While such a fantastic table makes for some great photography, what most of us really want is a practical gaming table. A table that is flexible enough that we can play any of the Moria scenarios on, and is reasonably easy to build and set up.

One of the most distinctive features of Mark's table, and the mines themselves, are the pillars. On a gaming table you only need a handful of these pillars, along with a few other bits and pieces, to create a Moria battle scene. The pillars themselves are relatively easy to make, and the other pieces are either already in your collection or are easily made from the leftovers of pillar construction.

This is a guide to building your own pillars, and using them to create a table for battling in the Mines of Moria.

MATERIALS NEEDED Thin foam board (10mm) Thick polystyrene Sheet of card Ready-mixed Polyfilla Cocktail sticks Texture paint

TOOLS REQUIRED Modelling knife Steel ruler PVA glue Templates

Cutting out the template.

THE TEMPLATES

After the dimensions of the pillars were carefully calculated, a set of templates for all of the sections were drawn onto a piece of paper.

You can download the templates in PDF format here: [PDF Download - 48Kb].

In order to download these documents you will need the latest version of Acrobat Reader. Download it for free from the Adobe site.

Photocopy the paper templates at double their current size, and glue them onto some scrap foam board or stiff card. Doing it this way, instead of just gluing the templates directly to the parts and cutting them out, means that you can make as many pillars as you want to without having to spend a lot of time (and money). The card backing on the templates will make the templates tougher and make it easier to draw out patterns from them.

Cutting out the strips and gluing them together.

It's as easy to make several pillars as to make just one. By doing a few at once (between four and six is a good number), you make the job even more straightforward.

After gluing the templates to the card, carefully cut them out, making sure to cut away from yourself to avoid accidents. Score the corner marking and bevelled edge templates down their centre lines with the back of the blade of your modelling knife.

THE COLUMN

Mark out two column strips on the polystyrene, 5cm wide and 30cm long. Once combined, these two strips will form a single column, 5cm square. Once you've completed the marking out, cut the columns out of the sheet. Using a modelling knife. This will leave a slightly ragged edge on the columns. This is not a problem, as any dents or rough bits will be taken off when you start the sanding and filling later. Once the column strips have been cut out, it's time to stick the two halves together, however, before you glue the two column strips together, insert three shortened cocktail sticks into one of the strips. This will help hold the two strips in the correct position until the glue is dry. Place the bevelled edge template at the top of the column and mark out the design on each edge of the pillar.

Before you start gluing, take a look at the two strips you've got. On both of the strips, one end will be a little bit more damaged than the other. Place the most damaged ends of both strips together. When the base of the pillar is complete, the damage will be covered, making the filling of the rest of the column a little bit easier.

Marking the bevels and the column faces.

MARKING THE BEVELLED EDGE

Before you start cutting out the bevelled edges, it is a good idea to finish any marking out on the column. Mark a point on one corner of the column, 26cm from the top. This marks the place where the base of the pillar will be.

To draw the line evenly around the column, first place the corner template at the marked point.

Then, using the template, mark the line on the first two faces of the column.

Finally, place the template on the other side of the column, level with the previous line, and mark the other two faces.

CUTTING THE COLUMN

After all the marking out, it's time to start cutting. First of all, cut into each of the points of the bevelled edges, this is to help you to stop cutting too far into the pillar when you are cutting out the corners.

 

CUTTING INTO THE POINTS OF THE BEVELLED EDGE

Marking the bevels and the column faces.

Once you've cut the points, begin to slowly shave the bevelled edges down to the marked lines with the knife, always making sure the knife is moving away from your body. To keep the line straight, make sure to cut inside the marked lines, rather than on the lines.

CUTTING OUT THE BEVELLED EDGES

Once the cutting is complete, sand the column to remove ridges and ragged edges.

For anybody who may be wondering why we cut out the columns with a knife, rather than a wire cutter, this is because it's easier to cut straight with a knife.

MAKING THE BASE

Use the base square template to mark out four base squares. Onto a sheet of foamboard cut them out with your knife. Take the first of the squares and line it up with the line you drew earlier and one edge of the column.

 

Gluing the first square in place and trimming it to fit.

GLUING ON THE FIRST PART OF THE BASE

Note that the edge of the square should be level with the adjacent side of the column.

When you have the square glued into place, cut it back to match the width of the column.

When you do this (if you haven't noticed already) you will see that the base square is about an inch too wide for the column and a little bit too long.

The reason for this is that the polystyrene is rarely the right width. The square projects slightly below the column to give it a more even base.

The width of the square means that you can position the square and then cut it to size more easily.

CUTTING THE SQUARE TO MATCH COLUMN WIDTH

Position the next square in contact with the first. Make sure they form a continuous collar round the base.

Next: Painting the Pillars.