Stairs to Cirith Ungol

 

The next step in the build is to build the box, finalize the placement of the miniatures, plan the surrounding terrain and begin building.

The Box

I use Dollar store foam board (Readi Board) for nearly all of my booknooks.  I cut out the sides, bottom, back, and top then assemble the bottom, one side, and back panels with hot glue (make sure to first remove the paper from the inside surfaces).

My Lord of the Rings Book Nooks are 9cm wide, 21.5cm high, and 20cm deep.  This odd set of dimensions does not match my books and the height is basically a mistake...  but once you build one, they all should match.

I forgot to photograph the empty box, but you get the idea.

Miniatures Placement

The miniatures are quite tight as Shelob is roughly 8cm across!!

Achieving the desired angle for the Shelob Miniature means I need to cut the box or the end of a leg off the mini.  I opted to cut the foam.

Terrain Layout

To give the illusion of more space for the battle, I am going to pull all the miniatures to the very front of the box, and make it look like there is a dark cave on the right side where the leg vanishes. This position will also allow natural light from the environment (my room) to illuminate Sam and Frodo, while the Light of Elendil can illuminate Shelob and cast some great shadows.

Then we need the battle to happen in front of the stairs and in full view of the red lit window of the tower of Cirith Ungol. To get the tower inside the nook, I'm going to try building a "shadow box" type illuminated free standing 2D background layer for the far hill with the tower against a backdrop of black clouds lit by moving reds and oranges (good luck!).

Terrain Building

With a layout in mind I started stacking and hot gluing PVA foam rocks and chiseling out stairs while leaving room at the back for a back lit tower.

Then the loose fitting stones are smoothed together and the wall textured with Scuplt-a-Mold.

Getting close!

Next Steps

• The left (open) side wall of the nook needs to be finished with rocks and texture.
• Sand, rubble, and texture for the ground
• Painting
• 2D Tower and backdrop with lighting