BSC2025 Mick in Switzerland's LOTR Siege Tower 30/3/2025 The Two Towers built...

[Lost Egg]

Development model...so this isn't even the real thing?! Blimey Mick. I admire your dedicated and skills.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

In my head, I had always intended to have two towers.

I think that I need two siege towers for a balanced game.

Otherwise, if the attacker loses one tower, they have lost the game.

I think the second will be easier as I will know what I am dong and the sizes of each bit.

[SgtSlag]

I love the Red Box (not LotR) Troll pushing the Siege Tower!  Very much after the Jackson LotR films.

If you have never tried The Dip Technique before, I highly recommend it for terrain pieces that need to look aged, worn, and just plain weathered.  Get some urethane stain which is water based, not solvent based:  dries within 30 minutes (not days, like the solvent based formulas...), very little odor when dry (again, the solvent based formulas have a strong odor that will last for 5-10 years -- seriously), durable sealant over the paint (made to be walked upon, wearing rubber soled shoes!).  Any dark brown color will work:  Minwax Tudor (black) is the default color, but I prefer a dark shade of Walnut stain.  Apply a matte clear coat after it dries (for this, I wait a full 24+ hours, just to be sure).  It is simple, effective, and fast.

I use throw-away school paint brushes (not worth bothering to clean them @ $0.30/brush) to paint it on, heavily.  It will pool, and it will run down onto the bottom of the figure/terrain piece, so make sure to account for this before you apply it.  Pooling too heavily in recesses can be either brushed away with a dry brush, or use the edge of a paper towel to soak it up; pooling at the base of the figure is more serious, as it tends to accumulate, heavily, on the base, so cover your work surface to avoid contamination.  Nitrile gloves are a must, as it tends to get onto stuff you did not intend to apply it to.

Here is an old Marx toy Fort, made of brown HDPE plastic.  I modified it for 25mm - 28mm gaming.  I beefed up the catwalks, but the outside of the fort timbers is what really shows off what urethane-stain can do for you:  the HDPE plastic had very little texture molded into its surfaces, but the urethane-stain brought out what was there.  I painted the hewn tips of the 'logs', along with the wooden pins holding up the catwalks on the inside, with Sunflower craft paint.  The logs, themselves, were left unpainted, as they were already a brown plastic.  If you zoom in, you can see more of the texture brought out by the urethane-stain -- there isn't much texture there, but it certainly brings out what was there, exceptionally well.  The base is made of MDF, with the Fort Hot Glue'd to it after the urethane-stain, and the matte clear coat, were applied, and fully cured.

The Fort will not win any awards, but it is a blast to use on the tabletop.  It has been a focal point in four major games, thus far, since I mod'ed it for my gaming needs.  It is usually occupied by Hobgoblins, Orcs, or Goblins, being attacked by Humans and/or Dwarves (as in the game photo shown, the Dwarves are on the far side of the Fort). 

Applying the The Dip Technique on figures will not win any painting contests, but for terrain, it is superb in its results, its ease of application, and time it will save you on weathering.  It can be combined with other techniques, if desired.  You can apply acrylic paints, powders, whatever, over the top of the urethane, once it is cured.  Cheers!

[snitcythedog]

I plan to build a second "finished" tower taking into account the lessons learned with this build.

I knew it.  You are going to build a 1/1 scale tower in your back garden.     Bet the neighbors won't play their music loud once it is done.   

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

@SgtSlag,

The Troll is an official GW LOTR model. There is a plastic kit that can be made as an Isengard Troll, a Mordor Troll or a Troll drummer.
I bought the drummer on Ebay several years ago.

For this build, I am using an acrylic wood stain. In Europe, most DIY stores have switched to water based paints and wood stains.

[tomrommel1]

outstanding build

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Yesterday, I started on the 2nd siege tower.

The sides are basically the same as the first tower but without the chassis and with a 10mm deep beam for the drawbridge.
I used the same template as 2nd February. I used a bench disk sander to shape the slanted joints.
Everything joined together with cocktail stick dowels.

The big difference is the chassis and wheels. This is made from 6 identical pieces of 5mm x 10mm wood cut to 105mm (underside) with 45 degree slope at the front and about 70 degrees at the back to match the rear strut. I use a pillar drill to drill three "finger-tight" holes for barbeque skewers, which gave me some flexibility to widen and narrow the chassis. When it matched the front claws from the 1st tower, I made cross beams as spacers. This rolls quite nicely.



From here the whole tower was assembled with the roof beams and chassis defining the taper. This is much better construction than tower1.



I then added the roof slats and floor boards. (sorry about the focus on this pic)

[snitcythedog]

This is much better construction than tower1.

Mate, this is much better constructed and engineered than anything that I build.  Bravo! 

[Lost Egg]

That looks fiddly as...tis in great shape though.

[SgtSlag]

I would suggest equipping the attackers with ladders, in addition to the two Siege Towers.  If they rely entirely upon the Towers, they can only threaten the defenders at two points on the wall, allowing them to feed their troops into the mash, all too easily.

Ladders allow attackers to approach in single file, but if they employ 20 ladders + 2 Towers, that is 22 attack regions on their walls they must simultaneously defend, not just two points on the wall, where the towers are.

Search the Internet for makers of miniature ladders -- at 28mm, cast metal look the best; they paint up fast and easy, and they're inexpensive. Cheers!

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Ladders are a good idea.

Somewhere, I have the GW Uruk Hai Siege Troops set which has four ladders.
I think they would work with the walls that I have.

I plan to make some internal ladders in the siege towers.
I will probably make them with plastic rod.

[Spinal Tap]

That build is looking great.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Yesterday, I looked at the calendar in shock and thought OMG there is no way I will finish this in time.
But I decided to put some effort in.

I finished the assembly and gluing of the modular tower. This was more work than expected.
I had to do a lot of shaving and sanding to get everything to fit.

Yesterday, I hit a major snag on the second tower. I made the chassis and finished both ends.
As I started to do the planking, I tried the lower front piece from tower 1 and realised that it didn't fit at all.
I needed to make a new chassis about 8mm shorter or somehow shorten the existing one.
I worked out that I could saw it in half and remove the extra from the middle.
I did it and it worked but I feel like I cheated in my goal of a neatly built woodwork tower.
On the other hand, you only see the mistake if it is upside down.

I carried on and planked the sides.
I broke my expensive but superb Tamiya Side Cutters (74123) after using them to trim a hundred or so planks.

Here is the progress so far.

[Gunbird]

On the other hand, you only see the mistake if it is upside down.

If your armies Siege Tower is upside down, you will have other worries

Looking great and nice save!

[snitcythedog]

Very respectable work.  Nice to see the second one coming along.