Artemis Orthia temple from Sparta 1/72 (pic heavy)

[Gaia1984]

Hi everybody,

 

I want to present to you a little project I have been working on during the past weeks. I am making a 1:72 replica of the front corner of Artemis Orthia temple from Sparta.

 

This pictue is a few weeks old, from when I started the project doing the first column. As you can see I cut circles of cardboard which are glued together with contact glue. The black marks at the base mark the position of the column flutes. The cardboard disks decrease in diameter with column height, I think the base is close to 1.4 cm and the top of the column (not in this picture) was around 0.7 cm. You can also see one of the Spartan figures from Zvezda that I will be using. 

 

 

The cardboard then was filed to create the flutes and then covered in Milliput. At the beginning I tried to use DAS clay but I switched early on to Milliput. After the Milliput is dry I sand and even all the surfaces.

 

 

Here is a more recent picture of the (from down to top): architrave (this is filled with layers of carboard, solid), the frieze (this is a box of carboard, hollow) and different stages of the cornice (flat cardboard pieces). I added some details (the metopes, mutules, and regulas) in plasticard and plastic rods.

 

 

The next picture is the piece above plus the roof which I started last weekend. The roof is hollow, although I added several bulkheads to reinforce the structure. The roof has a stepped suface which is a mix of plasticard and carboard underneath to fill in the spaces. I will have to add perpendicular tiles (you can see them in the next picture, pieces in black). I tried a couple of techniques to give texture to the roof plastic bits: 1) I tried to dissolve some milliput in a lot of water and then pour it over the plastic and leave it dry. This was a bit cumbersome, cardboard and water was a bit messy, plus the milliput did not dissolved as much as I wanted it. 2) I used Mig Ammo antisplip black paste (for 72 and 48 scale) which I applied with a sponge. This was what I did for the longitudinal strips in the next pic and the effect works perfectly plus it is really easy to apply.

 

 

This id what progress I have done so far. There are still many things to do:

 

1) I am going to  copy the column by making a mold with bluestuff and make 3 copies.

2) I need to do the outer wall of the temple and finish the base. The floor will be covered with tiles.

3) I am going to sclupt a couple of statues for the pediment.

4) I need to finish the roof, cut and place all the tiles. Prepare the Akroterium and antefix pieces.

5) I may do a few random objects such as vases and amphoras.

 

Any comments/feedback are welcome, I hope you life it!

Alex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Gaia1984

[Gaia1984]

Hi everybody!

 

I hope you got some time to relax during Easter holidays!

 

I am just bringing a quick update since the last entry.

 

Here you can see a view of the roof, now with the tiles cut and glued and with the antefic pieces I have done. I did the original scultupre of the antefix in green stuff, then I did some molds with blue stuff and used Milliput white to create the copies. You will also see that I have done this for several other parts of the diorama.

 

 

 

Here you can see the ceiling of the portal. I have been working on the decotation panels of the ceiling of the porch. These are done with styne plastic pieces. At the point where all these pieces end (left side) will be where the outer wall of the temple will start. I have started to coat another cardboard sheet with milliput for this. I still need to check to thick the walls on the greek temples were but I think I will be able to show some of the inner surface of the wall temple. 

 

 

Here you can see a set of copies of the decorative wood carvings that will go also on the ceiling of the porch (see next picture).

 

 

I did these as the antefix pieces on the roof using green stuff, molds with blue stuff and then Milliput white. I got at the moment the rest of the pieces I need curating in the molds.

 

 

I have also done a sculpture for the akroterium for the roof, but it is still work in progress and I have started a little sculture of a fawn to go on the pediment of the temple, we will see how it turns out!

 

Next big step will be copying the column 3 times to sustain the whole structure and do the wall of the temple! Hopefully copying the column with bluestuff won't be too messy! I would hate to go 3 more columns from scratch (it would take me ages....)!

 

Anyway this is it for today. As always if you have any comments, feedback please do so!

 

All the best,

Alex

 

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Interesting... Mind if I follow ? 

[Gaia1984]

8 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Interesting... Mind if I follow ? 

Not of course not! Also if you have any questions please ask!

 

I was actually planning to upload another update this weekend, there has been some progress with the porch ceiling, figures and temple wall.

 

 

[Gaia1984]

Hi everybody,

 

Here it is an update on the Artemis temple.

 

First I have been focussing on creating the outer wall of the temple, which is the last part of the main structure of the diorama.

 

Here is a view of the front part of the building (see pic below). The wall was done with two flat cardboard rectangles with internal perpendicular cardboard bulkheads to give the structure strength. You can actually see in the bottom left corner a section which did not have an internal bulkhead that got damaged when sanding. As you can see I have started to draw some of the brick rows and started to carve some of the individual bricks as well.  

 

In this next picture you can see the lateral section of the outer wall. I have started to add some cardboard boxes that will imitate the bricks of the wall, these should go all the way down to the floor and will be covered with Milliput when done.

