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Well, I had an idea recently for a project to do. A huge project. Something that might be beyond my skill.

My idea was to build an entire section out of a hive world. At the top would be some space marine arriving to reinforce some imperial guard, who are trying to liberate the hive from a bunch of cultists.

The whole thing would be like a multi-level diorama, with at least 3 levels that you could seperate to see the details. The outside would just be the outside of a hive, complete with filth, smog, and rust, with the space marine arriving at the top. The inside would be the actual battle.

The bottom would be a huge daemonic circle, with cultists of khorne performing a dark ritual to their god, sacrificing innocents, as you get further up you see less and less carnage. In the middle would be a group of maybe 30 cultists rushing a few imperial guard implacements, The whole thing would be built as a bunch of long hallways with elavators (many broken) leading between floors. some of the rooms would simply be bloodstained remnants of civilians, some would be citizens who had barricaded themselves in, mothers holding children, whole families holding doors closed, etc, and the upper floors would be evacuated.

What do you think, too big, too hard, or just big and hard enough? wait a minute that didn't sound right.

That I believe is one of the most ambitious sounding projects I've heard of. I'm not one to say whether you can do it or not, just make sure you plan quite thoroughly what you're going to be doing, and how you're going to do it.

A good plan is worth it's weight in gold.

I love the idea and would love to see it executed correctly, but.....
Having looked at your 2 gallery pics of a 'badly painted White Scar photographed on a cell phone' and read some of your comments, I would have to say no.
I'm sure that you would be dissapointed by the results not to mention the financial loss/waste.
Start smaller and build up some skills on plenty of smaller projects. A daemonic circle/chaos terrain, a small imperial lander diorama, an cultist army/squad, some cities of death terrain etc etc
With some careful planning it could be possible to fuse these elements at a later date.

I apologise profusely if your 2 gallery images and some comments are not representative of your skill level but it's all I have to go on at the moment.

Please prove me wrong!!!!!!!!!!

What he said.

Sounds like a great idea, but I don't think you have the skills yet to pull it off.

I apologise profusely if your 2 gallery images and some comments are not representative of your skill level but it's all I have to go on at the moment.

That white scar was from several months ago, I like to believe I am significantly better now.

Post some new pictures of your more current work!

But either way, you should be the judge of yourself! If you're up to the task, by all means go for it!!

I am a much better painter than I am a photographer.

it seems pretty unrealistic to me...the amount of time, effort, and cash required to do a diorama of that size is really only possible within GW or other large gaming companies.

Just the miniatures alone would cost you probably well over $300+ (that you wont get to play with). The matierals, paint, and time is going to add months if not years to the project for one person.

And in the end what do you get, a giant board that will not fit out of your door that you cannot actually use besides to show it off to the few people who come over to game.

in the end building a game board with interlocking terrain would be easier, cheaper and more useful.

For anyone but the most wealthy and privileged it's a project that would be prohibitively expensive and take five or six years to realize. If you happen to be rich and unemployed, there's still the question of skill and material knowledge. My vote would be instead of make smaller pieces of terrain that you might one day incorporate into this diorama but in the meantime can be used as display and battlefield obstacles in their own right

Nice dream though

I dream of freehand painting all my tanks with beautiful unique designs

Implementing with the 4-8 hours of painting I get a week is another matter

But hey if thats the light that inspires you then everything you do will build to that

Who is to say you cannot paint the SMs and use them then the IG then use them then the cultists / CSMs and use them - just dont fasten them onto your diarama and what you will end up with is a unique display cabinet with usable armies

perhaps plan 1500 points of each SM, IG and CSM for the piece..

I think the bottom should be a usable field and the upper 2 levels should be just for decoration then it would be more worth it(depending on cost)but i would so want to see that!

Hey look. If you want to do it, go for it. The best way to learn is to always try something beyond your skill level, so as to push yourself to succeed. Irrespective of your skill level, it makes sense to start a bit smaller anyway. By starting smaller, you have many advantages: Much cheaper, less time, takes up less space, you can see if making dioramas interests you before committing to something massive, you can try out ideas more easily.
If I was in your position, I'd probably try and do a scene that could be incorporated into a larger diorama at a later date. Maybe think along the lines of "If I were to submit an entry for Golden Demon in the Duel section, what would I do?". Your entry doesn't need to be Golden Demon standard, but it gives you some guidelines about size which are quite sensible. You could then do a 'room' from a hive world, with only a couple of minis.
Don't forget that you can post on here for C&C, which may then help you to push yourself at a later date.

Just my thoughts...