Temple Of Tears Printer Friendly Version   By ABAROTH - Dec. 31, 1969 Background: This entire building evolved from an idea for a single tile! Honest. I wanted to try to make a floor tile, which gave the appearance that the floor was covered in skulls. (Bruce’s method of pushing a skull into plasticene did not achieve a realistic 3-dimensional feel). Having made a couple of floor tiles, I translated the same basic idea into wall tiles – piles of skulls and long-bones. Then I had to build something from them…a crypt seemed to be the obvious choice. A couple of weeks later, the crypt section was nearing completion…but you can’t have a crypt without a church/temple above it, can you? So the Temple of Tears was born. The entire building grew organically - as I went about making one section, ideas for other sections just seemed to fall into place. I hope you enjoy the results of my obsession… Measurements: Length 24” Width 18” Height 22” Moulds Used: #41 Gothic Dungeon Accessories #43 Gothic Panel Accessories #44 Gothic Additional Accessories #45 Gothic Dungeon Builder #54 Gothic Church #55 Bell Tower #56 Tomb #61 Turret #65 Ruined Tower #201 Floor Tiles #205 Gothic Floor Tiles #235 Gothic Roof Custom Blocks: 1” x 1” Skull floor tile 1” x ˝” Skull floor tile 1” x ˝” Skull Wall tiles – 3 different designs ˝” x ˝” Large Skull Column piece Pots & urns Balustrade Rock Skull plaque (with thanks to Aliengod) 1" x 1" grate floor tile Other Materials: Leaf litter for ivy, creeper and dead leaves, from Skullcrafts.com Green pan scourer Plant stems Buddleia flower spikes Flock, static grass, underbrush and reindeer moss (Woodland Scenics and Javis) Ľ” Plywood base Expanded polystyrene Ready-mixed filler (spackle) Cereal packet Basswood Kebab skewers Dolls House cupboard door handle Acetate stained glass windows PVA glue Superglue All-purpose silicone sealant Inscribe acrylic paints GW inks 4 plastic GW skeleton figures Tricky Sections: Rather than describe the infinite tedium of gluing every block together, I’ll just talk you through some of the more awkward areas of the model, and the solutions I found to the problems. Many of the techniques used to build this model were, either complete experiments, or at least new techniques for me. Obstacle: It’s hard to paint a good-looking magic circle on textured tiles Solution: I glued the relevant pieces from the turret mould together, and let them dry. I wet the pieces, and used an artist’s palette knife to smooth filler over the circle. Once dry, this was sanded down to give a smooth surface to paint my summoning circle onto. Obstacle: “A circle don’t fit where a square should be” Solution: To fit the half-circle into the square floor tiles, I laid out the floor tiles upside down, and placed the circle on top of them. I then drew round this, and using a hacksaw blade, removed most of the plaster. This was finished off carefully with a sanding drum on my mini-drill. Obstacle: Main Roof #1 - the card shape Solution: This is quite a complex shape to achieve, but the basic instructions can be found in the “tutorials” page of my web site - http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/abarothsworld/ It is half of a complex conical roof added to a modified pitched roof. Obstacle: Main Roof #2 – making the tiles fit Solution: I stuck the lead roof tiles together in vertical strips. When they were completely dry, I used a hacksaw blade to trim them from the bottom corner, to the top centre. After a dry fit, the top edge was then sanded off, to match up against the spire. Obstacle: The Spire #1 - the card shape Solution: This is a much easier shape than the main roof. The instructions can be found in the “tutorials” page of my web site - http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/abarothsworld/ It is a simple conical roof – choose a height and then follow the steps to get a card template. Because of the tight curvature, the thick cereal packet did not bend smoothly - it tended to crinkle and fold. I cut two sections from thinner packets, and glued them together for strength. Obstacle: The Spire #2 - the lancet windows needed to fit the curve Solution: I used my mini-drill and drum sanding attachment once again. I gradually removed material starting from the top of the piece, and slowly working down to the bottom. (The curve at the bottom is less than at the top.) I stopped sanding when I had just broken through the deepest recess of the window. The spire was finished off with kebab skewers, with one side sanded flat. Obstacle: The ivy Solution: I had seen ivy on several models before, but it did not have enough of a 3-dimensional appearance to look natural. I tore a section of green pan scourer before adding the leaves, which were generously donated by Skullcrafts.com A full tutorial on how to achieve this effect will follow shortly on my website, and at Skullcrafts. Obstacle: The creeper Solution: I had already tried using coir from a hanging basket as stems, but this left something to be desired. I found a dead section of an alpine plant in my garden, which looked far better for the stems. I am not certain, but I think the plant is some form of Veronica. I intertwined 3 pieces, and added a few extra branches, before adding the leaf material, which was generously donated by Skullcrafts.com A full tutorial on how to achieve this effect will follow shortly on my website, and at Skullcrafts. Credits: Many thanks go to all those who have encouraged and helped me to finish this project. I would especially like to mention, my family, my girlfriend, Chaos Angel, KeeblerOrc, Skullcrafts & Imahilus, who have helped me keep going, despite my illness.   14 Ratings     12345      Public Comments Please log in to post a comment    Created  Comment  Aug. 29, 2007, 08:08AM  By: ABAROTH Thanks to everyone for looking, and especially to those who voted. The ivy and vines tutorials have now been posted on my website.  Aug. 22, 2007, 05:30PM  By: NOLSEN First class job. I really like the skulls on the spire. Your painting is wonderful. You will have to give some more info on how you did the windows too. The mountain background really adds a lot to the presentation.  Aug. 20, 2007, 02:03PM  By: STORMY Impressive build. Your attention to detail is extraordinary.  Aug. 19, 2007, 08:59PM  By: DUKEDREAL A wonderful design and beautiful roof and spire. Even though its covered in skulls and what not. Overall an excellent build. The only thing that I do not like are the two "eyes" windows because they are creepy and make the building ominous like "it" is watching you! But you probably intended that anyways.  Aug. 18, 2007, 04:29AM  By: BOSSMAN Your "vlean" builds continue to impress and this building again demonstrates well balanced design. The roof and spire are, to me, the highlights of this building and it was surely a tiresome process to get the main roof sanded to shape. My only critism is that I would have liked to see some internal pillars ot butresses to suppor the main spire, but other than this, a top class effort. Cheers  Aug. 16, 2007, 07:34PM  By: MARKIZZT_DO Very clean, thought out build. I'll echo Tar's comment regarding the stained glass. Well done.  Aug. 16, 2007, 07:26PM  By: TAR_ELENDIL The work here is really impressive. These custom blocks add a lot to the building. Same thing for the stained glass windows.  Aug. 16, 2007, 09:17AM  By: MR.FIBBLE Most impressive very nice mold combinations :)  Aug. 16, 2007, 01:03AM  By: DMGTEMPLAR Very impressive. Cutting those roof tiles must have been a right pain...  Aug. 16, 2007, 12:43AM  By: KEEBLERORC Beyond Increadable, Best I've seen in a long time...most inspiring. john

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