 

Different view with floor and the temple steps. There some space at the back of the diorama which will be inside the temple but I still need to think how to fill in that space.

 

 

 Half column in place, this is hollow and was created using a blue stuff mold of the original column I made . There will be a 3/4 column also in the corner of the wall, plus two standing columns at the front end of the porch. I run into problems with the original column I made, during the process of creating the blue stuff mold, the inner cardboard core of the original column broke up resulting in a twisted column. This means that I will have to remake the full column using a core of plastic/tin pipe to give it more strength. This is going be a significant delay as making the column it is not an easy undertaking.

 

 

Detail picture of the half column.

 

 

 

I have also started to cut some balsa wood pieces that will go to form in the inside of the roof. I was originally planning to have the inner space of the roof close but I think it will look pretty even if I add just some detail.

This picture shows a couple of the balsa wood strips on what is going to be the floor of the attic space:

 

 

Also I have been working of a couple of figure for the front pediment of the temple, which I am sclupting using white milliput. Here is a little deer (to keep the Artemis mythos appropriate) that will go in the pediment:

 

 

I think this is all. I am planning to finish the main structure of the temple wall first and then once I can find a suitable platic pipe do all the columns. Last bit of work will be to finish the roof, attic and the scultures for the pediment. Then I will move on into paiting!!!

 

Hope you like this, if there are any comments/questions please join the conversation!

 

All the best,

Alex

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

I can do rudimentary figure painting/drawing but my skillset is negligible at best. I truly enjoy following work like this. 

[bar side]

Like the cardboard core with the shape built up over that.  I have built a few cardboard based buildings that you can find on here.  But ancient temples?  I am normally a Cold War modeller.  But I have been to Sparta (and Mystras) plus been round the Parthenon and been to the other famous temple site to Artemis at Ephesus - one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Seen the robbed out pillars from there in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul too.  Your build reminds me of the temple of Apollo at Didyma in Turkey.  Nice work & keep it coming

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by bar side

[Tim R-T-C]

Fascinating build and thanks for the detailed process, I might have to try this with some 12mm figures some day.

[mike c]

What a brilliant idea for a modelling project ,can't wait to see it finished.

 

 

[Gaia1984]

Hi everybody!

 

It has been long since the last update. With the summer I spend less time doing hobby things and more time outdoors but now that the rain has come to stay I have decided to give a last push to this project and bring the construction to an end and there has been quite some progress over the past couple of weeks!

 

Let's start!

 

First some general picturesof the entire structure set-up as it stands right now. Do not mind the wobbly looks of it and the wonky columns. All the parts are still not fixed together and I am in the process of ditching the original column (on the left here), which had as you may remember (see some of the previous posts) a core of cardboard. This became an issue when creating a mold of Blue Stuff for casting other coumns. The internal cardboard core became a bit loose and started to break up.

 

My recommendation is that if you ever want to try something like this, use a stronger material for the core of the column. The one I am carving at the moment (on the right) has tick wood rod in the middle (detail picture further down below somewhere).

 

 

First look at the inside of the roof! Exciting!! I decided originally to have this section closed somehow but I changed my mind mid way during the project for having it open. More detials about this below.

You can also see that I have now covered with Milliput the inner frieze of the porch and the made up wall bricks. You can also see that most of the wall (cella) surfaces have now been engraved with the brick layout. I did manually using and engraver (from GreenStuff brand I think).

 

 

Interior side of the temple and roof. I still need to add a few more vertical posts (the ones in the photos are not fixed), and I will also move the smaller vertical post a bit more to the left by cutting it shorter. I am also considering extend the left shorter wall higher up to cover the frieze piece. More engraving is still needed on the inner cella wall.

 

 

Detail pictures of the roof space. The floor and ceiling boards are actually a mix of coffee stirers and balsa wood. The beams are a from a piece of pine wood I got at B&Q. Also I have just noticed that I need to cover the top section of the wall so that the card board structure does not show up.

 

 

 

 

Corner column still to be added. I will cast one, once I finish the new colomn piece to use as a mold. Also details of the external roof with decorations. I need to add a bit more milliput at some places at the cornice.

 

 

Detail of the underside of the cornice. I am thinking of adding shields on the frieze underneath the metopes,, which was a tradition in ancient Greece.

 

 

Detail picture of the porth ceiling.

 

 

Detail picture of the new coloumn I am making. This will take some time!

 

 

Anyway, this is it for today. My aim is to have the whole project done and painted before Christmas. We'll see how it goes. I have started to see some documentation on polychromy in ancient Greek temples to see what colours to use. One particular doubt I still have is how I am going to paint the marble, striated/non-striated, white/cream/polychromic...

 

I would also like to add more 1/72 civilian Greek figures, but I must say, there is not much in the market out there!

 

As always I hope you like all this. If you have any question about any of this or comments, please feel free to write down below!

 

All the best!