The classic battle ground to be fought over for Good and Evil is the once mighty Capital city of Osgiliath, which at the time of the War of the Ring finds itself in ruins... a no-mans land almost, between the forces of Gondor and Mordor as each sides vies for supremacy... each occupying it for a time as they seize it from the hands of their foe...
So I had a rummage in the off-cuts box of Styrofoam I had, with bits left over from the Durins Causeway build, and set to with the hot wire cutter...
The Stryfoam sheet was 25mm thick, too thick really for basic building walls at this scale , so the off cuts I sliced in half to make approx 12mm thick sheet pieces... These I then scored on a brick pattern 10mm x 20mm, with a black biro...
Made a nice piece with some arches and added a blasa wood floor level... some coarse sand glued on for rubble effects...
Then painted up with craft paints. Grey base coat then white to pick out the bricks... Very simple and inexpensive...
I consciously decided not to base them as I get frustrated when base edges of terrain cause models to topple over...
Some Gondorians defend the ruins above...
A decent start - I've got lots of ideas to elaborate on these first simple designs...
So simple but so effective!
ReplyDeleteLook great. If you ever got around to it, adding some washes or weathering powders might give them a more run down/ruin style look. Either way...it's a very well done terrain set!
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes I will be dirtying them up a bit :)
DeleteVery nice! The clean detailing works really well with the Gondorian aesthetic. I also second the frustration of terrain bases and try do without them as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!
ReplyDeleteVery nice indeed. Really effective. Looking forward to seeing some of the more "elaborate" designs :-)
ReplyDeleteBlaxkleric
http://fantorical.blogspot.co.uk
That is just joyously simple and damned effective - great job Scott.
ReplyDeleteLooks like another one of your epic projects brewing.:-)
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Very good! Also without the bases easier to store!
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes good point :)
DeleteVery nice and effective
ReplyDeleteSimple but very effective Scott!
ReplyDeleteLooking good but they'd benefit from a good weather me thinks. Break out the washes and powders!
ReplyDeleteYes I do plan to tart them up a bit - I just wanted to put it out there that terrain making can be relatively easy to do and still be effective and visually appealing... I have been demo-ing the game at the local club, and have generated some interest, and if the local younger players can see how fairly easily it can be to make terrain ... we will have a growing amount of terrain available at the club :)
DeleteYou really are quite a clever chap Scott!
ReplyDeleteI also suggest a bit of weathering - they look a bit clean and neat for ruins
You're just churning them out, aren't you?! Best of all is it's Middle-Earthen!
ReplyDeleteQuick question on a totally unrelated note: Do you happen to know blogger and hobbyist extraordinaire Colonel O'Truth? I might have seen an image of him with the Perrys a couple of years ago. Someone in the bloggosphere said you too have been depicted with these celebrities - can you right or wrong this "someone"? :D
- - -
Back to the terrain: The elaboration of this terrain project will be very interesting to follow. Also, the decision to leave the basing on terrain that can, in fact, stand on its own is something I strongly agree with!
No need to have ugly basing that won't "melt in" very well with the battle mat or whatever foundation one might use - I did the contrary when I first started the hobby, with the first terrain I did; made it really clear rules-wise and very "defined" with sharp base edges, which naturally looked awful and with high edges... so, long story short: Huzzah for baseless terrain, wherever possible!
Thanks :)
DeleteYes I do know 'the Colonel'... he used to live fairly local to me but has since moved to the bright lights of the big city... Sadly he does not seem to have done much with the hobby for some months now, and has instead been pursuing his musical interests...
Yes I have been fortunate to catch up with the Perry's on a couple occasions... they have visited NZ several times in relation to work with Peter Jackson and LOTR, for figure sculpting work and I believe they also got involved in the film making as extras... I think they did some time being Rohan soldiers... The Perry's have connections here with the local 'virtual club' the Kapiti Fusiliers and often when they have come over here, have spent an evening meeting the club members, both enjoying dining & socialising out in Wellington, and indeed playing games at club members houses - using the Colonels Cowboy town set up on at least one occasion. I have offered to host them in the past, but I am little too far north I think from their Wellington base when they visit, to make it a comfortable evenings playing and journey time.
The last time I met up with them was a couple of years ago at Wellington Warlords Call to Arms annual event, when they dropped in for a look with Aly Morrison, en-route to seeing Peter, I believe then about the Hobbit miniatures...
I have also been a fan of their work for a long time, for the more realistically proportioned sculpts, (compared to the OTT WFB and 40K stuff we are so often exposed to from GW), that they do. Their LOTR stuff is obviously my favourite.
Yes agreed I get so frustrated when models start falling over knocking each other over, especially with top heavy banners which are usually right in the thick of it, to get the best effect from their banner in the surrounding melees...
Thank you, this was a joy to read! You did in fact inspire me to try to type up a little text about celebrities and human nature - how one must delve deep into a niche hobby to find celebrities that actually has done something of value! Impossible to compare with these tv-people or other "entertainers" that seems to get so much material wealth for absolutely nothing than having a total disregard for taste, personal integrity and... okay, I am rambling... :)
DeleteLOL, good points, ramble away :-)
DeleteExcellent work and very versatile.
ReplyDeletetop banana old bean, simple but effective!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other guys: Very simple and effective walls, which can be further improved with adding soem weathering powders, rubble or even moss. However, the overall aesthetic matches Gondor well and even in ruins emenates hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes I must get hold of those pigments and washes :)
DeleteYou make it look so easy. Excellent result.
ReplyDeletecheers
Excellent work Scott! Very effective!
ReplyDeleteImpressive terrain work again, Scott.
ReplyDeletegood job Scott
ReplyDeleteVery nice job with Ruins of Middle-Earth. Ruins looks very well.
ReplyDelete