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Just thought I'd share this with the Dakkites...Comments, questions, and suggestions welcome!

Theme: An Abyssal Slaves (my upcoming CSM army) Dreadnought faces down a Sister Superior and the last survivors of an assault.

Initial Ideas:

The Dreadnought will be a (highly) converted SM plastic Dreadnought. DCCW arm will likely be snipped and converted to a more brutal chainblade-type arm. The weapon arm will either be an old metal MultiMelta or an Autocannon, represented by a Tau Burst Cannon. The Flamer will be represented by 2 Dark Age Skaard Toxic Mistresses mounted on shoulder platforms. Exhaust will be converted to organ pipes.

The Sister Superior will require a lot of work. I plan to have her kneeling holding a Holy Icon before her - somewhat like Gandalf's "you shall not pass" scene.

Survivors will be probably one wounded SoB and civilians represented by Hasslefree minis. They will be taking cover in a church (see below).

Base will be a display case, like the one below:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/493
The Dreadnought will be @ one end, mounting steps. The Sister will be in front on a church-type wall and the survivors will be huddled behind it.

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WIP stage 1: Planning

A sketch I made of the diorama:



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WIP Stage 2: Dreadnought Construction


DEMO! The fun part - ripping apart my assembled SM Dreadnought to get it ready for the conversion. This required removal of the sarcophagus plate, engine, shin guard (the other already fell off), feet, CCW from the left arm, and assault cannon from the right arm.

I then sanded down the shoulder guards (the top of the SM Dreadnought's guards are set at an angle to the main body) to make them somewhat level (plasticard will cover the guards in the future so it doesn't have to be completely sanded down).

Plasticard is then welded (I used plastic welder, which is different from cement, in that it literally melts two peices of plastic together) to the front, top, and sides of the shoulder guards to bulk them out. A plasticard "box" is then assembled in the former engine space.

Next up, adding the organ exhaust, extending the legs, and adding the new shin guards....





Well, not everything went as planned. The chainblade arm turned out to be WAY too big and looked oversized on the body - after I had finished most of it!

While I was sawing of the right leg to change its position, I went right thru the top of the leg! Luckily, I had busted 2 old Sentinels earlier in the week, so I drilled another hip bar and glued the legs to that. The new legs are a lot nicer and I think will fit better with the hoove-type feet. I attempted to sculpt the feet today but they did not turn out the way I wanted (I'm ordering some Brown Stuff from theWarstore to try again).

The organ-type exhausts turned out nicely as well, as did the assault cannon arm.

The new chainblade arm is (I think) much more appropriate and in-scale. The problem with this shot is that you can't see the angle that the arm is on relative to the shoulder, which is about 20 degrees.



Yes, it's a bit plain right now (as is the other arm and body) but they all still need cables, lots of GS detailing, and the typical CSM baroque-style edging.

I'm always impressed when I see quality scratch building like this.  How the heck do you cut such great circles in your styrene sheets?  I'm looking forward to seeing the final model given how great things look at this stage.

Keith

The Skaard Toxic Mistresses actually were not as difficult to convert as I thought. The one on the right's  (left shoulder) arms were repositioned a tiny bit to make them more natural. The one on the left's (right shoulder - this will be the one firing her flamer @ the Priest) arms were also repositioned to make her flamer face at the right angle of attack. I then chopped off her head (too bad my guilloitine terrain piece doesn't actually work!) with a razorsaw, pinned, and repositioned it to face at the same angle as the flamer. The end of their original flamer-thingies was clipped and replaced with brass tubing...



The only thing left is a little GS gapfilling and GS'ing the flamer nozzles.

The platforms are a cirlce-textured plasticard cut in a circle. Plasticard strip was then cut to the correct length (by wrapping a scrap piece of paper around the platform edge), triangles were cut out of the top, then I used a small hole punch to add the "gothic spikes" detail, and glued them to the base (superglue in certain spots, followed by plasticweld all around).



I still need to mount them on the shoulder guards and attach a  small strip for the chains...

With small circles (from thin plasticard), you can use a paper hole punch. The large circles are are outlined with mini bases, then rough-cut with an Xacto, rough-sanded with a Dremel (if need be), and then detail-sanded with a sanding stick.

I used to use a circle cutter (sort of a compass but with a blade instead of a pencil point) but it wouldn't cut deep enough and would often not cut a perfect circle.

WIP Stage 3: Da Base

I spent way too much time attemtping to find a ready-made display case - they were either too large, too small, or not tall enough. I finally gave up and made my own. The bottom is an 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" MDF board. Basswood strips were glued to the outside edge, forming a small lip. Plasticard strips (taller than the basswood but the same thickness) were glued to the inside edge. This forms a slight lip around the base, which will let me place a clear plastic or glass case over the diorama, once its all finished. This also makes the inside lip flush with the foamboard and bases.



The street is @ the MDF base level. To insert the removeable dreadnought base, I had to cut (painstakingly) with a dremel tool an indentation. It took FOREVER and I think I breathed in my quota of sawdust for the year. It didn't come out perfect but I can cover it with rocks and debris in the final stages. Sandpaper was cut and  glued to the base to simulate the asphalt street. A plasticard strip was glued to the edge of the sandpaper and scored in intervals with a scribing tool to represent a curb.

Black foamboard was glued to the base. The top layer of paper was removed for placement of the church floor and paving stones with a utility knife and holes were cut for the other bases. "Field stone"-textured plasticard was cut to shape, superglue was applied to the top of the (placed) bases, and the plasticard was glued unto this. When removed, all I had to do was trim around the bases on the reverse side to free the bases (this will also make the base and floor pattern appear unified). With the bases removed, the floor is glued down and pressure was applied until it set. While that dried, I trimmed the floor on the bases. Once it was dried, I cut the holes in the floor with a dremel and xacto to allow (re-)placement of the bases.

