 2'x2' board, I was worried this was going to be so epic that the day you took it to the game club or to a tournament that you'd get over to the door and realize you couldn't make it outside . A reciprocating saw and a divorce later it makes it out the bedroom door and front door
Not to suggest that you create more work for yourself, but it might look more uniform if you replaced the other vent on the modified basillica window. At the moment the original looks a little wonky next to the replacement. And I've been meaning to comment on this earlier, but I really like how you've used the flooring pieces from the aquilla shrine as angled roof bits. The circular holes look like ripe places for stained glass rosewindows. Keep it up!
Warboss_Waaazag wrote: Not to suggest that you create more work for yourself, but it might look more uniform if you replaced the other vent on the modified basillica window. At the moment the original looks a little wonky next to the replacement. And I've been meaning to comment on this earlier, but I really like how you've used the flooring pieces from the aquilla shrine as angled roof bits. The circular holes look like ripe places for stained glass rosewindows. Keep it up!
lol - I had to laugh at this on the basis that my OCD like tendencies would never allow me to have an unbalanced piece I should have said that the previous pic was a WIP (HA! What isn't on this build...) - as you can see from the pic below balance has been restored. It's amazing how such a small piece can affect the look isn't it?!
As for the roof/ceiling tiles - yep, the idea was to glaze them. I've done a trial run using 1mm transparent plastic which was a pain to cut to size, but fits kinda ok - however, if I do them then I feel I should do ALL the windows on the un damaged side - in which case I may never get the thing finished.... I may just leave it to the one directly above the interior eagle, we'll see...
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Theophony wrote: I'm glad it's on a 2'x2' board, I was worried this was going to be so epic that the day you took it to the game club or to a tournament that you'd get over to the door and realize you couldn't make it outside . A reciprocating saw and a divorce later it makes it out the bedroom door and front door
Haha, don't worry Theophany, the doors are 30" wide so no need for home 'improvements'! mind you, moving it to the new house next year could be fun.. Maybe I won't glue it ALL together just jet...
Pekel wrote: Not only does that look amazing, but all the flat accessible space means it should be a blast to play on as well. Great work!
The most rediculous part of this whole exercise is that I haven't actually played a game of 40K in the last 20 years - I'm much more a fan of the genre in general and painting (VERY slowly) and modelling! I still can't quite believe that this is my first COD building either...
same boat with not having played since third edition. Wait I tried one game of fourth edition, but really was hard core in second and was building a full marine chapter until GW got stupid with pricing. Now I've got 5+ companies of marines waiting to be fielded.
Same here. I dabbled in the game, but haven't played much since 2nd ed. I was onboard with the hype and bought the rulebook when the game switched from 3rd to 4th ed, but here we are at 5th ed and I never played a game of 4th. So far, between GW pricing and them nerfing my army everytime I finally got a workable army together I've decided to just stick to building stuff for fun, and mostly terrain at that. Ruins and alien landscapes never go out of style.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote: Same here. I dabbled in the game, but haven't played much since 2nd ed. I was onboard with the hype and bought the rulebook when the game switched from 3rd to 4th ed, but here we are at 5th ed and I never played a game of 4th. So far, between GW pricing and them nerfing my army everytime I finally got a workable army together I've decided to just stick to building stuff for fun, and mostly terrain at that. Ruins and alien landscapes never go out of style.
>_>
<_<
More time has passed than you think, here we are at 6th ed
Ok, it's been a while since my last posting, for various reasons, and tbh work has slowed to a crawl on the project - but not stopped. Here's a few updates:
Damaged section:
Additional wall and ceiling/floor sections added:
Roof:
In order to support the main section roof, I needed some decent 'rafters'. However, there aren't any on the Shrines kit long enough, so have had to improvise using 3.5 small ones, welded together as it were. Each end cored and pinned to the next, and pinned into each wall end:
Lower balcony:
Side panel and linking insert added (anyone spot what parts the round bits are made from?!):
And finally my next fiddly, not necessary, but I think cool (ha!) idea: chandeliers:
More updates to come later this week (with any luck)
I don't even know what to say man. This is one hell of a hobby project! I commend your efforts and hope you get it ready in time for next year's (almost this year's!) comp. the fact that it makes a reaver look like a dread this how the 40k universe is meant to be displayed. (If not bigger). Just think how big a complete hive city would be!
Brother Payne wrote: I don't even know what to say man. This is one hell of a hobby project! I commend your efforts and hope you get it ready in time for next year's (almost this year's!) comp. the fact that it makes a reaver look like a dread this how the 40k universe is meant to be displayed. (If not bigger). Just think how big a complete hive city would be!
Thanks Brother Payne, but if I'm honest, the rate at which I can work on the piece is nowhere near enough to get it ready for this years Armies on Parade - I've never built, let alone painted, terrain before, plus I still need to think about adding lighting before I "finish" it! And then there's the small issue of painting up the damn army....!
Size wise - never again will I ever do anything on this scale. EVER. Unless you count the inevitable Forge World Warlord Titan (hint hint FW!!)
Brother Payne wrote: I don't even know what to say man. This is one hell of a hobby project! I commend your efforts and hope you get it ready in time for next year's (almost this year's!) comp. the fact that it makes a reaver look like a dread this how the 40k universe is meant to be displayed. (If not bigger). Just think how big a complete hive city would be!
Thanks Brother Payne, but if I'm honest, the rate at which I can work on the piece is nowhere near enough to get it ready for this years Armies on Parade - I've never built, let alone painted, terrain before, plus I still need to think about adding lighting before I "finish" it! And then there's the small issue of painting up the damn army....!
Size wise - never again will I ever do anything on this scale. EVER. Unless you count the inevitable Forge World Warlord Titan (hint hint FW!!)
Don't forget painting up the damn building! 2015 maybe
Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:Still following along. The chandelier is another OTT detail I would not ever had considered.
I sincerely hope your creation does not consume you, Dr. Frankenstein.
GrimDork wrote:He should be good as long as he doesn't recoil in horror from his newly born bouncing monster-baby. That's all the monster wanted... love.
Haha thanks guys - unfortunately I've not made any progress on the monster since the last update as I've rediscovered the joy (and frustration) of painting (check out my other blog for details...) At least it's meant I've not come up with any more bright ideas to make things even more complicated for myself!
WOW, this is some crazy terrain project! I would love to fight on a board like this, it would make an excellent kill team board. Looking forward to more
Ok, so first weekend in a while I've been able dedicate some time to the Cathedral - sorry it's taken so long for anyone following its progress..
Anyway, today I have mostly been focussing on additions to the ruined section, namely the roof. But before I show you the updates, realised there was one side I'd not really shown before, namely the rear:
Right, to business: the ruined roof corner. First needed to create the slanting roof front - this is a cut down piece of one of the Shrine lower walls. Of course, by the time I realised I was supposed to be documenting this I'd got part way, but here's an early-ish stage pic:
This needed some addition work to make it look as if it was an intentional shape rather than a bodge, so added a reinforcement strip to the outer edge (thank you once again movement tray edges!) and then carefully cut off rivets were re-glued on accordingly:
Next were the damaged roof panels that will sit along side it - Note that the skull in the centre of the lower panel had to be realigned - grrr...
And then glued to the previous piece, and then both glued to the supporting ruined corner section:
Note the twisted remains of the guttering on this - good old movement trays again!!
And here it is in situ:
So there you go. Usual proviso on so much more to complete - stay tuned for further updates!!
