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Gothic Sentry Tower


2500kgm3

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Maybe someone remembers my marines, and the space marine temple I designed out of cardboard:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/20/273133_sm-cardboard%20inspiration.jpg

 

Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the level of detail, so I decided to buidl a better version, which will be bigger, and much mpre detailed, with more elaborate geometry, and with the posibility to move miniatures through it easily.

 

The temple would be composed of modular pieces, dozens and dozens of them. There would be about 25 types of pieces (gates, full walls, windows...) and they will be designed to be modular and interchangeable. I am building one single piece of each type, giving it enough detail, and then I will copy it in resin, to get the ammount of pieces needed for the full temple.

 

Since mould materials for resin are quite expensive, I have started by creating just 7-8 types of pieces. These are not enough in any way to create a full cathedral, but will be enough to build a Bastion style building for my marines.

 

Here, you can see the first piece I have built. Each piece will have different details on each face, to allow for some variety.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/26/275213_sm-.JPG

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/27/275584_sm-.JPG

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Quite an ambitious project! I'm impressed. Hopefully your dedication -- and your wallet -- will hold up for this project, because it would be amazing to see it completed.

 

Plus... you could always sell copies of the pieces if they turned out nice enough :lol:

 

How are you going to be able to add multiple levels? I might be mistaken (the picture at the top of the post is too small to tell) but it looks like you have quite an elaborate vaulted ceiling (or the remains thereof).

 

The first piece looks very nice though. Looking forward to more!

Quite an ambitious project! I'm impressed. Hopefully your dedication -- and your wallet -- will hold up for this project, because it would be amazing to see it completed.

 

Plus... you could always sell copies of the pieces if they turned out nice enough :wacko:

 

How are you going to be able to add multiple levels? I might be mistaken (the picture at the top of the post is too small to tell) but it looks like you have quite an elaborate vaulted ceiling (or the remains thereof).

 

The first piece looks very nice though. Looking forward to more!

 

I am building this to be dissasembled during play in order to get miniatures into the different storeys. Regarding vaulted ceilings... I am not sure about that right now. I will start with a standard surface in this tower for miniatures to stand on it. The prototipe tower will have a ground floor, first storey and an open second storey.

 

A squad of ten miniatures will be able to stand on each storey. Or even 25 Warhammer Fantasy miniatures, on a 5x5 formation.

Thanks for your encouragement!

 

Here is the start of the first modelling in this piece. The ornaments are supposed to resemble long lost heroes and myths, therefore I avoided explicit power armour or such iconography, since these figures' real identity and appaerance would be lost in the past:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/21/273739_sm-.jpg

The sculpting in this piece has been finished!

 

I am thinking I should also create an alternative piece with windows, based on this one, just by getting rid of the big human-like sculptures.

 

Due to the height of the window sill, tanks would be able to shoot through these windows, while infantry would not, just to provide a different challenge on the battlefield.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/22/273893_sm-.JPG

And here you have got the other side of that piece, so there is some variety when the tower is assembled. Do you think it is coherent enough, while still being different? or is it too similar?

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/26/275212_sm-.JPG

Here you can see the next piece in line, a single storey wall:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/28/276121_sm-.JPG

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/28/276122_sm-.JPG

 

I think it works well as a window to let light inside the building, but I doubt it will look good as a piece to take cover behind. Therefore, I am working on a replacement for it which I find more suitable for that role. In this piece, marines would be able to duck behind cover instead of trying to squeeze themselves behind a tiny pillar... Which would be quite comical, by the way. The brownstuff detailing is still missing, as you can see.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/3/29/347294_sm-.jpg

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/3/29/347293_sm-.jpg

Every storey needs a floor! This floor supports a full 10 man squad without any problems, or even a 5x5 infantry formation from Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/27/275917_sm-.JPG

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/27/275915_sm-.JPG

All gothic structure need buttresses! so let's have some! I am now working on several wall sections, sculpting is still pending.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/30/276588_sm-.JPG

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2011/9/30/276589_sm-.JPG

This is the one storey wall without windows segment. And this brings us to the question of the day!

 

I want to sculpt a generic scene spanning these four "windows". I was thinking about depicting a siege, or people preaching to a deity of some sort. Any Ideas? I am trying to avoid the "huge figures" I used in the two storey high wall without windows segment.

 

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/4/6/350082_sm-.jpg

Absolutely stellar work – the attention to detail, realism and quality of the craftsmanship is fantastic.

 

I want to sculpt a generic scene spanning these four "windows". I was thinking about depicting a siege, or people preaching to a deity of some sort. Any Ideas? I am trying to avoid the "huge figures" I used in the two storey high wall without windows segment.

 

If you're after a generic scene, then you might consider a pilgrimage – this is a common theme in religious art that would work well on a landscape format. The columns could provide breaks in the narrative (a little like a comic strip panel), so the same figure could appear in all four – looking up being inspired; riding on a horse/similar (perhaps a mythical/exotic beast, like a unicorn, lizard or demi-gryph?); meeting another figure; meeting a grisly end/martyrdom.

