When Doom Came To Minas Tirith

Hi everyone,

This project in now finished. I managed to get a day off work and I took the opportunity to try and get some decent photos in.  The results are mixed – and yes I suck at photography!

One thing I noticed, with all my photos, is the muting of the highlights.  If anyone knows how to correct this let me know.

Another thing I noticed with my photography are the defects and mistakes that come out. The most glaring mistake was the black spot under the eye of the commander on the black armoured wolf on the right promontory.  I swear I did not see it when painting.  Luckily, it is not immediately apparent on casual viewing of the diorama – but I know it is there and it ruins the satisfaction for me.

There are other things, but I can sweep them under the mental rug so to speak.

DELIBERATIONS WITH HINDSIGHT

Would I do things differently if I could go back and start all over?  Maybe. Before I start any diorama, I spend a lot of time thinking on how I can tell the story in the most compact way possible, without detracting from the visuals.

One way I thought of, while building the scene, is by removing the right promontory (the one with the wolf rider commander) and moving Minas Tirith to the right corner. At the same time, reducing the width of the diorama by a third.

This approach would still keep the illusion of the forced perspective and reduce the size of the diorama, as well as the amount of miniatures. It would also change the angle of the viewer – maybe for the better?

Nonetheless, the angle I went for was the image that came to mind when I decided to build it. Also, I do like this angle, but I think the economics of space would have been better served if I went with the second route.

That is the price you pay for trying something new – you learn new things and you harbour fresh regrets.

In the end, the viewer will be the judge. To my next project!

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

Over the weekend, I worked on the shadows, highlights and details on the foreground and the middle-ground, and I am glad to say that the diorama is de facto finished.

All I have to do is wait two days for the oils to dry properly, and I can go ahead and place the miniatures in place. After which, I have to take pictures – the hardest part of all for me.

I will let the following pictures tell the story as usual.

So the scene is set and the protagonists will be following shortly. Hopefully, by the end of the week –  probably Sunday – I will bring this project to a close.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

I have done some more work on the diorama’s foreground and middle-ground. I  also have finished painting up all the miniatures for this project.  Thirty-three in all.

I will let the pictures tell the story.

The next step is to add more shadows and highlight to the foreground and middle-ground, and then add detail in the form of paint and vegetation.  If all goes well I should have this wrapped up in abut two weeks – fingers crossed.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

I have been working on this diorama about 25 minutes a day, and two to three hours over the weekend, and I have to say every bit does count. During this time I worked exclusively on the miniatures below.

These are the leaders that will be placed on top.  I wanted them a bit less rusty with better looking armour.  The leader on the wolf has black looking armour. I thought this would contrast well with the white city.

Other than that, this miniatures were all painted in acrylic with some rendering in oils.

The next post will most probably be the top troll, since I have started him today.  Otherwise, it will be the forefront terrain of the diorama.

Until then, stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

I have finally painted the backdrop of this diorama.  It was very important to get this as good as I possible could, since the whole story hinges on it. In the end you will be the judge of that.

It was painted up in oils, using just primary colours, as well as white, burnt sienna and umber. I went with this approach to make it more interesting tonally – at least that is what all the landscape painters said on Youtube (including Bob Ross). Believe me I watched many videos before attempting to paint this.

Minas Tirith, the white city, was painted to read as white, but it is mostly shades of grey, with the top section only being pure white.

The pictures I took are a bit muted, but that was the best I could manage.

Now that the backdrop is done, the foreground is next, but first I need to finish painting the miniatures and finalize their position again – because I have changed a few things.  This means re-drilling some holes and filling up others.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

I started one of the two trolls in the diorama.  This is the troll carrying the stone-thrower.  I ordered this on Etsy and it is a beautiful print.  Unfortunately, when it arrived, the chains were all broken.

Therefore I had to replace them with some metal chains I bought off Temu.  They were rather flat, so I added two layers of PVA glue to stabilize and thicken the chains.

I decided to paint this in acrylics, but with hindsight, next time I will go with oils with a model this size – because oils make things easier and faster.

That is all for now.  next week I will have finished some of the leaders.  I ha e also started painting the scene, but it is more difficult that it first appears.

Until next time, stay safe and have fun.

NR.

Hi everyone,

Some more miniatures painted up.

Next week it is one of the ogres.

Until then, stay safe and have fun.

NR

Hi everyone,

So, while I am researching the best way to paint the scenery, I started painting up the miniatures.

Overall, I wanted to keep them as dark as possible without looking too dull.  The intention is not to draw the eye of the observer away from the white citadel of Minas Tirith.  By toning down the highlight, but keeping the detail, I think I can achieve this.

The models where painting in acrylics and rendered in oils.  I also opted not to paint all the models in NMM.  NMM tends to be very bright, while true metallic can be toned down and dirtied naturally.

These figures are the miniatures marching down the hill.

In the next post I will continue with the second batch of miniatures.  Until next time, stay safe and have fun,=.

NR