If you plan to establish a setlement within the realm of Theoden King, it seems logical to start with a well...
...especially if you happen to have a spare piece from GWs Goblintown boxed set which would work nicely as a well crane (or what is it called?)
The build was quite straight forward. I cut a piece of 10mm plywood to shape and bevelled the edges. A well should be placed on elevated ground so surface water does not seep unfiltered into the well, so that works (ahaha) well, as well for this well. I drilled a 50mm hole in it. The above ground well was cut out of XPS and the hole made slightly smaller than the well shaft for a slightly conical shape, just for aesthetics.
The top masonry and flagstones were cut out of a 3mm XPS insulation sheet, sanded, textured by pressing a rough piece of rock on it. The flagstones were tn laid out in a way as if it was done a long time ago and has been separating due to wear and errosion. It gives in a more organic, lived in feel, I think.
The earth is my usual mix of paper mache (Celluclay) and white glue, spread out on the bare wood and between the flagstones.
With the help of a wet finger tip and a wet, flat brush, I made sure the flagstones were mostly bare from the paste. It looks best if the dirt is not too smooth elsewhere, though.
Now, for the well below ground I did something I have not tried before: a
. In an attempt to achieved forced perspective I wanted to paint the water table as if it is well below it's scale distance. First I traced the inside of the well on a piece of styrene sheet...
...then I drew a number of radia and a series of increasingly narrower circles. On these I picked out the shape of the masonry, which decreased in size the closer to they were to the center. The innermost circle, which was to become the water surface, I left blank. The individual blocks were given some texture by applying a layer or two of GWs Liquid Green Stuff.
After picking out all the masonry and squinting at it I thought there was some hope that it might actually work. It doesn't perhaps look quite so convincing in this picture, but IRL, it sort of does. To a degree...
I spray painted the whole disk in a Mars black/Paynes grey color, which I let dry thoroughly. The textured rocks where then carefully dry brushed with a soft round brush, inwards towards the center in successfully lighter shades of stone grey. The lightest shades were only applied to the outermost circles, leaving the innermost quite dark with just a hint of highlights.
The water was first painted a pure black. The ripples were picked out in blueish grey in a couple of nuances. Now, the water surface could be painted in a number of ways as reflections in water is very much dependent on the angle from which is beheld (all quite difficult to replicate in scale). I think my choice works as a convention for how water is perceived. Finally I lacquered the water surface with a few layers of gloss... well, you know, lacquer.
The flagstones as well as the well were sprayed Paynes grey and then dry brushed in a succession of lighter stone greys.
And here is a shot, giving you some idea of what I was trying to do to make the well seem deeper. "A lot of wailing for a little wool, said the crone, shaving the pig" as we say.
I don't know how well it shows, but I wanted the well to be a somewhat adorned construction, as if the benevolence of Theoden King is shown in the construction of municipal institutions. So, I clad the sides of the well with paper lace...
...and cut joints in it when the glued had dried.
The earth parts were painted Vandyke brown, airbrushed in a light earth and finally lightly dry brushed with tan.
The whole thing was tufted and flocked with my usual Rohan mixure. I also painted the crane and made a chain and bucket from scratch.
The completed build can be seen
here.