Project Log: Skaven Warp-Skryre Tower, Part 1

It's time to start my new Skaven scenery kitbash project. I hope you'll follow along with the progress!

This is something I've had in mind for a couple of years (since I finished my Warscryer Citadel). Using left over parts from the citadel kit and a Screaming Bell, along with the Skaven Gnawholes, and the astrological components from the Celestial Hurricanum, I'm hoping to create a Skaven observatory tower with an elaborate contraption similar to Aughra's Orrery from The Dark Crystal.

 

I have a general idea of what I want the piece to look like– a rock tower with rickety wooden platforms and supports, the orrery, and lots of Skaven tech. I'd also like to incorporate a bell tower and one of the Gnawhole portals, perhaps in the opening at the back of the base of the tower. But the project will come together in a very organic fashion, so I don't know what the final result will be.

The Rocky Tower

The first step was to assemble the tower itself. I had the two halves from the Warscryer Citadel, and used some rocks from the Skaven Gnawholes to cover the figure carved into the rock. 

 

 

I used a hot glue gun to attach the rocks, and carved the laurels off of the skull with a knife, so I could keep the skull as a stone carving. 

 

 

The piece will eventually have a base cut from MDF, but I can't cut that until I know what the footprint will be. For now, I hot-glued everything to a thick piece of cardboard. This allowed me to attach more rocks around the bottom and I can easily trim down the card when it comes time to build the final base. 

 

 

I used Aves Apoxie Sculpt to fill the gaps where the various pieces joined together, and smoothed the transitions where the statue was covered up. 

 

 

To match the rough texture of the citadel rock, I used a stiff bristled brush to press the surface of the putty, and added further variety and pitting by pressing the putty with a rough stone from the garden.

 

 

Here's the final stonework. Because the Gnawhole rocks are pretty smooth, I smeared some wet putty over the surface and textured it to match the rest of the structure. I may need to add a little more texturing, but we'll see how it looks once I begin adding sand and gravel.

 

 

I've also filled in the seam between the two halves of the tower.

 

 

The next step will be building the platforms and Orrery. I'm hoping to get some use out of the Gnawhole timbers.

 

 

I have these pieces from the Screaming Bell that was hoping to use as some sort of fence or gate, but they look like they'll work better as support brackets for the walkways.

 

 

Then there's the orrery itself. The Hurricanum's solar system parts are a little more 2-dimensional than I'd hoped, so I'll porobably have to combine it with other parts. We'll see how it shapes up...

 

 

'Til next time!