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