I am always an advocate for modifying the parts of any model, especially when it comes to terrain and the GW kits. I like what you've done with the front facing piece for the roof. Again, just my terraining OCD, but maybe fill in or continue the bullet hole on the support? And maybe place an additional rivet over where the vertical support would supposedly pass underneath the angled piece? The sort of odd "misplacement" of extra rivets I'm suggesting is actually quite common in industrial construction, especially where there needs to be additional support such as where there are joins or two part overlap. Looking great so far! Keep it up!
Thanks for the comments guys - glad people are still sticking with me even if it is taking forever and a day!
hk1x1 wrote:Every time I see this it just gets better and better, I imagine it'll take a while to paint though .
Indeed it will, indeed it will.. Although I promise I will start painting at least bits of it this year. Yes, definitely this year.. Probably...
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:I am always an advocate for modifying the parts of any model, especially when it comes to terrain and the GW kits. I like what you've done with the front facing piece for the roof. Again, just my terraining OCD, but maybe fill in or continue the bullet hole on the support? And maybe place an additional rivet over where the vertical support would supposedly pass underneath the angled piece? The sort of odd "misplacement" of extra rivets I'm suggesting is actually quite common in industrial construction, especially where there needs to be additional support such as where there are joins or two part overlap. Looking great so far! Keep it up!
Well spotted Waaazag - I'd completely missed that I'd half covered that hole. Gave now gone back and excavated it accordingly. However, I'm not so sure about the extra rivet, even though in the 'real world' it would make sense - here it would just infuriate me every thine I look at it out of lovely alignment! I'll give it some more thought tho...
Anyway, after a lie in today (if you count 8am a lie in...), a 2 1/2 hour gym session (I will be thin again!) ironing and other domestic delights, only had an hour or so to do some tidying up today - here's what that consisted of:
Completion of upper deck plate for the ruined section:
because the wall sections below are missing their lintels, had to fashion some new ones to fill the gaps between the two floor panels . The gap is intentional because it sits neatly over the supporting 'peg' on the wall section below:
Which in turn has a supporting rod to keep the upper bit in place:
(If you look closely Waaazag you can see the holes in the roof frontspiece! )
Also had to do some remedial work to the lower two floor sections here to get them to fit neatly - again, fiddly and time consuming work that no one but me will see... Sigh....
Also thought I'd 'treat' you to some additional shots of the Cathedral's 'power plant' which I did ages ago (well, mostly - as ever still bits to finish) - I figure that this side also doubles as a shrine to the Omnissiah so will end up having a tech marine in here and some tech priests/servitors:
The 'chimney' I think works quite well, but of course exhaust gasses need to go somewhere, right? Well, here's my solution:
Took me ages to gouge the poor eagles eyes out (they are REALLY fiddly to get out!!) - admittedly it'd look better if the 'nose' was easier to model but I figured 'hey, why make life even MORE difficult for yourself!'
I'm also thinking that this effectively empty box could double as a place to hide a battery/Gubbins if I ever get round to putting lighting into the model, although access could get tricky. Thought I'd put a Bastion access hatch into the door space to give it that techy feel either way:
Ok, that was all a bit long winded, so I'll shut up. Yay - another week of work looms - such fun...
Blimey two weeks since the last post... Where does the time go?
Ok, recently have been working on the roof and connection to the two towers. Joining these is going to be... Interesting...
First things first - in order to fit symmetrically between the two towers, needed to add a length of plasticard along the side of the main roof (note also the smaller spacer strips added between tiles to allow for differences in space between individual and 'strips' of unseparated tiles):
This will rest upon the girder installed earlier. Other amendments needed included filing down part of the tiles that rest on the back of the front tower:
So that the wall above it would sit flush (ok, still need to add some thin strips to fill the gaps):
Of course nothing is ever that simple - the tower wall top also needed small pieces filing out of the girders so that the roof would fit:
The main bit that's taken time though is the front piece of the rear tower and how to link to the roof. Given I now have a door on the rear of the front tower, I wanted to do a door to the rear tower, but that's currently a window. Joy. Have to instal one... This has taken an inordinate amount of time, cutting, filing and frustration to achieve, but I'm pretty pleased with the result...
First: a regular Shrine eagle with window:
Now, after a LOT of work, with the window cut out:
This, it has to be said, is a hell of a lot easier to show than to do! The piece is awkward to cut, and filing things down a right bugger. If you look very closely you might be able to see that the window frame is now aprox half of its original width, in order to fit a door from one of the Basillica doorways:
It's not quite a flush fit at the top, but even I'm not going to quibble too much - otherwise nothing will get finished!
The gap at the bottom of the door is deliberate, as it needs to be there to accommodate the roof, given the window/door arch sticks out:
Still need to work on filling the gaps but it's a promising start! And joyfully the floors in the towers and the main roof pretty much line up too:
That's where the beast is at ATM. Two other things though - I've been giving colour schemes a bit of thought and stumbled across this image while doing some surfing which I think would work nicely:
Anyone got an opinion?
And lastly, inspired by brain555's cathedral blog, here's my interpretation of a 40k Tardis using a few left over panels:
(Although it may well end up being an outhouse - affectionally named the Turdis )
Right, I'm done. Thanks for sticking with me, more at some point....
Bwahaha I like the Turdis. And everything. This building ate a hearty breakfast of epic flakes. The color scheme is interesting... but if that's white I think you're mad to attempt to paint the whole thing white
Really nice work. Looking good. It's worth the effort to make it all fit together so well.
The paint scheme will definitely make it all the more impressive and the light colour will help you make small details stand out on such a large model.
This project never ceases to amaze! I think the colour scheme would work, I like the idea of a giant off-white building w brown recesses and gold detailing. I think it would work well.
Thanks for the comments all, and for the suggestion deadmeat85 - that's a nice looking church and I love the knot work on the cross. Not religious myself, but religious architecture is generally glorious to behold...
Anyway - a quick update with a taster panel I whipped up this evening to try out some colours:
Pretty pleased with the way the white/cream came out (and thankfully is dead easy to do too!) but still some work to do on the metallics - think I'm going to have to find a decent copper from somewhere - any suggestions? The Old GW paints I've got just don't seem to work how I want...
Overall I think it will work well as a backdrop for my darker coloured minis (a la my Chaplain dread and commander) - plus it also gives mean excuse to start a pre-heresy Death Guard force...
I have a question for you, Phutarf. How do you cut out panels? Do you clip away the bits you intend to remove and then file everything down or is there another method you are using? Also, regarding the paint scheme, I really like the white and stark gold from your original reference photo, but I also really appreciate the look of the cream paint job on your test panel. The weathering looks great!
I use craft acrylics for all my metallics. They go on dull but dry with a nice shine. I use paints from a company called "My Studio" which is sold at most craft stores and usually runs me about .59 cents USD a bottle (which ends up being about 5 times the size of a GW pot).
Still looking great. Keep it up. And yes, I pressed my face against my computer screen and saw the work you did on the bullet hole. Nice.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote: I have a question for you, Phutarf. How do you cut out panels? Do you clip away the bits you intend to remove and then file everything down or is there another method you are using?
It all depends what panel, what part I'm cutting and how difficult it is to get at. I have a pretty basic set up tools wise, most of which have been with me for decades now and have served me well:
If I don't care about the resulting mess then the saw is deployed; if I want a cleaner cut then a lot of laborious work is done with the old Exacto blades (I hate to think how many of these I've been through over the years) - and then to clean up its a case of scrapping with a blade or filing with an appropriate size file. Sometimes the sprue cutters are used to mangle bits...
