Mertaal's Wip: Barrow Wights and Tom Bombadil p17

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Fri Jan 31, 2014 9:14 am

I never liked the sculpts for the Hobbit trolls however you've really made it shine, from the snot on his face ("Look what came out of my nose!") to the the skin tone you've achieved - outstanding work. If I did have one bit of criticism it would be that though the base is first rate I feel that there is a little too much mud on his feet/legs.

Serovok · **Posted:** Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:40 pm

This is first class painting. I love the details on this model from the grimy fingernails, to the reddish irritation on the nose and cheeks. The skin tone is flawless and as everyone else commented, the snot looks incredibly gross (in an awesome way). I can't wait to see how the other two turn out.

Green_Dragon · **Posted:** Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:56 pm

I know I'm only repeating what quite a few others have said already but I just had to say once again that skin tone is brilliant and the red nose. All in all a piece to be very proud of.

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:43 pm

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Doesn't look like it's good enough to win this month, but I'm happy with it, which is the main thing.

Next project, I am going to do a bit of resin scenery manufacturing! I plan on making some dry stone wall sections and a dry stone rohan "highlander" peasants dwelling, with grass roof but dry stone construction. The idea is to then make casts of these and replicate them in resin.

I plan on making the drystone with milliput- rolling out a large, thin sheet of it, texturing with a bit of scrunched up paper and scoring it while wet. Then leave it to dry, and snap it in to small "tile" pieces. I'll take some WIP pictures as I work. I *think* it'll work, but never done it before, so don't know. However, I know that milliput does create quite a nice "stony" texture when snapped, and i think it'll give the right sort of jagged look.

Not sure if drystone walling is a thing in the States, but if any of you don't know exactly what I'm talking about, it's this:

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Wed Feb 05, 2014 3:32 pm

Quote:

Not sure if drystone walling is a thing in the States,

It depends on the stone in the area. No slate to stack around here just lots of round quartzite. "River rock"

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=riv ... ORM=IQFRBA

I am looking forward to the WIP.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:41 pm

This sounds an interesting project and I will watch with interest. As a true Yorkshire lad it does the heart proud to see some good dry stoning.
As for myself I have only done the polyfilla version, but that is perhaps more suited to larger stones / bricks.

Son of Fundin · **Joined:** Thu Sep 26, 2013 7:04 pm **Posts:** 258

I am looking forward to some pictures of it, the project sounds very interesting! Especially the way you want to build them is new for me, isn't it difficult? I would have rolled some milliput out, built small bricks and sticked them together. Then I'd have textured it with the aluminium paper. Once it has cured you could snap around to give it stone texture. Just a little idea, I haven't tried this as well.
Anyway I'll see those walls probably very often next year, I an going to do an exchange year to York! That makes it even more interesting...

mertaal · **Posted:** Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:24 am

I rolled it out as thin as I could manage without driving myself totally nuts, and made sure it was thinner towards the edges in order to vary the thickness of the eventual pieces. I then textured it with a piece of scrunched tin foil.
Then I scored one of the two pieces I made reasonably irregularly.

At this stage I left it overnight, and took a photo- or at least I thought I did. Actually what I took was a completely black square. No idea how that happened! Anyway, you can see the rolled out miliput in the last image.

This morning I dry-assembled (how fitting!) a prototype:

And Gandalf for scale-

The real walls will have another layer on top of this, and then the vertically stacked slates. I'm very happy with the scale of the "slates" here, and they broke with a nice effect. I hope the casting will bring out the detail.
Finally I'll break up some really tiny pieces and glue them in to any open spaces. I do expect the silicone mould to break the miliput away somewhat, and stick too far in to the cracks, but as long as I stretch it out and cut it away I should still get the desired effect. I've done a bit of simple mold making before so I'm not a total novice in that department (unlike the drystone walls!).

When it comes to the building i think I will actually work flat, cutting a piece of thin miliput the right shape, and embedding the "slates" in to it. That way I can make a flat cast, and assemble the house like a gingerbread house. I drew some photos, and will take pictures of them too, as long as you all promise not to laugh at my lame drawings!

Son of Fundin · **Joined:** Thu Sep 26, 2013 7:04 pm **Posts:** 258

That looks really great, for a test piece it is awesome! I am just not quite sure about casting it, don't you thing the silicone will flow into all the little holes and so?

mertaal · **Posted:** Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:28 am

It definitely will, but if I cut it out with a razor blade while stretching the mold outwards I think should get a solid cast with enough detail- the stretched bits of silicone will snap back once cut, and leave an impression, but not hold on to the cast piece.

Sorry, that doesn't make much sense- not an easy thing to describe! I'm hoping that the stretchy nature of the silicone that I use (not a very hard one, as it's for resin) will save me there. We shall have to see!

I'll also be sealing it with PVA which should hopefully fill a few gaps, although the miliput is quite porous so might just suck it up. I'll probably be using superglue as the "mortar" so that will probably help a bit too.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:28 pm

This is looking the business already. I can see the texturing and it looks very fitting.
In relation to the gaps, you could even use some Milliput to resemble dirt accumulation in the wall. This would prevent any seepage during the molding process and it also would add a little extra to the wall.

