Temple Ruin
Introduction
I have always enjoyed the atmosphere in the second act of Diablo 2. By this point, i have probably spent months of my life listening to the theme of Lut Gholein and the many other great songs in that soundtrack, and i am looking forward to more. I am convinced, that Diablo 2’s second act is the most responsible for awakening my interest in the orient with its second act. As such, it was only a matter of time, before i would want to rebuild some of the terrain from it: In the valley of Kings, the player has to search for the true grave of Tal Rasha, which is hidden among many fake graves. Those graves are all dug into the side of a cliff, and i decided that they would make a wonderful piece of scenery for a game.
Building the temple entrance
Other than some styrofoam to bulk out the general shape, i used paper maché, plaster and PVA glue to texture the surface of the rock. I built the columns from cookie wrapping paper, that i filled with plaster, making sure to use a dowel as a template so that all columns would have roughly the same diameter. The cuneiform reliefs next to the doorway were carved from cardboard using a scalpel (i have no clue what they say, i decided that actually learning Akkadian for a modelling project was too much of a rabbit hole to fall down) and the scarab decoration above it was part of a mummy miniature that i had long since cannibalised for another project. The little set of stairs to the side was made from epoxy putty as an afterthought, because i did not like, that the “roof” of the temple entrance was not inherently accessible.
Procrastination
After i built the temple, i left it unpainted for years. I am a terrible procrastinator when it comes to painting, that’s whay i like to find someone else to paint with. Both as a motivation to actually get something done, but also to exchange tricks and opinions.
Painting
I painted practically all of this piece with a mixture of stipling and dry-brushing, starting at a dark brown, and then applying irregular layers of various warm and light colours to get the impression of rock, that is composed of different minerals, rather than a monotonous material. The same goes for the sand on the ground, i stipled on some slight variations and dry-brushed the raised parts to have some illusion of lighting.
Finishing touches
I like to add some hints of vegetation to my desert pieces. I think it gives the eye something more to enjoy on a piece that is otherwise very lifeless. So i added some little brushes and shrubs here and there.
