Step 1

Draw as many wall sections as you'll need on a slab of 2"-thick insulation foam with a marker. These pieces of foam will form the basic bulk of the walls.

Step 2

Use a retractable box cutter knife to cut the foam to shape by following the drawn lines from Step 1 (watch your hands). Don't worry if the cuts are not perfect. The foam will not be the final surface for this scenery project. Plus, the rougher your cuts are now, the easier it will be later when you add the plaster bandages. You're going for the uneven rock look.

Step 3

Hollow out some recessed nooks to serve as loculi (those are the shelves that hold the remains in catacombs). Use your hobby knife and fingers to pull out chunks of foam. For dimensions, the loculi should be about 2" long by 1" deep by 3/4" tall. For those loculi that will hold just a skull, make a much smaller nook measuring approximately 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/2". You will later fill these nooks with scratch-built remains and grave goods. (I found that the Uruk-hai Shaman is the best source of skulls in The Lord of The Rings miniatures range. Also, the Moria Goblin Drummers have four human-sized femurs and the Barrow-wights have fleshy skulls, but they will require a bit of trimming).

Step 4

Position the walls on a piece of MDF. With the marker, outline each of the foam walls. Next, outline the set of walls so your line is at least 1" away from any foam (i.e., this line marks the border of the MDF so you can cut it and leave plenty of room to work around the foam pieces).

Step 5

Remove the foam walls and cut the MDF. Follow the outlying line as a guide. Next, sand down the MDF edges to a suitable angle.

Step 6

Glue the foam walls to the MDF base with heavy duty adhesive and set it aside to dry over night. Use the guide pen lines from Step 4 to apply the heavy duty adhesive in the proper areas.