Hey guys, I'm currently working on a diorama of Pippin lighting the beacon of Minas Tirith. Everything is going great so far, and I just painted the first pillar of the beacon. I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible, so I know I still have to a long way to go. One example of the things I still have to do on the beacon is the brownish stuff coming out of the some rocks... but how should I do it? Here is what it looks like in the movie:



Here are some other movie pictures I used as inspiration for the beacon part of the diorama:







(All pictures were taken off my TV screen, as I had no other way to get them )

These are the pictures I took of the first pillar, sorry if they are a little out of focus:









Is the rock shade right? (I personally think that my pillars are a little too grey...) What about the "finger" looking thing at the top, how is that? All advice and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

By that, do you mean the 'Water Stains' on the Pillars ?

If so, you just need to create some water stains. My advice would be to water down some Brown Ink or Paint and apply it in small quantities until it starts to run (obviously have the pillar 'upright' when you paint it).
You mention 'Brown', but from the image you posted, its difficult to see, might be my eyes or my screen colours, but things such as this would also have moss growing from them.

As for the pillars you have done, you state you think they look too Grey, but again, viewing your images, they look more brown to me ?

Everything (walls and structures) in Minas Tirith was a light Grey to White (other than the Outer Wall which was black...yes, the films got it wrong).
So going by the pics you uploaded, to me if that is a true representation of the actual colour, they need lightening up with white.

_________________
There are fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world

Wow they look really good Id love to see this finished! The rocky colour looks great but there supposed to be light grey.

_________________
'Light a man a fire, and he's warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.'-unknown

So should I proceed with heavily drybrushing with light grey, then lightly with white?

EDIT: And yes, I mean the water stains Brian, thanks for clearing that up

_________________
Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

Okay, sorry for the delay guys. This is what a nearly finished pillar will look like:









Don't worry about the sizes of the pictures, the pillar is the same from all sides

All I need to do is add water stains...

_________________
Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

Really nice! Looks just like the concept photos you posted. For the water stains, maybe you could try using a bit of black wash and letting it flow naturally? Might be too messy though.

The Tamiya weathering effect items might be useful as well?

The wash idea sounds good. I'd use Devlan Mud though, as the colour is slightly brownish...

_________________
My WiP Thread

New Update: Finished the water stains on the pillar:



A mix of watered down Scorched Brown and Regular Brown (forgot what it's called) was used to make the stains.

All feedback is appreciated!

_________________
Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

Bestal Brown? I like the position and size of the stains, but from looking at images of old stone walls (castles and the like) water stains appear to be a bit more black. I'd drop a link but apparently am not allowed to do links yet .

That's it, Bestial Brown. Okay, so they should be more black? If someone one else confirms that then I'll modify it!

_________________
Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

If you see the top picture it is indeed a bit more black than the brown you used.

If you look at a clearer image of an old stone wall such as: here, the stains appear more black. I've usually seen browner stains on waterside rocks.

Okay thanks for the help guys I'll do the 3 other pillars, but I won't document them on this WiP... The next parts of the diorama are the archway and the wood pile. I'll get some WiP pics of em a little while.

_________________
Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

Okay: Here's the WiP archway. The part on the first photo is finished, and the part on the second is currently drying.





This is the updated pillar. Are the waterstains still too brown?



And finally, the WiP woodpile. I need to add some stuff in between the holes to give it a "full" look. Any ideas on how I could do that? I was thinking maybe I could glue some static grass in between to make em look like twigs... but that's just an idea.





As always, all C&C is highly appreciated!

_________________
Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

They look great! I would personally suggest maybe one more pass with black, but that's just me.

The woodpile has a nice rough hewn look to it on the ends, as far as adding volume, maybe you could try sticking some toothpicks or something else small in there?

Its a nice project and its looking great!
About the water stains, I would try to darken them a bit more, but not all the stain surface. Make it darker in some areas. Just a suggestion!

Keep it up!

_________________
Tell me... Do you bleed?
You will!
Chewy, we're home!

Okay, I'll darken the stains a little more, and I've decided that I'll just add more skewers to the pile to make it look more full... it is definetly the harder and longer choice, but it'll be worth it in the end Hopefully I'll be able to get some more WiP pics tonight.

Edit: Is is just me or is my profile pic not appearing?

_________________
Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

On the Last Alliance is an article of building the beacon of Minas Tirith. This guy uses sawdust. As I am working on an gondorian watchtower (somewhere in the mountains) with a beacon on its top I tried this method and it works! As my woodpile was built in another way I could glue the sawdust (I used more than one layer) on pieces of cardboard, so I could build my woodpile around it.
As I now see my explanation is a bit chaotic just check the article....

http://www.thelastalliance.com/index.php?pid=article&articlefilename=terraingondorbeacons&catid=12&subid=94&artilceid=396

Link to said article, written by non other than our own Bart (Thebucklandbrewer)!

Good work Julian.

AhAh! Nice to see that good ol' Isc is still with us.
He was so much nicer than this drunk hobbit ringraith he turned out to be.

Nice find Sean, don't think I knew this article, really.

_________________
Tell me... Do you bleed?
You will!
Chewy, we're home!