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Oh my! Just back-tracked from a post of yours to find this thread. And... wow! I admire the breadth of vision, the scale here. And the way you take by now familiar building blocks (GW terrain) and bend them to your purposes.

I'll be following this, looking to pick up as many ideas as I can pillage along the way!

Yeah that piece is pretty slick boss, keep it up

GiraffeX wrote:That corner piece looks very cool. This is going to be so amazing when its all painted up

Yeah, but at the rate I paint, the words Sistine Chapel spring to mind...!

GrimDork wrote:Yeah that piece is pretty slick boss, keep it up

Will do, will do...

tinfoil wrote:Oh my! Just back-tracked from a post of yours to find this thread. And... wow! I admire the breadth of vision, the scale here. And the way you take by now familiar building blocks (GW terrain) and bend them to your purposes.

I'll be following this, looking to pick up as many ideas as I can pillage along the way!

High praise indeed, coming from the master of greenstuff! If I had a fraction of the skill you do tinfoil.... Constantly amazed by what you are achieving!

Right, mutual admiration over, and now I'm awake again (damn you sun and dawn chorus), the reason I painted the piece last night was because I wanted to see if I could pull this off without anyone noticing:

As you can hopefully see, it's actually a scratch built bit out of plasticard - ok, aside from the rivets that were incredibly carefully harvested from a spare tile. If you look closely at the "finished" piece the tiny tiles are in no way as crisp a the 'real' tiles, but painted and from a distance I recon I can get away with it. Although it took a damn age to construct, I think it'll be easier to do another 3 (or 7....) off these than butcher proper tiles, which I can use elsewhere - after all plasticard and time are cheap, COD floor tiles are expensive!

Here it is in situ:

Can you spot the join? Lol....

Next update (probably) - stasis controls / holo projector.....

The corners have been done amazingly.
They look like they could be from the original set.

Shiny

Great work on the triangular sections, making them from scratch seems the way forward - although time-consuming, I'm guessing that it's not that much slower than chopping, cleaning and filing standard bits to shape, and certainly cheaper.

I'm not sure I'd go that far YourIntestines - will be getting some different thickness plasticard at the weekend to see if I can make one betterer... And yes, I tend to agree MT - although as I need to make 8, it's still going to be painful. Even more so when you start to really see the true size of the Chapter House now I've glued together the main floor plate:



And worked out that it's 572 individual full tiles, plus all the odd shaped ones that need painting.....

Awesome as usual Phutarf. Have you any step by step photos of those angled floors? Layer by layer? "Action" shots? Anyway, still following this close like a hawk who is flying too low to the ground.

Hey Warboss - glad you're enjoying the build - cos I'm not. It's giving me nothing but grief ATM and as a consequence my motivation is waning somewhat. Wish I'd never started the second board now tbh, or that I'd chosen to do something with more straightforward bloody angles....

Anyway; the custom build floor paste was done in pretty much the same way as the one I did waaaaaaaay back as part of the balcony on the cathedral - I've got some more, slightly thicker plasticard today so doubtless I'll bore the arse off anyone following next time I cut some up with new pics. Also bought a new pair of sprue cutters as my old ones gave up the ghost last week - can't think why.... It's been a pain trying to remove components without them, I can tell you..

So basically this week in my spare time I've been cleaning up mould lines (such fun) and gluing a few walls together - nothing very exciting in afraid, nor photogenic. The only real update is, after much prevaricating and changing my mind about half a million times, my revised idea for a bell tower:

I'm thinking it's a nod to a minaret. May as well nick ideas from more than just one religion huh?! Lol.... Also with a hefty dose of acknowledgment to Lord_Mortis for stealing his take on the actual bell positioning itself, all be it that my end result will be slightly different - still, credit where credits due and all

Mind you, depending on how you interpret the rules for Armies on Parade, the positioning of the tower could well invalidate the second board, given that the balcony over hangs the rear of the board by a tiles width. Now, I've not seen any formal rule that prevents this, and I'm sure I've seen previous entries with overhangs, but you can beat your life if I did ever enter this it'd be disqualified. I did try offsetting the tower to comply, but just didn't look right and meant using extra wall pieces I can I'll afford (literally) to do so - but who even knows if Games Day or AOP will even still exist at the point either board will ever be finished???

