Inspiration

This project was inspired by Black Magic Craft on YouTube.

Howto

You would be better off following BMC’s instructions. ^_^ So as a base I used a cardboard canvas, which obviously warped when I started putting stuff on. So you would be well advised to use some MDF / HDF or hard wood for a base; I couldn’t get any at the time. The bricks were made from XPS. I used a hotwire and made a whole big bunch of them. Didn’t have to go back and make more, which is good. You don’t want to take a break in between and make more.

For the floors slabs I used Fimo Air and the plain dungeon plunger cutter from GSW. Fimo Air dries fast but you can still break off parts of your slabs to put them in corners etc.

So the bricks and floors go on with mod podge, just go row by row. The outside ground was made with some paper mache and real pebbles. After the basic structure is in place, it’s time for some plaster. I used Rotband, but surely any plaster will do. Coat all your bricks to get a nicer texture. Maybe add some more piles of rubble. If you’ve mixed up too much plaster, now is a good time to try out molds if you have any. I’d just gotten my first rocks from Noch, so there you go.

After you let that whole thing dry up real good, you can add some woodwork. I used these small spikey skewery things you get at the Supa combined with flat Balsa wood for floor boards. Cut off the Viking end and use the pointy end to stick to the inside of your walls. Make some steps maybe and a partial upper floor. Adding some fallen bricks and beams to make it look more ruined.

There is a question of course of how to paint this. I layed out the stair before plastering. Then I poked the walls and finished gluing the inside wood pieces to each other, but I did not glue them to walls yet. Instead I took them out, sealed and primed the tower and pieces individually with black mod podge and then a black primer. For the walls use some grey and brown washes and do a white dry brush after. Add some Vallejo Mud texture and flocking to get that natural look. You might also finish assembling the whole thing, then paint. However, it might be difficult to get colors into the corners below your stair. Your decision.

Overall the whole thing is somewhat overscaled. But as it’s a tower ruin it doesn’t really matter that much that the bricks are almost as big as a whole mini. That’s how big they can come if you’ve ever looked at old-timey buildings. This one is a bigger project and especially the prep work, making stones and slabs, can be quite boring and something you have to get through. But once you have, it’s increasingly fun. You can lay out the bricks any way you want. If, like, your picky architect MIL comes in and goes, Mimimi, these bricks are too big, this makes no sense statically you just go, ya well it’s a tower ruin. It’s also great for putting some minis on display. Have fun crafting!