Dorthonion · **Posted:** Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:41 pm

I wonder if a sheet of cork would serve the same purpose - not the version held together with glue (like chipboard) but actual cork cut reasonably thin then broken down into flattish but still irregular pieces. It might be cheaper than the putty and would probably be lighter as well. I use bits of cord for larger rocks on bases.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:15 pm

This is coming along nicely.
It does look like you might have some problems with under cuts. You can try a very thick PVA like Tacky glue and use it to keep the voids between stones from passing through to the other side. Or use some more clay. Not enough for the squeeze out to show but enough to prevent voids from passing all the way through. I do not know how much working time you will have with the epoxy clay, a thin sheet cut to shape between the stones should hold well enough to prevent pass through voids.It might work well enough to hold the stones together with out more glue.

Paint the rubber on the master to reduce air bubbles. I like to use a slow set rubber for more working time and the slower set allows air to escape.
I hope this is some help.

mertaal · **Posted:** Tue Feb 11, 2014 8:11 am

Some progress:

As you can see, only done a quarter the capstones, which ironically take the same time as the rest of the wall!

These two are next. I also need a gate section, but I don't think I'll cast that, so I'll do it later.

I've found that if I apply enough superglue it goes a long way to filling the gaps, and the miliput doesn't loose too much detail, as it soaks it up. So my hopes for casting are reasonable.

Do you think I need a few "not quite straight" sections too?

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Tue Feb 11, 2014 8:46 am

Looking very good, not sure on the "not quite straight" but definitely a section where the wall has crumbled somewhat.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Tue Feb 11, 2014 9:43 am

This looks brilliant, a very authentic dry stone wall.
I'm not sure about a curved wall, although they do excise they are rare. The walls tend to be built at right angles to one another.
I think a straight section with an edging set of stones would be a good piece for gate sections or even just left open.
A damaged section is a good idea, I see two options, one with the middle wall damaged and the second we're the end of the wall graduates down to rubble on the floor.

mertaal · **Posted:** Tue Feb 11, 2014 12:27 pm

Thanks both- I'm pleased with the overall effect. The scale is quite good. As I say, I'm a little nervous about the casting but think it should be ok.

As far as the "not quite straight" sections are concerned, the mental image I have is something like these field divisions:

Gandlaf, you're absolutely right- looking carefully at the above image all the intersections are right angles or near enough. So I guess after my straight mould I will want to be making an L, T and even maybe an X section.

I quite like the idea of some variation in the straightness of the walls, although as in the picture above they're down to undulations in the landscape. I made the curved "corner" section with the vague mental memory of the above. Maybe I do need some 45 degree angle curves though, to prevent the box that will result in perfect corners...

Alas, my board doesn't undulate, so maybe they're not suitable. However, I still have a nagging issue with Rohan peasants erecting perfectly straight and right angled field partitions... Not sure. Will mull it over.

The other "blank" section above is going to be a collapsed section. I've cut a gate section too but will need some thicker miliput "blocks" for the end pieces.

Houses are still a way off, but i'm also thinking of a Broch...

On another note, I'd just like to thank everyone for their support in this thread, and in last month's "monsters" vote. I'll copy and paste what I wrote there:

mertaal wrote:

Couldn't be more pleased with joint first place with DMS, who sent me a very nice PM and is a gentleman of the highest order.

Of course I'd like to thank anyone who voted for me for your support, and all who complimented "Tom" regardless.

I'd also like to give a special thanks to all the people who follow my WIP thread. I can honestly say that since I've joined this site my enthusiasm for the hobby has been greatly increased. I don't actually play much at the moment, but the hobby "support" that I've witnessed and experienced on this site makes it a truly special place. Painting and scenery making is a passion, but one that's rekindled by having a purpose, such as keeping up with a WIP thread and participating in monthly challenges like this one.

Thanks again to DMS who sent me a very nice message and made a very kind gesture to boot.

Dorthonion · **Posted:** Tue Feb 11, 2014 7:10 pm

In Ireland, some of the stone walls are curved and some are straight and some are in between. The type of rock can dictate configuration and sometimes the walls are built in certain ways for traditional reasons. Lots of examples in Google Images and similar sites/searches so you can have a nosey.

Erunion · **Posted:** Wed Feb 12, 2014 3:30 am

The wall is looking very nice. The scale looks good. I can't wait to see these finished up. Would you say that the result is worth the labor investment?

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Feb 12, 2014 7:49 am

Not if I had to make a battlefield full of them. If the casting works then definitely worth the labour investment though. Some friends and I are playing Bolt Action. We always meet at Jon's house, and he's made a really rather nice Normandy board. If the casting works out well I'll most likely make him a set of these.

I finished the above section, the tumbledown section and the curved section last night. I'll photograph before I go to work this morning. I need to texture the bases before casting, and fill any larger gaps that remain.
I still haven't decided on curved over right angles for the corners, so I thought I'd just make both.

Tonight I should manage to cast the long section, or maybe all three, although I'm a bit low on silicone.

Mertaal's Wip: Barrow Wights and Tom Bombadil p17

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