Sigh

So to cheer myself up a bit I gave in and ordered one if these:

More money down the drain but I figure it might end up on a board... Maybe...

Wow! I really like the use of the Basilika struts to support the balcony. Looking good!

Revised bell tower looks cool. Giant projects are always difficult to maintain momentum on. I try to break up projects like these with a bunch of really small, quick pieces. They help me stay focused and keep me from feeling like I'll never get anything done. Discipline is a bitch.

Tower is quite majestic. Needs a sniper set up there though, once its all done and you're putting dudes on the board.

So, this evening I have been focusing on the bell tower once again, mostly on the basis that it's a much more straightforward build than the Chapter House (well - as straightforward as I can let myself get away with, at any rate!)

Now, the main thrust has been on the bell housing itself, as I really didn't like the previous version - it just seemed a bit too... unfurnished. So with that in mind and after looking at various interpretations of bell towers through history, came up with the following. It's not 100% realised yet, but turning out well I think:


Here's the inevitable how to guide... Firstly cut down four basilica buttresses:

(Remember to save the cut offs - will always come in useful elsewhere!)

Then mount thesis onto a square of wall parts (minus spiky bits):


Then add a further (complete) square on top where the Sulla used to be:


So the main issue now to resolve will be how to mount the actual bell, as a ball of white-tac won't cut it - but as this will mostly be hidden, I'll worry about that later.

So that should be it. But after a late night of pondering, felt that the inverted buttresses supporting the balcony didn't quite cut it, looked a bit weedy. So I'm contemplating doubling them up for a really ornate look - what do you think? :

Yeah the new bell housing looks better. Go for the elaborate supports if they aren't a deal breaker. Seems appropriate for imperial Gothic.

 GrimDork wrote:
Yeah the new bell housing looks better. Go for the elaborate supports if they aren't a deal breaker. Seems appropriate for imperial Gothic.

After a couple of days away with work, your wish is my command Grim... So herewith I provide for your approval the fruits of this evenings labours: elaborate imperial gothic double inverted support version 1:


Hope you like it

(After all - only another 7 of the bloody things to build!!)

The emperor gave his body, heart, and soul for the imperium architect, you must do your utmost to uphold this honor. Etc etc, a few more pages of imperial doctrine, anyway... it looks quite nice good work

The way you've got the lights (I assume they are lights) to fit on the supports is beautiful.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just looking back through your blog, and I saw this.

Phutarf wrote:
always recycle children

The joy of inaccurate wording.

Phutarf wrote:

 GrimDork wrote:
Yeah the new bell housing looks better. Go for the elaborate supports if they aren't a deal breaker. Seems appropriate for imperial Gothic.

After a couple of days away with work, your wish is my command Grim... So herewith I provide for your approval the fruits of this evenings labours: elaborate imperial gothic double inverted support version 1:


Hope you like it

(After all - only another 7 of the bloody things to build!!)

Looks good - I'm a fan of the fancy supports
Just a little nitpick though - is it just me or do the two beams not quite look parallel? How it doesn't turn out to be a problem...

YourIntestines wrote:Just looking back through your blog, and I saw this.

Phutarf wrote:
always recycle children

The joy of inaccurate wording.

Nope, I stand by my original meaning!

Brother Payne wrote:Looks good - I'm a fan of the fancy supports
Just a little nitpick though - is it just me or do the two beams not quite look parallel? How it doesn't turn out to be a problem...

yeah, they are very slightly out of alignment, but thankfully there's enough flexibility in them that once glued in place (whenever that might be,,,) they'll straighten up nicely....

I will never complain about how my desk is littered with half assembled models held together with white tack ever again.

Double supports, excellent. The lamp post detail is a nice touch.

Phutarf wrote:
yeah, they are very slightly out of alignment, but thankfully there's enough flexibility in them that once glued in place (whenever that might be,,,) they'll straighten up nicely....

Phew

The bell towers coming along nicely, plus those supports work really well with the whole asthetic .

 OneManNoodles wrote:
I will never complain about how my desk is littered with half assembled models held together with white tack ever again.

