Topic: Middenheim Army (Update: Swords of Ulric)

[Midaski]

Usually with foam/polystyrene you need to put a coat of emulsion/water based paint over it first and then you can do most things.

I've always used ordinary powder mix with water type filler from the DIY store - the sort you use to fill holes before painting a wall for example.

I know GW undercoat spray melts polystyrene for example.

[Warhammer-Weib]

Oh nooo, I'm so sorry that happened, especially at this advanced state of work you had already invested in building your diorama, MG! 

You are not alone though (even though that's only a small comfort). I completely destroyed the base I had built for Warlord's witch hunter when I used spray for priming it.

Before:



Afterwards:



I somehow like the idea of integrating a tunnel into the story. But maybe it's just me because I am a dwarf player and especially fond of miners. 

Another idea that occured to me: How about fixing the edge of it and fitting in a pond with some ducks or fish?

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Just got back from a work trip. Spent a lot of time thinking abot it and still on the fence. Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement. Up to now I had taken the Styrofoam, melted the road and pond with a heat gun, then used a wall filler plaster mix to build the hills. Once this had dried used a woodland scenics latex like paint to cover and protect the work, then spray painted the base brown with a spray from the hobby shop which I specifically bought so that it would not interact with the styrofoam, tested this on an off cut and no problem there.. From there on could use standard hobby stuff on the protective layer.

I think there was still some plastic glue in the needle when I pumped in the PVA glue. Plastic glue melts the plastic and then lets it solidify, sort of like welding and I guess this caused the chain reaction  . From there on cutting was the only option I think.

Got a few days off now to fix the error and hopefully work on completing it again, hope no more major hiccups happen.

General, can you post a tutorial on how you made those bulky knights?! I think they're ace!

I'll look into what I can do, I do not really have any work in progress photos, but I can walk through the stages to help explain the conversion. I might start taking more WIP pics to help explain the ideas and build, yet I am by far still an amateur.

Anyway keep you updated and will work on a conversion story of the knights.

Grtz

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Although it has been 2 weeks I have only been able to actually work on the diorama for about 2-3 days due to work. But there have been advances, the thing that took the longest was slowly "filling" the pond one layer at a time.

I ended up building a mine to fill my unexpected hole:





The pond still needs work on it, I need to put waves/ripples in it. The deer skull above the door needs some hilights as well as a few touch ups here and there. But in general the scenery is more or less complete. The floc came from Woodland Scenics. They have a few intro sets for a very good price and is more than enough for scenery. I used maybe 10% doing this diorama. I bought the Landscaping Learning Kit LK954 and Scenery Details Learning Kit LK956. Out of the two I would say the Landscaping one is the most usefull, with the scenic cement spray and basic grass and bushes. (sorry for the plug, delete if needed but I was very pleased with the result)

The water is not as blue in real life, actually dried very see through but its still drying and should hopefully finish completely clear.

The Dwarves are in there base colours and washes, need to get the layers done. 3 more days and then it needs to be done. Comments more than welcome as usual.

Greetz

[Warhammer-Weib]

The mine fits in very well. As if you had planned it from the very beginning. 

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Well it has been far too long since last update, I have had to remove the dust from my workstation several times in an attempt to get going again but I have failed Middenheim in contributing to its troops. On a more positive note I managed to finish the Diorama in just in time for Xmas, on a negative note I could not manage decent pics before handing it over.

This is the best I could manage so far:



The recipients were very surprised by there "Pleasant Surprise". They had a great time going through all the details I tried to put in. The freehand banner came out better than I expected.

I did catch a bit of a scenery building bug doing this Diorama. As such I had an idea for the GW Arcane Ruins set.

Here are the results, first of all a WIP shot I took:



The plaster stones I cast myself using Woodland Scenics molds. The tall pillar in the back is made of balsa wood and then had plaster rock face glued to it to try and make it look like a rough stone pillar. I also took a Dremel with a small but and added a lot of extra erosion on the GW pillars as two of the sides have no detail on them. Soft random touches quickly gave me the effect I was looking for.