Also, regarding the paint scheme, I really like the white and stark gold from your original reference photo, but I also really appreciate the look of the cream paint job on your test panel. The weathering looks great!
White would be fantastic but like GrimDork said, it would be madness to try and do the whole thing really white. And if I'm honest, in the grim and gritty future, I doubt a white building would stay that white anyway Assuming I go with the test panel then the overall result will be a pretty decent light coloured building, which will be good enough for me. Probably. Lol. Just need to work out how to do the metals to go it justice.
Still looking great. Keep it up. And yes, I pressed my face against my computer screen and saw the work you did on the bullet hole. Nice.
Haha - sorry - next time I'll take a better pic for you
Cheers alanmckenzie - the floor will obviously be checkerboard black and white, but having done some experimentation previously I don't think (unless my painting skills improve somewhat) I'll be going marble, probably more a sandstone effect. The movement trays aren't a smooth surface as they have a fine texture to them, and I've not been able to replicate marble. Yet. We'll see...
Galorn wrote:For copper I'd sugjest looking at the vallejo model air line of mettalics.
Thanks Galorn - I'll see what I can find. That said, I might be moving away from copper - see below..
Briancj wrote:That picture of your tools is the best summary of "What a modeler needs" I've seen in awhile.
I have to admit to being a bit of a Luddite Briancj - while it may take a heck of a lot more effort, there's something a bit more 'personal' about using hand tools like these rather than a dremel. I also don't own an airbrush. Which may mean painting the thing might take as long as building it...
Kandle wrote:You could break up sections of the white on the big model with soot stains from fires in the more damaged areas.
Yep, that's the plan Kandle!
So a last update with a second test panel - this one with more detail on, just to make sure I can replicate the effects rather than on just large plain sections. Thankfully the answer is yes:
For anyone interested, the off white is:
Black undercoat
Denhab stone base
Devlan Mud wash (which is unusual for me - I HATE those washes normally!)
Dry brush Denhab stone
Dry brush Skull white
Reapply Devlan mud wash to select areas
Add some green wash to select ares to imitate mould/mildew (it's there, trust me - sorry for the poor pics)
Line in deep recesses with Brown ink
Metallics:
Black undercoat
Tin bitz base
Devlan mud wash
Dry brush tin bitz
Dry brush Brazen Brass
Dry brush Dwarf Bronze
Light wash Devlan mud
Line in recesses and around rivets with brown ink
The braziers and chain were similar to the above, just starting at Brazen Brass and going up to Burnished Gold. I'm thinking that the copper/gold from the church reference might be a bit too overpowering on the supporting structure, so might be limited to the roof, unless I go with a patina'd green. Not sure yet.
The white was done first - dry brushing the metal bits with a v small dry brush so as not to get any on the white was a bugger! The only problem (only?!) is that I've been using the old range of GW paints, and doubt I'll have enough to do the whole building. So once I've been paid (TFFT!) I'll be heading to my local store to see if the revised alternatives will work just as well...
The amount of hobby time I get these days... I just have to do things dead simply or they simply don't get done Dipping my models looks too comparatively good compared to making an effort with layers etc, when you consider the time.
Ehh, I think if you paint that thing to the standard of your test pieces... it may take a couple of years... but it would be truly awesome You could sell photo prints of it, that spiffy.
Ok.. I really need to get out more. I have this whole freaking Cathedral to build and paint, and what have I spent the last two precious hours working on - the Turdis. Ah well.. Walls prepped and glued together, additional support column rivets riveted, work on the revised roof continuing...(movement trays I love you!)
Now, when ready, do I paint it blue or in the cathedral colour scheme...
Oooh that's a hard call. If you don't paint it blue... it may not be so obvious, people might wonder what it is. But it will clash. I guess that's kind of the point of the stuck-as-a-police-box-tardis though isn't it... Maybe there is some kind of happy medium, a light blue done in a similar style to the cathedral? So it's still noticeable and different but it doesn't stick out *quite* as hard given a similar tone.
It all depends what panel, what part I'm cutting and how difficult it is to get at. I have a pretty basic set up tools wise, most of which have been with me for decades now and have served me well:
If I don't care about the resulting mess then the saw is deployed; if I want a cleaner cut then a lot of laborious work is done with the old Exacto blades (I hate to think how many of these I've been through over the years) - and then to clean up its a case of scrapping with a blade or filing with an appropriate size file. Sometimes the sprue cutters are used to mangle bits...
That's pretty much an exact copy of my tool set, except my drill bit matches the thickness of paperclips (for pinning), my saw is bigger, and I use an additional clipper for stronger thickness cuts. I also use a few different sized hole punches (that are usually for use with paper crafting, but work just as well with up to 1mm thickness plasticard). I use the hole punches to create unique designs or to make my own rivets. Thanks for answering my question. I do pretty much the same thing, was just wondering if you did something different, but I guess we builders all pretty much have come to the same conclusions about building. Cheers!
So, another exceedingly dull and tedious work week over, finally some time to work on things - just a quicky tonight to show progress (such as it is) on the Turdis:
Decided not to paint it all blue in the end, but to go with the Cathedral colour scheme with blue accents. Also, made the top reversible so that I can use either as a toilet (with vent roof as above) or in Tardis mode with the light. Pretty happy with the way that's worked out if I do say so myself!
Anyway, hopefully more on Sunday (busy day tomorrow...)
GrimDork wrote: Just enough blue. Pretty awesome. Got a single manufactorum wasting away... maybe I'll steal your idea and make a turdis for my sister.
Wow... Lucky Sister Grim! Not quite sure what this says about your relationship but there we go....
Anyway, just the one pictorial update today, having made further progress on the Turdis. Haven't painted blue in a very long time so it's not quite how I'd hoped, but frankly it'll do for this mini project:
My life appears to be flashing before my eyes... With little or no time for my projects :(. Curse this thing called work and packing for house move (t-minus one month.... )
Anyway, finally had some 'free' time today, and thought I'd tackle a new test piece of painting for the cathedral proper, using some of the new range of GW paints - they're not an exact but pretty close match so will now have enough to finish it (once construction has finished and painting proper starts...). That and an an amazingly prescient hoarding of a Brazen Brass when it was discontinued! Anyway, here's a three part WIP of what my Eagles will look like:
Initially I wanted to have a two tone effect on the wings but quickly realised that a) it would be a bugger to paint and b) didn't work in reality as well as I envisioned. So amended to:
Wings all one colour - but painting the building under the wings white would have been nigh on impossible due to the techniques I'm employing - either the white or the metallics would end up being ruined. So onto version three:
This works MUCH better. Still a WIP shot as initially I did the 'underwing' section the same brassy/coppery couloir AS the wings, but this just all blended into one - so have retro painted them and the bits between the upper wings with darker metal (not finished) to make things stand out more. Until I change my mind again (lol...) THIS will be the version I go for.
Anyway, that's it for now - not sure if I'll have anymore updates for a while - may hVe to wait until the move has happened, and I can find the cathedral among all the boxes (once I've dismantled it!)
GrimDork wrote: Just enough blue. Pretty awesome. Got a single manufactorum wasting away... maybe I'll steal your idea and make a turdis for my sister.
Wow... Lucky Sister Grim! Not quite sure what this says about your relationship but there we go....
Anyway, just the one pictorial update today, having made further progress on the Turdis. Haven't painted blue in a very long time so it's not quite how I'd hoped, but frankly it'll do for this mini project:
It's coming along... Slowly...
