Scenery Workshop

 

CONSTRUCTING   “DURIN’S CAUSEWAY”

© lotrscenerybuilder 2007

 

Collect the necessary materials & tools:

Pieces of 6mm and 12mm MDF (medium-density fibreboard), wood glue;

Print-outs of the twelve blueprint pages for Durin’s Causeway;

A fretsaw with a couple of spare saw blades (“no. 6” for us); a piece of fine-grained sandpaper, a file, a hobby-knife;

Paint (for us: Color Works spray cans of High Temp ‘Black’ and High Temp ‘Anthracite’):

Copy the drawings of the different parts of the Moria Stairs onto the correct boards of MDF (6mm for the steps, 12mm for the wall pieces). You can either glue the paper templates directly onto the board, or use carbon paper for copying. By thinking smart you can link some of the elements together to reduce the sawing-work.

Start sawing: cut the different elements from the MDF board. If you are not used to work with a fretsaw, don’t worry: you’ll learn fast. You can turn your blade in any direction – and even make straight corners! – by turning the blade little by little while continuing sawing.

When all pieces are cut, polish the edges – but only slightly:

If not already done: copy the ‘stonework’ and other details onto each of the wall-elements.

Carve the stonework (the red lines in our drawings). This you do by making a V-incision into the MDF: a \ cut, followed by a / cut. With a steady hand you will find that even cutting long stretches without the use of a ruler won’t give you any problems. Start with the cutting of the horizontal lines; next, add the vertical lines. Make your incisions not too deep, nor too broad. Use the sharp edge of your file to carve the ‘joints’ on the sides of the wall panels:

As can be seen in the picture above, we started to ‘ruin’ the walls only after we had finished the stone-carving. We think it works easier this way, since most of the ‘fissures’ and ‘damages’ that we’re about to bring on, will follow the joints of the stonework.

Once you have completed the stone-cutting, remove the ‘ruind parts’ and bring on the ‘cracks’ with your saw. You make the fissures in the stonework by following the thick grey lines (on the templates) with your fretsaw. Use the file to roughen-up the edges of the walls in a way you think fit. Use your imagination!

Polish all pieces again, surface & sides alike. Blow away the dust.

By now you have gained all the elements of the stairway that can be seen in the picture below, as well as thirty-seven individual ‘stepping stones’. Note that some of the wall elements have fallen apart into two or more different pieces. Now it is time to start with the proper construction work:

Glue the four parts of the broken-up element ‘Boromir’ back together. Make a small ‘leap’between the different parts to give the masonry a dilapidated appearance. Study the photo below:

Note that the ‘leaps’ run from zero at the nearest side to approximately 2mm on the far side: the different pieces are to be slightly turned inwards.

Glue all three support elements to the back of the ‘Boromir’ wall. The picture will tell you where to place them.

Note that all support pieces are to be fixed onto the ‘main-body’ of the ‘Boromir’ wall. It is this body that will be placed against the ‘Aragorn’ element.

In the same way, glue the ‘Gandalf’ and ‘Legolas’ pieces together.

This is also the moment to add the steps to the wall elements. Study our drawings and pictures to find the right place for each step:

The next picture shows the completed ‘Boromir-to-right-half-of-Gandalf’ combination, as well as the ‘Left-half-of-Gandalf-to-Legolas-and-Gimli’ combination. The ‘Aragorn’ and the ‘Frodo’ elements are also finished, with the last two steps still waiting to be placed in the near future:

Before completing the construction of the entire stairway you may want to spray these separate combinations with Anthracite-Grey first, to make sure that all spots are decently covered with paint. We leave the spraying with Black (“patches, spots, wear & dirt”) for the last stage.

At last, all different pieces were joined into the well-known structure of the Moria staircase.

As for the base plate you may have an idea of your own. For our model we used two layers of MDF, both cut in a somewhat ‘rocky’ shape. The smaller upper plate was cut from 6mm MDF, the lower one from 12mm MDF:

We created an uneven surface on the upper plate by wrinkling a newspaper and spraying it black. Next, the paper was cut into the shape of the plate and glued on top of the top plate:

The paper was only glued to the edges of the plate, to preserve its wrinkled texture.

The edges of the MDF were next roughened-up with a file:

By wrinkling & spraying another newspaper page we were able to create a ‘volcanic’ underground:

Find out where exactly you want to place the stairway onto the base. Next, glue the small top-rock element into the corner where the ‘Boromir’ wall and the ‘Gandalf’ wall meet.

With streaks, puffs & splatters of black paint the completed stairway is turned into a magnificent ruin!

Now we can sit down at last and admire our work! But not before we have placed the Fellowship on the steps, with lots of Moria Goblin Archers in hot pursuit. And we muse: “We have reached Durin’s Causeway, but at a great loss! Pippin fell by an Orc arrow at the Westgate. A cave-troll has killed Sam in the Chamber of Mazarbul. Now we must flee over these treacherous stairs. And the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, with all its horrors, is yet to come… Fly, you fools!”