Escape from the Dwarrowdelf ... along Durins Causeway... WIP

The Watcher in the Water terrain board, is 95% finished... I am just busy pouring the Realistic Water Resin, layer by layer, but things have cooled and become damper here in NZ as Autumn kicks in, and its affecting how quickly the resin is drying through...

So while it does its thing in its own time... I made a start on making Durin's Causeway, for the Fellowship of the Ring scenario; the Escape from the Dwarrowdelf. The Dwarrowdelf is the place with all the huge pillars, off of which is Balin's tomb...

This terrain feature covers the scenes from the movie as they leap across the broken steps whilst escaping the Balrog... and we hear those immortal words; "Not the Beard!"  ;-)

So my 25mm thick Styrofoam sheet order arrived from Forman Insulation, which my Hotwire Foam Factory crafting kit has been waiting to get to grips with... and I made a start today.

I would have started yesterday but a bit of DIY home repair was on the cards first. I had to repair damage to our bathroom wall after the heated towel rail came off after an exuberant son said he 'just pulled the towel off it, and it fell on the floor'... hmmm..... anyway...

Here's what I got done today;

Here I am using the HotWire craft tool, to cut out the stepped sections... makes it real easy... A glass of vino and some MiddleEarth music as accompaniment helped the time pass effortlessly...

Oh and I had FotR on pause on the TV to get the look of the thing right!

And reverse angle...

I have not yet cut out the broken stair section... I made that one piece intact, until I had all the pieces in proportion and correctly positioned.

My only slightly nagging doubt is, is 25mm wide enough for the scenario? That means a single file run through this scenario, pursued by goblins from behind and others awaiting in front...Should I make it double the thickness for the arched causeway sections? This would thus make it possible for two regular models to fight side by side... In the movie it's clearly wide enough for two people to stand side by side, but our models bases represent the fighting space they need... I guess you could call it either way...

I will of course base it and put an MDF sheet up the back to support and protect the main upright... and I will blend the edges into a rocky surface...possibly using some of that expanding foam stuff which I can then carve...

The only real issue, as my son nonchalantly pointed out, wandering through the garage to see how I was doing, is storage. "Where you gonna keep it Dad?" ... Hmmm ,... its 28" high and will stand on a 2' x 3' board once finished... hmmm... oh well I am sure I'll find a spot for it, somewhere... ;-)

Ah well, that's my terrain work for the weekend... other painting has seen me finish the 4 Wood Elf swordsmen Tim sent me, and after finally getting round to watching the 'Making-of' discs from Hobbit #1 AUJ, Ext Ed.. it motivated me to get on and paint up the Hobbit Dwarf set... I have got another five done now; Thorin, Dwalin, Bombur Bifur and Dori, which now makes six in total done with Balin that I did some weeks ago. I now have made a start on Fili and Kili, and Haldir (for the Lothlorien scenario) also sneaked into the painting queue... I'll feature these in a subsequent post...