Mordor Siege Tower (Mark 1)

Build a siege tower from balsa, card and wood

By Dorthonion

Introduction

I was determined to build decent terrain pieces for refighting the siege of Minas Tirith. The full size first wall of Minas Tirith would be about 60 feet tall, to the walkway level. To make an accurate scale version for 28mm miniatures, you would need these walls to stand about 12 inches (30cm) tall.

I had to reduce this, for sheer practicality’s sake, to be able to store the terrain in something smaller than an aircraft hangar. I settled on a height of just over 6 inches to the walkway (about 16cm), with the crenellations standing about an inch (2.5cm) above that, as shown in the title picture above.

This wall height determines the scale of the siege towers required to storm it, as they must be tall enough so that the dropped ramp will match or slightly exceed the wall height, to put the attackers on at least equal terms with the defenders. Allowing room for the minis (and for fingers to place and remove them), it put the overall height of the tower at just over 10 inches (21.0cm). So, if your walls are bigger or smaller, you will need to make some height adjustments to your siege tower design. The extra section in this version can be reduced or increased in height by altering the height of the uprights. The cladding and armour will have to be adapted to fit over the reduced or enlarged tower.

Two things to note: I had not planned to write an article at the time of construction so there are not as many images as I would like to have for illustrative purposes. I have illustrated some stages using an 3D application called Bryce5. The second point is that this tower is essentially an experiment, intended to get some experience with the materials and techniques involved. The Mark 2 tower is planned as a much more faithful rendering of the sinister war machines that were unleashed against the White City.

Materials:
5mm square, section basswood or similar
Balsa sheets, 5mm, 3mm, 2mm and 1mm
Barbecue skewers
Cardboard, cereal packets, etc.
Thread, thick cotton thread, black or brown
Wood glue
PVA glue
Paper clip, plain steel

Tools:
Hobby knives, straight and curved blades
Fine bladed saw
Pliers or wire cutters
Paint brushes, several sizes including large
Pinvice and fine bit, 1.5 – 2mm
Ruler or tape-measure
Steel ruler
Clamps, clothes pegs, rubber bands

Paints:
Matt black spray (GW Chaos Black)
DecoArt acrylics
Black (GW Chaos Black)
White (GW Skull White)
Tan (GW n.a.)
Burnt Sienna (GW Bestial Brown)
Burnt Umber (GW Scorched Brown)
Games Workshop acrylics
Chaos Black
Skull White
Terracotta
Boltgun Metal
Shining Gold
Bleached Bone
Snakebite Leather
Bad Moon Yellow

Safety Note:
Hobby knives, drills and saws are hazardous, so treat them with respect. Reject any blunt or damaged/corroded blades as these are more likely to cause injury than fresh ones. All adhesives give off fumes, so ensure you have a well-ventilated work area; this advice also applies to spray paints.

I. Research and Development

I searched the Internet for pictures and any guides on making these siege towers. There are a few guides, and the one that seemed to offer a decent starting point is from Games Workshop (at http://uk.games-workshop.com/mordor/siege-tower/1/). I printed out all the templates (this shows the 2 pages of woodwork plans).

This design has 3 floors, with the uppermost housing the drop ramp.

But the GW tower is barely 8 inches (20cm) tall (about 2 inches or 5cm short for my walls) so I added another level to the tower using 5mm-balsa sheet for both the sides and the base. This addition is shown in yellow below, and the modified design is shown for comparison.

The original design is clad using the cardboard templates in the Games Workshop plans. You could opt for bare wood and it may look something like this:

Other image sources have become available – the Art of the Return of the King, The Lord of the Ring Collectors Models magazine and others have decent stills and composites showing siege towers from most angles. I am using these and the DVD as guides for the next version.

After an unsuccessful experiment at cutting wheels from doweling, I decided to scrap the wheels altogether, as they would not be visible under the tower cladding. The base of the tower would also be made from 5mm-balsa sheet. It gives a robust and stable base while keeping the entire tower very light. It weighs just 225 grams! If you want to add wheels to the tower, I suggest using plastic; this could be spares from other models or convert DIY items such as plastic washers.

II. Construction

Step 1 - The Frame

The initial stages follow the GW original pattern closely so I advise you to read their instructions carefully: print the .pdf document, available at this link http://uk.games-workshop.com/mordor/siege-tower/1/. Simply lay the basswood out over the plans (as shown in the first image above) and mark each piece, then cut carefully with a fine saw. The frames are mirror images so you have 4 pairs of identical beams.

The upper ends of the uprights and the top pieces are assembled with notches cut from each to form a joint. This can be seen in the image (circled). This technique can be applied to other parts of the frame.

