Project Log: The Tombs of Tithing, Part 8

In this installment, I tackle the rear of the tomb:

 

 

In part 7 of this series, the back end of the tomb was left unfinished. When I began this project, I really only had a vision for the front and the top; the details on the back came together organically from the parts I had available. The mausoleums were set into the side of the structure, and I only had a vague idea of what that structure actually was– A hill? A building? I needed to decide.

 

 

Based on how "constructed" everything else was, I had to abandon the idea that this was a series of tombs set into a hill-like barrow mound. Or, maybe it had been a hill at one point, but it was completely covered over by the construction of the tomb. I began framing out the side walls behind the mausoleums. On top, I added some exposed graves, similar to the ones on top of the main tomb.

 

 

The tops of the walls were crumbled away, exposing the earth and graves. On the bottom, I built a corner that connected to the extended side of the rear mausoleum. However, because the mausoleum sides didn't match, I couldn't make sense of the overall construction or how the corners would line up with the angled roof.

 

 

To solve this problem, I sketched out what the walls would have looked like if they were complete and intact, and then imagined how they would look after collapsing.

 

 

That meant that I needed to carve out some foam and extend the side wall of the mausoleum to match the opposite side.

 

 

Then, I was able to build the rear wall, and bring it all together.

 

 

Next, I added sand and gravel over the dug-out areas of foam and collapsed debris.

 

 

I added some styrene card flagstones to create a walkway in the graveyard...

 

 

...and built the collapsed graves on the opposite side. This one was made of pieces cut from the base of a Sigmarite Mausoleum.

 

 

The others were made from Skeleton Warrior and Grave Guard parts, and one of the sitting skeletons from the Bonetithe Nexus kit. The broken grave covers were also taken from mausoleum bases. I had to cut away some of the ornamentation because these were technically the "heads" of those graves, which meant that the skulls and shields would have been facing the wrong way when when placed as the "foot" of these graves.

 

 

I added more sand and a couple of tombstones to finish everything off.

 

 

For the last bit of fencing at the end of the graveyard, I used the remaining pieces of my Cadaverous Barricade fence, and a section from the Sigmarite Mausoleum. 

 

 

The barricade fence is lower than the mausoleum fences, and missing its bottom portion, so I extended the fence posts with some plastic rod, and used bits of the gate to construct the bottom of the fence.

 

 

On the right side, I used styrene rod to build the lower rails of the fence. The post doesn't quite line up correctly, but I'll hide that with vines and foliage when I cover the plastic roses.

 

 

The final step was to add some rubble and fallen stones on the ground.

 

 

I still have a few small details to add, like skulls piled on the side steps and around the rear mausoleums, but the main construction is finally finished. Here's a look at the whole thing:

 

'Til next time!