Exodite Diorama Planning

[Night System]

Hey All :)

At my local gamesworkshop we are having a diorama competition, and with modelling/converting being the favourite part of my GW hobby, i am diving in straight away :)

My current army is Eldar exodites, and so rather than be wasteful i would like to use minatures that can both be displayed nicely and be used as gaming pieces, i was looking to add an avatar to my army (read Exodite Lord on Carnosaur) and therefore would be the perfect centrepiece.

Now your all going to have to bare with me as i have no pictures saved on my laptop of said exodites, they are currently at the store so i cannot take pictures of them at the moment, and the carnosaur itself hasnt been purchased yet, let alone built, so its all going to be diagrams for now.

Current brainstormed ideas
Carnosaur Verses undecided enemy
Will be mounted on an area around the same size as A4 sheet of paper
diagram will either be modelled so bases can be inserted into it, or magnetized so that models can be attached to it then removed for gaming action (former is easier, latter looks cooler + is more expensive)
models will be posed as if they are just about to clash
diagram will be set in the jungle, so lots of jungle foliage etc

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/diagram.jpg

Here is a basic diagram of what i have in mind, in the first, the orks will be running away from the carnosaur, around the dino will be a smattering of dead orks (one will be trodden on, another will be in the carnosaurs mouth)

In the second, the carnosaur will be sqauring of agaisnt the masters of the chapter box set, these being really nice minatures and so will make for a nice piece, rather than paint all captains, i will put 3 down, and then use some of the injured space marine models, (give him a fighting chance!)

In third, the carnosaur will be in a duel with a space marine chapter master, my intention was to use the current Lysander model, and convert him to have a thunder hammer in each hand, duel wielding is always cool.

Around each diorama would be enough vegetation to shake a stick at of course.
However i do have some questions if i choose to do space marines, what chapter?
Any other ideas for match ups?
Should the exodite lord be by itself or have some dragon knight cavalry with it? my problem with this is that it might clutter up the diorama.
General Comments?
Good colours for the carnosaur?

That is all for now, planning, does have a habit of being the most boring part of a project, yet also the most important. For those in need of eye candy, here is a rubbish picture of my current exodites and so can give a impression as to how the final project may look.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00195.jpg

[Cryl]

I'd keep it nice and simple, one mounted lord versus a single marine figure would look really nice. It'll also let you concentrate on the details more

[archimbald]

id say paint the sm lord as slamanders, just for the irony really, keep us posted
:)

[Morgrim]

id say paint the sm lord as slamanders, just for the irony really, keep us posted
:)

That's hilarious. I concur!

[Night System]

Thanks for the replys =]

After a lot of thought, i have decided to strike the ork sqaud off the list, it would have been far to big and i would have struggled to fit them onto the diorama without making it cramped.

Agreeing with cryl, sweet and simple is the way to go.

i still have yet to decide what enemy i want.

Space Marine Captain in terminator armour?
Space Marine Captain in standard armour
Masters of the chapter sqaud? (only 3 or 4 captains)
small deathwatch sqaud?
small immortals sqaud with a necron lord?
Thousand sons?
Catachan's?

All i can say is that i dont intend to make space marines salamanders, i know, the irony, but the green colour would fade into the green jungle background and i want the combatants to stand out as much as possible.

Doom Legion, Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists, Blood Ravens are much more likely.

While all this is going on i have gotten started and here is the main reason i am posting.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00197.jpg

A cheap picture frame from wilkos, the wooden finish will act as a nice border, the plan is to build and model upon the middle point

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00198.jpg

Modelling clay, this i brought to model the ground in the middle of the frame.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00200.jpg

First i removed the glass and wooden backboard from the frame, the glass was discarded and the wood was put back into the frame, using a pencil i traced the outline of the wooden frame.
I then got my hands mucky =D and molded the clay onto the board taking care to keep within the lines, otherwise it wouldnt fit back into the frame, i left a whole for the Exodite Lords base.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00202-1.jpg

This is currently drying out in the oven.
So for now my attention is drawing to getting the carnosaur built and painted ready to put the lord on top.

[Cryl]

I'd have either a Deathwatch marine or a necron lord, I like the totally different look you'd have between the exodites and the necrons and the deathwatch will also be different but very fluffy too!

[Night System]

UPDATE :)

Carnosaur has been put together.
After a good two hours in the oven, the clay has dried rock solid i couldnt help myself and so first thing i did was put it all together for a dry run, i must say, it is going to look cool.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00203.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00204-1.jpg

I have also decided to pit the beast agaisnt a necron lord. It will create a nice contrast on many levels, the colours (natural verses metallic) both combatants will stand out fom a visual point of view and it is very fluffy.

