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 Medieval History Box  

By DUKEDREAL - Dec. 31, 1969

Medieval History Box of the Sacking of the Temple of Hel

Dimensions:
9 ˝ inches tall by 12 inches long by 12 inches wide


Molds Used:
Basic Block Mold #40, Gothic Dungeon Accessories Mold #41, Gothic Arena Accessories Mold #42, Gothic Panel Accessories Mold #43, Gothic Additional Accessories Mold #44, Gothic Dungeon Builder #45, Small Brick Mold #250

Construction:
This work was to create a dioramic scene that would tell the story of the sacking of the Temple of Hel in Helsport.

Casting the small columns and then carefully carving them made the Roman Temple. The lintels across the top were parts cut off that looked the correct size.

The small chapels around the religious district were all made from various parts from the molds. Each one looks slightly different and was intended to represent a different faith from the D&D verse.

The walls were made from the small brick mold and create the main defense of the city. This portion surrounds part of the religious district.

The ruined church was probably the hardest part of this build. I did what I call “half-casting” in which I only partially filled the mold with dental plaster. I then cam back and carefully cut out the windows. These thinner pieces make the ruined building actually look like there was an inside. The hardest areas to carve were the supports to the central spire. They had to be cast whole and then carved down to give the impression of an inner space!

The mechanical parts were the next hardest thing to figure out. I built the pieces and then worried about how to make them move. The rotating church and wall sections were quite simple. Taking the same idea of the secret doors trick on Hirst Arts website I applied the same method but changed the center of rotation. The hard part was to get the siege towers to move. The photo below shows how I came up with the solution. The piece has to go all the way to the bottom to avoid the rotating wall section. Overall as you can see in the animated gif made from a mov file the parts all do work!

Fluff:
The city of Helsport has been under siege before but this is the first time in its history that the city walls were breached. The mighty temple of Hel suffered the most damage before the invaders were driven out. This box shows the city before the siege, during the siege when the towers move in, and the aftermath with the sacking of the temple of Hel. The box has long survived the city of Helsport, now a distant memory, and is the only proof that the city ever existed.


Average Rating: 5 out of 5  7 Ratings      

 Public Comments Please log in to post a comment 

 Created  Comment
 Aug. 31, 2006, 07:57PM
 By: BOSSMAN
Very clever and nicely thought out. I think most of us dungeon designers will learn a few "trap tricks" out of this.

Cheers
 Aug. 28, 2006, 10:11PM
 By: DUKEDREAL
Thank you all! This one was the toughest to build because of how to make it move! It moves the towers by going under the area where the wall rotates. That took me a while to figure out! To EXARCHIZAIN...there are other movies than Star Wars and Harry Potter? Oh yea, the Lord of the Rings. May Hels blessing be upon you. :)
 Aug. 28, 2006, 10:35AM
 By: EXARCHIZAIN
Boy, I guess someone was all charged up for the 'mechanical' category, eh? :-D And here I was going to poke fun at Duke saying he needed to watch some other movies besides the Star Wars set, and this is such a fantastic job that I guess I should shut the Hel up (Ha!).

Innovative concept, great execution. Excellent piece.
 Aug. 25, 2006, 09:19AM
 By: ABAROTH
Very innovative idea. Very clean lines, well modelled and painted. I like the animation showing the bits changing over. I'm not quite sure how those seige towers move 'through' the outer wall revolving section, but it probably involves magic (or slots which I didn't spot).
 Aug. 21, 2006, 06:01PM
 By: GAMER
Very creative. All those little details and the original concept make this a very nice piece. Excellent work!
 Aug. 21, 2006, 04:38PM
 By: MALARKEY
There's a lot of good details packed into this build. Thanks for making the video clip also. Good going.
 Aug. 17, 2006, 02:16PM
 By: DNDOPMAN
There is so much packed into such a tiny space that I really had a hard time trying to take it all in. A top down shot would be really good for reference of where everything really is and whats going on. I think this was an extremely innovative idea and you have pulled it off well. Great job!
 Aug. 17, 2006, 02:07PM
 By: TWISTED
A very cool and unique entry. Nice to see block used in such a different way. Love how you made the temple of Hel hollow and all the rubble.

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