Citadel Undead Diorama Remake - Phase Five

 

 So after four months break from the diorama and a dragon ogre palette cleanser, I've resumed the main project and have managed to wrap up the phase with the largest footprint. 

 It's important to incorporate height into a diorama and here we have the shrine that overlooks the graveyard. The shrine piece is the same as I used on the initial diorama project, which is from Scotia Grendel. 

 Three packs of milliput went into the hill and like the rest of the base, a thin layer of green stuff which is then textured. 

At the base of the hill is the wizard of the adventuring party. I used the high level Magic User model from the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons range. The pair of elves are troopers from the Regiments of Renown Skarloc's Elf Archers box set. Finally, I've used the classic Death Elemental figure, accompanied by a chaos familiar, lurking at the back, unnoticed so far.

 With all that milliput, it's beginning to get a little bit weighty but I'm on the home straight now and it's mainly just zombies to go, albeit a fair few of them!

Citadel DS2 Dragon Ogre

 Well I've struggled to get anything painted for about four months now. Had a fair bit of life getting in the way and all that plus I felt I needed a break from the diorama. I'd tried a few ideas with various small projects and nothing seemed to stick. In the end, I went back to a model I'd made a start on about two years ago. Nick Bibby's iconic dragon ogre.

 I remember purchasing this from Southampton Games Workshop in about 1989 or 1990. Being only about 14, I was a bit out of my depth trying to build it, plus it has some difficult joins to get over, especially where I wouldn't have had the tools to pin it. I believe it was the first time I used epoxy resin as well, which I recall being a rather messy affair. I remember stripping and redoing it around the mid 90's then would have stripped it again at some point, only for it to remain stored away in the Chaos box for years.

 Fast forward to now and I decided to opt, as with the original GW staff paint job, red armour which would contrast well with a pale, sickly flesh tone. The flesh was quite a lengthy process of layering up plus the blending to the darker toned legs took a bit of messing around with.

 I've also repositioned the left arm and drilled out the fist as I intend to equip him with a chaos banner and I have just the thing; and pretty unique as well, thanks to the insane skills of Roberth Breséus. 

 That'll have to wait for now as the much needed break has motivated me into returning to the diorama.

 

 

 

Citadel Undead Diorama Remake - Phase Four

 

 This phase took an absolute age to complete, mainly due to a massive work schedule. Anyway, it's done now. This phase features the diorama's prime antagonist, The Liche King.

 A classic undead cavalry model, he is the ideal general for any undead army. The only downside with him is he doesn't seem to fit any steed properly, which huge gaps either side so I had to sculpt a cloak extension to deal with this issue.

 As before, he is accompanied by a small retinue made up of one of each of the Nightmare Legion troopers and a skeleton horseman (from the Lord of the Rings Dead Men of Dunharrow set).

 As a feature on the base, I added a small puddle made from Vallejo Still Water liquid resin. This took about six days to create, as I needed three layers of the stuff as it takes a couple of days for each layer to set, plus it tends to shrink back a fair bit each time. 

 The next phase will be a fairly significant background section which will involve giving the diorama some much needed height that features the shrine atop a small hill and the remaining adventurers.

Citadel Undead Diorama Remake - Phase Three

 

 So I now have the latest phase completed and on schedule. This is the most gruesome part of the diorama where we see that a tomb has been desecrated, in the search of a treasured and possible all important artifact.

 A poor unfortunate from one of the nearby villages, acting as a guide for the adventuring party, had probably fancied his chances of getting in on the glory until his untimely, gruesome demise.

 The corpse is that of a Citadel Dogs of War Fighter casualty, whose head I removed. The half-buried sarcophagus is, like the gravestones for this piece, part of the Arcane Architecture range - the lid from a two part set.

 With virtually all of the foreground complete, the next phase will be the diorama's prime antagonist, which I hope to have ready by the end of the week. 

 Meanwhile, here is a shot of all three phases completed so far.

Citadel Undead Diorama Remake - Phase Two

 

 So I've managed to wrap up Phase Two of the diorama, which is pretty much the entire front area now. This part features more reanimated skeletons plus another one of the adventuring party, a dwarf slayer.