 

If you'd like to add a 40k flavour without being explicit about it (and keeping it fairly generic), then I'd have to recommend John Blanche's fantastic Eternity Gate artwork as inspiration:

http://img.waffleimages.com/39f2a668e96b4cf7583af744f29e6fa577a37466/EternityGate.jpg

The main image is a metaphorical treatment of the Emperor slaying Horus, and it contains a lot of allegorical, grotesque and symbolic imagery that might be appropriate without tying the piece too closely to the 40k IP. These include the human-headed serpent (Horus), the spear and victory laurels of the Emperor, fantastic beasts like the griffon and lammasu, and symbols like the eye in Horus' tail and the peculiar logo right in the very centre.

 

In addition to the main image, there are some great distinctive images like bald angels, bells, comets and the twin-headed eagle; plus the material in the banners that line the hall – a winged figure with a flaming sword, an excruciated skeleton with laurels... Lovely stuff for inspiration.

 

++

You've done some really fantastic work here – I look forward to seeing the project develop; and would really encourage you to look into producing this to sell. It's gorgeous!

  • 2 weeks later...
If you're after a generic scene, then you might consider a pilgrimage – this is a common theme in religious art that would work well on a landscape format. The columns could provide breaks in the narrative (a little like a comic strip panel), so the same figure could appear in all four – looking up being inspired; riding on a horse/similar (perhaps a mythical/exotic beast, like a unicorn, lizard or demi-gryph?); meeting another figure; meeting a grisly end/martyrdom.

 

If you'd like to add a 40k flavour without being explicit about it (and keeping it fairly generic), then I'd have to recommend John Blanche's fantastic Eternity Gate artwork as inspiration:

 

The main image is a metaphorical treatment of the Emperor slaying Horus, and it contains a lot of allegorical, grotesque and symbolic imagery that might be appropriate without tying the piece too closely to the 40k IP. These include the human-headed serpent (Horus), the spear and victory laurels of the Emperor, fantastic beasts like the griffon and lammasu, and symbols like the eye in Horus' tail and the peculiar logo right in the very centre.

 

In addition to the main image, there are some great distinctive images like bald angels, bells, comets and the twin-headed eagle; plus the material in the banners that line the hall – a winged figure with a flaming sword, an excruciated skeleton with laurels... Lovely stuff for inspiration.

 

That is an amazing picture. I know I would never be able to do justice to it with my limited sculpting talent, but I will learn from the allegorical imaginery and use it in the sculpting. Thanks a lot for inspiring me!

 

 

 

 

 

I can finally announce I have finished the cardboard base for all the pieces I need for this first "Pack" I am creating (I am still thinking about making a stairway piece, but I feel If I start building that, I will finish even later!)

 

In total, I needed four new pieces: The arc, One storey wall without windows, One storey wall with windows, and a two storey wall with windows.

 

I have started "cleaning" and tidying up the pieces with putty, in order to avoid recesses that could be problematic for the silicon when I cast the pieces. It is a very tiresome process, but it is essential to do before sculpting starts. I think I will need to sculpt for 40 hours in order to finish the project, since both faces of all these pieces need sculpting.

 

Anyway, I am going to show you these four new pieces, one on top of another as if it was a tall tower (even if the arc at the top has nothing to do there xD). Sculpting is still missing, of course.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/4/11/352512_sm-.jpg

very cool work, reminds me of an old european gothic cathedral

 

Thanks! It was designed to be a gothic cathedral before I decided to start with a single tower.

 

Are you planning on selling cast stuff from these? I think you could easily get some customers from this as they look awesome and gothic

 

Why not? I am considering that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I finally finished the cleanup of the pieces, and drew some motifs to sculpt on them. It's not static, just a guideline for sculpting. I hope these motifs will still be in line with the previous pieces.

 

¿What do you think? I will start sculpting with the upper piece and go on from there, although as you see, I already sculpted some wings on the lower piece, and some flames on the middle one.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/4/23/357421_sm-.jpg

Well, after not being able to work propperly, I have finished two of the last four pieces. Both are really similar in both faces, so I am only showing you one face for each piece.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/4/30/360310_sm-.jpg

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/4/30/360311_sm-.jpg

 

I have started the sculpting in the two storey piece, although it's not ready yet. The last piece I will work on will be the windowless one storey piece.

 

I have thought about creating a "stairs" piece to be able to create a complex building or fortress. I find that would be great, and not that much of a problem. These are yet to be designed, however, and would require even more silicon. Maybe I could work on it as the first piece I work after the first pieces are casted. Maybe an "open door" piece would be great as well.

 

What do you think?

  • 2 weeks later...

I finally managed to finish another piece. This had more work going for it, but the next (and last) one will be harder to sculpt.

 

here are the pics of the piece. I am kinda fond of this one, since the windows prevent line of sight from infantry, but turret mounted weapons in tanks would be able to shoot through them.

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/5/11/365459_sm-.jpg

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/5/11/365460_sm-.jpg

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