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The Sawdust of the Past

The Making of...

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The making of Barad-Dûr

Part one

© Lotrscenerybuilder 2009



Gradually we worked our way downward. A section of the cardboard cylinder was removed and replaced by a panel with windows and arches (in retrospect, we would've liked to have even more difference in layers and depth on this particular level of the tower).



Despite its scale and its wide diversity in details the Barad-dûr has only two major 'key-problems': the twin horns at the top and the 'lop-ears' on both sides of the pinnacle. John Howe included them in his design of Sauron's lookout balcony as rather nondescript embellishments but the Weta modellers opted for a more striking elaboration (we think these ears and horns played a major role in Mary MacLachlan's distress when she found out that her miniature "… was true to John's drawing, but it wasn't quite [Peter Jackson's] Barad-dûr"; sure enough, the Galleries in the TT Appendices show an early sculpture of the Dark Tower were these illustrious features are barely visible).



We started with cardboard with a thickness of 2mm to model the ears. Likewise parabolic in form, we glued these four 'pendants' on top of each other against the tube. Small strips of cardboard filled up the space in between. Finding the right dimensions and shape took its time; it was a matter of trial & error.



However, the 2mm cardboard turned out to be the wrong choice: with the last 'pendants' glued in place, our tower was now blessed with… an imposing set of antlers! After a disturbed night we tore down the whole affair first thing the next morning and had another try with flaps of 1mm cardboard.

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