During the design process, I made sure to include the key aspects of Rivendell that are seen and described in the films and books. For example, numerous small streams and waterfalls cascade down through the buildings from the cliff tops behind. Tolkien also stated that there was a pine tree forest to the north, which Bilbo often walked through in the evenings.
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This version of Rivendell is what we see in the 3rd Age, during the events of the 'Lord of the Rings'. Designers on the films wanted it to look autumnal, making it look as if it were at the end of its cycle, which is something I want to do.
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Rivendell is set in a deep valley alongside the giant river Bruinen, or Loudwater, which Tolkien took inspiration from the valley of Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland. This is something that is quite tricky to represent in a model as I do not want to build the whole valley. I have decided to create a large backdrop of rock to hint at the large cliff face, as well as raising the whole model 10cm above the base to show the cliff drop off. this should give the illusion of it being nestled into a valley.
This model also has lights. I really wanted to see it lit up in the dark with twinkling amber lights, which has been a challenge so far, but one that hopefully will pay off. They are candle effect LEDs so they twinkle which gives the illusion of a candle lit effect. The main obstacle has been hiding the 5mm LED bulbs in the buildings, which are extremely open, with limited hiding space.
I built small sections of different size and style brickwork out of styrene (left) which I could then mould and cast to replicate over the whole model. I decided to start the model at the East Entrance and courtyard as this has lots of walkways and rivers that spurred off into the rest of Rivendell, this included a large bridge and Tapestry Gallery (middle).
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The roof details was another challenge. I wanted to have it textured as well as show these fine decorative paintwork (right). I made a 1mm x 1.5mm tile out of styrene and used that to stamp into a flat piece of clay rows of tiles. This I then moulded casted to create textured tiles. I could not paint the roof details on as it was too small, so I decided to use transfer vinyl which forms to the shape perfectly.
There are many statues in Rivendell, so creating them with a good likeness was important. These two warrior statues (left) are on the East Entrance bridge as we see in 'The Hobbit'. I used plastic putty to paint on the details and used 0.25mm styrene to add solid detail. they stand at 12mm tall.
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The buildings so far have been built using styrene, casted resin sheets, and card, which are all scratch built. In the middle is the Tapestry Gallery and staircase, and on the right is the East Entrance Tower, with the rock needing to be painted.
This is the first large building I am making (left), it is called the River Hall, which has two streams running underneath it. It is also one of the only curved buildings.
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The roof texture was sculpted and cast in thin resin, which I then heated up and moulded over a wooden form of the roof. A vinyl decal was then glued to this texture to get the roof pattern.
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The base, walls and tower was built from styrene and the decorative pillars were sculpted in clay and then cast in resin. I have also made small internal details such as tables, chairs, pots, musical instruments and book shelves.
This is the first finished section of Rivendell, the East Entrance, Tapestry Gallery with adjoining staircase, and River Hall. It is about 15% of the overall model. The trees and foliage were made from blending and colouring foam and sponge, as well as sawdust which was glued and sprinkled over small wire trees.
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The journey continues...
There are so many more buildings, rockwork, bridges, statues, pathways, towers, trees, bushes, rivers, waterfalls to name a few, to make, not to mention the final layer of paint...
You can see daily updates of progress made on this model on my social media. Next up is the South side, including the Entrance Hall, Elrond's House, and Frodo's bedroom to name a few...