I may try and true scale up the necron lord for extra wow factor, but thats all in the pipeline for now.

[person person]

Robots vs Dinosaurs.

Awesome start on the diorama.

[Cryl]

Robots vs Dinosaurs.

Awesome start on the diorama.

Hell yeah! Robots vs. Dinosaurs will be awesome, there should be more of that in 40k.

[[email protected]]

if there was only space slann... :(

[Cryl]

if there was only space slann... :(

they went out with the Jokaero unfortunately...

[Night System]

Dinosaurs versus Robots.

That sounds so cool it might make diorama title =]

But now for an update. I have done all the work i can on it until i purchase more pieces, namely an autarch to place on top of the carnosaur, a necron lord, and maybe a few plastic necrons. I also need to purchase a tree or two as the base will look bland otherwise.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00210.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00211.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00212.jpg

The paint blemishs on the carnosaurs shoulder and tail have been fixed, the camera has much better eyesight than i do!
I figured that i would paint the beast first before adding the lord as it will give me a better idea on how it will all look when complete.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00213.jpg

Here it is mounted on the base, it looks ok i think, it has *rolling grassland* look to it at the moment, once the necrons have been added, and a few trees, it will have the thriving forest feel i am after.

Thats all for now, i will be at warhammer world this weekend so will be able to purchase a nice Exodite Lord.
Until then, Comments and Criticisms?

[person person]

I think the colour scheme looks great. Never seen such dark colours on a Carnosaur. The yellow looks ace with the black and grey.

[Night System]

UPDATE.

Finally got the parts this weekend for my actual Exodite Lord and so have spent the evening putting him together and painting him.

The conversion was using yriel, hollowing out his cloak between his legs and mounting him on the carnosaur. A lot of elbow grease went into this.
The cloak was very fiddly to remove
The spines needed to be cut out as the lord wasnt sitting happily
A *cushion* needed to be fashioned for him to sit on
I tried to give him a chainsword in his other hands, but it was very fragile and eventually broke off mid painting, and therefore he had to keep his original force sheild.

But, through all the challenges, i think he came out ok :)
The camera has betrayed me again, and iv noticed errors in the paint job (and that his spear was bent!) These have since been rectified.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00215.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00214.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00216.jpg

Comments?
One thing to be noted is that this is half way point through the diorama, things which still needed to be added are jungle plants and necron's.

But for now, here it is. =]

[person person]

Might want a bit more detail in the face and spear.

Other than that, looks ace, keep it up!

[OnFyre]

He would have looked so cool with a chainsword, shame it didn't work.

Perhaps the Necron should be a destroyer lord, so they can be on the same level? The Autarch would have a massive height advantage otherwise.

[Night System]

Finished =]

So, things i have done since my last post?
Added Lichen to the Diorama base,
Add jungly bits which were purchased from ebay, i think they originally come from an aquarium plant set but i cannot be to sure.
Brought necrons, and cut them apart.
Greenstuffed *gauss-stuff* across the floor in replica of the dawn of war ressurection orb ability.
Painted everything
Glued it down.

So yeah, Comments and Criticisms?
I hope to enter it into the local diorama competition next month and so i hope it comes out with a decent score.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00228.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00229.jpg

[Night System]

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00230.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00231.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/yamacon/DSC00232.jpg

[Lindargo]

Wow :eek: thats outstanding!
By the way, how did you do te DA's on Dark Elf Cold Ones? They look awesome!

-Lindargo

[Night System]

Cold one, with the knight legs on a round base, use a knife to cut the bottom of the DA torso to make it flat, then glue it to the knight legs and voila, easy Dragon Avenger :)

[david5th]

Holy 40K cr:eek:p thats incredible. Well done.:)

[Atrotos]

Really nice work!

My suggestion would be to add a drybrush of white to the blue energy lines to make it look a little more like electricity and little less like a liquid. Another detail you could add is some blue necron crystals to frame the lord and give him more of a base to stand on.

[Lindargo]

Cold one, with the knight legs on a round base, use a knife to cut the bottom of the DA torso to make it flat, then glue it to the knight legs and voila, easy Dragon Avenger :)

Ah, so for £1.50 extra your jet-bikes look outstanding! (for 5)
Thanks,

-Lindargo

[person person]

Atrotos is right, still looks stunning.

[Morgrim]

I truly love the way you have the necrons reforming, I have never seen anything like that before. And you pulled it off so well.

[Cryl]

That's really nice, hopefully I'll get to see it in the flesh next time we get a game in :)

[jimbobjeff]

Now that, is cool, love the resurrecting necrons. Some OSL on the energy possibly wouldnt go amiss as was suggetsed earlier but its by no means nescessary. Are you going to make another one for Cryl where the res orb doesnt work? ;)