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Mac's P&M Shenanigans-- May 31: LoER Hobby Challenge ("Elevation") MDF watchtowers and bridges  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Thank you Waaazag! Zahnib, the steps easily hold 25s and can hold 32s with a it of overhang, so hopefully perfect for my Sisters.

Syro, it is a fair bit of work, but it goes fast and is pretty darn satisfying... the preliminary cuts with the template let me move quickly and confidently, letting the texture really reveal itself.

Gobert, my head is full of schemes for the LEDs.... I bought some of the flickering ones to simulate torchlight. I dont lnow how ambitious I'll get, but the internet is full of inspiration.

Jazzy, this is true. I noticed that it was about the time those rats and their Warpstone arrived that your desk began its descent into chaos. Shall I mention this to the Holy Inquisition so that they might guide your return to the discipline and order of the Imperial Cult?

Next up: coming up with some sort of support for these flimsy walls, fiddling with lights, and texturing all the walls for paint.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/08 12:59:01


   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

MacPhail,

That manual cutting of the pink foam for the details is dedication to the craft.

CB

   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Thanks, Captain... it's a bit of work to set up, but it's ultimately a lot faster and easier than it looks. I'm hoping to get the bricks of the wall carved and textured this weekend, and then I can start the assembly. I think it will need some structural rural support, maybe some styrene columns inside to reinforce the walls... they are very thin and flexible.

   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

A quick photo update...

Almost done texturing the walls:


I'll get two-for-one walls once I ruin the ruins:


I used some scrap foam to rough out the base, although I need to get busy cutting the real one:


Eyeballing the fit of the second floor:



   
Made in us
[DCM]
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





United States

That is some really impressive- and painstaking- carving. Terrific attention to detail and in the highest traditions of the LOER.

"He fears his fate too much, or his desserts are small, who will not put it to a single touch; to win- or lose- it all."

Montrose Toast


 
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





Australia

The texturing on the stone of the upper window section looks great MacPhail
I'm looking forward to seeing some paint on these! Have you got planes for the roof section?

 
   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Thanks, Meercat! The worst carving will actually be the styrene card, not the foam. I have a lot of wood grain to etch in, and I'm wishing I'd just built with basswood instead.

Zahnib, I'm actually leaving the roof off of this build to better match the official Battle Sanctum model. Now that I've seen what the scroll table can do, I'm wondering if I could pull off a barrel vaulted ceiling. I've got a copy of David Macaulay's Castle around here somewhere..

With my wife traveling, I'm hoping for an epic hobby weekend. Stay tuned!

   
Made in gb
Calculating Commissar






Reading, Berks

Those look fantastic!

   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

This is epic work. Amazing.

   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Too kind, endtransmission & Nevelon, and many thanks!

Here's last night's progress (this just a dry fit, nothing is glued yet.:

I cut the individual boards out of the middle floor (a huge pain, literally). I have yet to do the same to the upper floor. You can also see my efforts to strengthen the structure with tubular styrene.


I positioned the ruined wall sections and was satisfied with the effect... I'll take a similar shortcut upstairs.


The off-cut foam for the balcony brackets is totally going to work.


Tonight, I'm going to bevel the base, glue the styrene into place, and start beveling the walls.

   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

MacPhail,

What about using some chip board between the two foam layers for strength?

It is thin, easy to cut, white glue so make a decent bond with the pink foam.

Just a suggestion.

CB

   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





Australia

 MacPhail wrote:
Zahnib, I'm actually leaving the roof off of this build to better match the official Battle Sanctum model. Now that I've seen what the scroll table can do, I'm wondering if I could pull off a barrel vaulted ceiling. I've got a copy of David Macaulay's Castle around here somewhere..

I think with David's book and your tools in hand a vaulted ceiling is easily within reach. Even just to keep the dust out when its on the shelf

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/09/02 12:25:33


 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





United States

I love Macauley's book! I believe at the ripe old age of 11 or 12 it inspired me to try to make a model castle from the blue clay that occurred naturally in the soil around the house where I grew up (land so poor, my father used to say, you couldn't raise h*ll on it with a bottle of whiskey). The model didn't turn out all that well, but it was really the beginning of a lifelong (so far) interest in our hobby.

A couple of years later, Macauley did a special on TV about castles, largely following how his book was laid out. Small, small world!


"He fears his fate too much, or his desserts are small, who will not put it to a single touch; to win- or lose- it all."

Montrose Toast


 
   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Cap, the chipboard is a great idea. I also toyed with a slim sheet of foamed PVC in between. The two layers of window masonry want to sit flush, which complicates things a bit. I have some brass rod I might try to squeeze into some corners.

Zahnib, I just dipped a toe into the transition to the earliest phase of Gothic architecture. Turns out it a really complex evolution driven by the ambitions of medieval architecture. Super cool stuff.

Meer_Cat, what did it for me was the 1980s Lego Castle series. My first 3D medieval fantasy adventures involved banana-yellow bricks and was completely analog.

Here's a few updates from last weekend I didn't get around to posting:

I made a tumbler with rocks from my garden to crank out bricks.


I started to rough out the floor.