The top pieces require angled cuts, which can be tricky. An alternative is to cut full length, mark the area to be removed and shave it off with a sharp hobby knife. Cut with the grain, towards the end of the wood. If it is a bit rough, so much the better – it is supposed to have been built by slaves or orcs!

Complete the cutting and gluing of both frames and leave them aside on a flat surface for the glue to set fully. I recommend wood glue or general-purpose glue rather than super-glue. I used Bostik All-Purpose and found it very easy to work with. Note: when laying the section out to set, make sure they will not stick to the work surface.

The floors and ramp (GW call it a ‘drop-door’) are built individually. I found it easiest to cut all the pieces for a section (a floor or the ramp), and glue them together before moving on to the next one. The basswood is laid on the template, then marked and cut. Note: there are 4 pieces of basswood that must have holes drilled in the, before they are glued in place. The next images show the pivot pins and how the raised ramp operates.

The balsa floors are done in the same way though there is scope for being more creative in this area as it is the overall length of each piece that is fixed, not the width or depth. It is easier to cut one, continuous strip from your balsa sheet and lay that on the templates, cutting sections off to the correct length. Balsa cuts very easily along the grain, using a curved hobby blade and a steel ruler.

A flat firm surface is essential, as assembly is easier and more accurate. Lay the cut basswood on the template, then glue the cut balsa into place. Check the alignments frequently. You may find it easier to lay the balsa down and glue one basswood beam first, then a couple of balsa, another beam and so on until done. Do a dry run before reaching for the glue.

I found that after 15 minutes, it was safe enough to move a finished floor off the template to another area for the glue to set completely. The same cutting and assembly procedure is used for the ramp. There are holes to be drilled in 4 of the basswood sections, to make the pivots for the ramp. These holes must be drilled before you assemble the ramp or top floor. One of the pins is seen below.

I used a standard metal paperclip, cutting 2 straight sections, each about an inch long. These will have to be pushed through the holes drilled in the top floor and the corresponding ‘arm’ on the ramp. Bend the ends of the wire to keep it in place - it is easier to bend one end before pushing the rest of the pin though the 2 holes, then bend the other end. Do this very carefully - the cut ends of the pin may be sharp. Note: as it says in the GW instructions, you need to dry fit the floor and ramp in the frame, and then attach the ramp to the top floor using the pins.

You now have 2 upright frames, 2 floors and one combined floor and ramp at this stage. Design note: I reversed the uprights on my version as I had considered using a larger ramp. You can decide for yourself which way round works best for you. Mark the positions for the middle and top floors on the uprights, as this is a good guide for positioning later on. There are reference marks on the games Workshop templates. You could glue small pieces of balsa immediately below these marks, on the inside of the frames. These will support the middle and upper floors while the glue dries.

Place the bottom floor on a flat surface. The bottom floor is glued to both the uprights, and then leave this assemblage to set. A couple of boxes either side of the uprights should steady them. Make sure the uprights are perpendicular to the floor and parallel to each other.

Once these have set firmly, dryfit the middle floor, and then glue it in place, using the marks you made earlier on the uprights as a guide. Leave this to dry. Finally, add the top floor and the ramp. Dry fit this to check that the ramp is functioning correctly.

The extra section is the new bottom floor for the tower. In the return of the King, the siege towers splayed out at the base, to offer greater stability. We will replicate this wider base. Cut the uprights and the base as shown from 5mm-balsa sheet using a fine saw. The measurements are shown below. The flat part of the base is simply a rectangle of 5mm-balsa sheet, 12cm by 10cm.

I use basswood sections around the upper edge of the base to bulk it out and add more surface area for gluing the wooden pieces that will support much of the wooden cladding and the frontal armour. The uprights slot neatly into the outermost gap in the GW floor design so add these first. Glue the base to the bottom of the uprights. The notches cut in the balsa match the basswood edging to provide a stronger joint. The arrangement can be seen in the next group of images.

I added a ‘push-bar’ across the back of the lowest section of the tower to give the trolls more leverage. Some other pieces have been added to dress the rear section – they are not structurally essential, though they hide the edge of the balsa. You can also see the edging around the top of the base.

Step 2 - The Wooden Cladding

The Mordor siege towers have a rough and ready appearance. The idea is to cover parts of the frame, leaving some gaps, and we also want to roughen up the planks themselves, I used balsa for the primary cladding on my tower but there is nothing preventing the use of the barbecue skewers; I would mix them together. I found the skewers more tough to cut but perfectly manageable.

The cladding process begins with the addition of some balsa strips on the flanks of the tower: the cladding is mounted on these, rather than the frame itself. This adds to the tapering of the tower toward the top and adds the distinctive angled supports that were a prominent feature on the film towers. These long strips are seen below.

