The Temple of Love: Building a Sisters of Battle Cathedral pt 7

Some more work done on the Cathedral!

The two flat roof sections are roughly cut out

A sheet of 3mm foamcore is scored and folded to make the pitch of the roof

Foamcore braces are cut to secure the roof

Pins are used to hold them while the glue dries

I decided to go with foamcore for the roof because it is both light and sturdy and can easily be cut. PVC sheet is more flexible (but does not crumple or crease; if the roof were damaged I would have to start over) but has less strength. Foamcore joints made with PVA are very strong, and while the foam needs to be protected from solvent glues and paints, superglue can be used on the card surfaces.

Practical geometry! To cut the wedge out of the PVC pipe which would allow it to sit on the roof, I had to put my thinking cap on. The section cut out is a projection on a curve, so it not only stretches but the rate of stretch increases. The way I did it was to trace the triangle and measure its height at regular intervals (first picture above). Then, I traced the circle, bisected it, and drew parallel lines at the same regular interval (second picture above). By putting the pipe on this drawing, I could mark where the intervals intersected (an ever-increasing distance apart) and then it was a simple matter of using a square to measure the appropriate distance, drilling holes which I joined (last picture above). I then used a cutting disk on a rotary tool to cut along the lines.

A shot taken from the rear of the building with the roof in place

A series of pictures showing all the different components in place. It was at this point, seeing them all together, that it was obvious the skull on the dome does not work. Something else needs to be considered . . .

To make the roof removeable, I made strips of 1.5mm plasticard with the conical decorative pieces glued on the top. I drilled holes in these to fit over the pegs in the lower walls.

Strips of PVC window molding were mitered to length and superglued in place to not only bulk out and add interest to the braces, but also provide strength.

The gray PVC sheeting below the white plasticard strips was protected with tape and Milliput and 5-minute epoxy (neither of which damage foamcore) were used to attach the pitched roof to the strips. When that dried, it required only a little bit of jiggling to remove the whole roof assembly. I drilled the sockets the pins go into a little wider, which made putting it back on easier.

Using more Milliput and epoxy, I glued the lower circle of the lantern on and let it dry. I then cut out the section of roof inside it, giving me an open view all the way up. The first picture shows what it looks like with the upper lantern in place, the second what it looks like from the floor (with a selfie lens; I think those things might fish-eye a bit).

So, that is where we are right now! Next stop; balconies and so forth! Let me know what you think!

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Temple of Love: Building a Sisters of Battle Cathedral pt 6

Work on the Cathedral continues (full disclose; it has got further than this but these pictures are just where I had got to when I dropped the images into Blogger and left the post as a draft - there is no particular reason why this post merely contains what it does).

The lantern, seen from above. Hopefully, the Ecclesiarchy symbol can be seen.

A series of pictures showing what was done (part of what was done, TBH) on the facade. I filled gaps with plasticard and cut out lower panels. When buying components for my Thunderhawk I ended up with some spare door sections, which I put in place on the Cathedral. I hadn't given much thought to the entry to the building - obviously, for a pilgrimage site one little door barely wider than a Terminator wasn't going to cut it (to be frank, three doors aren't enough either - if there is a fire or a panic everyone is a martyr, I guess . . . ) But the doors look more practical and are visually interesting.

This image does not really show what it needs to show - which is the very top of the facade's northern tower. But it does show all the gargoyles in place on the lower walls.

The rear facade! More plasticard to fill gaps and to secure the central window (made out of the ruined sections glued together to make a single, whole arched window).

Obviously taken out of the glare of the daylight bulb, this shows the tops of the towers, with scratch-built sections. They need roofs on the top.

A closer shot of the same.

The rear facade has little arches with platforms in the center, on which will be statues (the Mechanicus and Ecclesiarchy ones from the new Sector Imperialis kits)

These pictures don't show much progress (other than work done on the northern side of of the nave) but they do show the whole building assembled together to see what it looks like.

More pictures to follow soon; let me know what you think!

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Temple of Love: Building a Sisters of Battle Cathedral pt 5 - base & lantern

After introducing some friends to 40K and discovering I didn't have sufficiently large space to play nor any scenery to speak of, I embarked on a project to make a simple urban board and some scenery. There have been some pictures on my other blog (which just documents what I do each day without a lot of explanation) but I will share that here later. For now, I am sharing what I have done on the Sisters of Battle Cathedral which I started a long, long time ago!

Post-publish edit: It had been so long since I last posted about the Cathedral I didn't realize it had really advanced since I last took pictures. The large pillars and side walls are complete, which you can see in the image below.

The Cathedral was based on the 3mm expanded PVC I'd used for floors etc. and had approximately a 2'x3' footprint when all assembled together. That is just the perfect size to neither fit comfortably on another board nor be a board itself - a factor I didn't really consider. So, I took a 2'x4' board of the type I've used to make board sections and cut it up to fit the sections of the Cathedral and glued and screwed them down.

The lantern is constructed from two rings of PVC sewer pipe I had cut for me, a curved piece of expanded PVC, scrap expanded PVC and 12 of the Pegasus columns. I'd had the PVC sitting in the rings for a long time and it had developed a curve, which made it easy to fit in. I cut out twelve windows and assembled it, starting to work on the detailing. In plan, the Cathedral will look like the Ecclesiarchy symbol - so the Imperial ][ shape with a haloed skull in the center. The halo has twelve points, four of which at the cardinal directions are longer.

To represent all this, the lantern will be topped with a dome surmounted with a skull and each column will have a gargoyle at the top - four will be the large eagle heads shown above and the other eight smaller grotesques. The eagles have a sort of Art Deco look to them and this has been repeated in some of the details I have made at the top and bottom of the columns.

I've really neglected the Cathedral, but I do want to get back to it - my boards and scenery are coming along nicely, and even if it doesn't make a very good place to actually "play" on, it makes for a great backdrop!

=][= Danforth Laertes

Verity Vincit Vermis: Building the Statue pt 2

This has been done for a while and there have been pictures on my other blog, but I wanted to share them here because I have started working on the cathedral once again. I finished the statue up got a basic paint scheme on it. Here are load of pictures, in order.

The armor lames are thin plasticard

The piping is thin plasticard rod

The armor is based on that of the Silent Sisterhood, as the
armor of the Emperor's Household

The snake's tail is built around a wire core

The cloth is made from epoxy putty

Knee details are inexpensive costume jewelry

Neck and chest armor is built from plasticard to give
the illusion of separate plates

Shoulder pads are from Custodes

The base is built up with modelling putty

Black primer . . .

. . . gold spray . . .

. . . dark wash

=][= Danforth Laertes