Return of the Serpent Guard - Golden Demon Entry 2014 - PART 2

Hi all,

Continuing with the documentation of my 2014 Golden Demon entry I will now go through the next stage of the process.

To begin with I undercoated the display base with black primer. I then applied a light coat of white primer from directly above.

The rock was undercoated with dark brown. Once dried I applied a wash of brown ink with purple ink in the deep recesses.

Next I dry brushed the rock with the same brown that I used in the base coat.

With the gate installed the assembly was too top heavy so I hollowed out the base and filled with various different packs of clay that I had about the house. I then bonded the plinth to the turned wooden base.

Here I am beginning to paint the steps and walls. I begin by applying a base colour with Llyanden yellow on the steps and ceramite white for the walls.

I then covered it heavily with a flesh wash.  Once dried it was dry brushed with the base colour.

I then went back over the stone and walls with the previous colours where the dry brushing had bled over.

A view from the back of the warp gate. I added additional Serpent Guard icons to each of the portions of the gate along with the obligatory spikes. 

Here I am beginning to add weathering which I applied with a sponge using a mix of 90/10 black to brown.

I then applied a wash of brown ink to the weathered areas.

Coming up next I'll document the creation of the actual miniatures that will be mounted upon the display.

More to come,

Rumplemaster

Return of the Serpent Guard - Golden Demon Entry 2014 - PART 1

Hi all,

In the following article I will try and document the process I went through in the creation of my 2014 Golden Demon entry in to the 40K Squad category.

As with all big projects I began by sketching out the overall concept:

I have always loved the TV series Stargate and wanted to take a bash at creating a gate. The concept for this project was the arrival of the serpent guard through a sacred warp gate. I wanted the monument around the gate to be designed to match the iconography of the serpent guard, the Eye of Horus inside the serpents mouth.

Before I commit too much time to a project I will create a simple mock up for scaling purposes to guarantee the finale model is large enough to mount the miniatures.

Once I was happy with the scale of the design I began laying out the design in CAD so that I could generate profiles and have them laser cut from card stock. I wanted the bases of the unit being mounted on the display plinth to be part of the display piece and sank the bases into the steps.

Once the pieces had been cut I began gluing them together to create a simple skeleton structure which I could then glue styrene sheet to and sand smooth.

With the skeleton of the frame built I began bonding textured styrene sheet, which has a tread plate pattern formed into it to the steps.

Here I am beginning to lay the edge detailing to the steps to make the design more chaos themed.

This is the beginnings of the warp gate. I applied a simple filter to the photo for dramatic effect.

And a view from the lower step.

I wanted to add a form inside of the warp gate to represent the chaotic warp the unit materialized from. I used one of the Warhammer Fantasy kits from the Warriors of Chaos range here. From the front it looks like a vortex.......

But from the back there is a tentacled monstrosity.

Here is the display plinth where I'm beginning to add the rock bed that the design is built in to.

After applying the first level of rock detail using cork sheet I decided it needed widening to be more in proportion with the remainder of the design.

I found some small twigs in my garden which I dried and glued in place to represent trees.

Next I began applying small rocks and grit in to the recesses.

Here I am adding roots from my garden which were washed and dried before glueing in place.

Here I am adding additional spikes around the outside of the warp gate.

And finally here is the completed display plinth before painting begins.

More to come,

Rumplemaster