Snowed in? Build a temple! <-- Finished, 2/15/14

[mikedemana]

As some of you may have read, my Pulp game Sunday was canceled due to another of the winter storms that have been hammering Ohio this year. So, after taking the board down and moping around for an hour, I decided to get busy. What do do when you were planning on gaming that evening and suddenly have most of it free? What makes most sense while the wind howls and the snow drifts back over your driveway? Transport yourself to steamy, Southeast Asia and build a temple...!

I will add the step-by-step tomorrow, but here's the temple after two days of work (school was canceled, as well, today). This is also a shameless attempt to get more of you to visit my blog, bookmark it, and hopefully even become "Readers," or "Followers," or disciples or whatever...!  

Here's the pic, with link to my blog and step-by-step assembly tutorial below...


Check out my Lead Legionaries blog here: http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2014/01/snowed-in-build-temple-part-1.html

Mike Demana

[joekano]

Nicely done! Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

[d phipps]

Very cool! That's going to paint up quite nicely. 



HAVE FUN

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

  Read your blog, this looks like another one of your masterpieces of terrain!  Brilliant!

I could do with being snowed in, but all we are getting at the moment is endless rain 

[Argonor]

I see a brooding barbarian on the horizon... 

[pistolpete]

while i was snowed in i put together the old GW arcane ruins set i had laying around for the last few years (yes years).  problem is that it's either too cold or a chance of snow/rain to spray down some primer.

[joroas]

It doesn't seem to have done anything this side of the pond but rain, nearly three months now!!!!! 

Waiting for a snow day!!!!! 

[mikedemana]

You can have some of our snow, guys! You have to take the temperatures with them, though...! 

Okay, so now that I finished some school work I'd been putting off, I have time to post the whole tutorial. For those of you who read it on my blog, don't despair. I'm including a couple bonus photos of today's addition -- the last bit of construction before priming. Well...whenever the weather LETS me prime, that is...!


The roof trim spiced up with bell shapes all along its perimeter. A clear acrylic rod joins them together as a sort of decorative railing.

So, after finishing my school work, I headed out into the 3 degrees F temperature (-19 C) to Michaels craft store. I wandered the aisles, thinking to pick up some decorative beads. Nothing really jumped out at me until I saw a package of 30 tiny tin bells. Since stupas are essentially bell-shaped, what could be more perfect than lining these up all along the roof edge? I didn't like the tab at the top, but then noticed it had a hole (I assume for hanging the bells). I could run a dowel or rod through them and it would look like an incredibly fancy railing! I really enjoy this aspect of the hobby: wandering around a craft store, looking at things, and going: "Hmmmm...."


Close up of a row of bells joined together by their acrylic rod. These will be painted to look like stone, in the end.

I smeared each rectangle on the trim strip along the roof edge with Tacky glue. I strung together the bells on their rod and then lifted them en masse to the roof. I did my best to line them up perfectly, twisting the bells so that the tab holes were aligned. Next, I took a straight pin and dabbed a bit of Tacky glue into the tab hole, joining it with the acrylic rod. The primer and paint will help hold them down, I imagine. Plus, I doubt anyone will try to pick the roof up by the bells!

So, that was Day 3's portion of the build...here's the part I posted on my blog after Day 2:

I had a 4”x6” paper mache box to use as the core of the temple. Unlike the other boxes I used for the temples, this one did not have a patterned surface. Instead, this was plain because I was going to give it brick walls. Many of the temples at Bagan in Myanmar (the inspiration for my temple complex) are made out of brick. The plaster or other surface has worn away on many, so when I visited the complex back in 2003, you see a lot of reddish-orange brick. What’s more, I’d picked up a half dozen patterned, styrene sheets on clearance at Hobby Lobby earlier last year. They included two sizes of brick ones.


The walls of this temple would have a brick pattern, courtesy of a great find at Hobby Lobby!

I chose one with the smaller bricks and cut out four rectangles to cover each face of the box. I used two-part epoxy to attach it to the paper mache because I was worried about the styrene not sticking with white glue or Tacky glue. I attached one face at a time so they would not shift on me. The problem with simply gluing a patterned sheet to a box is, of course, the corners. How do you cover up the place where two sheets are supposed to join up? I decided to use an “L-shaped” piece of bass wood and attach it to each corner. That way, it would cover up the seam (or lack of a seam) completely. It was actually hard to find the L-shaped bass wood, and I had to resort to the somewhat pricey local Hobbyland.


A 4"x6" paper mache box with rectangles of brick-patterned styrene epoxied onto it


How do you cover up those ugly joins between the four pieces of brick styrene? First cover them with L-shaped bass wood...


...and then you decorate it with wood trim to look like half-columns!

Each side of the bass wood is 1/2” long, and I decided to decorate that blank space with some fancy wood trim. I’d picked up a large back of various styles of decorative wood trim at Hobby Lobby when I made the first batch of temples. I found two pieces that were perfect and looked like spiral half columns once glued to the building. I actually, put the trim on the L-shaped bass wood first, before I affixed it to the building. That let me use gravity to keep it from sliding while the Tacky glue dried. I took another piece of decorative trim and lined the top edge of the building on all four sides, too. I liked the look of the temple so far, so set it aside to dry while I began working on the roof.


The core of the temple upside-down, so the top trim can dry flush and level

The base of the roof would be a simple sheet of black styrene. To keep it in place atop the temple, I cut out a piece of balsa wood the exact size of the four walls and glued to the bottom of the roof. The balsa projects down into the walls keeping it from sliding around while the styrene sits atop. While that was drying, I began working on the decorations for the roof. I wanted a bell-shaped projection atop each corner. So, I dug out my miscellaneous wood bits. By assembling an upside down flower pot, spool, disk, wooden wheel, a bead, and a 15mm spear, a very nice looking corner “mini-stupa” was created. The central, bell-shaped decoration was started, as well. It was a bit simpler and consisted of a filial, upside down wooden pot, and a disk.


