RoboDad
Super Freak
Re: Weta Orthanc Pre-Ruin Environment
I read a very well-reasoned analysis that came to the same conclusion that DaveMac posted.
Based on what Tolkien wrote, we know with certainty that the topmost platform on Orthanc was 500 feet above the plain (so we can assume the four spires were another 25-50 on top of that). But in comparing the two, Tolkien called Orthanc a "child's toy" or "slave's copy" in comparison to Barad-dur.
We also know that Mount Doom was 4500 feet tall, and that Sammath Naur was somewhere above 3000 feet, most likely between 3200-3600 feet. One reference I read indicated that it was in the lower half of the cone (which began at around the 3000 foot mark). And, given the (very reasonable) assumption that Sauron would have constructed his upper chamber in Barad-dur on a level with Sammath Naur, it would be likely that his tower would have been somewhere between 3300 and 3700 feet tall.
So, based on the dimensions of the new Orthanc statue, the tower itself is about 16 inches tall. That works out to (roughly) 1/400 scale. Taking an "average" estimate of Barad-dur at 3500 feet, in the same scale it would be about 8 3/4 feet tall.
So, I don't think we'll be seeing a same-scale companion to Orthanc any time soon.
I read a very well-reasoned analysis that came to the same conclusion that DaveMac posted.
Based on what Tolkien wrote, we know with certainty that the topmost platform on Orthanc was 500 feet above the plain (so we can assume the four spires were another 25-50 on top of that). But in comparing the two, Tolkien called Orthanc a "child's toy" or "slave's copy" in comparison to Barad-dur.
We also know that Mount Doom was 4500 feet tall, and that Sammath Naur was somewhere above 3000 feet, most likely between 3200-3600 feet. One reference I read indicated that it was in the lower half of the cone (which began at around the 3000 foot mark). And, given the (very reasonable) assumption that Sauron would have constructed his upper chamber in Barad-dur on a level with Sammath Naur, it would be likely that his tower would have been somewhere between 3300 and 3700 feet tall.
So, based on the dimensions of the new Orthanc statue, the tower itself is about 16 inches tall. That works out to (roughly) 1/400 scale. Taking an "average" estimate of Barad-dur at 3500 feet, in the same scale it would be about 8 3/4 feet tall.
So, I don't think we'll be seeing a same-scale companion to Orthanc any time soon.
Drop me a PM if you want to do that... 
