It's a familiar tale: a confrontation in the midst of a great battle, an end-level evil boss, a plucky protagonist.
How will it all end?
The villain chuckles, secure in his invincibility.
"You cannot kill me. Norman can kill me."
And then our hero removes their helmet and proclaims:
"I am Norman!"
So this is the first diorama I knocked together (first loyalist Space Marine too - my twenty-five year abstinence is over), and I had great fun with it.
The chaos model is Kranon the Relentless - the Crimson Slaughter lord from the Dark Vengeance box set. A lovely model, but too uniquely-specific to belong to the top-tier of my Black Legion command structure, hence his sideways promotion to dioramas.
Éowyn the Astartes is more of an amalgam: regular space marine body and legs, but the arms belong to a Primaris Reiver, since I needed them to be spread wide (not the standard 'firing bolter across chest') and I wanted her to have a combat knife that could be interpreted at a sword (since that is how the original scenario played out).
The helmet is a standard corvus helmet, very carefully hollowed-out, so the fingers of the right hand could be stuffed into it (with a thumb sculpted on the outside). And the head is a lead cast from Statuesque Miniatures (the pony tail was a bugger to fit with the backpack, but the effect is worth it).
In terms of dressing the scene, the sandbags and crate came from some Tamiya kits of WWII gear (I had quite a collection when I was twelve - the vehicles and men have long since been sold off, though I had the foresight to keep the odds and ends).
The bolter came with the space marine, though I clipped a few pieces of brass rod to look like spent shells. The barbed wire came from www.gotogroundwargaming.co.uk and the tufts are just... tufts.
My best discovery was the basing material. I bought myself a pot of Vallejo 'Earth Texture' - essentially the same as Citadel's texture paint, except you can buy a 200ml pot for £8 (as opposed to a 24ml pot for £4.55).
It applies and dries the same. I used 'Dark Earth', which was very grey, but a wash of Agrax, then a lighter drybrush brought it out just right. So that's my basing for 2019 sorted!
Happy Christmas to you all, and I hope Santa doesn't leave a lump of plasma in your stocking.
How will it all end?
The villain chuckles, secure in his invincibility.
"You cannot kill me. Norman can kill me."
And then our hero removes their helmet and proclaims:
"I am Norman!"
So this is the first diorama I knocked together (first loyalist Space Marine too - my twenty-five year abstinence is over), and I had great fun with it.
The chaos model is Kranon the Relentless - the Crimson Slaughter lord from the Dark Vengeance box set. A lovely model, but too uniquely-specific to belong to the top-tier of my Black Legion command structure, hence his sideways promotion to dioramas.
Éowyn the Astartes is more of an amalgam: regular space marine body and legs, but the arms belong to a Primaris Reiver, since I needed them to be spread wide (not the standard 'firing bolter across chest') and I wanted her to have a combat knife that could be interpreted at a sword (since that is how the original scenario played out).
The helmet is a standard corvus helmet, very carefully hollowed-out, so the fingers of the right hand could be stuffed into it (with a thumb sculpted on the outside). And the head is a lead cast from Statuesque Miniatures (the pony tail was a bugger to fit with the backpack, but the effect is worth it).
In terms of dressing the scene, the sandbags and crate came from some Tamiya kits of WWII gear (I had quite a collection when I was twelve - the vehicles and men have long since been sold off, though I had the foresight to keep the odds and ends).
The bolter came with the space marine, though I clipped a few pieces of brass rod to look like spent shells. The barbed wire came from www.gotogroundwargaming.co.uk and the tufts are just... tufts.
My best discovery was the basing material. I bought myself a pot of Vallejo 'Earth Texture' - essentially the same as Citadel's texture paint, except you can buy a 200ml pot for £8 (as opposed to a 24ml pot for £4.55).
It applies and dries the same. I used 'Dark Earth', which was very grey, but a wash of Agrax, then a lighter drybrush brought it out just right. So that's my basing for 2019 sorted!
Happy Christmas to you all, and I hope Santa doesn't leave a lump of plasma in your stocking.
Awesome! Kranon is pretty much a perfect Model to use for Dioramas. He's fancy and has all kinds of cool detail you can go to town on, but his gear is kind of sub-optimal for an actual Chaos Lord in full on 40K.
ReplyDeleteI thought I recognized that head! I love Statuesque Miniatures, they do great stuff. Eowyn for the win! Her pose kind of highlights some of the limitations of the classic SM designs, but then, most attempts at posing them in anything other the designed positions do. I think the Reiver arms are enough longer than classic ones to mess with the proportions a bit more, too. But I love the concept and the parts of the execution that aren't GW's fault ;)
I think I would have done her armour in green, as I always associate Rohan with green. Thinking about it more, tho, I don't actually know if that's accurate to either the books or movies. Could also use a doughty Ratling stabbing the Chaos Lord in the ankle as well ;)
I need to check out those Vallejo texture paints. I like the GW ones, but damn, they're expensive. Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks, mate! Green armour - and white horse symbol on the shoulder guard - would have been perfect (I think the books does make mention of Rohan using a green banner). Nice idea about the ratling, I might see if I have one in the bitz box.
DeleteYou're right about the Reiver arms being too long - I swung them back to make it less obvious. It was fun painting a classic marine, but the new Primaris really are leagues ahead design-wise.
Happy Xmas!
Exquisite!
ReplyDeleteA diorama is a first for the blog too, right? I've always been too scared, it feels like a big step in quality and planning to me. Plus I'd have to magnetise their feet so they wouldn't be lost to gaming afterwards, and magnets also scare me. I don't have the right drills.
God Jul from Sweden!
...it also reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me.
DeleteHe was from the north of England and had moved to the South, starting his first day at a public school.
"Right boys," said the form master, "this is the new chap, Joe, from Newcastle."
"No, man, I'm from Sunderland," Joe said.
"Ah, sorry," said the teacher. "Bits, this is the new chap, Norman from Sunderland."
The name stuck. True story.
I'd be surprised to learn that I'd been innovative on this blog, but maybe this diorama is a first.
DeleteInversely, I found it less intimidating that painting scenery (can I count it as scenery?). I'm feeling an annual tradition coming on.