The Gates of Minas Tirith

Tools: Xacto Modelling Knife HB Pencil Scissors

Materials: Pressed board (1 24x48" sheet of " for base) Foam Board (3 20x30" sheets of ") Foam Board (2 20x30 sheets of ") Lots of thin Cardboard Balsa Wood (1 3x24" sheet of 3/32") Tiny Key-chain Rings (about " in diameter for door handles) Sand and Gravel PVA Glue

Paints: Texture Paint Chaos Black spray paint Codex Grey Fortress Grey Skull While Vomit Brown Boltgun Metal Scorched Brown Dark Flesh Snakebite Leather Bleached Bone

Introduction This is my step by step guide to how I built the Gates of Minas Tirith, the White City. I chose this layout for my board for several reasons, the most important of which is space. I have limited space for storing my terrain, so I needed to make something that would not take up a terrible amount of space and would be somewhat portable. The overall dimensions I settled on would fit nicely on a 48" table and I decided to make the gates off center so I could show more of at least one wall. The tallest tower on the board is 10" tall and it fits nicely into my car (terrain is no good if I can't take it anywhere). As you can probably already tell, all the measurements I will be giving are in inches as I haven't really gotten the whole metric thing down. Hopefully this guide will inspire you to build your own version of Minas Tirith and give you a few tips along the way. Step 1 - The Layout The first thing I did when starting my project was to draw down the layout with a pencil on the board I used as my base. The board I used was " thick and was 24" x 48". The following diagram shows the layout of the board as I drew it out onto the base, with all of the measurements.

Establishing the whole layout and drawing it down before building the model really helped me get all of the dimensions right before I started it. I also wrote the height of each section down on the board as I laid everything out. Step 2 - Basic Construction I used wood glue for basic construction as it is not only stronger than PVA but it sets much faster. Also, make sure you have plenty of NEW knife blades as cutting foam board requires an extremely sharp blade or it will only tear the foam which is extremely frustrating. As you are cutting, make sure you replace blades often. Following the measurements above, measure out and cut the foam pieces from the " foam board. I started from the left hand side and built my way to the right.

Put the pieces together to make sure that you have cut them out and measured correctly before gluing them in place with the wood glue. Once you apply the wood glue, it will set very quickly and if you need to change something it will tear the foam board apart. After gluing the pieces together, I used masking tape to hold the pieces together while the glue dries. This not only ensures a good bond but also makes for a cleaner edge.

To get the towers right simply cut them out as squares as per the measurements above and then measure in 1" from each corner. Connect the dots and simply cut off the corner to get the right shape. When putting the tower pieces together, it is important to bevel the edges to make for a nice snug fit. When cutting them, simply bevel the entire edge of the piece in a " so that they fit well together. Again, masking tape along the edges will help clean them up a bit. It is a little tricky and may take a couple tries to get the more complex pieces like the tall towers to look tight.

The construction should quickly start to take shape as you move along. The little walkways that allow movement from the gatehouse to either side of the model are one inch wide and a little tricky to get right. They are optional as they are not really from the movie but I think it allows for greater movement along the model. It also gives some added dimension to the gateway.

When putting the pieces together, I first put up the sides and then put the top on like a cap. It seemed to be the most stable way to put the pieces together. In the long wall section I also glued some braces on the inside of the walls to ad greater stability.

Step 3 - The Battlements It took me awhile to come up with a plan for the battlements that I liked as they are an integral part of the models look. After giving it a lot of thought I cam out with a design that I liked and one that I thought conveyed the look in the movie and would not drive me insane. As it is, this one nearly did so. (joking) Each battlement is one inch wide and two inches long. The "slot" in the middle of it comes down about a ". The exact design of it is something I will leave to your creativity, as I could not come up with a good way to translate the cardboard guide I made to the computer.

