badger Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) Hi all, As an aside from my small scale tanks I dabble in Warhammer. Mostly 40,000 but have a couple of fantasy armies. I haven't played the game for over 15 years but do rather enjoy building the figures (and occasionally painting them). I've been planning this diorama for several years as a way of using my undead army. The intention is to get it finished for next years "Armies on Parade". My wife also enjoys the hobby so will be helping me out with this. The diorama is on a 2ft square board (the maximum size permitted under the rules). It will represent a sprawling gothic graveyard, vaguely inspired by one in Paris I've seen. Figure wise I estimate about 100 figures are needed for this - luckily I have everything already as I've been collecting undead for 25 odd years! It will be built around this Some figures already made and a couple painted Basic layout drawn out and board made of laminated mdf with a baton edging More detailed planning with measurements Appropriate snacks Insulation foam blocks to provide the landscape And cut and fitted Marked out And this is where it all went a bit wrong as I didn't realise the blocks I bought had fibreglass in them! They were a total swine to carve to shape as they just wanted to crumble. Turns out I should have bought blue insulation foam - Doh!! I slathered it with cheap polyfilla to smooth it all out and its now drying in the garage. Gathered some silver birch seed pods to use as dead leaves when I come to do.the groundwork (luckily I have a silver birch at the bottom of the garden). The seeds need removing but the bits of pod look remarkably like tiny leaves. Just ordered some blue foam to use to make paths and several sets of steps, as well as the balustrade around the raised dais at the top of the board which will have a statue on it. Loads more to do and this is going to be a seriously long term build. Thanks for looking in All the best Ben Edited October 23, 2018 by badger 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 This looks pretty amazing - I shall be following with great interest... 43 minutes ago, badger said: luckily I have everything already as I've been collecting undead for 25 odd years! As for the undead - I have at least another 15 here at work - a proper 'army of evil' - if you need anymore 46 minutes ago, badger said: My wife also enjoys the hobby so will be helping me out with this That's a really nice touch - if only I could get Madame X more involved it would be so cool. Go for it Ben - unusual - but really good I'll bet. All the best, Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 I'll watch this one with interest it looks a great idea. Is the 'Armies on Parade' for a show? or something local? or something on here I've missed? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Silver Fox said: I'll watch this one with interest it looks a great idea. Is the 'Armies on Parade' for a show? or something local? or something on here I've missed? Thanks for looking in. Armies on Parade is a Games Workshop competition where each store votes for the best painted/ modelled / themed army. Link added https://armiesonparade.com/2018/08/02/2nd-aug-armies-on-parade-2018-it-begins/ All the best Ben Edited October 23, 2018 by badger Link added 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 14 minutes ago, BIG X said: This looks pretty amazing - I shall be following with great interest... As for the undead - I have at least another 15 here at work - a proper 'army of evil' - if you need anymore That's a really nice touch - if only I could get Madame X more involved it would be so cool. Go for it Ben - unusual - but really good I'll bet. All the best, Steve Cheers Steve. I'm pretty lucky really that Mrs Badger is an enthusiastic supporter of my hobby. Whilst drawing the line at modelling tanks she does enjoy building and painting Warhammer and the occasional Gundam giant robot. Plenty of room for more zombies on here - braiinnnnsss!!! This is a fun build for me, with the slightly serious aim of clearing some loft insulation (and mounting it on loft insulation !) All the best Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 OMG - A loft full of zombies... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 27 minutes ago, BIG X said: OMG - A loft full of zombies... Strangely that's not the weirdest thing up my loft!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Wow, that's looking good already. Take care with the fibreglass as it can be very bad for your skin, lungs etc. In a spooky coincidence I've just used the same kit to make an Armies on Parade board for this year. Complete with some GW skeletons and ghosts. Mine's tiny though - 2'x1' with twenty-something figures rather than a hundred Some pics and commentary here, although I'm going to add a bit more over time: The Garden of Morr comes highly recommended although cleaning up the mould lines on the wrought iron fencing is a chore! Cheers, Will 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) Hi Will Thanks for looking in - I've bookmarked your thread to have a good read through tomorrow with a cuppa. Yep - the fibreglass was an unpleasant surprise - luckily it was reinforcing layers rather than in all of the foam. I routinely wear a half respirator mask when aerosol painting / sanding etc as much more comfortable and protecting than a dust mask so this was put to good use. Part of the reason I covered it in polyfilla was to cover up the fibreglass asap. Been working on the statue tonight as the thought of those railings is too much today! Don't think I'll get any more time on the board for a few days as have visitors down tomorrow, but might get chance to prime a load of built figures. So far I have 20 zombies, 30 skeletons, 10 ghouls, 6 ghosts and 10 dire wolves built, plus a necromancer, wight king and a wraith. May not use all of them but it's a good chunk of the total. Then there's a zombie dragon, varghulf, 10 grave guard and loads of bats still to do. Found an excellent tutorial on making graves from old cavalry bases so will be trying that soon. All the best Ben Edited October 23, 2018 by badger 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 That's quite the army! And you remind me that I've got five Fenris wolves I was painting as direwolves, if only I can remember where I put them... Look forward to seeing more. I've just primed some of the loose gravestones from the Garden box so I can build a handful of graves with those before having to exercise creativity Cheers, Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 Thanks Will - it's but a small part of my undead which I've amassed over the last 25 years. It'll be a mix of more recent kits plus some oldies as I'm limiting myself to only using figures I already own. I've a fair