"Need ideas for a Howdah" Topic

Hi all,

I'm getting ready to continue with my LotR in 20mm project. I have an idea for a Mumakil. I bought a Schleicht Elephant which towers nicely over the 1/72 scale figures. I need to make a Howdah for it. My biggest problem will be to make it look convincing WRT the way it attaches to the beast. My first thought is to make the base mount in a "V" shape on either end so it fits over the beasts shoulders and haunches. I think a wooden tower like structure is in order. Probably with crenelations. I'm thinking of doing bass wood with a printed wood veneer.

Any other ideas would be welcome. Any thoughts on problems I might run into? This is the first time I've done something like this.

John

I think you need more of a "U" shape. Figure out where the supports need to fit on the Oliphant, mark it, cut a basic shape out of card, fit it, see where it binds and where you cut too much away and have a gap. Repeat as necessary until you get a good fit and do a second one for the other support. Scribe this onto your basswood or maybe even balsa, out of which would be easier to cut a variable shape.

Shake its hand and say "Howdah you do?"
:-)

What happy little trees said. I'm looking at making a howdah for a giant spider, and that's my plan: make a template to fit from card, then transfer that to wood.

Doug

John,

I think you need to look at where the structure sits against the elephant. There should be some padding to protect from injury. I know, it's only a model, but you can get some nice color into the project by adding blankets and possible leather padding on the bottom of the structure.

Matthew

I've made howdahs in the past, perhaps for those same elephants. I like using two "logs", one on either side of the spine and building the fortification on top of it. Padding would be needed, they would be roped together over the spine and the sling passing under the beast would attach to each log seperate, making the tower stable from sliding side-to-side by the spine. padeyes on the front and back would hold the strap that keeps the structure from sliding off front-to-back.

To do a LOTR-like Howdah I would start by drilling 4 holes into the elephants back and anchoring the tall posts that end up supporting the central tower. Then build everything else as a frame off of that. You can disguise the fact that the posts are sunk into the elephants back as you build up the lower deck.

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys!

The U or V shape looks simple enough but I am intrigued by Murvhill's suggestion. I /think/ I have an idea of what you are talking about. 2 logs parallel front to back on either side of the spine. Build up everything else from there. How thick shall the logs be? Also, what did you use for logs? Dowel?

Thanks for the tip Leidang. I'm not keen on the LotR movie howdahs. I prefer the wood towers of the ancient times. I reckon this would be one BIG structure for these fellas!

Howdah thunk of that!

Bad, I know but I couldn't resist.

I used sheet plastic shapes somewhere between U's and V's for my 1/72 Carthaginian howdah, placed on a toy elephant. On top I made a simple open-topped box with a few crenelations.

Use index cards cut out until it looks like it fits the beast, then trace the design onto sheet plastic.

I went out in the back yard and found twigs the right size for the job. Big advantage that you don't actually have to paint them as they already look like bark-covered logs…

I think the price point is another good advantage. :-)

When my son was 2 he would always bring home sticks or rocks. Some of the more interesting ones found their way into my terrain. He saw one I had taken one day. Yep, busted. He took it back.

Matthew

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I was wrong, I put the log on top of the blanket…

@Murvihill

That's really nice! No sticks but the howdah looks great! And the ultra historical Duck Men! Seriously nice looking models.

the sticks are under the platform. I pretended all the straps and saddlery were under the blanket, so I didn't actually have to make them. I have used rubber bands as leather straps on other projects and that works pretty good (stain them rather than paint them) except they stretch when they age so you can't use them for actual load-bearing and they might sag after a few years.

I'm thinking string for rope glued into place. I'll just use glue to hold the lot together and the string for non-functional/non-load-bearing detail.