Lord of the Rings terrain - Scaffolds

Another terrain project for LOTR SBG I have recently completed is a scaffold construction.



This was described in the Two Towers supplement, for a scenario where the Ents attack Isengard. However the scaffold will have more uses, including representing mining structures in the Mines of Moria, and also general orc structures in Mordor.

In fact, I noticed the other day, while watching the Fellowship of the Ring DVD, in the first swirling shot we see of Barad-Dur, if you look closely there are scaffolds on top of the towers to suggest they are still under construction and will be taller once finished.

The model is primarily made from 3mm balsa wood. Cut into strips for the legs and cross beams of the structure, and used as panels for the decks. These were scored with a sharp pencil to give the impression of planks.

The ladders were also balsa wood, trimmed down finer to make the ladders. I used a plastic Uruk siege ladder as a "template".

The string I got from local model store, normally used for model ship rigging. I probably could have got something cheaper from a haberdashery store, but couldn't find one locally. This was glued into place with thinned PVA glue.

A bit of gardening cane was cut for the hook rope to wind onto, on the a-frame crane structure. The hook itself was made from 15amp fuse wire, bent to shape.

The whole was painted using acrylic art-shop paints, (waterproof poster paint type stuff). I think they are called "student acrylics" by FAS and come in 500ml bottle for about $12 from warehouse stationary, and other art / hobby stores.

The base was done with sand textured paint as before (equal parts PVA / Black paint / sand) then dry brushed up once dry, with shades of gray.

The string was later painted a dark yellowy brown.

Fairly straight forward to make, although a little time consuming. The string was the most fiddly frustrating bit!



Here uruk-hai orcs defend the scaffold at Isengard against the attack of Treebeard and the ents.



Here the goblins of Moria, infest the old mine workings of the dwarfs and rain arrows down on the fellowship as they pass.