The Gothic Chess SetPlease note that this chess set is a fairly difficult and time consuming project. I

strongly suggest building one or two easier models before tackling this one!

This Page Includes:Casting the Pieces

Building InstructionsMaking the Chess Pieces

Final Painting and AssemblyThe Finished Chess Board

The miniatures used for the pieces are fromReaper Miniatures. You can see a full list of theirproducts at www.reapermini.com.

It may not look it, but this is a monster of aproject. It measures 18" square, weighs about25 pounds and takes almost as much casting asthe Cathedral. Please keep this in mind beforetaking on this project.

Casting the Pieces

1.

The following moldsare needed

to complete thisproject.

Mold #45 Cast this mold48 times.Mold #41 Cast this mold24 times.Mold #42 Cast this mold24 times.Mold #43 Cast this mold24 times.Mold #44 Cast this mold15 times.Mold #267 Cast this mold20 times.

You will also need a fewadditional casts of the piecesshown here.

Since you need to cast mold #45several more times anyway, (andwill probably have some plasterleft over after each cast), you canjust pour the extra plaster intothese pieces.

2.

As I removed the blocks fromeach mold, I then sorted theminto plastic shoe boxes. OnceI had made all of the necessarycasts, I the sorted the piecesfrom each box into smallplastic cups.

Sorting is very time consuming, but it's a lotquicker than searching for each block you need.Be sure the blocks are completely dry before

you start gluing them together.

3.

Before you move on, take the secret door blocks from mold#44 and glue them together to form 2" long blocks.

These are the blocks that have a slight angle on the ends.When finished you should end up with 30 extra 2" blocks.

Building InstructionsThere are no printable building plans for this model. Instead, print out this instructionpage which shows the placement of each block. The gothic pieces are so ornate that drawingbuilding plans would have been extremely time consuming.

1.

The chess board top will be fairly heavy (maybe 8pounds) so you'll need something durable to build it on.

I took a two foot square piece of 1/2" plywood and cut itdown to 15" square. Be sure you get a very flat piece!Warped plywood will cause real problems.

If you get your plywood at a lumberyard, many times theycan cut it down for you. Try to get this piece as exact aspossible to 15" square.

2.

Start by gluing a row of 1.5" squares around theoutside of the plywood. I'm using an "L" shape madeout of Legos to help keep the outside row straight.

Make this row of tiles go flush against the outsideedge of the plywood. You will be able to fit 10 tileson each side of the plywood.

You may notice that there are slight gaps betweenthe flat tiles when you spread them out to fill thedistance. This is a good thing because yourpainted tiles that go in the middle will take upslightly more room once they are painted incheckerboard fashion.

3.

You'll need to glue a row ofblocks all the way aroundthe plywood.

The 1.5" flat tiles will stickup above this row by 1/4".

The recesses are made outof square smooth flattiles which measure 1/2" x1/2" x 1/4" thick.

4.

Glue these blocks onto all 4corners of the chess board top.

You may find that there is aslight gap under the 1.5" flat tilewhere it overlaps the board. Don'tworry about this because it won'tbe noticeable when the board isfinished.

5.

To finish off the corners, start with a 1/2"square block surrounded by thedecorative blocks from mold #43.

Then add the 4 post caps on eachcorner, along with the 4 pointed topblocks which make the pyramid shapedpeak.

6.

Glue the piecesshown onto therecesses aroundthe outside.

I'll show thelayout for theblocks in red inthe photo below.

7.

Glue the pointed top blocksonto these posts to finishthem. Do this for each ofthe 8 recesses around theoutside edge.

The final row of blocks isshown in the larger photo.The red blocks are the1/2" x 1/2" square blocks. The remainderof the blocks are either 3" blocks or 1"blocks.

8.

The top crenellationpieces are made bygluing a small archto a decorative piecefrom mold #43.

You'll need 36 ofthese pieces. Evenly spacethem out and put 3crenellations between eachpost.

9.

Next we'll start on the front and back walls. Glue together thesesmooth flat blocks as shown to make the step pieces.

You'll need to make 4 copies of this. Notice I've laid this piece onits back. Be sure to put the bottom down when placing them inthe wall below.

10.

Make 2 copies of this wall section. There are several flat wall blocks used in this wallsection.

11.

Glue together 3 smooth flatsquare blocks to make a stairstep. Place them between two stepsections while they dry so they'llbe exact. Make 2 of these. Nextwe'll use octagon step pieces frommold #41.

12.

You'll glue2 stepblocks(frommold #41)on eachside tomake thefull steps.

Glue thesteps intothe gap inthe wallfor bothwallsections.

13.

Add the decorative piecesonto the front of the wall.

You will need to sand thecolumns because theywill be too tall otherwise.It's best to sand thebottom of the columnfaces because it will beless noticeable.

Make 2 of these wallsections.

14.

When positioningthe column tops,the center of thecolumn should be1/4" away fromthe nearest blockjoint.

Add an arch ontothe back of thewall. Do not gluethe blocks in red.

15. Make 2 copies of this wall section. The pillars in the center are full pillars.

16.

We'll finish this wallsection by adding thedecorative blocks shown.The torch, pillars andsmall arches are allfrom mold #45.

You may have to sandthe pillars a little or theywill end up being too talland the decorations willstick up above the wall.

Center these decorationsbetween the windows asexactly as you can. Besure to make 2 copies ofthis wall section.

17.

The cornersof thebuildingare next.

Stack up 4regularblocks andadd thedecorativeblocksaround theoutside.

