The Shire:

Isengard:

Eriador

Rivendell

The Mines of Moria:

Mirkwood

The Anduin

Rohan

Morgul Vale:

Mordor:

The Sawdust of the Past

The Making of...

Scenery Workshop:

More Middle-earth:

Visitors

Pageloads

BUILDING THE BLACK GATE

Part two: The Gatehouse

© Lotrscenerybuilder 2009


Step 10:

The Black Gate is operated by trollpower: when a monstrous treadmill is set in motion the gate doors slowly swing outwards. Now it isn't altogether clear in what way the Weta modellers devised the hinge system for their gate. However, we think we have solved the mystery. If you take a good look at the unfinished polyester gate in the Two Towers "Big-ature" chapter (Appendices, Part Four) you can see that the towers between the doors and the rest of the gate are composed of three parts: two barrel-like spools stacked upon each other, and a crowning pinnacle on top. Now it cannot be other than this whole structure is a gigantic hinge, with the middle section solidly attached to the doors while the 1st and 3rd section are attached to the gatehouse (or the other way round); all three must be pivoting on a huge axis in the centre of the tower.



Constructing a hinge tower like that might become a bit complicated. We are going to build a tower that will have the looks of the real one but it will operate in a different manner.



Cut out eight samples of the Elendil A template and glue them onto 4mm MDF. Also, copy the Elendil B template onto 4mm MDF. Use the fretsaw to cut out the elements.



On the Elendil A template there's a yellow coloured crescent. For only three of these eight Elendil A elements, this crescent has to be remodelled. The picture above and the next one make hopefully clear what we want to achieve.



Use a hobby knife to cut out a crude 'talus' form; use a file to improve the shape of the slope. It isn't as difficult as it might look but in case you ruin an element, just get yourself a new one.



The Elendil A elements are going to be glued together in pairs; we will end up with three couples of a modelled & unmodelled element and a fourth couple of two unmodelled elements; like this:

( ]1    ( ]2    ( ]3    [ ]4

Next we use the file to remove all irregularities at the front face of each of the Elendil-couples.



Here we have all four elements, in order of their position on the tower; the sequence in the picture is correct, but the orientation is not; it's going to be like this:

up    [ ]1      ( ]2 [ )3      ( ]4     down

(we're not too worried about the seam in the [ ]1 element because this one won't be visible when the tower is finished).



Glue two Elendil A couples back to back in the centre of the Elendil B element; their position is marked on the template. Study the picture for the right orientation of the couples. Note that there is a seam visible between both couples; use your file to create this feature - it's representing the 'rotation-joint' between the 1st and 2nd hinge segment.



Before gluing the top and bottom couples onto the B element we have to measure off the Elendil C elements that are going to make up the front face. In theory, their dimensions should be 3.0cm x 3.2cm… We used a strip of 4mm MDF (width: 3.0cm) and a pencil to obtain two perfectly fitting panels.



This picture and the next show the correct way of assembling the tower frame. Check the angle with a set square. Make adjustments if necessary.



Next come the 'cooling fins': there's three of them on each hinge segment. Copy the Elendil Leaf Ground template (3x) and the Elendil Leaf Middle template (3x) onto 4mm cardboard and cut them out.

Consider yourself fortunate if these Elendil Leaf elements fit seamlessly onto the frame; ours didn't. So you may have to make adjustments. Start with both centre pieces; have them glued in a straight line between the four Elendil couples. Use your set square to verify their positions.



As for the side fins: use your knife to bevel the inner rims, to improve their joining with the MDF panels.



Next, glue them into position. The rays on the Elendil A template show you the exact positions but unfortunately these guidelines are no longer visible on the 'talus' couples (unless you have had the wits to make some markings at an earlier stage). You'll have to make a good guess. You can see in the pictures that they stand at an angle (of about thirty degrees).



Again, use your set square to verify their (mutual) vertical positions.



Copy the Elendil Side template (2x) onto 1mm cardboard and the Elendil Back template onto 2mm cardboard and cut them out. Glue both side elements onto the sides of the MDF frame, followed by the Back element onto the back of the frame.



Copy the Elendil Turntable template onto 2mm cardboard and cut it out. Glue the element on top of the MDF tower frame.

[First Page] [Prev] Showing page 4 of 6 pages [Next] [Last Page]