[DecrepitDragon]

When someone hands you a large carboard cylinder and asks you to build something, what do you do?

I decided to make my first foray into the world of plogs, and thought a Wizards Tower would be an ideal start, having seen and loved the new Witchfate Tor.

Firstly, the main materials;

Add to the tube and fibreboard squares a large amount of insulating foam block and off to work I go.

I began by deciding on doing two separate buildings. The first, and easiest, would be a simple ruin of only one level and in one piece.

The second would be more complex, consisting of one base unit, onto which one of two different tops could be placed. One top would be smashed and broken, the other would be roofed and complete.

In order to begin, the first order of business was to slice up the tube;

The bits above are all for the main tower building. Next came some structural work ( ceilings and stairs ) using the blue foam;

The tubular section top left of the picture is for the smaller ruin.

In the centre of the picture is the first stage of cutting out the stairs, and the circular piece to the lower left is the ceiling/floor section of the main tower. As you can see I have begun sketching out ideas for where thngs will go when its put in place.

Its worth mentioning at this point that I tend not to pre-measure much of my work. Ifind that working "on the fly" works best for me.

So, individual wedges were cut out of the stair section, and the blocks were cut from these;

This block was then split into three horizontally, to make individual stairs. An involving process, but one that allowed me to match the stairs to the curvature of the tube;

At this point, I lost access to my camera and forged on ahead a bit with the small ruin. I shall update the pics in a wee bit.

 

[Dave T Hobbit]

Excellent idea for the stairs.

 

[shaantitus]

Impressive progress, looks like you are doing a quality build. Most excellent.

 

[DecrepitDragon]

Firstly, thanks for the comments guys - keep them coming.

And secondly, on to the plog. . . .

So, as I explianed before, I lost access to my camera for a day or two, and cracked on with the small ruin build. Here are some pics of its current progress, with, as best as I can remember, a wee description of how it got to its current state;

And a wee close up of the door and stairs;

The base started out as a fibreboard square, cut to shape with much gnashing, cursing and gashing of legs and jeans ( oops ). More blue foam was pinned to the board using cocktail sticks and a little recess was cut, in which the "tube" ruin was firmly glued.

It was at this point I realised that I should have textured the "floor" of the room, after cutting the recess but before glueing the ruin in place. It just would have been so much easier to reach!

As a quick aside - the foam I am using may be a little hard to come by, but if you ever get a chance to get some, grab it with both hands.

One of the first things you'll notice is the stairs climbing around the inside of the tower. This was made simpler by using the wedges shown earliier, and harder because I almost rushed it ( hint - let them set a little before placing the next step! ).

The broken upper floor was added as an afterthought because I thought the upper edge of the ruin would look a little too regular and uniform without it.

The doorway and door itself was placed next, using thin strips for the doorway, and one flat piece for the door. I then took my knife and started to lightly score the "wood" of the door, first by carefully slicing out fine wedges, down the entire length of the door, to define individual planks. Then, again lightly, lines were pressed into the planks to give a vague grain effect. Small wedges of plastic ( card will do just as well ) were added for hinges, and a small strip, bent once at each end, for a handle.

I would normally use balsa or similar for the door, but alas I'm broke. So i wont be buying any.

Using the same wedge slicing as on the door planks, just a little deeper this time, I formed a small brick wall and stairs leading up to the door and some larger rocks, just for extra detail.

Finally, you may have noticed that the tube has changed colour? That'll be the small tile-like pieces of card I used to simulate the wall of the building. This will be further textured before painting.

When I placed the tiles I didn't worry overmuch about the small windows that I had cut out. I have a plan for those windows, and a knife will soon clean up the edges.

I dont really have a lot left to do with the small ruin, and it's already highlighted two or three things to watch out for in the tower model. For example, I'll be using smaller, more regular tiles for the brickwork as it will give the whole building a more secure and better built feel to the structure. Also, I'll be texturing the floor first before gluing it to the base.

And finally, I wont be trying to take short-cuts with cutting the fibreboard base. It might not be my leg I gash next time.:shok:

 

[Arli]

Great work. Have some Rep...

 

[Dave T Hobbit]

It seems to be progressing well.

I think it would look even better with texturing on the inside of the walls as well.

 

[Lestat]

Just need some sticky-back plastic and you've got a Blue Peter project!
Have some well earned rep - given me some ideas for the future.

 

[DecrepitDragon]

Great work. Have some Rep...

It seems to be progressing well.

I think it would look even better with texturing on the inside of the walls as well.

Just need some sticky-back plastic and you've got a Blue Peter project!
Have some well earned rep - given me some ideas for the future.

Thanks for the positive feedback guys.

Arli - Thanks for the rep mate, its appreciated.

Dave - I will be texturising the inner wall a lot less than the outer wall, but it will have some detail - maybe some cracked plaster effect showing the bricks of the outer wall behind, something like that. I'll get some more pics up when its done.

