DARK ANGELS DIORAMA
BY MIKE MCVEY
Following the destruction of their home world, Caliban, the Dark Angels made the Rock their new home, drilling out a huge network of halls in the bedrock beneath the remains of their ruined fortress monastery. In time, huge engines were added allowing the Rock to travel through the warp as the chapter continued on its secret mission across the galaxy.
This diorama from Mike McVey depicts Azrael in one of these chambers, a small side chapel deep in the heart of the Rock.
Mike: I'm going to have a look at a project that I worked on for Codex: Angels of Death (an ancient Codex from before time, actually 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 – ed), a diorama showing the Dark Angels Commander Azrael.
I thought I'd take this opportunity to describe the process from start to finish of constructing a diorama. The Dark Angels diorama is a little different from most others in that it is quite large but only really contains one miniature (I count the helmet bearer as part of Commander Azrael). In most cases, if I was only using one figure I would just construct an oversize scenic base (as with the Eversor Assassin shown in White Dwarf 191).
MODELLING TIPAfter talking about the importance of making a mock-up of a diorama before cracking into the real thing, it's only fair to show you the one I made for my Dark Angels diorama. This was built out of foam board and mounting card, but you could use anything that you've got lying around that is easy to work with. It needs to be fairly square and accurate so that you can use it to take measurements for the final model. The mock-up shown here was translated almost exactly to the final piece, with a few minor changes to the door and the addition of the pulpit.
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FIRST STEPS
Once I've got the initial idea I try and solidify that into a definite concept by making some rough sketches. These don't need to be works of art, just something that record your ideas so that you don't forget them. The idea in this case came from a combination of a miniature, the overall feel of the Dark Angels and John Blanche's artwork for the Angels of Death Codex.
I wanted to create a scene that showed the Dark Angels out of a battle situation, in their fortress monastery. The reason that there is only one figure in the scene is that I wanted to recreate the feeling that you get when you enter an empty cathedral: you feel totally dwarfed and insignificant within the towering vaults. This would be lost if the scene was crowded with models. The diorama shows a solitary figure taking his battle vows in a side chapel on the eve of a campaign, and is just as much about the surroundings as it is about the models.
GETTING STUCK IN
The next stage is making a simple mock-up out of card. Again, this is not very impressive to look at, but turns a drawing into a 3-D object that can be viewed from all sides. It may be that while you're making the mock-up you'll realise that the idea isn't going to work and you have to start the process again. While this is always annoying, it's far better to have to scrap the mock-up than the real thing! Having a mock-up also allows you to place the miniatures that you are going to use and see what they look like in relation to each other. As with the overall plan, this may force you to have a bit of a re-think, either adding more miniatures, or using less than you first envisaged
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The eagles around the edge of the pulpit are one of the many details that add atmosphere the diorama. These ones were taken from the tops of Warhammer banner poles. |
The Dark Angel statue is a conversion based on Mortarion, the Epic Nurgle Primarch. I built a pedestal above the door and painted it in a faded gold. |
ATMOSPHERE
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I always find it easiest to construct dioramas in a fairly modular way – start with a skeleton frame and then add basically detailed sections and panels over this. I generally construct most of the model from plastic card and strip as it's easy to cut, detail and join together. I do use a host of other materials though, in fact anything that is lying around and is the right shape!
THE DARK ANGEL
In the original composition of the diorama I had Commander Azrael facing towards the window to take his vows. When I put the miniatures into the mock-up, I quickly realised that this would not work. When I'm building my dioramas I have one thing to take into account that most people don't have to think about – photography. Placing the principle miniature facing the back of the diorama is a major no-no in photographic terms. This meant that I had to create another focal point for the figure to be facing and that's how the Dark Angel statue came about.
THE STAINED GLASS WINDOW
This was the most problematical and time-consuming part of the whole diorama. I knew how I wanted the window to look, but had no idea of how to achieve it. In the end I drew the design onto a sheet of clear acetate and painted it with transparent pigment paints. This actually turned out a little blotchy so I backed the acetate with thin white layout paper. The window was back-lit when it was photographed to give the impression of light shining through the window, creating a contrast with the dark and sombre surroundings of the interior.
THE PULPIT
When I was in the planning stage of this project, I was trying to pick out the most distinctive elements from churches and cathedrals to put into the model. The pulpit is an architectural feature found in all churches and goes a long way towards setting the scene in this diorama. One of the questions I'm most often asked about this diorama is why I didn't put any models in the pulpit. I didn't for the simple reason that the whole narrative of the scene would be changed, there would be more than one focal point and the diorama would be confused. Just because there is a space doesn't mean that you have to fill it!
MODELLING TIPOne thing that I'm commonly asked is how I make the rivets on my dioramas. To give you the simple answer, I use a tool that is specially designed for the job. However, these are very expensive and there are several other ways. The easiest is to add a tiny dot of neat PVA glue and leave it to dry. The definition is not very good, but can be improved by adding more as it dries. The next way, and the one I used before I had a rivetting tool, is to cut slices off pieces of plastic rod. You can get stuff called micro-strip from modelling shops which comes in a wide variety of sizes. You need to cut this off in thin slices to form the rivet heads. The trick is to get them all the same thickness and this needs a sharp blade and plenty of patience! |
THE DOOR
I decided the door would be a great place to add a taste of the 41st millennium to the diorama. This is the main 'techy' feature of the scene, the bit that really tells you that it isn't a simple church. I wanted to give it a heavily reinforced look, like a blast door or air-lock. I decided that the easiest way to do this was to have all of the workings and pistons exposed and heavily rivetted. I have continued this theme throughout the whole piece and you'll notice that most of the diorama is covered with rivets and industrial flooring effectively merging the style of gothic cathedrals with the 41st millennium.
In a battle you can imagine the huge pistons grinding as the doors close, cutting intruders off from the rest of the Rock! In stark contrast to the gothic cathedral look of the rest of diorama, the blast door is made to look like a piece of heavy machinery.
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