My first Diorama - GK Competition 2020 Entry

It's been quiet here … too quiet. There's a good reason for it though; as at least for some of the time I was hard at work on a top secret entry for this year's GK Competition (run by E2046).

The competition entries are up, but voting won't start for another week or so. After that there's an official judging period, so results won't come out till September. Anyway, my entry this year was a bit spontaneous in the end. I bought a couple of 54mm miniatures from RN Estudio with the thought that maybe I'd make a tiny diorama - like both on something not much bigger than a small base. It just so happened that at the time, I started playing a little Valkyria Chronicles and it kind of inspired the colour scheme which went on to influence the rest of the piece and in the end I kept adding more bits influenced by the game - like the recruitment posters.

The other main parts of the kit are the building and bike. The bike is a plastic model Harley kit made by Italeri which came in a lot of parts for something so small. The building is a kit by MiniArt. It was like nothing on earth to build though - the building was vacuum formed and came in big sheets that you had to cut the walls out of. I'm really happy with it now that it's done, but it took a lot of work to get it looking good. The scale would probably be good for Inquisitor though if anyone was interested. 

Painting wise, I used my usual mix of airbrush and brush. I intentionally chose to try more non-metallic techniques as a way to match the sort of animation style that I was looking to create.

You can check out all the entries here (there are figure and robot categories too accessible at the top) 

For just my gallery with more photos: Click Here  

Oldhammer Project - Test Skink

It's back to the 90s today with the first bit of test painting from my diorama (As discussed a few months ago Here). I scrubbed off the old paint and to be honest I was surprised how good the model looked under all of that gumph.

For a project this nostalgic, not just any colours would do. He had to be really really bright and eye catching (so basically as saturated as possible). I also wanted to sort of update and recreate their original scheme which was basically goblin green skin and red frills. With that basic idea in mind, I busted out the airbrush and went to town.

Really old - and really bright!

I started off with a coat of Vallejo Emerald, which is a nice saturated colour that went on well over the black undercoat. After that came a highlight with Vallejo Foul Green, which I added white to and highlighted again. I did a pre-shade with white before blending the white in with Vallejo Fluorescent Yellow. The result was an almost migraine inducing green hue that can be seen several feet away even though the model is about 1cm tall! Pretty much exactly what I was aiming for. As I'm planning to put him in a diorama, the base is just temporary, and will be removed at some later date.

As this is an oldhammer project, I want to keep this bright with the other models. I'm going to use this scheme for the basic skinks, although I'm also planning some different skink schemes as well; particularly for the ones with different frills. It also feels a bit counter-culture; painting old models in really bright colours (when fashion is for Blanchitsu and grimdark) so I want to play with that and really push it to the max, so when the diorama is finished it'll be like a riot of fun and colour. Well, that's the plan anyway...

The Captain's Log Returns - Oldhammer Lizardmen Project Begins

When I first started this blog, I often had odd editorial's filed under the "Captain's Log" tag. As time has gone by, I've dropped a lot of the odd little articles that I used to do, some more due to a lack of time than anything else. Some I'll bring back with time (my terrible fiction will never die!), but it seemed a fitting title to use for this little snippet.

There have been a few years that I've considered entering one of GW's Golden Demon competitions, but I never really had a project in mind. I'm a good painter for sure, but I'm not really up to the standard of those people who spend their whole hobby in search of painting perfection and spend hundreds of hours on every model. The truth is that I don't have the stomach for it, and I've got  enough other things to be getting on with that I don't have that kind of time. With that in mind, my chances of winning anything are pretty low.

That said, it's one of those things that I'd enjoy doing, and would be a great place to test some techniques and work on some skills. I've often thought that it would make more sense to enter something that was more of a personal project - something I'd create to own and enjoy.

So, a few days ago, I got to thinking about my first army - 1990s Lizardmen. I've wanted to revisit them for a whole long time, and to have a go at stripping and re-painting some of the most characterful miniatures of the day. I know that most people probably have no recollection of what the sculpts even looked like back then, but a lot of the metal models were actually really nicely formed and had a lot of character. They'd also make a great palette for experimenting with bright tropical colours and jungle flora, which is something I've never done.

I also absolutely loved the diorama that was made for the Armies Book in 1997. As a kid, I spent what probably amounted to weeks of my life staring at pictures of that thing. It was just amazing at that time, and I recently had the chance to see it in person at Warhammer World too. I started thinking about the 40k Shadowsword that I painted, which was sort of a childhood dream since Epic came out, and I thought - why not really live the dream?

As most people don't remember the models of the time, here's a picture of that famous Diorama featuring them. 

Taking the basic idea, I thought that I'd have a go at making a prehistoric (get it, because they're so old) Lizardman diorama. Something like a jungle scene - a rocky temple backdrop for 2 sides of a base with a sort of central pond. Maybe a waterfall. My old Slann could be relaxing in a temple thing with a view of some type of fish hunting going on below. The idea would be relaxation, they've earned their retirement by now and deserve to enjoy it! I've got pretty much every model from the generation, so a Terradon sailing by somewhere in there, and a submerged Salamander would be easy enough. I'll probably add a bit of a sub plot in with some baddies sneaking up, but I'm still working on that part.

So, earlier today, I clambered through the darkest cupboard of doom. After being assailed on all sides by forgotten childhood memories, Goosebumps books and an old Nirvana cassette tape that nearly bludgeoned me to death; I finally reached my prize. A big box of ancient Lizardmen!

Upon opening the box, perhaps because of the bludgeoning, I became almost convinced that I was in an episode of American Pickers. Yep, I was junk drunk and surrounded by rusty gold. It had the patina, and the price was irresistible!

Oldhammer for the Oldhammer God! I won't be able to use everything, but I wanted plenty of options!

Anyway, I grabbed a bunch of the good stuff and prepped it for stripping. What happens next, who knows, who cares, but at the very least, I expect to enjoy painting a few very deserving models. With any luck plans will work out and I'll get a cool piece I can keep and display with all my favourite childhood models in it - and that'll be pretty priceless. I might even put in a few in-jokes (that Slann needs his Forbidden Rod and Amber Amulet combo for sure!). If it goes well, I'll enter it in Golden Demon just to put a smile on some faces that remember the good old days.

Original metal skinks! Collect the whole set. I know I did!

In some ways, these are the models that I owe a lifetime of fun to. They had hundreds of battles back in the day; probably thousands. I think it's time they retired with the full battle honours they deserve!