And this is the final result as it stands:







I wanted the rock to look like it was weeping red water/blood, I did this by laying down a layer of water effects, then painting on a layer of GW Blood for the Bloodgod, then water effects, then layer of the GW, etc etc. This to try and get a depth effect with the two translucent layers. I think it worked out quite well.

Now that this is done I must get a move on with some new troops....

Comments always welcome, Grtz

[StealthKnightSteg]

Well if you aren't satisfied with it then I might have a spot for it. PM me for details then   

[MiddenheimGeneral]

I got a bit of a scenery bug going ofter finishing the Arcan Ruins. I have decided to try the Sigmars Blood campaign with a mate of mine who does not as yet play WH. This means besides finishing the Middenheim army I need to build and paint up the VC, nothing like increasing the workload in an ettempt to keep motivate....

As such I decided to play around building some scenery to get in the mood as you will. So here are some WIP pictures of what I am upto. The story behind this is to build a larger chapel as it were, with the mandatory graveyard around it. I bit bashed the Garden of Mor set to come up witht he following :

The rough idea, not even properly glued, sort of dry fit to see if it would work



With the base as a WIP


I've made a few changes since making the pics but it gives a good general idea of what I am working on. The main issue I am fighting with is the colouring. I cannot decide between a simple dark grey or a sort of sandstone for the building. The roof is going to be a rusty bronze with plenty of verdigree but the walls are undecided as yet. Advice needed.

Grtz

[StealthKnightSteg]

Oh!! That is starting out nice! 

[GamesPoet]

Some cool thigns happening in this thread!

[Shadespyre]

Interesting re-use of the Garden of Morr set, I like what you're thinking.

It would be a nice change to see this model in something other than dark grey! Adopting a warm brown sandstone as your local stone colour would make the army stand out a bit from the crowds.

[The Ol Perfesser]

Looks good so far!  Looking forward to seeing it completed.   

[Zak]

nice 

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Greetings All,

Thanks for comments and ideas. A quick update, the Chapel is done  , a while ago just have not got around to taking and uploading pics.

First two pics are WIP, basing not complete, last one is a bad pic of it done, will try to get a better one uploaded soon(ish) 

WIP;



And then with grass;



I went with the sand color and it worked out good. The copper oxidation was trickier than I thought, I used the GW oxide paint and it needs more working than I expected to get decent results. Its not a slap on effect, but needs layering and removing and higlighting to get the effect I was after, covering large flat surfaces probably made it more difficult than I thought.

Anyway comments as usual more than welcome. On a side note I am just finishing off a large block of troops and hope to get them online quicker than it took for this update.

Greetz

[Zak]

I like it 

[patsy02]

Dang, looking good.

[StealthKnightSteg]

awesome! 

[Warhammer-Weib]

Absolutely awesome piece of terrain! The oxidation effect looks great! 

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys.

As promised a quick update on progress. I finished a block of 40 Swordsmen, also known in Middenheim as the Swords of Ulric. Not having a good day taking pics but here they go:





And here is a bad close up of the unit fillers and the champion and banner:



Let me know what you think and I'll try and make some better pics. I'm on a roll on the painting station and hoping to finish the cavalry asap.

Grtz

[Warhammer-Weib]

Wow, colourful! The bases are great, and I love the unit fillers! Each one of them separately, and together they give the unit a unique look. 

[steveb]

hounds of Orion?  looks good. steveb

[MiddenheimGeneral]

Wow, colourful! The bases are great, and I love the unit fillers! Each one of them separately, and together they give the unit a unique look. 

Thanks Weib, tried to get as much in theme as possible, swapped the statetrooper's gun for a sword, the hunting hounds match the fluff for the troopers using large hunting dogs when entering the Drakwald Forest.

hounds of Orion?  looks good. steveb

Indeed they are, bought initially for his staff and bits for a Life Wizard conversion, ended up using only the top of the staff for my Metal Wiz conversion. Always had the dogs in mind for a unitfiller. This seemed as good as any.