I decided to start a new thread for my next diorama. I have done very little on this so far so any comments about the plan are most welcome.
Anyway, my plan is to build a battle scene very very loosely based on the ambush of the War Mumaks by the Rangers of Gondor from the Two Towers.
However, instead of just War Mumaks and Harad, I wanted to have an extended column of associated baddies. These would represent high officials and their entourages from various ‘forgotten kingdoms’ all heading off to Mordor for a cup of tea and a biscuit (I hear Sauron does wonderful blueberry muffins).
Also, I want to extend the goodies to include other ranger type characters (eg Dunedain, dwarf rangers etc).

Anyway, here is my current list of goddies and baddies.
Good guys
Arathorn
Halbarad
Grey company
Rangers of middle earth
Dunedain of the north
Faramir
Damrod
Faramir's rangers
Cirion
Madril
Blackroot vale arches command
Duinhir
Dwarf rangers
Aragorn

Bad guys
Watchers of Karna
Haradrim command
Serpent guard
(Harad) Abrakhan guard
Khandish chieftan
Haradrim horseman chieftain
Harad Commanders
Khandish King in chariot
Haradrim raiders
Suladan
Suladan the serpent lord
Mumak muhud
Mahud warriors with blowpipes
Mahud warriors
Half trolls
Mahud raider
War mumak of Harad
Khandish charioteer
Khandish horseman
Khandish warriors
Mahud raider
Golden King of Harad
Mahud king

At this stage, the scene will include the column of baddies entering a mountain pass with steep cliffs on one side and dense woodland on the other. I thought about having steep cliffs on both sides, but had to think about how the diorama will be viewed. Having the woodland in the front will allow viewing of the cliffs at the back. I might have the road curve into a narrow mountain pass which can be viewed completely from the front of the scene.
Among the cliffs and woodland are the various good guys waiting to lay siege to the dim-witted servants of Mordor.
I’d like to have a waterfall off the cliffs into a river which meanders out of the wood and into a plain where the baddies are coming from.
I am thinking of using wired paper or netting over a frame to create the mountains/cliffs and spreading over this some granite compound to get the rocky cliff effect. Trees, grass, lichen etc would be added on top of this.

If anyone has used wired paper or netting before to create mountains/hills I would be interested in your thoughts.

Haven’t done much painting on this, but I have started with the rangers. I think I will use two different colour schemes for the rangers (12 of each).
Here is the first colour scheme on one of the test models. Pretty standard colours, but they need to blend into the scenery so browns, greens etc are the go. For the 2nd colour scheme I think I will use more greys.
I am also debating whether Easterlings will be in the bad guy group. I have also done some painting on these and some images are below.
As always, comments on anything are welcome!

First ranger colour scheme




The band of merry men in various stages of completion


Some Easterlings that might be included on the column of baddies

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

Great idea For the good side, Arathorn and Aragorn don't really fit well because Aragorn never met his dad because he was killed at the hands of Buhrdur when Aragorn was a child. So I think it would be best to remove them. I'm not too sure about the dwarves either but I'll see how it goes for now.

Painting on the ranger is great so well done, the scheme is really nice. The easterlings armour look a tad bright but are they WIP?

Keep up the great work.

Cyndra the Grey

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{aD}??? wrote:

Procrastination. A favourite pastime of mine
Exaggeration. Also another pastime.

My General WIP

Thanks Cyndra. I might keep Aragorn in and just remove Arathorn, but I am not too concerned. I like to imagine what might have been if...

Yeah, everything is WIP. The camera makes things look a bit brighter than they are in reality (I think the black background contributes to this). I put a wash on the gold (sepia tone) and its darker in real life, but maybe I could add another wash. The rangers skirt looks yellow in the photo, but in reality its olive.

I'll keep plugging away. Have lots to paint....

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

I first used the wire shell method to build a model rail road tunnel 45 years ago. It was very sturdy but heavy and required a lot of tools for a ten year old( I was ten in 1965).I used chicken wire over a wooden frame.I did not have any money for it so I scavenged parts from a rabbit hutch and wooden coke flats. I was able to stand on it when I was done. You can use wood and wire but I use newspaper, tape and plaster cloth to make shells now. Pink foam is more portable.
Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kQ2UAkm ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IJ9rnub ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PM0Xaay ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eVO6BDF ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd33aBu3 ... re=related

Recent shell


I used a combination of white foam and expanding foam for this project. I use pine park or cast rock for details.The expanding foam is faster but inferior to news paper and tape.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

That looks interesting

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A new power is rising

Thanks for the tips OW I've seen others using the expanding foam so was wondering on its merits/pitfalls. Weight is not a big issue for me - as long as 2 people can lift it. I might try foam for the inner core and shape to what I want, then cover this with plaster cloth to give it some sturdiness - then cover that with the granite compound to get the stone effect.

It'll be fun to see what disasters I can concoct!

cheers

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

Well finally made some progress on this. Finished the first lot of rangers (2nd lot will have a different colour scheme). The Aragorn I did for the painting challenge will also go into the diorama somewhere.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

Wow that's a really great force altogether Aragorn is amazing as well,

Cyndra the Grey

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{aD}??? wrote:

Procrastination. A favourite pastime of mine
Exaggeration. Also another pastime.

My General WIP

Outstanding!!

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No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

Very nice...

Thanks guys I'm going to do some Khandish warriors next. I have basecoated them. Bit sick of rangers for the moment!

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

Although I'm sure it'll make a great diorama, Khand and Harad together in 1 collum is very unlikely (Khand=North of Mordor; Harad= South).
Also, you might want to include only 2 different colour shemes on each side, otherwise It gets quite messy (I'm thinking about Blackroot/Ithilien/Dwarfs).
But hey, as I said, it's certainly going to look great!

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We must forgive our enemies...
But not before they are hanged

For basic Khand is south of Mordor near the end of the south black moutnains of it

Oh, my mistake: ment Rhun, sorry. 40k destroyed some parts of my well-earned lotr knowledge

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We must forgive our enemies...
But not before they are hanged

At least you don't call the orcs orks...

Yes... And at least I don't paint them snot green and write waaaaagh on my captains

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We must forgive our enemies...
But not before they are hanged

Hmmm - I didn't think about who might actually join together in a single column - thanks for the ideas guys! I think I will leave the easterlings out and save them for something else. If there is anything else in my list of baddies or goddies you think shouldn't be there let me know.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

Finally made some progress after a long absence from painting. Here are some Khandish warriors. Not sure what design to put on the flags. I am terrible at freehand so I have ordered some decals to see what they look like.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."

Nice color scheme!

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No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

Thanks David! I liked how the green turned out. Something different. It's brighter in the photos than in real life. They were nice models to paint. Have to do the horsemen next!

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."