#mesbg

Dead Men of Dunharrow, Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

A Lord of the Rings, Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game diorama/game board

Going off the dates in my camera roll, this project took a total of about 4 months. There were many periods of inactivity, so I cannot say for certain how many man hours went into it, or how many materials were used (I deliberately did not keep track so I wouldn't know how much money I put into this) It technically isn't complete, the caves and stables are not done, but I've just run out of steam and all the parts left to do aren't very interesting works of art or crafts.

The body of the structure is all 3D printed. Everything was designed very poorly by me in TinkerCAD, which took a lot of time because I don't know how to use a computer (so please don't ask for the stl files because just getting this far was a big enough struggle and there are like 70 different files because I don't know how to do 3D design. Maybe one day I will have enough time to sit down and sort them out🥲 ).

I went with a sort of skeleton of struts and plates and then covered those pieces with either styrene or printed stone work. I found out I could print these pieces face down on the build plate and they would take on the plate texture and look kinda like stone. All the major pieces were joined together using magnets or pin/slot pieces I printed. The support structure is a series of cardboard tubes and wooden posts that have printed caps to provide stability and slots for other wooden pieces to hold the upper parts of the castle. It's not that sturdy, but it's sturdy enough for small plastic models.

The terrain pieces are all XPS foam and plaster rocks on bits of foamboard that are shaped around the walls. The ground panels are foam board covered in a mixture of plaster and modge podge to try and strengthen them. The creek/river/ditch is UV resin. There are also a few fake grass tufts in there to add some green.

Originally, the plan was to create ALL of the castle, including the extensive stables and caves as seen in the Weta diorama, this would require the structure to be placed on the floor, and after setting up the in progress version, my knees decided this was a foolish idea, and I cut the scope of the project back to fit on my 4ft x 6ft table space (and into my storage bins), prioritizing gameplay and ease of accessibility over nerd wish fulfillment. I still have the files for the full stables and throne room, so maybe one day I shall have my complete castle...

This was a long and tiring project, but I consider it one of, if not the best thing I have ever made. I learned a lot of new skills and frequently had to apply myself to some very satisfying problem solving, and really that's what it's all about.

Watchtower finally finished!

First of all, I must admit — this took me much longer than expected, but:

it was actually my first full XPS building,

many elements were made for the first time,

and there was a lot of thinking, testing, and searching for “how to do stuff” along the way.

In many ways, I think this was a bad choice for a first XPS build. Usually, you should probably start with the basics, right? Something like stone tiles or simple wall segments — easier to carve, easier to paint, easier to experiment with techniques. But well… I am what I am 😉 and I wanted something more ambitious.

The main reason I chose this structure was actually very simple — I already had some scatter terrain and wanted a larger centerpiece for my gaming table. I don’t think modular walls alone would have given me that feeling.

When I left off in the previous WIP posts, most of the painting was already done, but I still had a strong feeling that something was missing. Pretty quickly, I realized it needed shrubs, moss, and rubble. I wanted to keep most of the flat surfaces playable, so I tried not to overdo the rubble, but adding greenery was definitely the right call.

At the moment, I don’t really have professional greenery materials on my workbench, so I worked with what I had available. I used reindeer lichen in some areas, but my favourite effect is definitely the moss near the bottom of the stone walls. It was made by mixing PVA glue with fine turf and applying it using an old, worn brush. Once dry, it created uneven coverage and different shades of green — and honestly, that effect might be my favourite part of the whole build.

Another challenge — and something completely new to learn — was editing the photos to blend the model into real-life scenery. For the backgrounds, I used my own photos from a short trip to the Tatra Mountains last year. The weather that day was cloudy and misty, and I thought it matched the atmosphere of a ruined watchtower perfectly.

I hope you like the results 😉

Next post: close-ups, details, and a few thoughts on what could already be improved next time.

"We are the Uruk-hai: we do not stop the fight for night or day, for fair weather or for storm. We come to kill, by sun or moon. What of the dawn?"

In October I ticked off a couple of longstanding painting things - the crew of my Trebuchet, and a squad of Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs. I also wanted to get to ten models for the month, so picked up and finished a single ordinary Intercessor in between work on my main focus: my Marshal

I'm very proud of how he's turned out. He's converted from the MkII Centurion kit, with a bit of extra build-up on his base to make him nice and tall, and disguise that he's in fact slightly shorter and slighter than the Primaris marines he pals around with. The mace is from Archie's Forge, the backpack and book are from Grimaldus (and now I have 75% of a Grimaldus kit that I don't know what to do with). The rest of the doodads and kitbashes he has are mostly standard bits, but I've made a point that they're all ones I have two of, including the head, in order that when the Terminator Captain i've assembled arrives, I can do him as the same person, with the same face, the same primary weapon, and the same set of relics.

Next month: I have a little Secret Santa kitbash product I want to get done first, and then can look at my goals for the year as a whole. My two main goals were:

Paint all the models that I owned at the start of the year. There's only one model left for this: my Ethereal, so he's task two.

End the year with less models than I started with - unless something particularly cool comes along late in the year and I don't have time to. I have bought the Crux Terminatus box, which triggers the caveat here. To get down to negative models remaining, ignoring that, I have four left (three after the ethereal). Probably the best way to do that is the other five Intercessors I have.

Beyond that, I think getting to work on the Terminator version of my Marshal makes the most sense, just so that I don't lose all of these kitbash pieces before I get to glue them together into a guy.

That might well be my lot for the year! I don't expect to be able to actually paint anything in December because I'll have a baby then, and I hear those guys take up a lot of your time.

Bonus picture: *points* bnnuy