Haha! Nice work! Very cool! I had pilfered your stair idea, and you've did a fantastic job pilfering the TARDIS... or Turdis... You're already further ahead on yours than I am on mine... Mine is still gw mold grey...
That's what I love about this hobby... How much a small idea can inspire someone else to even greater successes.. Well done!
Thanks for the feedback guys. Am now drowning in boxes ahead of the house move (SUCH fun - not) but have managed to get a bit more test painting done, including some more of the 'new' GW paint range - hurrah, a decent copper!
A quick test of the supporting buttress scheme - only another 25 or so to go. Also experimenting with the roof/floor tiles on a cut off - looks good to me, but has three different metallics on it so painting all of them this way is - like everything else on the dratted project - going to take ages!
Also further refinements to the Eagle: have gone back on myself and decided I WILL do the lower 'underwings' white as have found it's not too fiddly to do after all - just means lots of touching up (oo-er missus ) to the metal afterwards...
Previously was going to go with a darker 'trim' around the wings, but on discovering the copper have upped the finish - with a bit o gold for highlights works equally well against a darker or white background I reckon (Nb - it's only the left hand side that's 'finished'...
Today's madness: Glazing:
Note that there are only 3 panes in ATM as I'm having 'fun'experimenting - of course, being me this isn't just a sheet of plastic behind the window but INDIVIDUAL panes, lovingly cut and shaped to fit....
Now, aside from the sheer frustration and time it's taken to do these three, it leaves me a problem - if I DO glaze in this way, I'd gave to do the small REALLY fiddly panes in the rose above - having tried cutting these out it's not going to be easy. So...... Do I bother glazing or not? The large arched ones so far are relatively 'easy' to do, but it'd be silly to do them and not other bits. Wouldn't it? Arggghhhhhhh!
Gotta go the whole hog...now you've started, the rose will need doing
Considering the work that's gone into this I'd say it is worth doing the glazing, you'll be unsatisfied if you don't. But you do have to balance that against just how fiddly/time-consuming/frustrating it's going to be. If you think It's going to be bad enough to potentially give you 'burn-out' on the project you have to be realistic...
monkeytroll wrote: Gotta go the whole hog...now you've started, the rose will need doing
Considering the work that's gone into this I'd say it is worth doing the glazing, you'll be unsatisfied if you don't. But you do have to balance that against just how fiddly/time-consuming/frustrating it's going to be. If you think It's going to be bad enough to potentially give you 'burn-out' on the project you have to be realistic...
"burn-out"... "Realistic"
*ahem*
Sorry about that monkeytroll.. The whole fething project is anything but realistic, so what's a bit more insanity to keep things interesting?!
Anyway, like you said, whole hog time. Having explored various options I realised that trying to glaze WITHIN the parts of the rose would be nigh on impossible, but then I looked at it again closely and realised that I could glaze OVER it! Problem solved. Kind of. One step forward and all... So here's the 'solution', step by step:
1) make paper template of the areas to glaze:
2) carefully and with very pointy scalpel transfer design to transparent plastic:
3) cut out said designs (nb - don't try this at home kids unless you want to potentially open veins...) 4) re-score 'inner' frames onto rough template so as to get reasonable idea where to cut back to:
5) spend an inordinate amount of time very carefully filling down templates to the desired size to fit (nb, note fixed point arrow on the rose template - very useful if you don't want to file too much from one area!):
(The batman esq bit isn't an exact fit but given this is just the initial rough template I'll fix that up once into actual production!!)
6) voila - two templates I can now use to more 'easily' cut out addition pieces for other windows - assuming I go with this idea in the end:
"Just" need to do the three additional missing pieces and then I'll have a full set of templates to use. Now let's see - only 8 of these on the 'undamaged' side of the building....
Well folks, it had to come eventually... The house move is now imminent, so the Cathedral has been deconstructed to constituant components ready for packing and moving:
Not sure when I'll get the project back up and running so this may be it for a while.. Sigh...
Until then, thanks for the comments and encouragement - I'll be back with more tales of building nightmares as soon as I can!
Holy crap how was it that big but not glued to the point of being unable to be dismantled? Mind is blown that you were able to deconstruct it at all, let alone that much! Good luck on your move! As someone who seems to do it every 1-2 years... I bid you take the time and effort to completely unpack and arrange things to your liking before you get carried away with anything else. Seems like I never get the chance... but it sucks having stuff sit in the basement/attic/garage/etc when it could be useful somewhere else
Lol thanks Grim - the secret to dis/assembly lies in gluing small sections together, and then having LOTS of pins to keep them together in larger sections. Once I've painted bits (ha!) I'll glue them all together so the final building will be pretty much solid... All I need to do is remember how to put the bloody thing back together!
Come back soon, Phutarf! Your project has been and will always be a huge inspiration to me. But I can be patient; I know life sometimes gets in the way of our wonderful hobby. I look forward to your return.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I know the build has been a slow burn, but it's frustrating to have to stop for any length of time! Still, the frustration is dwarfed by my incredulity over how totally incompetent 's allegedly working on our behalf have been - less than 48 hours to go before we're supposed to complete and we've only just TODAY got final confirmation of out bloody mortgage!! If this doesn't come off for our deadline on Friday we won't be going anywhere - in which came I'll be back up and running sooner than I'd like.... And a hell of a lot poorer
Hurrah! Move has finally occurred - now to unpack, set up my new man-cave, find all the Cathedral parts and modelling supplies and get cracking... Hmm... Estimated time for resumption - Easter. Keep your eyes peeled everyone!
See, this is the problem with having the Tardis in 40K - the chameleon circuit goes and makes it look bigger on the OUTSIDE
But seriously, slightly later than anticipated I finally have the new hobby room / study (almost) set up; thankfully, aside from one or two minor bits of damage in transit, the Cathedral survived intact and the project can get back up and running! Well. More a sedate walking pace.
Oh alright then, the usual painfully slow crawl....!
monkeytroll wrote: Oh wow...so that's what an empty work space looks like....
And good to have you back up and running (or walking, or crawling...or whatever )
Cheers and don't worry Monkeytroll, soon there will be masses of bits, plastic shavings, glue, paint, dust etc all over the place. So much for the shiny, tidy new room!
(But at least the floor is laminate rather than carpet this time - no more worries of blu tack or paint spills!!!)
Squidbot wrote:Gork's (Or possibly Mork's) teeth, that is glorious!
Cheers Squidbot - whichever it is, it's taken a hell of a lot of teeth to get to even this stage...
inmygravenimage wrote:Magnificent, and great to see in its entirety!
Not quite it's entirety IMGI (sorry, I've abbreviated you ) - a few bits on the far side left off ATM, but as you can't see them... Lol
Anyway, just to prove I'm up and running (or whatever), here's proof: the inevitable descent into plastic shavings. Curse you mould lines and an insatiable need for perfection!
So, Bank Holiday weekend means the first weekend I can spend some time to the project. Hasn't taken long to get back to the joys of scraping mould lines off, and the ensuing plastic shards underfoot and dust from sawing everywhere... Such fun!
Anyway, rather than finish any of then numerous bits already half done, thought I'd look at the neglected 'bombed' rear corner for a change. Unfortunately for me, realised the work I'd previously done on the ruined 'tower' was when I initially had it towards the centre of the building:
(God this pic must be about 2 years old.... )
and having now moved it to the rear of the building meant the windows were now in the wrong configuration (the little skeleton v the vents - these were now the same as those directly below on the bottom row of windows - this could not be allowed! Bloody OCD.... )
So, that part was broken up (as had been glued; typical) and is now in the process of being reconfigured. That aside, had fun mangling one of the "skull walls" and re-orientating skulls on floor plates to match up damaged areas - pics below of today's efforts:
(Fun with hole damage)
(Note the 'vent' window on the upper part of the 'tower' versus the 'skeleton' window on the ground level - go have a look back at previous pics and then see the levels of stupidity I've put into this damned building....)
