Gandlaf The Grey WIP - Bag End 06/02/15

Rognarr · **Posted:** Fri Jun 07, 2013 9:26 pm

Perfect! Will a Goldberry follow this little guy?

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:25 pm

Harfoot wrote:

Brilliant, spill the beans, how did you make them?

It couldn't have been more simple. Having done some searching about I felt what i needed was a globule of paint on a stem. Normal PVA glue wouldn't do the job so I tried some scatter glue from Antenociti's Workshop. I mixed this glue with the paint of my choice and loaded the brush so I had a drop on the end of the brush. This allowed me to transfer this onto the grass. So the flowers actually took me less than five minutes in total.

Rognarr wrote:

Perfect! Will a Goldberry follow this little guy?

Sadly no. I don't have a Goldberry and if I did then you know a diorama of some ilk would have followed.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Sun Jun 09, 2013 4:48 pm

Above is my current plan layed out on a sheet of A4 on the plinth I have made. The one I ordered never happened so I ended up cutting up an old shelf and staining it. It's a little big but I wanted the room to fit everything else in.
A you may see Bag End is bigger than you think. After much research I discovered 13 windows and 2 doors.
These doors are connected by a path with a kitchen garden outside the back door.
The main road will run at the front of the sheet of paper and curve around to the left side (as you look)
I've left plenty of room for a big oak tree, which is what I want.
The first problem is I don't have the styrene I thought I had to pack out the base. Never mind, I'm sure this won't be the first issue I discover while working on this.
I've already thought of putting a pond to the front of the base. It may not be true to the book or film but will make a nice addition.

Harfoot · **Posted:** Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:04 pm

Plans look good, so just to get it right, you mixed the glue into the paint?

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:12 pm

Harfoot wrote:

so just to get it right, you mixed the glue into the paint?

Yes, no water. You want it thick

Harfoot · **Posted:** Sun Jun 09, 2013 7:59 pm

Thanks, will give it a try

CaptainOfTheWhiteTower · **Posted:** Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:07 pm

The face on Bombadil is superb, the red cheeks are spot on.

Rognarr · **Posted:** Wed Jun 12, 2013 9:31 pm

Hey Gandlaf, it took me a while, but I found the file about the hobbit holes, and for you the good news is probably: even in English. Hope it's not too late and still of help for you! Have fun

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/ ... 68s7aw.pdf

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:13 pm

CaptainOfTheWhiteTower wrote:

The face on Bombadil is superb, the red cheeks are spot on.

Thanks Capt

Rognarr, thanks for this and for keeping looking. It will help me with an issue I have around setting a recess in the door frame.
I'm after this model being a very articulate affair with maximum detail so very little bit will help me.
I got my polystyrene today and the first piece has been glued on - and so it begins

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Thu Jun 13, 2013 12:28 am

I wanted to make sure you have this link

http://lotrscenerybuilder.org/hobbiton_project_def.php

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Thu Jun 13, 2013 1:49 am

Wow, some serious work there. Thanks mate

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Fri Jun 14, 2013 2:38 pm

A simple question but I'm stuck. I'm trying to cut a perfect hole in a 4mm thick sheet of balsa wood and I can't do it for splinters and Raghu edges.
I've never worked with the stuff before so what the solution please ?

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Fri Jun 14, 2013 3:24 pm

Gandlaf the Grey wrote:

A simple question but I'm stuck. I'm trying to cut a perfect hole in a 4mm thick sheet of balsa wood and I can't do it for splinters and Raghu edges.
I've never worked with the stuff before so what the solution please ?

Balsa wood is very soft. How large of a hole? :roll:

A drill may not be the solution for a window or a door.

By Raghu edges I think you mean tear-out' To avoid tear out. Use a backing board/waste/Scrap and drill all the way through and into the waste board. Drill bit shape can be a factor too. I don't think a spade bit would work very well for example.

alternative to a drill
A compass equipped with a razor blade. I rarely use mine. I don't work with balsa much. It is very soft and fuzzy. Pun intended :lol:

I included a photo.
I needed to add some circle cutters to my how to tool file.
I can't wait to see how it is going

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Fri Jun 14, 2013 5:24 pm

Thanks Charlie. I have various hole cutters but they are way to coarse for balsa. My initial attempts just tore it up and left chunks out of it and that was with using a clamped backing piece of waste wood.
This has caused me to re think my plan. I've got some display board card. It's about 2mm thick and I'm currently moulding Milliput around this to set the brickwork around the front door. If this goes well I will move onto the windows to each side of the door.
My initial test piece seemed to work well but I want to put an insert after the brickwork and then the door behind that.
The below photo should give you the example I'm after replicating.

I've gone thin with the brickwork like you see in the photo.
As for progress, well there's not much. I can't spend much time on this. I've done the base and glues a 25mm think piece of polystyrene to it. This will be the height of the gate.
The front door will be higher still. However I am working on each door and window as an individual piece. Once these are done I will fit them against another polystyrene sheet. Once these are fitted I can see how everything will come together and get some order to the chaos.
However, there's 13 windows and two doors to make. The reason I'm doing it this way is if I can't fit all the windows in I may need to ditch the odd one.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Fri Jun 14, 2013 6:21 pm

Milliput is probably the best bet. All of the door and window frames seem unique. I hate MDFB for use in furnature. I use it more often than plywood for hobbies. I limit the use of balsa wood to flying model air planes. Almost any thing is better. A lot of people like it and don't seem to use much else.

Engraving medium density injected foam seems to be the rage now especially for people with a talent for drawing.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Fri Jun 21, 2013 12:59 pm

The above shows where I am at. What you see is the front entrance that I have base coated only. The painting needs loads more attention that it will get in due course.
I have my concerns though.
The door isn't 100% round and I'm hoping that is hidden slightly by the wooden struts.
The arch above the door isn't as round as I would have hoped but I couldn't use anything else other than card. Everything else split as I bent it !!!
I think the wooden arch is too high ?
My big problem though is cutting the holes true. I need to work out an inset piece for the doorframe but I will be honest, I'm struggling.
I haven't made the door yet but there are no issues I see with that, it will be a flat piece of wood glued to the back.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Fri Jun 21, 2013 2:17 pm

The brick work looks good.

I have struggled with using real wood in this scale. When I do manage to get it right the wood grain is out of scale. I am afraid you will have to use card or paper thin plywood for the door frame.There are laminated wood strips with adhesive backing available for edging plywood. You could try that. It is available in DIYS stores but the ultra thin plywood you will have to get that where they specialize in flying models.
I have used PVC pipe for hobbit door frames. I am afraid that wont help here.

Harfoot · **Posted:** Fri Jun 21, 2013 2:34 pm

Hi G, Hobbycraft sell thin Plywood, well they did about a year ago.
It looks good, when everything is in place any "perfect circles" never notice, I am sure middle earth must have subsidence problems anyway!
Like the colours.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Fri Jun 21, 2013 3:18 pm

A don't tell the wife moment. The recess is actually a wedding invite I found made of stiff card- perfect.
It isn't a true hole but I think near enough and some extra touches to the painting seems to hide it a bit. The vegetation I have planned could do the trick.
The windows are still to do as is the handle and a few rivets. They are all finishing touches but the bulk seems to be there.
What I should also say is the bottom pencil line you see is the ground level so the bottom part of the brick frame will be hidden.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Fri Jun 21, 2013 4:05 pm

Very nice! How are you going to do the window glass?

Gandlaf The Grey WIP - Bag End 06/02/15

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