few gravestones from the old skeleton and zombie kits plus some metal ones from way back when. Still don't think it'll be enough so was rather pleased to discover the tutorial as that'll help fill in the spaces nicely (and I have loads of cavalry bases spare!). My basic idea was to have a vampire, (in conjunction with a necromancer or two), emptying the graveyard to reinforce their army, hence the horde / swarm approach. All the best Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Managed to build the statue last night but didn't get chance to post it as Bakeoff was on: This will go on the raised dais at the top of the board. All the best Ben 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 17 hours ago, badger said: Strangely that's not the weirdest thing up my loft!! Hi Ben I once moved to a very old house in which a line of decendents had lived for several hundred years. The first thing I did when moving in was to search the loft. Amongst tons of junk I found an old violin and a portrait in oil paint. As it happened, the Antiques' Roadshow' was in my town the following week, so I took the two items along to get more info on them and get them valued. The expert there said 'Well now, what you've got there is a Stradivarius, and a Rembrandt.' 'Crikey!' I gasped. 'So I'm rich?' The expert said, 'Well, you would be, but Rembrandt was rubbish at making violins and Stradivarius couldn't paint to save his life.'' Great to see someone using a free 'garden' bucketful of Silver Birch 'Seed dividers' as leaves. Seen rather too many people buy them on line! Silly billy though for using fibreglass insulating board! Hope you wore a facemask when cutting that up! Looking forward to seeing your figures painted up and your graveyard populated! Rearguards Badder 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 The seed pods are an inspired idea Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 On 24/10/2018 at 15:06, Badder said: Great to see someone using a free 'garden' bucketful of Silver Birch 'Seed dividers' as leaves. Seen rather too many people buy them on line! Silly billy though for using fibreglass insulating board! Hope you wore a facemask when cutting that up! Looking forward to seeing your figures painted up and your graveyard populated! Rearguards Badder Thanks for the joke and the comments. You'll be pleased to know all H&S requirements were fully complied with. I've seen the tiny pots of seed dividers too, which is where I stole the idea from. I have a 30ft+ mature tree at the bottom of my garden which dumps millions of seeds all over my lawn each year, so it's nice to be able to get something useful from it! The seed dividers are too big for 1/72(my usual scale), but would work nicely for 1/35, and in this case 28mm. More progress soon. All the best Ben 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Username Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I’ll watch this with interest. I’ve just started to paint space marines as an aid to restoring my mojo. Would love to do more but getting single figures is expensive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Random Username said: I’ll watch this with interest. I’ve just started to paint space marines as an aid to restoring my mojo. Would love to do more but getting single figures is expensive I really enjoy a bit of wargames stuff in between my tanks, or when the mojo needs a boost. GW prices have got really silly over the last few years, hence my decision to only use figures I already own! All the best Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badder Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 20 hours ago, badger said: The seed dividers are too big for 1/72(my usual scale), but would work nicely for 1/35, and in this case 28mm. Hi Ben , As you have your own supply of Silver Birch 'catkins' you'll find that the 'seed dividers' nearest the tip are smaller than the others, You'll only get half a dozen or so, per catkin, but it's worth the effort as the average size of seed divider is a bit too big for even 1/35th IMHO. I've collected the catkins just before they turn brown and leave them in a lidless jar to let them 'ripen', I've also collected them from the trees when the catkins HAVE turned brown. Both give the same results, but it's good to know that you can extend the 'picking season'. Rearguards Badder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 27, 2018 Author Share Posted October 27, 2018 Thanks for the tips on seed dividers. I've a huge bowl of them drying out nicely on a windowsill at the moment ready for when I need them. Just a quick update - have been busy priming figures the last couple of days - this is the second batch which takes the total to approx 60 now! Just got to paint them now! My blue foam has arrived today so looking forward to having a play with that to start the detailing work on the base. All the best Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 28, 2018 Author Share Posted October 28, 2018 Small amount of progress today building the main gate. Lots of mould lines to clean up All the best Ben 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 So. Many. Mould. Lines! 😫 I've been working on this continuously since the last update but not really very much to show as it's been cleaning up the wall and fence sections. Mrs Badger has built one of the mausoleums and is working on a second. Hopefully something worth photographing soon All the best Ben 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 Hi All Decided to have a play around with the board tonight as wanted to check the layout and view it with some of the built items in place. This is a rough layout with the blue box and sanding pad at top left standing in for a staircase I've yet to make. I also haven't put on many figures - just what was to hand. And appropriately for Halloween here's one of my ghosts I've part painted. This has been primed grey than lightly oversprayed white before a watered down blue wash was applied. It needs highlights adding before I can call it finished. All the best Ben 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpopandchips Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 Cool, Are you adding gravestones as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted November 1, 2018 Author Share Posted November 1, 2018 15 minutes ago, rockpopandchips said: Cool, Are you adding gravestones as well? I most certainly am - lots of them to be exact. I have some plastic and metal ones but will be making a few of my own to increase the numbers All the best Ben 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted November 1, 2018 Author Share Posted November 1, 2018 First figure finished All the best Ben 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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