Hogwarts greenhouses

[Octoman]

Hey all,

I'm new here but I'm so impressed with the work being done that I thought I would share some of my own.

Years ago a fellow from Germany (hate to say I've forgotten his name) offered a paper model of Hogwarts Castle from the Harry Potter movies (and probably still does). It was a decent model, if a little incomplete. The first thing I noticed was that it didn't include the distinctive greenhouses although he did have a link on his sight to someone who had made some rudimentary ones you could print on transparencies and build. This inspired me to make something more accurate.

That being said; here's a couple of Jpegs of my initial design. I did put one together just to see if it could be done and it looked better than I hoped. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of that (not having a digital camera at the time).

I'm just recovering from a move and have not unpacked my workshop but the plan is to overhaul the design, build a prototype and share it with all if there is enough interest.

Let me know what you think

Thanks,

Ian :thumb:

 

[inky]

The gentleman you are referring about is Klaus.

I have built the green house you are talking about and felt it just wasn't right.

I like your design and can't wait to add it to my collection. Some day I will finish my Hogwarts castle.

Klaus's site.... http://wiltshirecounty.npage.de/

 

[Octoman]

Yes! That was it! Thanks for the name and the link!

Very recently the filming miniature of Hogwarts castle was made available to the public and I've been able to get some incredible reference photos of the greenhouses and other structures. I'm planning on doing the octagonal domed structure that's part of the wall surrounding the greenhouse area as well.

The original design was based on the size of the spaces provided in the kit and greenhouses that were linked on Klaus's site. I've decided to redesign them based on the actual structures inside and out. I'll post photos as I go.

Thanks for the input!

Best,

Ian :thumb:

 

[Octoman]

Lo all,


Just wanted to say that I've been working on the designs but have been side tracked by the holidays (Thankgiving here in the US of A), so expect some photos during the first week of December. Thanks for your patients.


Best,


Ian

 

[inky]

Take all the time you need, good things come to those who wait.

 

[Revell-Fan]

Well, how cool is this? WOW! I didn't know that there was a Hogwarts in paper! Thank you for the link and this thread!

 

[ARMORMAN]

Actually, there are at least two that I know of (I have both). The other was a promo kit only available at movie theaters in Japan showing "Order of the Phoenix":

http://hogwarts.seesaa.net/

 

[Octoman]

Thank you to Inky, You're most welcome to Revel Fan and Wow! The Japanese kit looks REALLY good! Wish it was still available commercially.


The model by Klaus is really very well done but less than accurate in some places. I worked up a blueprint based on a photo of what appears to be a studio blueprint of the filming miniature. It was fairly accurate and I even added some details like the ramparts on the stone wall surrounding the greenhouse area. I've also included a blueprint from the kit for comparison. This is what I need to reconcile. I'm confident that, with a little fiddling and fudging, I can make it work.

 

[Octoman]

Okay... I've been working on the actual redesign and according to the very detailed photos I have, the greenhouse were painted white and weathered considerably. The downside is, unless you have an Alps printer; doing the whole thing on transparencies isn't really going to work. I'm going to compromise by doing the sides as cardstock. You will have to cut out for the windows (and considering how small these are going to be, that's going to be a royal pain) and then glue it over a transparency with window frames and lines done in gray. The peeked roofs will be done with transparencies and hopefully won't look too bad.


below is a jpg of one of the sections on the sides. It is by no means complete but it gives you an idea of what I'm doing.


Thanks for the interest!


Best,


Ian

 

[Octoman]

This is a bit frustrating trying to adapt to the scale of this model. Klaus does not include the building in the greenhouse area that contains the bell towers, long gallery, astronomy tower and turrets but recommends that you buy a model of a church (Abbey Khajuraho), which has a similar layout. It looks okay in the photos on his site but since I don’t have the recommended kit and I’m having such a hard time reconciling the space…I may as well go ahead and give designing the missing buildings a shot. This reminds me of my home remodeling experiences… If you’re trying to fix one thing in a corner somewhere; you always end up chasing the job around until you wind up doing the whole room! Klaus’ kit is in 1/160 scale (N scale). The only Hogwarts Express model train available at the moment is the Lionel O scale set. An O scale model of Hogwarts would be nearly as big as the studio miniature! …but an HO scale model (Bachman made an HO scale H.E.)…that would be huge but doable. Might just have to have a go at that after this is done.

 

[Octoman]

Okay...
Trying to design buildings without benefit of paper-crafting software is finally too difficult for me. Any recommendations for affordable, easy to use paper model design software? I've been reading and hearing a lot about Pepakura designer. supposedly it's very good and easy to learn. Any ideas are most welcome.


Thanks in advance,


Ian

 

[ARMORMAN]

try google sketchup. the free version should do what you need.

 

[Rogerio Silva]

I like to use Blender, it's powerful AND free. AND it's got a nice unfolding plugin, specially written for papercraft models. It's good enough for me...

 

[Octoman]

I have both sketchup and Blender. I have the unfolding plugin for sketchup but haven't figured out exactly how to use it and Blender is WONDERFUL!... but really complicated. I guess I'm going to have to knuckle down and learn how to use both.


Thanks for the suggestions.


Best,


Ian

 

[Rogerio Silva]

Octoman

Actually, using the plugin takes a little bit of practice. The best thing you can do is work with seams, marking and unmarking them.
What I like to do that makes my work easier is making copies of parts of the model, and then unfolding just that peculiar one. If you part the model into smaller portions, then you'll be able to make the plugin work just as you want, marking and unmarking the seams at your own discretion. Of course, have in mind that the plugin will ALWAYS try to flatten the model, so if you don't mark a seam that's necessary to flatten that portion, the plugin will do it.
It took me some time to figure that out, but if it helps you, then I'm already happy.
All the best,

Rogério

 

[Octoman]

Thanks Rogério,


I'm still learning the ropes with Blender but I'm getting the impression that once I get the hang of it, I can do almost anything with it. I'm also a video film maker and it looks like this is one of the best programs for adding CG effects, so it's very worth the effort...it's just REALLY complicated.
As far as unfolding is concerned; the advantage is that I'm designing buildings which almost always have flat sides. Even if I decide to get elaborate, it still boils down to flat things! Even the octagonal conservatory in front of the green houses should be pretty straight forward.
This is going to take me a while but I'm working on it. Thanks for the support.


Best,


Ian

 

[Octoman]

Still working

Okay,


While I'm getting to grips with Blender... I'm also blueprinting the whole castle for good measure. This is a pretty slow process of working up vector graphics using low res photos of available studio plans from the web. I'm also stepping off of that to work up rough designs of buildings. This latest is the conservatory or "Domed greenhouse" as the studio plan refers to it, which stands over the path out through the ramparts of the greenhouse area. I've uploaded a jpg of the design and a photo reference of the dome. You can find these in the album on my profile page. These are still very rough but you get the idea.


Man, this is fun!


Best,


Ian

 

[Octoman]

Blah...


I've developed a post holiday cold... down for the count.

 

[Octoman]

Okay,
I've been doing a lot of work here and there but waiting for the new Zealot format before I start posting it. Totally wonderful so far. As soon as everything is up and running I'll start showing off what I've managed to do. Nice to be back!

Best,

Ian

 

[Octoman]

Seems I've won some trophies! Okay, so I got that going for me! Thanks Zealot. I'm really loving it here!