The decorative bits for the roof: Four mini-stupas for each corner, and the central stupa (which will get another layer and grow even taller the next day when I find a piece to go beneath it at Hobby Lobby...!)

The next day, I took another look at my favorite picture of Bagan, and decided the roof needed to get even fancier. I decided to have a small, false upper level complete with door and roof. So, it was back to Hobby Lobby for their smallest paper mache box. I also picked up another decorative layer to add to the roof’s stupa — a flat-topped doorknob shaped piece of wood that the filial and disk would fit perfectly atop. I used Tacky glue to attach the corner mini-stupas to the roof, and cut two telescoping “levels” of balsa wood for the false second level to sit atop. I had to weight the balsa wood with glue bottles and other miscellanea to keep it flat, though, as balsa tends to warp. It was thickest material I had, though, so I decided to use it. While that was drying, I cut four more sections of decorative wood trim to go along the edge of the roof. It has a square pattern on it, and I hope to find some kind of bead that will look cool in the middle of each square.


The beginning of the entranceway -- a stone archway made from Hirst Arts curved wall pieces

 Next, it was time to begin work on the doors themselves, the false one on the second level and the main entrance. I had cruised the aisles of Hobby Lobby when I bought the box, hoping for inspiration. I hadn’t seen anything that struck my fancy, though. Eventually, I pulled out my leftover Hirst Arts blocks from when I built my Pictish broch years ago. I fiddled with various bits until something finally game to me. I would use two curved wall sections to form an arching entranceway. Attached to their front would be the door, and some flaring, decorative stone work. Many of the entrances at Bagan have pointed, decorative, arch-like entrances. I was trying to give the effect without exactly copying one. Serendipity struck when the piece I used to get it all together had a projecting stone on either side of the doorway. I looked at it, and said, “Hmmm….a statue would look great there!” I rummaged through my unpainted lead pile until I found two Khmer Maiden Guard figures. They fit perfectly on the stone ledges. The door itself was simply “scalloped” balsa wood. The ornamental door knockers were a couple beads and a pin head glued to the wood.


More Hirst Arts pieces attach to the carved stone entranceway (hidden here). The door is a piece of scalloped balsa wood with two beads and a pin head attached. The statues are 15mm Khmer Maiden Guard figures.

I decided to do a smaller version of the fancy entranceway for the false second floor, too. I left off the door knockers, since the door was only decorative. I used smaller Hirst Arts pieces and was able to give them a stone ledge, too. I dug through my figure box and found — believe it or not — two female zombie hunter figures with axes to guard this entrance. So much of a project like this is work on something, set it aside to dry, and work on another phase or section of the build. I was bouncing between the main temple piece and the roof piece with regularity.


The roof with most of its construction done. The false level attaches to that block of foam core snugly, allowing me to remove it and store it on its side. The tower mini-stupas have their 15mm spear points glued inside the bead. The only thing missing is some sort of fancy bead in each of those rectangles on the wooden trim along the edge of the roof.

Once it came time to finish the main entranceway, I had to glue the entire building down onto its styrene base. The roof was progressing well, too. One key consideration is that I want these buildings to fit in the 13”x13”x4” snap-together boxes I use to cart my terrain around. The tough part is always the 4” high part! So, I designed this temple to be three separate pieces. there is the main building, which is about 3” tall. The roof comes apart in two sections. The false second level and the stupa tower atop it pulls off, and can be laid on its side in the boxes. The roof itself is only one layer styrene, two layers of balsa, and a layer of foam core that the false level snugly fits around. It is just a little over 2” tall — most of that being in the corner, “mini-stupas.”


And here is the more than 6" tall false level and stupa tower. I love how you can stack a bunch of these wood pieces on top of each other and it really looks like a stupa from Bagan! A small paper mache box forms the core of the false level, decorated by Hirst Arts pieces and a fake door. Two axe-wielding women guard the fake door.

All three pieces have been set aside to dry. Now, I just need to hope for enough a warm up that I can spray paint the entire thing black, prior to painting...!

Stay tuned!

Mike Demana

[Eric the Shed]

This is inspirational...wish we had the craft stores you have in the states over here in the uk

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

This is inspirational...wish we had the craft stores you have in the states over here in the uk

I agree, on both counts. Magnificent work. I'm always jealous when you guys say "then I went down to the Hobby Lobby/Michaels and picked up..............". I've only found one craft store in Devon so far, there must be more!

[joroas]

I've only found one craft store in Devon so far, there must be more!

There must be a Hobbycraft down there, sandwiched between a Clotted Cream Teas and a Pasty shop! 

[Dr. The Viking]

Inspiring!

I wish we snowed in in this country too. We just drive silly for a couple of days it seems.

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

There must be a Hobbycraft down there, sandwiched between a Clotted Cream Teas and a Pasty shop! 

That's the one I've found, at Newton Abbot! There is also a good craft section in Otter Nurseries at Ottery St. Mary if you ever go that way.

sandwiched

I bow to the Master of the Pun!

[BlackSmoke]

I wish I had a fraction of your ingenuity and skill when it comes to making terrain! Your stuff is amazing!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

I wish I had a fraction of your ingenuity and skill when it comes to making terrain! Your stuff is amazing!

Completely agree, it's marvellous stuff!