Terrain is everything - Vent Tower pt 1.

Back when I was having  a number of doubts about keeping up with this blog, they're still there by the way and my Son's ambivalence isn't easing this but you guys are, I previewed what I initially refered to as my 'Vent Tower'. This structure looks like some kind of power station vent and it's original idea came from this sketch:

As you can see above the tower came together quite well I managed to get the door arch done through four layers of foam card but the reinforced detailing at the base was problematic. At this stage I was reluctant to put it on as I knew the joins at the corners need to be neat and to achieve this the templates all had a 2mm overlap that I could trim down as needed to join up after dry-fitting. The biggest problem however is the roof. I really like the Gothic spires in the sketch but somewhere my measurments went askew and the roof is only just big enough for four miniatures. This means if I put any elements onto the current profile I won't be able to fit figures on the roof.

Also I really like the lines of the building as they are, so finding a way to add height but retain the roofspace is becoming a real challenge. I have looked at adding the spires to the corners, asymmetrically. It also makes a bit of sense as the spiral staircase in one corner would have some cover as people exited. On top of that I was looking at putting a Heavy Bolter into the protruding corners. Unfortunately though these additions screw up the lines of the main structure. Having asymetrical spires just don't work with the front arched doorway. So I've been looking at abutments on each side, this would require three heavy bolters for all round fire [I only want to spare two] or corner abutments on the back wall which would look a little odd.

Anyway, here's where I'm at so far, it doesn't look like there's been a huge amount of progress but the structure has been glued and the arch has been covered for a cleaner finish. All the reinforced detailing has been added and now I just have to deal with the roof...

As you can see below the corner spires just seem a bit odd. The first one is not too bad but it just doesn't work when you view it from the side and even worse when it's twin is sat above the arched doorway.. I'm thinking just a flat roof will be the solution, which is a shame as the sketch really works. Lots to think about, any suggestions, it may help or I may solve this regardless. For instance if I bite the bullet and install 3 Heavy Bolters then I only need the two spaces on the roof to account for a 5 man squad, which means I can install the assymetric spires following the same line as the tower...

P.S. don't worry about the alien planet terrain mat... it's not real