There is no need to be uniform or exact about the measurements of the outer planks themselves, and some sections should be made up of more than one length or width of plank. Cut off several long, thin strips of balsa to varying widths and then get the length for each plank by holding the strip against the frame where it is to be attached. Mixing a variety of balsa sheet thicknesses, and throwing in some skewers, will add to the visual interest.

You can take this further by ‘distressing’ some pieces – cut the wood unevenly, cut small notches in it, add dents (using a steel nail). For authenticity, I clad the front of the tower, even though this can only be seen from the inside. Angled crosspieces are inserted for appearance sake and they do add a little extra strength. This can be seen below; note how the sides of the tower taper.

I also experimented with winding some thread around several joints to represent rope bindings – it looks effective but I did not pursue it further on this tower, as it is time consuming.

Step 3 - The Armour Cladding

While this tower is not exactly the same shape as the film versions, I wanted to get something that suggested the angled, corroded sheeting over the front and parts of the flanks. The armour was fitted on vertical ribs, creating triangular cross-sections. It is composed of many sheets, overlapped in a rough and ready fashion.

Glue on a base layer for the frontal and flank armour. This is just a rectangle of cereal packet card, dry fitted, folded and trimmed to shape before being glued on. On the upper section of the tower, this is folded in 4 places, so that the corner angles are approximately 45 degrees. Then add 3 vertical ribs: you could use balsa strip or thick card for these.

Start the cladding from the bottom, working upwards (like roofing a house). The raised sheets are folded in a ‘W’ or ‘M’ shape and trimmed to size, with plenty of dry fitting to make sure they are ok before using the PVA glue to attach them. Make as many sections of armour as you need to cover the entire frontage and about one third of the flanks. The film versions have 4 ribs, and you could achieve this just by making the ribs narrower so you can squeeze 4 into the same space.

Step 4 - Additional items

When I managed to get decent quality stills of the movie towers, the scabby looking scaffolding at the rear of the upper floor of the tower appealed to me so I added barbecue skewers and a couple of cocktail sticks to make a token version of this. You may want to add more but remember that you need to be able to get at the troops!

I also distressed the frame carefully with a knife – it looks battered but none of the structural strength has been lost. Carefully carve a variety of irregular notches and grooves at random, all over the woodwork (frame and cladding).

I have not added the ladders to the interior (yet). I intend to leave these removable for ease of use. They can be made from balsa, though for greater strength, one could use polystyrene 2mm square section. The apertures for the ladders are already in the Games Workshop design.

III. Painting the Siege Tower

Step 1 - Basecoating

Wait until all the glue has dried; this would be 24 hours at most. I recommend spraying the base coat as there is a lot of relatively inaccessible parts. Spray the entire tower in matt black (Chaos Black or the equivalent if you are not using Games Workshop paint). You will need several goes at this, as you will discover that the insides need extra treatment to cover thoroughly. A little touch up with a brush will get anything the spray misses. Allow the paint to dry completely.

Step 2 - Painting the Wood

Paint the wood next. I used DecoArt acrylics, mixing Black, White and Burnt Umber in several blends for a dark, grey/brown base. This was applied as a heavy dry brush, so some of the black base coat shows through adding depth and grain effect. Individual planks were painted slightly different from each other to add to the ragtag appearance. I used Burnt Sienna and Tan along with the other 3 colours in a series of dry brushes, getting paler at each pass, to lighten and texture the wood further, and add dirt and scuff marks. Paint all of the wood, inside and out, for authenticity.

Step 3 - Painting the Armour

The armour has started with the same black base coat. I mixed Boltgun metal and Chaos Black and heavily drybrushed all the sheets, running the brush down the tower. This leaves some black under the lower edge of each sheet, making an effective shade. The blend was varied a couple of times and sheets were dry-brushed again at random, making for an irregular appearance. Then some Shining Gold, Terracotta, Snakebite Leather and Bad Moon Yellow were introduced to the existing mix, again varying the proportions occasionally and selecting armour panels at random for more, less or none of the corrosion. You can keep doing this till the cows come home. Finally, some Boltgun Metal was used, again at random, to add scrapes and shallow dents/damage to the armour panels. You will know you’ve done enough when you end up with something that looks like a wreck even Scrapheap Challenge would not touch!

I painted the underside of the base Black and applied a couple of layers of gloss varnish to that. I intend to Dullcote the wood and put something slightly more polished on the armour of the beast eventually.

Here are a couple of views of the finished siege tower.

Final thoughts on the Siege Tower (Mark One).

This is fun to make, can be customised relatively easily, and has given me ideas on how to make a better one. Future plans include destroyed and battle-damaged variants. It is lightweight and low cost, and simple enough to make. I am only sorry I have no photographs of the earliest stages of design and construction.
So, send forth all legions! Start pushing towards the White City!