The most fun one: testing a torch made from styrene tubing, a pre-fab flickering amber LED, and a flame made of hot glue. I think it will work well enough for what I've got planned.



   
Made in gb
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought






Your Sanctum is looking fantastic MacPhail. The flickering candle will add a great touch too

Goberts Gubbins - P&M Blog, started with Oldhammer, often Blackstone Fortress and Void Panther Marines, with side projects along the way 
   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Thanks gobert!

I put in a BIG night getting the walls painted. There's easily this much again to paint once I finish building, but this feels like progress.


I'm really happy with the interior walls, although it took a while to get the wash right and there's a few touchups needed.


The next big chores will be finishing the base and stairs, redoing one of the upper floors, making a ton of loose brick, and figuring out the wiring and fire effects.

   
Made in gb
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought






Wow! Great looking walls MacPhail! The inside with the damaged plaster work is fantastic. Did you match the colours of the stones inside and outside?

Goberts Gubbins - P&M Blog, started with Oldhammer, often Blackstone Fortress and Void Panther Marines, with side projects along the way 
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





Australia

Those painted walls look awesome! Especially the interiors. This is coming together really nicely

 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Interior does look really nice.

My two cents,

CB

   
Made in ca
Confident Halberdier





in the computer?

Excellent foam work MacPhail, looks even better painted. Your skill continues to grow with every project, it's great to see.

 
   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Thanks for the comments and questions, all.

gobert- I did not... it was all I could to match up the shapes and not glue anything inside out. Maybe someday!

zahnib, Captain... many thanks! The inner walls were a surprise success, and I'm excited to try to push that technique further.

Thumpingbear, your nod is particularly flattering as I've pored over your photos extensively for both thematic inspiration and technical guidance. Your Mordheim builds and Black Magic Craft's YouTube videos account for quite a bit of my direction on this. Thanks!

Here are the final stages of building the structure, sub-assembly paint, and assembling the main components. Still to come are the trim, and few more internal supports, lots of rubble details, more paint, and the electrical work.

Here are the foamed PVC base plate and upper floors... A real pain to work with, but it's nice and rigid.


Upper floors with paint... I still need to fatigue the wood a bit and maybe scorch the edges.


I cut a foam layer for the bottom floor to conceal the wiring cutout (and I was sick of carving PVC by then), etched the tile and damage, and gave it some bold paint to keep the rubble from muddying all the detail.



Everything laid out ready to assemble:


Assembled exterior:


Assembled interior:

   
Made in us
[DCM]
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





United States

Some things you can see, as you watch them emerge, are going to be really special.

"He fears his fate too much, or his desserts are small, who will not put it to a single touch; to win- or lose- it all."

Montrose Toast


 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Looks great MacPhail.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Thanks, Captain! MeerCat, let's hope you're right.

This week I hope to start the LED wiring project while simultaneously building and painting the trim that will conceal all the joins. I also need a simple parapet for the roof and balcony. It's time to start cranking out little styrene and foam books to make this ruin a library. So theres lots of little fiddly bits to add before final paint and weathering.

   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





Australia

Looks amazing MacPhail! The red and white tiled floor looks great, a real classic look. I think I'm going to borrow your cream internal wall scheme when I finally get around to painting my old 40k ruins.

 
   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

Right on, Zahnib... the cream 'plaster' wasn't anything special. Being able to work flat was essential. I rolled on art store acrylic (color: titanium) with a 2" foam roller (to give it texture) and washed it with Agrax with a healthy dose of flow aid. I say go for it!

Here's the latest: I had saved the cutouts from the windows, and they turned out to be just the thing for the top parapet and balcony rail. Always save you scraps and off-cuts!




   
Made in gb
Ancient Venerable Dreadnought






Reuse is better than recycle! Great salvage of spare bits MacPhail, as you say, never throw bits away. Neat idea using the pins to hold the foam in place too

Goberts Gubbins - P&M Blog, started with Oldhammer, often Blackstone Fortress and Void Panther Marines, with side projects along the way 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





United States

Great inspiration to use your cut-outs from an earlier step- speaks to your thrifty use of the hobby knife, as well.

Reminds me of the feature Popular Science magazine used to have in the 70's (maybe still do) where people would design projects to be made from varying amounts of only plywood- with extra points given for the most efficient use of the whole half-sheet, sheet, two sheets, etc- no wastage at all other than the kerf of the saw blade.

Great project!

"He fears his fate too much, or his desserts are small, who will not put it to a single touch; to win- or lose- it all."

Montrose Toast


 
   
Made in ca
Confident Halberdier





in the computer?

Yup always save your scraps! You'll always find a purpose for em, sometimes in ways you never would have thought. Crenellated parapets are always a good look too, looks great MacPhail.

Also I'm glad I could help with your inspiration! I'm very humbled, thanks.

 
   
Made in us
Preacher of the Emperor





Denver, CO, USA

That Popular Science feature sounds cool... I bought some power tools this summer and made my kids a climbing wall and a sandbox, so I've got a dabbler's interest in woodworking. And I saved the scraps to make cornhole boards!

I've got a weekend with kids, but without wife... hopefully I can get cracking on the finishing details.

   
 
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