Friday 21 January 2022

10mm Ruined Tower for Middle Earth

You probably know that I like building terrain (too much to link to, try the terrain tag to the right).  I've recently been playing Fantastic Battles in 10mm, specifically trying to use the rules for Middle Earth games (Spoiler; they work very well).  However, I have practically no terrain suitable beyond repurposing a few trees from my 15mm collection.  
The obvious answer is to make a set, rather like the 15mm League of Rhordia set I made for 15mm here. But I want the buildings to look 'right'; proper Middle Earth, not just ordinary fantasy (an odd statement I realise).  
Generic 'mock-medieval' is fine for some battles, and I'm certainly not slavishly copying Peter Jackson's look, but the films do provide a useful, readily recognisable look (and a lot of it is based on the earlier, excellent work of artists such as Alan Lee).  I'm sure I could make ruined 'Osgiliath' style buildings, but I found a 3D model from telford3dprinting which definitely had the right look, and not too expensive either.  Certainly worth a try.  The design itself was part of a Kickstarter campaign for some very Lord of the Rings film style buildings called 'Arkenfell'.  There are also some very nice looking dwarven fortifications, and some undead type gothic pieces if that's your thing.

Delivery was quick, and the model was well packed.  There was very little flash to clean off.  I gave the whole model a good wash prior to assembly.  There is some evidence of the layers typical of 3D printing, though they are not prominent, and indeed seem to add to the texture of the stonework.  the only place where they are in any way obtrusive is on the earthen mound on the base, but I'll be flocking this area, so they will be hidden.

There are even three different tops for the tower, I chose the dome, as it reminds me of views of Osgiliath from the films.
If you want to know how big it is, the base of the tower is pretty much 40mm square, plus the overspill of rubble.  The height is 120mm.

The whole tower washed and ready (and I can see some flash that needs trimming) 

Sub-assemblies

The different sections have pegs to fit them together, the holes needed a little drilling out, but once done, everything fits fine.  I glued the tower together in two sections to help with storage, I may eventually add magnets to the two sections.  I gave the stonework a good wash of Vallejo Black Wash to pick out the details.  At this stage it looked pretty good already, certainly good enough to appear on the battlefield.  However, more drybrushing with Vallejo Game Color Stonewall Grey, shading up through VGC Wolf Grey to White gave it that white stone finish typical of Gondor.

The tower in all its (faded) glory
The more ruined aspect

I'm still keeping the two sections separate for now.  Once I've decided how I'm storing this, and when I have an idea of the height of other pieces, I may glue it together.

Did I overdo the vegetation and water staining?

The base was simple, just browns with a bit of flock around the edges.

I wasn't sure how much weathering to do, if any.  It depends on how old a ruin the tower is.  If it's only just been ruined, there wont be much.  If it's been in this state for years, then there will be plenty of vegetation, weather-staining etc.  I decided to add a bit, for visual interest, but not go overboard.  I added some static grass to the base as all that brown looks a bit dull, and a few small bits of clump foliage.  I also added a bit of Vallejo Dark Green Ink for water staining on the walls (possibly too much).

I'll definitely get some more of these models.  In particular, there is a ruined house that I think could be split into smaller ruins, and the set of four statues is excellent.  I don't want a full city, but maybe half a dozen, mixed between ruined and intact buildings should do nicely.  In our recent battle we learned that too much terrain really slows down Fantastic Battles, but a few like this really show that the game is set ibn Middle Earth.

4 comments:

  1. Looks great to me and their dwarf stuff tempts me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It all looks good, and he seems a very nice chap to deal with.

      Delete
  2. Great scenery, I am temtpted by some of their dwarf buildings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a great looking dwarf watchtower, very PJ LotR in style

      Delete