It’s early days yet, but I’ve started work on my most ambitious terrain piece yet. If I finish this, it will be a miracle.
Rivendell, in all it’s 28mm scale glory!
Hmm, a little too small methinks
50% more bridge than other leading brands
Spare bits of MDF for the framework
Lightweight, but strong
With balsa fixed top and bottom, it’s ready for covering with Polyfilla
I am doing this because I know that not many people in the past have attempted it and even fewer have done it justice. For me, it is one of the most beautiful pieces of fantasy architecture I’ve ever seen and nothing from any other movie or game comes close to its atmosphere and elegance.
So, I started gathering resources – frame capture images from the films, production drawings and back-lot photographs of the model, things like that. After getting an idea of what I am in for I thought I would make a start on the focal point of the scene – the narrow bridge along the approach to the entrance gate. This piece defines the scope and scale of the model.
Using 25mm thick styrofoam, clad with 3mm thick balsa sheets, I cut out the span and then coated it with polyfilla – a kind of crack filler for drywalls and plaster walls. Leaving this to set overnight I then carved in the mortar joints and ended up with this:
However, after placing a LOTR figure on it, I soon realised it needed to be about 50% larger. I’d made it 30cm across and a quick recalculation indicated it really should be 45cm. Back to the drawing board! (er, make that “back to the cutting board”)
I wonder if the folks at the polyfilla manufacturing plant know how much joy they bring you. 🙂