The view from the rear.
Right, nearly midnight - time for bed folks. More tomorrow, hopefully!
Phutarf, your "levels of stupidity" aka "attention to minute details" are what keep us coming back. If you didn't prioritize making this thing look perfect it would just be another really big building. Instead, your devotion makes this an Epic Build, worthy of memory and praise. Ages after you are done, we the veterans will still be talking about this cathedral and we will reference newcomers to this blog to serve as inspiration and awe. In short, we appreciate all the effort you are putting into this thing and we'll stand with you until it is done.
The bit I'm REALLY looking forward to is cutting up the movement trays around the crater and then gluing them back over the top. That's going to be fun....!
Thanks Dr H - getting to let rip with the sprue cutters is rather cathartic after trying to make everything else perfect (or as close as I can get....)
Just a quick update today as have been busy doing other things - a big more progress on the bombed section:
How it sits in relation to the crater, final position now photographed for accuracy later on;
and how I'm attempting to make the damage done to the building look "realistic" in terms of the blast radius, direction of force etc etc. OK, I'm not an expert in this sort of thing, but attempting to bend the broken windows outward has been... Painful... But worth it, I hope.
Still to do: add the remains of a window (skeleton base, of course!) to the tower bit, some more ruined floor plate just below it, the ladder to the wall and plenty more damage to the back of the walls nearest to the crater - toying with the idea of implanting shrapnel as well as gouges etc.
Might get this done (bar painting, obviously!) tomorrow with luck
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ok, I need to stop having ideas late in the evenings...
So, looking for bits earlier, I stumbled across one the Cities of Death street lamps I'd taken the base off (god knows why...) anyway, having been thinking about the 'real world' issue of lighting the cathedral (by real world I mean how it would be done in the actual 40k universe, of course ) I struck me that in addition to the chandelier I'm planing on doing, why not go for some more wall hanging lamps?! Hence the following prototype:
(Stuck on a random wall for now, along side an original)
I recon a few of these hanging from the upper balcony floor over the main cathedral section would solve that issue. However, creates a whole new one for me - do you have any idea how bleeding fiddly it is to cut off and reposition the damned skulls on these things?! Arggghhhh! Why do I do this to myself?!?
Automatically Appended Next Post: Woo! Over 11k views! Never I'm my wildest dreams (which can be pretty wild) did I ever think I'd have that many viewers when I started this prioject...! Mind you, at this rate I'll probably have reached the magical 40K before it's done
Cheers monkeytroll. I could leave them as they are but.. No..
Anyway, this mornings progress- work on more damaged walls and fitting the blast door to the cathedral power generator, the latter of which needed a fair bit of filing in order to fit a bastion door into (thankfully the inside will never be seen and so normal neatness not required!):
I have to hold my hands up to some slight over filling on the bottom of the door supports - but I figure that once in place and debris added etc no one (except me) will know (or for that matter care )
So here's a shot of the damaged side now with most of the major elements completed:
More later, probably...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Right, on a roll today. Shame the bloody auto edit will bury this but for those sub'd I don't suppose it'll matter...
Anyway, for those with good eyesight and an enquiring mind, you might have wondered what was going on with the intact sloping roof section, as there have been... Bits..... White-tac'd to it for months now. Well, wonder no more. Here's a pic of the 'naked' roof to remind you:
(Don't you love that this beast still comes apart?! I know I do...)
What's wrong with that I hear you cry? Well, nothing, really. Except you can see the joins between the floor tiles, including the massive additional bit Ritch in the middle, needed to extend the length to make up for the reduction between tiles where they had to be cut apart off the sprues and then glued together. So I wanted to hide this fact. Step forward 'drainpipes' - sort of.
Using some 'spare' window sections from the Shrine of the Aquila, I've cut away the individual window supports:
Then because, as we all know, I'm insane this way, spent ages this afternoon carefully scrapping and filing them down:
(Before on the left; after on the right, front and back respectively)
Then all cut to the same length (again, before and after):
And then finally carefully glued to the roof. I forgot to take a pic of this bit but they weren't actually long enough to reach the gutter, so some additional bits were cut to size (hence the previous point of making them all the same length - made this easier). However, after a good 4 hours or so, I'm well chuffed with the results:
Achieves the desired result of covering up the joins in the roof plates, and should, once painted, look good. I hope. Cos it's too late to change them now!!
Right, I've set myself a target to get most if not all the internal walkways completed by the end of this weekend, mostly in an (probably) in vain attempt to get this thing finished sometime this century...
Anyway, in order to help do this, tonight I have been working on some of the internal arch-supports. Oh, these are fun. Not. Created out of Shrine of the Aquila window sections, I'd already cut them roughly to size, but need to trim and file them to their final shapes. So below are front and reverse pics of the various stages: far right an original window, far left a rough cut, centre the final carved, filed and scraped version...
Front:
Reverse:
The trickiest parts to get into shape are behind the skulls mid way up the arch - gouging out the additional plastic on both the front and back is a right pain. Closely followed by removing the upper supporting 'ledge' (where the big bolts are) at the top of the piece - had to do this in order to fit in the gap on the walkway it's supporting.
As with most things on this build no one will really see the results once everything is in position, but I'd know and I want it as close to perfect as I can get...
Cheers guys - all feedback great fully received as gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling that people give a monkeys (oh, and borrow away Warboss, others may as well make use of my nerdishness!!)
Sadly no real progress today as real life has got in the way. Well, that and an evening of Eurovision - go Austria!!
Right, after a late, alcohol fuelled celebration of camp kitchery (aka Eurovision), a slightly hungover gym session this morning and the joys of a weeks ironing while watching the Spanish Grand Prix (well done Lewis) an update - have finally finished shaping the supporting arches:
Obviously I still need to work out what to do to fill the gaps where the main archways have been extended (probably using my favourite thing; movement tray bits) and some additional pieces to bulk out the rather spindly looking single girder at the base (I'm thinking a couple more cut down to size each side), but overall pleased with the results so far.
The worst one to shape was the 'intact' arch on the right hand side which partly supports the rear tower - needed to keep this archway intact, but meant gouging out the required bits a right pain. Oh, and to maintain symmetry, if you look closely you can see where I had to cut off and glue back on all the bloody rivets from the side where the right angle is formed with the arch next to it:
Annoyingly there's just a tad too much taken out of the arch here for my liking, but I figure I can claim battle damage as the reason
Next stage will be the lower walkway, and the joy of cutting tiles to fit the 'sticky out bits' of the exterior walls. Not looking forward to that...
Automatically Appended Next Post: So a quick last update for today - working on the lower walkway this evening and realised that in order to accommodate the tile in the side tower, I have to break apart parts of the walls in order to curt away some of the wall supports. Sigh - just when I thought I'd finished having to do this.. As such it's going to be slow going. That aside, came up with what I think is a great solution for a hand rail
No prizes for guessing where this comes from, but I wonder if anyone can...?
Nice arches. What are you going to do about the points (or lack thereof) of the arch pieces where they meet the roof?
Nice hand rail too. Not seen any particular piece of plastic that looks like that, but kind of makes me think of a tidied up piece of round sprue (that may just be me and my sprue use though).