Looking hot, I eagerly await more!

Not a lot of time to write this weekend but thought I'd share more progress pics....

And yes, the SoBs are changed to Last Chancers and an Imperial Priest...

Very interesting. I've never done a diorama before, but this and the Stompa thread is really getting me excited about diving right in.

Most of the models look fine to me. (although I think the flamer troops look a little silly up there)

What concerns me is the base. (and I hate to say this seeing how far along you already are) 40k sanctuaries are described as huge gothic structures, massive both in size and height. Your structure looks like a destroyed house, complete with a yard and patio. Its just not grandoise enough imo. The entry needs to be more alluring, things like steps (possibly flanked by stone gargoyles/saints/etc) or a courtyard should be added. (anything to make it seem bigger and stand out as important) The interior seems very plain as well. Most structures like this have a symbol of athority of some sort on the floor in front of the door. Do you want the interior to have a few descending steps near the door? How about a different pattern at the entry? What about a statue a few feet after the entryway? (a famous saint, or the emperor perhaps?)

Just a few ideas for you to kick around.

??

Looking very intriguing so far. Keep us posted -- I'm definitely following this one.

Well I have a little free time and thought I'd update and write a bit. I'm waiting for GS to dry (did I mention I hate working w/ GS?) and trying not to freak out that there are only 5 days left to finish this.



Here's the priest/monk almost done. I still need to finish redoing his over the shoulder bad and strap, his cane, and the rosarius. I was really worried that the GS beard wouldn't turn out but I really like it! His original hands were snipped and replaced by Bret MaA hands, one holding a cane and the other a rosarius (those are rosary beads he's holding).



Here is the ML Last Chancer team. The gunner is a Catachan, with a scratchbuilt ML, Maruader bearded head, and a backpack with lots of gubbins. The loader is an unarmoured Cadian body, with Empire Archer arms, a tanker helmet head, and a scratchbuilt missile carrier. He also has a shouldered lascarbine and I added GS cuffs to his sleeves.



This is the surviving Last Chancer from the Dreadnought's last attack (the doll represent where I'm putting the other unfortunate soul). The body is one of the old IG tankers who has been sitting in my bitz box for years (literally). He proved perfect for this diorama because his other arm is hurt (his left hand is holding it and the sleeve is torn). I removed the orginal head and both hands and replaced them with Cadian ones as they were a bit more in scale.




Here's the Dreadnought. I added GS lips around the shell ejection port (so Slaaneshi!), hooved feet (they aren't finished as I want to taper them and add some baroque banding at the bottom), and some rivets all around. I'm not sure what to do with his "head". You can see in the pics that I sculpted a sort of bad/good face but I'm not nuts about it. I added chains to the slave platforms and replaced the hoses and added the heat shields aroudn the flamer barrels.

Things are coming together, very cool. The flamer sisters are my second favorite part, surpassed only by that priest! Great model already, love the beard and the rosary beads are a nice switch on the ol' rosarius cross idea (though I thought his hand was just weirdly mutated until you explained the beads). Man, do I need to get me a priest and sculpt a beard on him now too ...?

Good luck in the next few days, look forward to seeing it complete.

- Boss Salvage

Is your FLGS a GW or independent? If you normally play in GW environments I would driop the Skaard miniatures, there should be something you could add up there that is a citadel miniature. I see no reason for your nice dread from being disavowed because of the decorations on it.

I'm happy that everyone's so inspired by D&D.

IntoTheRain: The church seems small because 1. it's supposed to be small (it's a chapel on a colony world that's been invaded by Chaos - a cathedral would be unnecessary with so small a population) and 2. I'm following Shep Paine's Theory Of Balance (a giant cathedral on one side would unbalance the entire diorama and detract from the Dreadnought). The Imperium is composed of millions of worlds, not all of them have gigantic edifices.

Boss_Salvage: I had considered the typical Rosarius but it seemed too....commonplace. I really like the priest too (and that's good because he'll be the focal point of the diorama and hence the most scrutinized).

Orlanth: Nah, I play at an independent shop out in the burbs right now. Frankly, if i brought it to play at a GW store and they told me to nix it, I'd reply with where they can shove it - as I've invested hundreds in GW alone.

The completed minis so far...

The completed priest






Missile Launcher Gunner




Missile Launcher Loader




Wounded Last Chancer

Just wanted to let everyone at Dakka know that voting has commenced for first place at Bartertown. If you like my entry, please cast your vote before Thursday. Thanks!

Looks fantastic Ancient, I like all of the last chancers, but the dread itself still looks unfinished. Any plans to keep modifying this project past the end of the BT contest?

Amazing flame effect, and just solid work all over the place. Agreed that the dread could use some more loving in the detail department, but I think it works as is.

- Boss Salvage

Posted By Drake_Marcus on 05/16/2007 8:50 AM
Looks fantastic Ancient, I like all of the last chancers, but the dread itself still looks unfinished. Any plans to keep modifying this project past the end of the BT contest?

Oh, I forgot to post the final pics here as well, dur! Yep, the Dread is finished and here's the final pics:

 

The flamer attack needs some serious reworking and the grass and hedges won't be placed until the basecoat is done. Hopefully I'll have the time to work on it this month...

Looks great bro! Looks like the armour plates are the perfect chance to practice your freehand. I think a traped souls theme would work really well.