Double supports, excellent. The lamp post detail is a nice touch.

ahhh, white tack, where would I be without it?!

Ok, had a whole week away from the project, so about time I made some progress. Namely, this:


Also had some more thoughts about the bell mounting, but I'll update you all about that tomorrow I suspect....

It's good to be back

That looks great, the damaged portion with the broken railing is excellent especially.

 GrimDork wrote:
That looks great, the damaged portion with the broken railing is excellent especially.

cheers Grim, glad you like it

So today's efforts have been on the bell mount itself, and I think I've come up with a solution I can live with. So in reverse order for a change, here's the (nearly) finished item, to be followed by explanations:



Here goes...

The initial solution came from some left over bits I had from the Imperial Bastion Icarus defence laser, namely the 'mobile base':

Inverted, this actually fits reasonably well on top of the buttresses I'd already cut down previously:

Now, I'd been wondering how to accomplish the swing on the bell to show a bit of movement. Initially I'd planned on using the bell mechanism that comes with the Scaven Screaming bell, but by using the piece above a further idea struck me: rather than have a manual bell pull, why not have an automated bell striker? Thus, with a bit of modification of one of the mobile base 'feet' and a COD light, I came up with this:



Trouble is, that sticks out a bit at the back which then blocked the upper rampart sitting neatly on the modified buttresses. Sigh. So I initially tried cutting out a hole in the rear wall, but that looked crap... So what yo do? Well, obviously raising up the section was the solution, but what to use?? A quick rummage about in my bits box, and found the answer - a cut down part from the 'gargoyles' in the COD kits:


These raised things up just the right height to allow the bell stricken mechanism to fit. Only problem THEN was that it rather exposed the bottom of the buttress supports, which are just that little bit too big to fit neatly on the rim of the mobile base.

So I needed to find a solution, which either meant constructing something from scratch, or find a suitable round 'bit' - easier said than found. But then... it's amazing how an empty old Brazen Brass paint point has parts JUST the right diameter to do the job, after a bit of cutting and filing:


The black part of the lid also turns out to fit neatly as the point where the bell can be mounted, once attached to the upper rampart. This was just a cut down floor plate, which I had to re-bulk out in order to get the fit just right:



So that's where I've got to:

Still have 4 more double buttresses to construct, the balcony opening to finish etc etcetc... But it's coming along!

You have lost me in your words, but Boo thinks you are just ducky. That... is amazing. Beautiful, keep going this is excellent work.

 GrimDork wrote:
You have lost me in your words, but Boo thinks you are just ducky. That... is amazing. Beautiful, keep going this is excellent work.

oooooooooooook..... Not quite sure what that meant Grim but thanks anyway!

Tower was looking a bit lonely stuck on its own, so work has now begun on the corner of the cloister where it'll be situated:

(cathedral lurking in the background for a scale comparison.....)

Typically, the way I've constructed the actual tower means I'm going to do a heck of a lot of modifications to the floor plates to get them to fit... And just broke my much beloved pin vice drill bit drilling pin holes for all the tower walls

(And woo! Broken through the 20,000 views barrier! Roll on 40k lol )

Quite arguably the coolest thing ever built with those kits.

I notice that your glue is growing nicely in the background.

What are the pink things in the jar?

Rogue Wolves wrote:Quite arguably the coolest thing ever built with those kits.

in the words of the late Ian Richardson/Francis Urquhart - "you might say that, I couldn't possibly comment!" But cheers anyway

YourIntestines wrote:I notice that your glue is growing nicely in the background.

What are the pink things in the jar?

lol don't get too excited YI - the glue's been there for ages. As for the pink things - thankfully not my as a result of plastic shards and dust - it's just a label from a jar of black peppercorns I use as a water container used for cleaning brushes (on the rare occasions I paint!)

Later this afternoon I've been working out the floor tile layout for the cloister/chapter house walkways

just enough tiles to finish it without buying any more (aside from the bespoke triangular ones I'll need to make....)

Heh, it was a quote from a Baldur's gate character in the second game.

More or less, i don't have the skills or inclinations to make use of your detailed explanations, however i can still like, very much, what i see