It might be from the spure from the Pegasus Hobbies line of terrain. you know the Hexagon, Platformer, and Chem Plant. I think it the piece that holds the clips.
It's a slow work morning (databases and such being offline atm) so thought I'd check in...
Dr H wrote:Nice arches. What are you going to do about the points (or lack thereof) of the arch pieces where they meet the roof?
Nice hand rail too. Not seen any particular piece of plastic that looks like that, but kind of makes me think of a tidied up piece of round sprue (that may just be me and my sprue use though).
Still not sure (yet) how I'll cap the arches - might cut down a spare girder and use that - will experiement later.
Warboss_Waaazag wrote:The handrail looks familiar, but I can't quite place it.
Damn - a better line would have been"can't put my finger on in it" and then I could have said "no, it's a HAND rail, not a finger rail" and I would have laughed... I need to get out more...
deadmeat85 wrote:It might be from the spure from the Pegasus Hobbies line of terrain. you know the Hexagon, Platformer, and Chem Plant. I think it the piece that holds the clips.
Good guess deadmeat, but all the bits used are either plasticard (where absolutely necessary) or from the GWCOD kits. Combine your thoughts with what DrH said and you're on the right lines...
Warboss_Waaazag wrote: Wait a minute, is that hand rail made from one of the window frame pieces?
These but with the sides and skulls carved away?
Nope! Nice try though!
A further hint - if you look trhough my previous postings, you'll find I've refered to, used and raved about a particular bit of GW kit for a multitude of different purposes - it's related to that...
optometris wrote: I feel this was worthy procrastination from revising lol
the length of the sprue holding the curbstones in
Congratulations optometrist! We have a winner Sadly no prize other than knowing you got it right first. Of all the kits I've used I can't help but love the movement trays (and sprues!) - without these I wouldn't have my grand staircase, gutters, walkway edges, additional widths to insert in gaps, and now handrails - not to forget floors of course! And I'm pretty sure these will end up filing in my archway gaps too...
(NB - as a university administrator, I feel it is my professional duty to encourage all students to stop procrastinating and knuckle down to serious revision. However, as a human being, stuff that )
Haha I promise I did lots of work before i started looking....
I love movement trays for adding to bases, the 20mm squares (or whatever the smallest size is) make great paving, and the edges once trimmed down make good curbstones.
Are you going to be displaying this anywhere when its done, I shall be making the grand pilgrimage back to the forest of dean in a few weeks when I'm done with my degree, brizzle is a stones throw away really.
The original plan was to use this as a base for an Armies on Parade entry, but from what I've been reading on the rumours forum and other places, looks like Games Day is off this year (not that it'd ever be ready for that!) and goodness only knows if there will be one next year. On that basis, I have no idea if it will ever get displayed properly... My local GW store is at Cribbs Causeway, so that's where it would be entered into the competition - it may end up living there one day (it takes up a load of space after all!)
Wanted to give a sense of the commitment I'm making to this thing, so bear with me. As mentioned in the last major update, have been working on the lower walkway and the "inserts" to the bits of the walls the stick out. Trouble is I'd already glued the three, three story walls together, so had to very carefully break the lower panels off to be able to get to the (now in the way) floor supports in order to trim them away. Here's what they looked like before:
- totally impossible to get a floor tile in that gap as the 'lip' was hitting the raised part of the floor tile. So they all needed cutting back - here's how they look after:
This now allows a floor tile to be inserted. But not easily, oh no... The sides needed to be cut down - and just to show the tolerances I'm having to deal with:
Basically the thickness of the saw blade I'm using, off both sides. One slip and the whole thing gets buggered... But not only that, once the sides are fine, due to the wall girders being on the INSIDE of the gap rather than outside, needed to cut some small notches out of the corners of the tiles to accommodate them:
(A before and after comparison pic with a standard tile)
So now it fits. Except there's a gap to the rest of the walkway that needed to be filled:
Step forward a bit of plasti-card cut to size:
Spot the gap on the far left of the tiles? Yep, that needed to be cut away to accommodate the arch support on the tower wall, as the section is just too wide to fit snuggle behind it and up against the exterior wall:
(Note in this pic the old trusty movement tray edges being deployed as trim to the walkway - more on that in a bit...)
So was looking at the arch girders and thinking they looked a bit weedy, so toyed with the idea of additional girder supports:
But to be honest didn't really like the results, so instead I think I'm going to leave the walkways edges bare, but with eagle supports beneath:
Be interested to hear what others think about the two options as I'm not yet 100% swayed in either direction...
So having repeated the whole thing twice, am left with this:
the gap between the two sections needs to be filled properly, as well as additional gaps cut to support the central arch support, but as that will effectively hide it I'm not overly worried about that ATM - so the final piece will look (probably) something like this once I've tidied everything up:
I have so much to say! so soooooo so much but it all comes down to this.
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN U GOT GAME SON
This is a masterpiece of everything I wish people would strive for when it comes to terrain. Terrain makes the story come alive and people don't appreciate what a good board can do for your games. This amazingly detailed building is a pinnacle. A true pinnacle of beauty. I truly love the pinning on the beams as well to keep it modular, I had the same idea myself but fell short as I didn't have the patience to plan out something as intricate as you have here. The roof sections, cutting out window beams to put between the tiles, getting it all flush, the chandelier. Just blown away. And the paint job! Actually painted details on a COD piece is hard to see as most are drybrushed and left like that. I applaud you good sir! BRING ON MORE!
Today I have mostly been working on the upper internal walkway. I'd considered using the COD' crenellations' to line the area, but this would block out too much of any models up there, so instead came up with the following, continuing the handrail from the lower walkway, but with more supports:
This means you can actually see the majority of the model while also offering positions to hang the internal lighting I mentioned a few posts back. Speaking of which, here's a quick step-by-step guide to how to do them incase anyone wants to do likewise:
Note that the 'bump' from the top of the lamp has been recycled on top of the handrail supports. This a) cuts down the vertical height of the posts rather than the original pointy bit and b) fits nicely with the bumps on the handrail itself! Never throw anything away kids!
Unlike the lower walkway, however, I've decided to use the movement tray bits to line the edges (I figure you wouldn't want to loose your footing in this universe, plus it hides the join with the handrail supports) - the downside being corner - in order to get round this had to cut the bits at right angels to, in effect, reverse the actual corners:
Have also been working on the corner, which I'd hoped to have finished by now but a) it's fiddly and b) realised that after two failed attempts, I've got some spacing issues to resolve, so will have to update this at a later stage....
This is a really great project. Surprised I didn't see it before! It's really coming along and I love the incredible dedication to detail you're putting into it. Keep up the fantastic work!
GrimDork wrote: Things not lining up? Take a break if you have to, but don't let it get you down, it's an amazing work!
Sigh... Hit the nail on the head Grim, that and being ill over the last couple of days, my patience has been sorely tested by my stupid need for perfection. Or as least as I can get with kits that we're never meant to be tortured into the shapes I'm trying to create...
Anyway, have been tidying bits n bobs up while being full of snot and coughs, such as FINALLY gluing the side towers back together after breaking them up to do the internal floors, and at last putting the lower external roof together into one piece:
So feeling a bit more human today and while it's pi$$ing down with rain have finally gotten to the part I've been dreading: trying to tie the rear of the building with the side.... I've been putting this off for months cos I knew it was going to be a pain in the arse to do, as it involves cutting up a load of plasticard and gluing floors together, as the way things are constructed to date means thee are gaps that need bridging.
