The Crypt Version Two

With lights and moulding still in the mail I was a little unsure where best to start working in the castle because it seemed that everywhere I was waiting for something to arrive before I could advance too far with it.  The Crypt was the exception to this, so I focused my attention there.  The Crypt in the original castle looked like this:

 The stone walls were done with a stencil which was fine back in the day, but since then I've learned that short of using real stone slips, the best way to make stone is with air dry clay.  So it was out with the old walls and in with new air dry clay stonework.  I created an arch at the front by splitting a balsa wood dowel in two to create two half round columns on top of which sits an arch made of cardboard.  This too was covered in clay stone.

 When everything was dry I played around with the layout and decided to relocate the sarcophogus to the side wall.  The penant at the head of the sarcophogus is actually the flag that come with the Cumberland Castle kit I used to make Castle Starcaster last year.  I simply decorated the red velvet with some gold relief stickers, knocked together a quick stand to hang it from out of balsa wood scraps and hey presto! one awkward corner covered up.  The Crypt doubles as the castle's treasury or strongroom, hence the chest along the opposite wall.  I'm thinking of adding a shelf above it to hold another, smaller chest.  Another idea yet to be realised for the crypt is to add a ghost.  I'm sure I saw somewhere that you can get glow in the dark sculpey.  Imagine a hand reaching out from behind the penant that glows in the dark.

Although most work this week was in the crypt, I did do a little to other areas of the castle too.  I tiled the Hall floor with more air dry clay.  Now I have to decided what colour/s it should be.  Stone?  Black and White?  I also covered the upper walls with a beige and white patterned fabric.  The lower part of the walls will have wooden panelling.

 Like the Crypt, the Gallery above the Hall won't be upgraded with anything still in transit, so that too could be given attention.  First was the addition of a simple bench seat along the left side wall.  Both Dapper Dan my test dummy and Gil, a temporarily displaced castle resident, decided to try it out.

 Still in the Gallery, I temporarily tacked up this ceiling paper but can't decided whether or not to use it.  The yellow in the paper matches the yellow of the wall freize, but the aqua-y blue and green really have no reference.  Plus the patterned ceiling might make an already low ceiling look even lower.

 Then there is the Gallery railing.  Reuse the old railing as in the photo below or make something new?

 
The mailman has just been to give me even more decisions to make.  The additional lights have arrived so now I can (try) and decide exactly where they're going and put them there.  I've also recived the sheet of wall tiles and will need to decide if they're going in the Armoury or the Wardrobe and what will be on the walls of the room they won't be in.