Ruined Obelisk/Monument scratch-build

Deep in the Accursed Wastes, at the heart of a ruined city forgotten by all but the most learned, there stands a fading, azure monument to the glory -- or was it hubris? -- of an ancient, mythic conqueror. The arcane texts that frame that obelisk are said to recount his (mis)deeds ... or, perhaps, they reveal the only spell sufficient to keep the blood-soaked, Chaos-chosen ravager sealed in the Underworld. Centuries have passed ... and now it is time to renew the ritual, lest the lands drown again in blood...  

I just finished the newest scratch-built terrain centerpiece for my gaming table. I'm pretty pleased with this one! 

The statue on top isn't painted yet, but the obelisk/base is separate, so I can swap out different statues for different settings or scenarios. 

For example -- switch out the statue and some surrounding scenery, and now it's a monument to the cruelty of a long-fallen Dark Eldar warrior -- whom the locals have mistakenly assimilated to an early imperial Saint. 

This started life as a humble, semi-rigid plastic popcorn tub. I mounted it on a "foundation slab" of EVA foam, and then built up hand-cut foam blocks around the base.

I then cut up sections of corkboard to make the crumbling outer "veneer" layer, and added a plasticard slab to cover up some annoying modern plastic texture on top. 

 

Basecoated the whole thing with spraypaint...

Then stippled darker gray to 'texture' the lower layers, and drybrushed everything with ivory/bone craft-paint (drybrushing heavily on the cork layers). 

I used a gold-ink art marker to apply the 'arcane texts' along the sides, and then applied Army Painter "Magic Blue" speedpaint (their 1.0 version) to the off-white cork layers. A bit more cleaning up, grass tufts here and there, and I was done.