Using the " foam board, I traced the guide out over and over again making the most economical use of the foam board as I could. I then cut each battlement out very carefully using my knife. When cutting these out it is crucial that you keep the blade as vertical as possible or you will end up with lopsided battlements. Again, make sure that you switch blades often to keep from tearing the foam board. I made roughly 140 battlements for my model and used about six NEW blades in my knife just for cutting them out. For some reason cutting foam board dulls blades very quickly. This step takes a lot of patience and is not for the faint of heart. It took me many tries to fine tune a technique that worked, and then I still messed up many times. Not every battlement will turn out perfect, but when you're looking at 140 of them the less than perfect ones get lost. Step 4 - The Stone Wall Texture Once basic construction is finished, you can begin adding the stone wall/brick texture. For this I cut up small strips of cardboard into approximately " x 11/2" rectangular pieces. I don't measure these out or anything as that would truly drive someone insane. A nice, heavy duty pair of scissors is a must and will make things so much easier. I find that the cardboard backing from legal pads works the best, although you will wind up with a ton of pads with no backing.

As you place the bricks it is important to leave some open spaces here and there. When finished it will add additional depth to the wall and make for an even more interesting texture. Also make sure you alternate the bricks so that they look like a brick wall would look.

I also glued some of the battlements in place at this time because I wanted to see what they would look like. This is fine, just make sure your bricks are in place before you glue any battlements on as they should be glued on top of the bricks.

I built the stairways at this time as well. Again, make sure you use a fresh blade when you cut these out. I simply cut out a bunch of pieces and stacked them all up as shown in the picture. This is the best method I have found for making stairs as it makes each step nice and sharp. The stairs are 6" long at the bottom and 1" wide. I also cut a piece to fit on the backside of the stairs to hide the stacked appearance of the steps and to act as a handrail.

For the gate, the original opening is 3 1/2" wide and 4" high. For the offset appearance of the stonework around the gate, I cut another full piece of foam board with an opening that is 1/4" larger than the original opening. I also traced out the bricks for the gateway and used a little more care for these when cutting them out. I numbered the tiles so that I could remember where they all went. Notice, the design of the door is not the final design I settled on.

I made a stencil for the doors that lead into the towers, cut into the foam board a little, and cut out stone tiles for around the doorway.

Gluing down the tiles is extremely tedious, but just keep on going until you get the whole thing covered.

The doors for the towers are cut out of thin balsa wood, with planks cut into the doors. I then cut very thin strips of cardboard to act as supports for the doors and glued on tiny rings for handles. The doors are 1 " tall x 1 1/8" wide.

I used basically the same procedure for making the back of the gatehouse as I did the front.

This is another shot of the back of the model, and shows how I tiled this area.

When making the hatches for the towers I cut a little piece of balsa wood into 1" squares, scored "planks" into them, cut out the tile where I would be applying the hatch, and glued it down. Later I would add little rings to them to serve as handles. Step 5 - Applying the textured paint The first step in the painting process is to paint textured paint onto the entire model. I used regular gray latex paint and added

sand to it. It doesn't matter what color you use for the texture paint, as you will end up painting over it anyways. The sand has a tendency to settle in the paint so I had to stir it often as I painted.

I recommend using a cheap paint brush that you won't mind throwing away after your done, because the sand is very hard to wash out of the brush.

You also want to cover up hatches and doors on the model or just remove them while you paint. They are of course not made out of stone so you don't want to get textured paint on them.

I next cut out the removable wall/battlement section. When cutting it out, I tried to follow the lines of the bricks as much as possible, as this makes the section not quite so obvious. The hole that was left after cutting it out I filled in with masking tape and tried to make it look like damaged masonry. I then simply continued on with the painting of the model.

I continued to paint until the entire model was covered in texture paint. The next step after applying the texture paint is to glue down gravel. I used a mixture of fine gravel I found outside and sand. Let this dry for awhile so that it can set, then take the model outside and shake off the excess gravel.

Step 6 - Painting the White City The next step once the texture paint has dried is to spray on flat black paint all over the model. I know it seems odd considering it is the white city, but if you work up to white from black it will look more like stone work when you are finished.

Now you can start dry-brushing the model. Work up from black to gray to lighter gray and then to white. I use flat, round brushes when I dry-brush. You can also see the design of the finished doors in this shot.

For the gravel in the courtyard I used much finer gravel with more sand and glued it down more evenly. Again, once it sets take it outside and shake off the excess. Again, spray the gravel and courtyard area flat black.The dry-brushing can be pretty tedious as well, but it is important to take your time. It will really make the walls look like real stonework. At this point you can do some of the little detail painting. The door handles I painted with bolt gun metal. You can also apply patches of static grass and little shrubs at this point.