Ponds and fences

Despite the invasions of dozens 0f grandchildren, I have done a little in Middle Earh.

Using the plastic container from some profiteroles as a mould, I've cast a pond for Osgiliath.

I was happy that there were bubbles in it as they could easily be made into war damage.

However, falling into several pieces is too much damage.

Not enough glue in the filler mix?

I cajoled Henry into making two short length of fence using balsa wood.

I've sprayed them green and applied 'Brown Earth' and a few rocks but they are Henry's work.

Apollo progress

JPL in miniature.

The plan of the plin plon in our kitchen.

Busy with the second stage after spotting my error.


The fuel tank, top and bottom, of the upper stages, must be glued in before joining the two halves.

I made the same mistake on the third stage which was even trickier to correct.

The housing for the Luna Lander is yet to be painted but its legs are ready to go.

Rohan Captains 2

Just a couple more shots of these guys as I think the others were too brightly lit.

Though, looking at them now, I'm not sure there's much difference!

Rohan Captain

Slow progress with a house full of kids and the paints hidden away.

Here, though, are the two versions of the Rohan Captain.

Uh!, John. I said brief!
However, I can see you've put a lot of work into this so here you are.

Materials.

Item 1. Empty plastic Tesco salad dressing bottle. Eiffel Tower shape. 17cm tall x 5cm at base.

Item 2. Empty Aldi Caramel Mousse pot. Trumpet shape. 9.5cm tall x 5cm at base. Mouth 9.cm.

Item 3. Three empty plastic fruit and jelly containers. Bowl shaped. 5cm tall x 8cm at mouth. 3.5 at base.

Item 4. White plastic Asti bottle stopper.

Item 5. Expanded polystyrene packing c. 2 to 3cm thick.

Item 6. One white plastic cable tie. (Any colour will do).

Item 7. Cork for talon finials of tower. Cannibalise from wine corks.

Item 8. Some fine sand.

Item 9. 'bond it' high viscosity superglue.

Item 10. White PVA wood glue.

Item 11. One lolly stick.

Item 12. Couple of dozen small rocks from the garden. Approx. size 3cm x 2cm.

Item 13. Small piece of 3 ply. .5 of a mm thick. 10cm x 10cm square.

Item 14. Tetrion white filler powder.

Item 15. Range of acrylic paints.

Item 16. Various small paint brushes.

Item 17. A piece of kitchen tin foil.

Method:

Glue item 1 to the base of  item 2 with item 9.

Fill item 1 with item 8.

Glue item 3 one inside the other with item 9.

Fill item 2 with mixed filler.

While still wet press glued item 3 inside the flared end of  item 2. Excess filler will squeeze out. Remove excess and smooth round with a damp finger. Make sure the final visible rim of  item 3 is clean of filler.

Cut four strips of  item 5 to c. 4cm wide x  22cm long. Shape them roughly to a 'D' profile.

Glue all four equidistant from base to top around your finished plastic core with item 9. (Take care as the action of the adhesive on the plastic surfaces will generate heat effectively welding item 5 to the bottle etc.). They should join at the top.

Glue the screwtop of item 1 permanently in place with a small amount of item 9.

Glue item 4 to the screwtop of item 1 with the fins facing up.

Mix item 14 with a small amount of fine sand, a couple of teaspoons of  item 10 and mix to a plaster consistency with water.

Begin moulding tower over item 5 into four fused half-round towers which will meet at the top.

Press suitable sized piece of item 11 into wet mortar where the door will be.

Leave a space at the top of the towers to make the talon finials,

While your mortar is wet, press item 17, crumpled kitchen tin foil, into the surface to create fissures and the appearance of undressed rock.

Cut four talon finials from cork. Cut slot to fit over fins of item 4. Glue in place with item 9.

When secure continue moulding to the top of the finials which should also be covered and shaped with your mortar.

Glue or press in  to wet mortar suitable stones, item 12, in natural pattern. It is possible to mould rock outcrops from your moulding mortar mix. My model uses both techniques.

Glue item 13 to base with item 9.

Paint and dry brush to achieve the look of rock. Seal the finish if you wish.

If you want a surrounding diorama then dress a piece of ply with fallen rocks, scree and gravel.

Glue your tower to this.

I think that covers it.

John's Tower of Orthanc

Now for something really different.

Here's me old mucker, John Curtis, with his scratch built Tower of Orthanc.

It's a mile away from PJ's film version but is based more on original sketches by JRR himself.

I'm hoping John may drop a line with construction details.


To prove that his Orthanc is transportable, John fetched it to Tilly's Tea Room where I took the second shot, the first being his own taken on an egg timer or something.

The crane is just out of shot.

Eomer mounted

At last Eomer has arrived though his saddle needs adjusting.

I used the De Agostini guide in magazine number 18.

A little Greenstuff will make him more comfortable.

Eomer on foot was done a while ago but when using him as reference, I noticed some errors.

A little tweaking too.

Banner Bearer and Hama

These two nice models were interesting to paint with plenty of detail.

The mounted Banner Bearer will be ready soon, once I've finished (started!) his horse.

I suppose I should be calling these animals steeds but then images of Diana Rigg and Emma Peel keep popping up.

The painting of the banner is made easier by the embossing but it's still tricky stuff for me.

More damage

Another repair job.

The mount of this Gondor Knight had a broken ankle.

The usual story when they are only attached by one hoof.

I've pinned and glued that hoof and I've placed another chunk of broken masonry under the other rear one to give support.

While there, I did some tidying up of the paint work.

This fellow's spear hand was also damaged at the wrist which meant more pinning and supergluing.

I took the opportunity to place the spear in an unusual position.

I think the square flagstones indicate an area of Minas Tirith.

Obviously under siege.

Gwaihir

 The minor camera problems prevented Gwaihir arriving earlier.

He's been finished for a while.

Lots of brown paint, various.

I don't know about the painting but that's a great shadow.

I followed a White Dwarf Heavy Metal guide (not to the letter) and then applied a coat of gloss varnish to avoid chips to the paintwork.

Nobody wants to see a giant eagle with chips.

Seagulls are bad enough.

Delays

Because of a little camera trouble, I'll be reducing the photo input for a while and updating less frequently.

However, Gwaihir is finished and so are a version of Gamling and Hama (pre based) with other Rohan figures close behind.

The six new Mahud Warriors arrived, safe and sound but they'll have to wait their turn.

I have an Apollo/Saturn model to get going with too. That'll shake the Dark Lord!