[MOC] Black gates of Mordor (LOTR)

[-DoNe-]

This project started in the beginning of summer. A summer that had a lot more in store than I would have thought, and that includes the planned wedding. Thus did this not only take quite some time to finish; finding time to take somewhat decent photos of it took even longer. Now we are here tho! My take on the Black gates of Mordor is finished and I'm most pleased with this build. I never thought I'd give this scene a go due to how reliant it is on having two substantiell armies. However I have over time managed to amass a fair amount of soldiers for both sides. The Orc army mainly consist of the classic Lego orcs with a few custom ones from Koruit. As for the army of men more custom Gondorian soldiers from Koruit can be found. These look absolutely incredible in my opinion and really elevates this MOC.The gate itself took some thinking to get the layout right. I wanted to have some notion of the mountains on erither side to be able to integrate the wall into the mountainsides. This I feel worked great! To get the right scale on the MOC I used the mouth of Sauron mount. The goal was for the gates to dwarf the figure on the horse once placed infront of it. While a gate cannot include to much functionality what I'm most pleased with is the hinge-mechanism I decided that allow the gate to open without leaving any big gaps on either side once closed. Overall I have to say that I'm most pleased with the outcome on this build.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31 by -DoNe-

[MAB]

Very nice. I have a load of the Koruit Gondor soldier armour and helmets (I use genuine LEGO figures and weapons but the Koruit armour) and agree, they look great and definitely fill a gap that LEGO didn't produce.

[hikouki]

Amazing!!!

[Elysiumfountain]

Absolutely stunning! I especially like the 3rd to last photo. It almost has a perspective effect, I can imagine more hordes of Mordor lurking in the shadows behind the main figures emerging from the Black Gates! 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

I love LOTR and this scene is amazing!

[-DoNe-]

On 9/1/2025 at 7:10 PM, MAB said:

Very nice. I have a load of the Koruit Gondor soldier armour and helmets (I use genuine LEGO figures and weapons but the Koruit armour) and agree, they look great and definitely fill a gap that LEGO didn't produce.

It's a treat for us LOTR fans that they are available. Should Lego ever come out with something similar I will most likely replace them with that. Until then however they are staying!

On 9/2/2025 at 2:12 AM, hikouki said:

Amazing!!!

Thanks!

18 hours ago, Elysiumfountain said:

Absolutely stunning! I especially like the 3rd to last photo. It almost has a perspective effect, I can imagine more hordes of Mordor lurking in the shadows behind the main figures emerging from the Black Gates! 

Many thanks. I have the Barad Dur set and my intention was to have it built at the same time and take some really cool photos. Sadly I didn't have the time to finish it in time. But with some photoshop work in the future it should be doable. 

10 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

I love LOTR and this scene is amazing!

Thanks a lot! 

[MaximB]

Awesome MOC! The grim, dark vibe is perfectly captured. The studs on the walls are a total win here, adding to the aesthetic instead of just cluttering it up.
The size and quality of the army are also on point.

[-DoNe-]

On 9/4/2025 at 12:25 PM, MaximB said:

Awesome MOC! The grim, dark vibe is perfectly captured. The studs on the walls are a total win here, adding to the aesthetic instead of just cluttering it up.
The size and quality of the army are also on point.

Many thanks! I've always been a fan of utilizing studs as details. To many tiles and some character is lost.