What I hadn't quite realised is the the floor/roof tiles in the Shrine of the Aquila and the other COD sets aren't quite the same size/shape - the SOTA ones are slightly thinner than the others, so the rear tower of the building, where interior (COD) meet exterior (SOTA) had to be glued just right otherwise the floors don't line up properly:
- not helped by having to fit a spacer between them. Also needed to add a very thin strip to fill a gap on one edge too:
These then are too far away from the rest of the upper walkway, so needed a thicker strip to bridge that gap, through with needed to drill holes to locate the pins from the archway supports beneath. I' frankly couldn't be arsed to take pics of all the stages to this, so you'll have to make do with the 'final' results:
(Nb, not yet glued the back bit to the interior "L" as I still figure it'll be 'easier' to(eventually) paint if things are in smaller sections...
And with the wall pieces slotted on top:
Thankfully most of the additional material will be covered by walls or buttresses, but in hindsight I would have done things slightly differently if I could start over. HA!!
The most annoying part is that the corner by the doorway leading from exterior to interior at the back stubbornly refuses to line up how I want in the dry fit - I SHOULD work when glued, but for now it's a pain and will be a weak point when finally all glued. Oh well... As long as I don't drop the bloody thing....
Well, I didn't play with any kittens but took a couple of days away from things... But back today and have spent all day making a new piece for the cathedral - not going to bore you with how (if you're really interested pm me) but suffice it to say it's taken ages to get everything cut to size and lined up properly bit I think it's well worth the effort:
Ok, doesn't look that impressive by itself, but I'm that happy with it that I'm going to show it in its proper context by using my first ever spoiler Worked out what it is yet? No? Ok, here it is:
Spoiler:
Every Cathedral needs an over the top pulpit, right?!
Btw - that's not glued in place - just fits so snugly that it stays in place all by itself!
Cheers guys, thanks for the feedback - not sure if I'm boring eveyone to death these days with updates ( ) , as lots of views but not many comments, but hey ho - here's a pic heavy update anyway....
As lots of the major build elements are now complete, got to focus on the myriad small details that need completing. Today: the Chapel roof. So the main elements have long been glued together, but left three triangular sections at the 'prow' to do. So... Cue lots of cutting and filing of tiles:
Initial cut to shape. But to sit on the wall supporting ledge needs filing on the reverse. Before (with areas to cut back incised):
And after:
Repeat twice more on the outer sections and then glued to the rest of the roof plate - reverse with the filed areas (tbh wish I'd gone with this side as the top of the roof, but too late now..):
(And yes, all this will be painted, even though it'll be virtually impossible to see....)
And the top, in situ:
Ok, so the edges don't quite line up with the walls, but frankly even I don't care at this point
So next up is the area between the Chapel roof and the walkway round the main roof leading to the front tower - need to disguise the joins here. Thankfully had some of the Shrine of the Aquila wall top sections spare that had been cut off earlier, just needed some trimming and gluing to get into shape. First, needed to cut off the wall light (more on this bit later... ):
Joined with a further cut down piece and a COD wall section:
And in situ:
Now, because I HAVEto have things as symmetrical as possible, I couldn't let the 'prow' girder remain looking like this:
So, remember that wall light carefully shaved off a minute ago well, here's where it got transplanted to:
- along with the painfully tedious and irritating job of gluing on previously harvested rivets... Only 52 to put on, great fun.... But the final result:
So those of you still following may recall my crazy idea about glazing the windows of the building, or the Chapel at least. Well, frankly that idea, while still fun, would have been hugely impractical to complete, so have gone for the far easier (if less satisfying) approach of one large piece of clear plastic behind the window supports - cut to shape:
And in place (along with repositioned girder tops)
Only 3 more of those to do (once I restock supplies) in the Chapel windows - and then potentially 8 more in the rest of the Cathedral....
Well, that's today's progress. Apologies if this has sent you to sleep - just think how I feel, actually having to do it all!!!
Try to think of it more as leaving your audience stunned into silence than lulled into sleep
Personally, I'm a fan of being shown all the steps in the process....not only for any knowledge and useful tips gained, but also to demonstrate the effort you put into this.
Really impressed with the low wall surrounding the roof, the fact you've kept it separate from the walkway helps sell it in a way I feel most people would have missed if building it themselves (me included).
Whilst perhaps not as OCD-satisfying as individually glazing the windows, the one piece is infinitely more practical. (perhaps you could just very lightly glue them in place, and use the previous templates for a re-visit after completion.....insert evil snigger....)
Briancj wrote:I see you have reached the OGIJWTBD* portion of a major construction project.
--B.
*Oh God I just Want To Be Done
You have no idea Briancj.... I've only been at this now for... Well, getting on two years....
monkeytroll wrote:Try to think of it more as leaving your audience stunned into silence than lulled into sleep
Personally, I'm a fan of being shown all the steps in the process....not only for any knowledge and useful tips gained, but also to demonstrate the effort you put into this.
Really impressed with the low wall surrounding the roof, the fact you've kept it separate from the walkway helps sell it in a way I feel most people would have missed if building it themselves (me included).
Whilst perhaps not as OCD-satisfying as individually glazing the windows, the one piece is infinitely more practical. (perhaps you could just very lightly glue them in place, and use the previous templates for a re-visit after completion.....insert evil snigger....)
NO! Once this is done, it's done, I'm not revisiting, or doing anything this stupidly complicated, time consuming or bank balance breaking ever again.
Well......
Does it count that I'm already starting to obsess over another idea for another Armies on Parade display board???
Brilliant work, the 'how-to' pics and explanations are great - no sleeping here, just read through this entire thread in one sitting!
I applaud your conviction to perfection... however, if it's really driving you crazy, remember that even with terrain, 'battle damage' is your friend, in both construction and paint!
(Perfectly concievable that even the Cathedral might have suffered damage here and there - it's 40k, right? !!!)
One sitting?! Crazy!! But thanks anyway Lamby. It's good to finally be getting close to the stage where painting might actually begin in earnest... Although that opens up a whole new headache in terms of getting the paint job just right...!
Lamby wrote:
Not to throw any gravel in your gears, but those light fittings would look awesome with LEDs in them...
They would, Lamby, they would, but as mentioned a few pages back, I've absolutely no experience with LED's and given how long things have taken so far, it might tip me over the edge to try to get to grips with, on this project at least...
Lamby wrote:
Painting: seriously, with something this big I'd use either Krylon or GW spray cans to base coat (after undercoating).
Again, no experience of using spray cans, airbrushes or oil paints - I'm seriously old school (or a Luddite lol) re painting - even my Reaver (must dig him out soon) has so far been done the good ol' fashioned way with just brushes.
Lamby wrote:
I also really like the idea of the 'glass' in the Cathedral window... Tamiya Clear paints for the stained glass effect, maybe?
Maybe. Maybe... Thing is, I want people to see the statue on the inside of the Chapel, so don't know if painting the windows will work...
MagosBiff90 wrote:My mind is boggled by the sher scale of this piece! Incredible work...... enjoying my way, basically watching this! :me:
Thanks MagosBiff90, glad to hear you're enjoying the blog, even if I'm finding it tough going lol
No updates today as I've been battling the evil forces of Ikea (aka flat pack hell - even more torturous than the Cathedral build ) but moving my old WD's came across on old inspirational terrain article - sorry, forget which issue as am currently typing this while soaking in the tub... Too much info?! Lol - anyway, the jist was basically get some COD bits, come up with an idea, and then start having fun. Which is essentially what I've been doing all this time. Although my partner would doubtless question my idea of fun given the amount of frustration and swearing the build has caused... But I digress. The point is, with the right imagination and a bucket load of perseverance (and ok, a reasonable disposable income), anyone could do what I'm doing.