 As before, the slayer model is Kimril Giantslayer from the classic Dwarf Lords of Legend box set, who cuts an ideal pose for what I'm after. 

 As I've gone for a smaller base, as well as a different shape this time, there was less area to play around with on a circular base so it was a bit of a task to fit everything in. I had to juggle a bit and swap the skeletons around, also making sure nothing was too bunched up or blocked from view. 

 Trying to accommodate models in a slightly reduced area is going to be an ongoing challenge with future phases in this project but I think this one was probably the most awkward. 

Phases One and Two Combined

 I've already made a start on Phase Three which has some slight alterations from before with a small extra feature or two. I'm hoping to have this ready to show in a couple of weeks.

 

Citadel Undead Diorama Remake - Phase One

 

 Way back in 2016, I spent several months working on what was my largest project to date, a diorama featuring predominantly undead models encountering a small adventuring party. At the time, I was extremely pleased with the result, especially as I'd originally hatched the idea way back in 2001 and had finally taken it from a sketch on a piece of paper to a finished article.

The diorama in its original incarnation 

 In recent times, however, it had been niggling me, it sat in one of my cabinets surround by other models with superior paint jobs. I thought "If it was a smaller, less significant piece, I would have boxed it up by now and given the cabinet space to something more deserving." This played on my mind more and more until late last year I made a brave and potentially foolhardy decision to dismantle it and remake it. 

 I have to admit there was a sense of regret for like a split second as I took a hammer and chisel to each model to painstakingly remove them from the base, thankfully with minimal damage. I decided to repaint the corpse and gallows first, just because it was the easiest part to remove really.

 I felt the first proper phase to take on should be the front central area where the heroic fighter Gladius is prepared to do battle with an armoured zombie warrior, stood over a wounded knight. I had painted Gladius a while back for an adventuring party so decided to give this one an identical colour scheme. Makes sense really. 

 The knight, who is from the old Citadel Rock Dragon set, was painted in a different scheme to before plus the zombie has had a more weathered and rusted look. 

 The base from the original diorama was something that had bothered me greatly in recent times and that played a key role in me deciding to completely redo it. 

  With Phase One complete, the next part will be another foreground area, featuring the Dwarf slayer and several skeletons rising from their graves, which I'm aiming to have finished off sometime next week. 

Dixon Miniatures American Civil War - 4th Virginia Cavalry

 

 I've not posted much of late but I'm still riding the Dixon Miniatures wave and have recently finished off a substantial amount of Confederates, including making a start on the 4th Virginia Cavalry. Horses are something I struggle to enjoy painting and I know I'm not alone on that one! Highly rewarding when completed but I run the risk of treading water a bit during the process. I have to say, once I got into a rhythm with them, I almost found myself having fun with them! 

 Mostly fighting with the Army of Northern Virginia, the 4th Virginia Cavalry were involved on the majority of the well known battles and campaigns. Completing its organisation in Prince William County, Virginia in September 1861, the 4th were made up of ten companies, all of which were previously independent militia.

 The unit were assigned to J.E.B. Stewart's, F. Lee's, Wickham's and Munford's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. It participated in the Battle of Williamsburg, the Seven Days Battles and the Second Bull Run and Maryland campaigns. 

 Later, the unit was involved in the conflicts at Fredericksburg, Kelly's Ford, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Upperville, Gettysburg, Bristoe, Mine Run, The Wilderness, Todd's Tavern, Spotsylvania, Wilson's Wharf, Haw's Shop, and Bethesda Church. The 4th went on to fight in the Shenandoah Valley with Jubal Early and around Appomattox.

 The flag resides in the American Civil War Museum, formerly the Museum of the Confederacy, in Richmond, VA. 

 I've also completed a Confederate artillery limber and caisson from Water's Alabama battery plus another cannon base.

 I'm currently torn between carrying on with more Dixon ACW miniatures or putting them aside for now and opting for pastures new.

 I'm still feeling a hunger for the Dixon fellas, it just depends which of them exactly I take on next. I've got a few ideas for projects in the coming weeks, I'm just not sure if I'm ready to kick off any of them right now.