[MOC] 1/65 Scale Tower of Orthanc with full interior

[Ryuuroden]

Hello. This is my first mega- build. It took me almost a year to build and more to plan. It is a 1/65 scale Tower of Orthanc from Lord of the Rings and stands at 8 feet 9 inches. It contains somewhere around 75,000 bricks. The Tower is built as a cut away and has a fully lighted and furnished interior. I made sure to include every detail I could think of. I got inspiration from many sources but a lot of it is just loosely based on them as many of the features originate in how I imagine the tower looked like. One example of this is I made the 4 large spires at the time much more prominent then seen in the movie and in many drawings. I just felt they looked much cooler this way. This will be my first MOC I have ever taken to a convention and will be publicly revealed for the first time at Chicago Brickworld this weekend. I am very excited to show it off and hope you all enjoy it. The following pictures are just some of the 80 plus photos I have up, so follow the link at the end to see more details as I don't think I should post all 80 plus here.

The Tower of Orthanc 01 by Brendan M, on Flickr

The Tower of Orthanc 02 by Brendan M, on Flickr

The Tower of Orthanc 03 by Brendan M, on Flickr

The Tower of Orthanc 04 by Brendan M, on Flickr

01 - Landscape - Orthanc Exterior by Brendan M, on Flickr

02 - Landscape - Orthanc Exterior by Brendan M, on Flickr

06 - Landscape - Orthanc Exterior by Brendan M, on Flickr

12 - Landscape - Orthanc Exterior by Brendan M, on Flickr

03 - Landscape - Orthanc Exterior by Brendan M, on Flickr

01 - Interior - Dungeon - Overall shot - No Flash by Brendan M, on Flickr

06 - Interior - 1st Floor - Entrance and Armory - Overall Shot - Flash by Brendan M, on Flickr

11 - Interior - 2nd Floor - Library - Overall Shot - No Flash by Brendan M, on Flickr

18 - Interior - 3rd Floor - Palantir Room - Alternate Angle by Brendan M, on Flickr

22 - Interior - 4th Floor - Dinning Room - Overall Shot by Brendan M, on Flickr

28 - Interior - 5th Floor - Living Quarters - Overall Shot by Brendan M, on Flickr

32 - Interior - 6th Floor - Sarumans Study - Overall Shot by Brendan M, on Flickr

38 - Interior - 7th Floor - Sarumans Laboratory - Closeup by Brendan M, on Flickr

44 - Interior - 9th Floor - Observation Deck - Open Walls by Brendan M, on Flickr

and more https://www.flickr.c...2944@N05/gk125L

[Full Plate]

Wow!! The pure vastness of the tower is really mindblowing! And still the details of the texturing looks really great. But for me, the interior is where this really shines. You obviously put a lot of planning into all the rooms and it has turned out awesome! If I had to pick one favorite detail it would be those lit chandeliers, they look absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately I am far away from Chicago and won't be able to see it, but I hope you will have a great time there, and with this showpiece in tow, I'm sure you will Excellent job man!

[large88]

Wow this is great! You did an awesome job Very nice you put a decent staircase in there!

[Legocity2713]

Wow, 65 million times better than the set. Amazing job sir, it would truly be a blessing to have building skills such as yours. :thumbup:

[Wodanis]

Broke the piggy bank on this one! I can't believe the scale, bravo! Very impressed.

[Ryuuroden]

When I get set up at the convention, I will take a picture from the back that shows all the floors together.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Phantastic!

[gcanik]

My only immediate words are 'holy crap' that's a load of details and bricks. Congrats on your perseverance and patience to plan and build this wonderful MOC.

[peedeejay]

Wow, this is massive.

[Granduncle Bullroarer]

Excellent, the scale of it is fantastic and you have done some lovely landscaping and interior work.. Well done.

[Exetrius]

That is NUTS! Amazing!

[LegoThomas]

I just love it. The size is insane and the interior is very nice. Outstanding piece of work. My modded orthanc is only 1 meter high. I am going to study yours for the next two hours.

[Venunder]

Amazing.

I am surprised the bottom bricks can support the weight of the tower.

I know the tower is the main feature but the surrounding Ring of Isenguard is required.

"A great ring-wall of stone, like towering cliffs, stood out from the shelter of the mountain-side, from which it ran and then returned again... one who passed in and came at length out of the echoing tunnel, beheld a plain, a great circle, somewhat hollowed like a vast shallow bowl: a mile it measured from rim to rim. Once it had been green and filled with avenues, and groves of fruitful trees, watered by streams that flowed from the mountains to a lake. But no green thing grew there in the latter days of Saruman. The roads were paved with stone-flags dark and hard; and beside their borders instead of trees there marched long lines of pillars, some of marble, some of copper and of iron, joined by heavy chains, to the centre all the roads ran between their chains. There stood a tower of marvelous shape. It was fashioned by the builders of old, who smoothed the Ring of Isenguard, and yet it seemed a thing not made by the craft of men but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Venunder

[songwm]

My jaw dropped! Such majestic tower!!

Apart from the tower, the ground work looks awesome to.

[-Noel-]

I'm really impressed! And it's going to be at Brickworld :-D

[greenalfonzo]

This is GREAT!

But I would have liked to see you make an official Baradur this size to go next to the official Orthanc - that would have been to scale!

[Regenerate builder]

Very epic and well done. Must have taken tons of careful planning. Wish I could see it in person, although I would probably feel self-conscious about my height afterward.

[BrickCurve]

Wow!

[Balbo]

Fantastic work :wub:

I love the scale and the interior. The vegetation is nice, too.

[Deathleech]

When I get set up at the convention, I will take a picture from the back that shows all the floors together.

This looks to be the biggest Orthanc, and possibly the biggest LotR Moc yet in terms of height. You handily beat out the other massive Orthanc from a few years back which clocked in at 7 feet 2 inches:

Truly amazing. I would love to see some shots with people next to it to really get a feeling for the scale.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Deathleech

[Isundir]

Not going to lie, I always thought the Tower of Orthanc was one ugly looking building and I still do but I absolutely love your vegetation around the tower and the interiors are fantastic 75000 bricks, I can't even imagine that many

Edited June 18, 2015 by Isundir

[Ryuuroden]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Here is a size comparison photo, I am 6 foot 3 inches tall, btw.

Standing Next to Orthanc by Brendan M, on Flickr

It even makes me feel self concious about how short I am at 6 food 3

[Captain Dee]

I'm no fan of LotR but this is an amazing creation regardless. The first few photos don't do it justice. The trees and the rest of the base look simplistic - until you see them close up and realize how detailed they are, and suddenly this thing looks monstrously large! The open back with all the fine details exposed was a really good idea. This should make an excellent display piece but to play with it you might need a scaffold or a bunk bed! We've seen several huge builds from this theme (like the minifig-scale Helm's Deep with its thousands of figs) and this is an incredible companion to what must surely be titled the "ultra" class of builds. Excellent work and good luck transporting and displaying.

[Dazz]

Your build is breathtaking!

You should put this up on the LEGO Ideas website. I wonder if it would reach enough votes to be in consideration to be produced as an official UCS set.

[TheLegoDr]

Very impressive. The scale is ridiculous obviously, but it does show me how well LEGO handled this building in terms of scale. Naturally these extra details really help and I love the interior scenes.

I've been meaning to build around the official set with the proper vegetation. I know it won't be as impressive as this, but either way..

Have fun at Chicago. I hope this is easy to take apart in sections to haul.