And I keep having to occasionally remind people, this REALLY IS my first ever terrain piece. EVER. Feeling nostalgic, found one of the first pic I took of the beast way back when - how things have changed, both in terms of progress and design....
Anyway, enough boring musings; back to a good soak and reading other peoples articles. More updates tomorrow. Probably
Put me squarely in the too boggled to speak category. I have trouble fathoming the whole and the individual parts you're adding in as well, but it's rather interesting nonetheless
Cheers Brother Payne. It's getting there... And keep being boggled GrimDork
So today have (virtually) finished off the front door and balcony assembly, incuding associated making good on the front of the central tower itself. This included finally sorting out the doorway with additional buttress lower parts:
These required copious filing down on the reverse (sorry, forgotten to take a pic, may do one later) in order to fit over the internal floor, plus extra plasticard to fill dome of the more obvious gaps - green stuff will have to do the rest at a later stage.
The upper balcony has had slight modification to the rear in order to fit better with the rest of the building - the old guttering idea had to be stripped off and a new bridging piece glued in instead, with notches cut to fit round the fronts girders:
In order to help keep the upper level at right angled to the building, added a couple of cut down inverted buttress pieces. Didn't want the standard skull parts on the top to be upside down, so replaced them with a couple of spare wall crenalation spiky pieces:
And in situ:
The notches cut In the eagle front were a bit of an early mistake so will need to be filled again, but mostly that will be hidden by the Eagle supports that will fit between the main eagle wings (like those on the pulpit). But that can happen another day lol
This awesome on so many levels first floor ,second floor, third floor and roof terrace ect no seriously this is a real work of persistence, amazement and sheer dam insanity
I used to look at Lincoln cathedral with amazement, now its just a shed just one more thing when you're finished can I have it
@ Monkeytroll - couldn't let myself do the easy (lazy!) thing of just having upside down skulls, just couldn't....
@ lone dirty dog - not sure I can rival Lincoln - or for that matter any real Cathedral - in all honesty, but thanks anyway. And in answer to your question - no!
@ DrH - you think these bits are close fits - have just been doing some work on the windows above the Eagle, and that's been REALLY tight - ill do some pics tomorrow I expect - bed time now as back to work tomorrow (boo... )
Sooooooo....... A 'fortuitous' break in a wall section and irritating obsessive tendencies has led me down a dark path of thinking about.... Cloisters. The whole point of the Cathedral is to be a base for an Armies on Parade board, right? But what decent cathedral Doesn't have a proper cloisters, right?! But there isn't room for mine to have one. Is there. No. But I want one.
Sooooooo....... Why not have TWO boards?? I mean, there are two GW stores in Bristol - if I entered them BOTH I might win both and then I could take both boards to Games Day and plead to have them both side by side yeah, cos that would be mega awesome, yeah?!?
See, these are the type of crazy OCD thoughts that mean I can't concentrate at work and end up doing the following doodles on post it's and cost analysis to see if it could be done:
I mean, what's another £150 when the result would be cool, despite the pipe dream idea, the time it would take, the fact the money should (ought) to go on damn minis to go on the bloody board etcetera etcetera....
But it would be cool. With a Garden of Morr stuck in the middle and 40K'd. As the mock up shows:
(Thank goodness for all those spare damaged wall sections...)
Someone please tell me a good way to block out obsessive thoughts before I actually do this.....
I feel for you on the whole issue of GW's "jigsaw-puzzle that doesn't fit together quite right" kits, they're incredibly annoying to work with - But you've done really good work with them, and your patience is an example to us all.
I can't tell you to stop, because your stuff is too good - but I'd say you've earned a good break afterwards
Sweet jesus man! You're looking to add a bowl full of crazy to what is already madness-based stone soup! This thing is a crazy train with no breaks! Ahem, but I sure wouldn't mind seeing it done
The only thing I would say... is to consider the time involved. Realize that things change and that there is no guarantee that this Armies on Parade thing will exist forever. I'm not trying to DOOMGLOOM/prognosticate GW's downfall or anything like that. But am I suggesting that it's entirely possible for things to be fickle and finite? Yes, that's all I'm saying. It would be a ridiculous and amazing addition either way, even if said contest stopped existing
You lot aren't helping. Sigh. I just know it's going to happen. I can already feel the plans on how to incorporate the cloister yet retain a single board if needs be coming to fruition... And it involves pins.. Which I should be shoving deep into my brain and wiggling until the voices stop...
We'd like to help Phutarf, really we would. But the fact that we're here on Dakka following this thread shows that we're genetically pre-disposed to majestic modelling madness....we go to type 'STOP - this is insane, don't do it....think of the children', but all our fingers can do is go 'yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah....greatideagoforit....doitdoitdoitdoit....'
Now you've made me add another £20 or more cos of another "great idea" for embellishing the new cloister chapter house roof with an octagonal bell tower:
Make it stop. Please, before I'm bankrupt and/or insane.....
To date:
x9 Shrine of the Aquila
x5 Basilica Administratum
x2 Sanctum Imperialis
x2 Imperial Sector
x1 Honoured Imperium
x1 Garden of Morr
(Not shown)
x6 movement tray packs
Lots of eBay bits n pieces (quad guns, las cannon, extra doors and floor plates etc etc)
I don't want to do the maths. And I'll still need more to finish. And then to buy minis and paints etc to go on them. Oh, and the innumerable blades and plastic bits and glue......
This is one of the most amazing current blogs on Dakkadakka. And considering the level of work that goes on here, I don't say that lightly. But that thing is a-friggin'-mazing.
Was recently in Cologne, visiting their huge cathedral, and couldn't stop imagining how cool it would be to have a "proper" sized Imperial Cathedral board to fight over, with an interior big enough to actually fit entire companies of troops, as it would be in real life. This blog realises that random daydream, in more detail and with more awesome than I had even imagined!
Thanks Da Boss. Thankfully my (over stretched as it is) bank account and lack of physical space means as much as I'd like to do something as awesome as Cologne's cathedral, I can't. Phew. This project is quite big enough thanks, not helped by my own stupidity in making it twice the size....!
I still maintain that I'm not doing anything here that anyone else in theory can't/couldn't do - and to be honest I'm getting plenty of inspiration from other guys work on here and other sites. For example - my bell tower draws heavily on the winning entry from last years UK Armies on Parade, although I'm going to be putting my own twist on it if course! My very, very rough mock up:
(still missing bell, although through eBay that should be turning up later this week)
Currently in cleaning up work space mode so there probably won't be any major updates for a while, but here's a glimpse of the future - the chapter house is going to be a somewhat different shape that originally planed... Hopefully....
Your doing a great job, I built one similar a few years back, I feel your pain..... however, seeing grown men getting excited to play on it is totally worth it in the end...
), pick the one that says forums is the easiest since you can just dump it right into your post.
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). In order to fit the access tile in line with the other tiles meant cutting off the rear lip - filing away the underside of the access tile in order to allow it to sit on the wall's corresponding supporting lip was also a right pain:
. Oh, and yeah, I think I'll need to open them up too - guess what I'll be doing tomorrow....
Turns out that the way I've constructed everything, the narrow sections leading from the main tower to the interior are just that bit narrower than ever, requiring some major cutting to get things to size:
I should have said that the previous pic was a 
Assuming I go with the test panel then the overall result will be a pretty decent light coloured building, which will be good enough for me. Probably. 
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