Lestat - I'm certainly old enough to remember the old sticky back plastic. I didn't know you could give out "0" points btw . Thankfully I'm not a rep whore so it just made me chuckle.:laugh:

The project might be on hold for a day or two guys - need some new materials. Update should be done before the weekend though.

 

[Disciple_of_Ezekiel]

WOW, DecrepitDragon, pretty great looking tower your building so far. The attention to detail is awesome. Love the little nics and texture on the door. Will be looking forward to seeing this progress.

 

[DecrepitDragon]

WOW, DecrepitDragon, pretty great looking tower your building so far. The attention to detail is awesome. Love the little nics and texture on the door. Will be looking forward to seeing this progress.

Thanks a lot mate. Thankfully I'm doing a bit more work on it tonight. The Mrs kindly bought me some stuff so now I dont need to wait till the weekend. I'll get some pics up later maybe.

 

[Lestat]

Lestat - I'm certainly old enough to remember the old sticky back plastic. I didn't know you could give out "0" points btw . Thankfully I'm not a rep whore so it just made me chuckle.:laugh:

Apologies - the rep thing isn't quite working for me. My connection seems to throw a hissy fit when I try and use it :grin:

If you are old enough to remember sticky back plastic, then you probably remeber the Thunderbirds Tracy Island project too. For some strange reason your Wizards tower reminds me of it..............don't know why

 

[DecrepitDragon]

Apologies - the rep thing isn't quite working for me. My connection seems to throw a hissy fit when I try and use it :grin:

If you are old enough to remember sticky back plastic, then you probably remeber the Thunderbirds Tracy Island project too. For some strange reason your Wizards tower reminds me of it..............don't know why

Dont you worry about the rep thing - I'd rather have some C&C to be honest - the thought is most appreciated though.:grin:

I do indeed remember Tracy Island, but my personal favorite was the ever returning coat hangar xmas decorations. If only I was good enough to make them these days. I'd save a fortune!:laugh:

 

[Lestat]

Dont you worry about the rep thing - I'd rather have some C&C to be honest - the thought is most appreciated though.:grin:

I do indeed remember Tracy Island, but my personal favorite was the ever returning coat hangar xmas decorations. If only I was good enough to make them these days. I'd save a fortune!:laugh:

The one with the candles? They used to light one a week on the lead up to Christmas. I dont think health and safety would let them do that now - someone might singe an eyebrow or something :laugh:

 

[apidude]

DD. Tried to rep you and it wouldn't let me. Said I had to share the wealth a bit before I gave you any more. But the thought is there.....

I'm going to subscribe to this one. I'd like to try my hand at home built scenery also ... when I get the time.....

Looking really great! Keep it up.

 

[DecrepitDragon]

DD. Tried to rep you and it wouldn't let me. Said I had to share the wealth a bit before I gave you any more. But the thought is there.....

I'm going to subscribe to this one. I'd like to try my hand at home built scenery also ... when I get the time.....

Looking really great! Keep it up.

No worries about the rep - its the thought that counts.

If you find the time? Between DE painting and writing your Plog, I'm not surprised time is scarce. I'll be honest though and say that up till this point there has only really been about 4-5 hours of work gone into the small ruin.

Thanks for the comment though, its always welcomed.

 

[Djinn24]

Looking really nice and I like the ideas you have had.

 

[Alexious]

Very well done, looks rather intensive and focused. Keep up the good work.

 

[DecrepitDragon]

Looking really nice and I like the ideas you have had.

Very well done, looks rather intensive and focused. Keep up the good work.

Thanks guys. Hope the rest of the build can live up to your expectaitions.

So, I've been having some trouble getting pics uploaded ( still haven't solved that ) but I've managed to get a little work around that should do for now. Apologies for the wait, and here goes . . .

So this is the state of affairs -

Firstly, I cut a triangular layer out of the inside face of the ruin, and applied more of the "brick tiles" I used on the outside of the ruin. This was to simulate broken or cracked plaster falling off the old walls.

I applied a coating of plaster unmixed, just dusted on glue brushed over the surface to be covered - made a right mess of my workspace, but a nice lightly textured surface for painting. This was followed by some straight-forward sand covering the base of the tower.

When this was all dry, I gave it all a very light spray with paint ( any old spray paint will do ) as a fixitive for the plaster dust and sand. It was at this point that some small pieces of wood were cut to shape and placed around the edges of the room to simulate either support or decorative beams.

The whole thing has since been undercoated ( sorry, no pic yet ), and will be painted before I apply some final detailing work. I'm thinking about creeping vines, broken furniture or old candles/lamps. Any ideas would be welcomed guys.

Unfortunately, I wont be painting it until the main tower has been built - dont want to break the flow from building to painting and back again. However, I have started the main towers base, so more pics to follow soon.

 

[Djinn24]

Pics are broken bud.

 

[DecrepitDragon]

Hopefully thats fixed the pictures.

Let me know and I'll see whats what. Thanks.