18.

Make 4 spacers out of flatsquare wall blocks andsmall bricks. The spacerswill end up being 1/2"wide x 3/4" tall.

Add these onto the base,along with several 3/4"long blocks on end.

For the top, start with a 2"long block on end, andadd decorative tiles on thefront sides, and smoothflat tiles on the back sides.Add the pillars on 3sides.

19.

Next, glue thepillar piece ontothe base. Finishthe corner byadding the robedfigures onto thefront sides.

Look at the backand make surethe insiderecesses line up.The side walls ofthe chess set willfit into theserecesses. Make 4completecorners.

20.

The first strip is made fromflat wall blocks and will beused to cover the sides of thedoorway. Make 4 of these.

The next strip is made fromsmooth flat blocks and willbe used for the floor in eachdoorway. Make 2 of these.

Build the arch sections andglue the robed figures onto the front. These willform the main recessed doorways on each side.Make 2 of these arches.

Finally, make the last pieces using the large archfrom mold #45. Make 4 of these arches.

21.

We need to use up someextra pieces so we're makingthese strips out of cornerpillar blocks. Try to use anequal amount of each type ofblock. Make 12.

The back thin wall usesblocks from mold #44. Theback side of the wall will looka little strange, but you won'tsee the back when we'refinished any way. Make 4 ofthese wall pieces.

22.

We also need tomake 2 more ofthese that are1/2" wider. Useflat wall blocksfor the back andthe strips (fromabove) on eachside.

The last photoshows all of the pieces completed beforepainting. Of course you still have tocomplete the round bases for the chesspieces, and I'll show that below.

23.

Test fit the outside walls, corners andtop of the chess board.

You may find that the corners are alittle too tall and need to be sanded.

You may also have to sand the edgesof the walls "B" and "C" so they willfit flat against the corners.

Just ignore the chess bases andsquares set on top (I put them thereto see how they would fit). Don'tworry about fitting the other pieces,because they will fit properly withoutneeding any sanding.

Making the Chess Pieces

1.

We'll start by makingthe rooks. Gather thepieces shown. These arethe pieces you need tomake 2 white rooks.

Stand a 1.5" long blockon end and glue 4decorative tiles aroundthe outside.

2.

Stack another 1" block on end and cap it offwith a smooth flat tile.

Add the decorative corner pieces aroundthe base to finish the bottom. Add squaretiles and posts to finish the second layer.

You'll need to sand the roof pieces at a 45degree angle on each side. This will allowyou to put the roof pieces all around theoutside. Make 2 of these rooks.

3.

Gather the piecesshown to make 2black rooks.

Stand a 1" blockon end and gluethe decorativebase piecesaround theoutside.

Glue thedecorative tilesaround the top tocap it off.

4.

The pieces on thenext row need toslide around to fitproperly.

Finish the piece bymaking the top cap asshown. Make 2 ofthese black rookpieces.

5. Assemble the bases for the pieces from molds #41 and 42. I've used ReaperMiniatures for the pieces. You can visit their web site at www.reapermini.com.

6.

For the white pieces, I've painted them using shades of mediumgray to white. Since I wasn't able to get the detail to show up aswell as I would have liked, I dipped them in a thin ink wash tohelp bring out the details.

The black pieces were painted using shades of black to mediumgray. They turned out really well without having to use any kind ofwash.

Spray a coat of flat varnish or lacquer over the pieces whenyou've finished painting them. This will seal the paint and keep itfrom chipping off when constantly handling the pieces. Do not usegloss varnish because glossy pieces may look odd.

Final Painting and Assembly

1.

When I reached this point, Idecided that the chess boardwould look better if it wereraised up above the surfaceslightly.

I'm using a 12" x 12" piece offoam core board to glue thesquare tiles down onto. Paintthe board dark gray on bothsides. Painting it on both sides will keep it from warping.

I painted the squares the same color as the chess pieces. The light squares are paintedmedium gray to white and the dark squares are painted black to medium gray. Forspecific painting instructions, refer to the Tips & Tricks 12 page.

I'm using a corner made of Legos as a guide to keep the squares straight and even.When you glue the square tiles down to the foam board, the wet glue will make the boardwarp. Set a couple of large heavy books on it until it dries.

2.

When painting the top of the building, paint both sides at thesame time. If you don't the plywood will warp and you won't beable to straighten it out.

Paint all of the items you've built so far. I'm using the castlegray color scheme, which is the same one I used for the Wizard'stower. For complete information on types of paint and supplies youwill need, refer to the Painting Instructions page.

Once all of the paint is completely dry, then we can glue andassemble the final pieces.

3.

Place regularand flatblocks downon the backside of piece"B".

Glue thesepieces ontothe back asshown.

4.

Glue these pieces onto the back to finishpiece "B". The finished front side isshown below.

5.

Glue these pieces onto the back to finish piece "C".

6.

Glue the walls and cornerstogether and make surethey are square. Youshould also test fit thetop to make sure it linesup correctly.

I've created a woodenbase made from 4" widebase trim board which Ipurchased at alumberyard. I cut it in a20" square frame and willglue the chess board downto it.

The Finished Chess Board

If you cut a hole in theplywood, you could have thechessboard lift off for storagebeneath.

http://www.hirstarts.com. All photos, articles and plans are copyrighted by Bruce Hirst and may not be usedwithout permission.

"Castlemolds(R)" is a trademark of Hirst Arts Fantasy Architecture Inc.For more information contact bruce@hirstarts.com.