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



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.

[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.



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



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



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.



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.




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.

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