Battle of The Bloodstone Marches Diorama

The idea for this diorama has been in my head ever since I first saw the Grissel resculpt.

I finished this project last year but really struggled to get it posted up here, for a combination of real life and it being a difficult task to photograph it!!

Because it was impossible for me to get the whole thing in focus at once I took a couple of pictures from each angle which hopefully gives you the best look possible.

(I'm aware some people can edit photos together to make everything in focus at once but that requires skills and gear I just don't own I'm sorry)

Grissel was a joy to paint! This was the first time I've tried to paint tartan which was a real learning experience, but it was great to try a new technique outside my comfort zone!

Painting the thinner tartan sections was even harder! But I'm really glad I didn't give in and paint them as normal cloth. (I was tempted more than once!)

Getting hold of the Titan Gladiator for this project was one of the things that delayed the start of this project. Luckily a kind member of the community sold me one for a reasonable price which was very kind of them!

I wanted a poor Trollkin being stepped on, so I chopped up an old metal Kriel Warrior I had in my bits box. Separating the legs from the hips took a long time to cut through as its a very old metal mini.

Sculpting the guts which have burst from the poor bugger was interesting though a little gruesome!  

I had initially wanted him to be stabbing the titan in the foot like Aragorn at the end of Return of the King, however without completely sculpting a new arm from scratch I just couldn't get the angle to work.

I knew I wanted to get a little more action in the scene and happily I had these minis in my bits box. I did wonder if I should have the tip of the spear sticking out the trollkins back but that would have required them to be positioned even closer and would have been very tricky to position the spear tip in a way which lines up nicely.

I don't know how visible it is but the tuft of fur on the Kriel warriors shield I painted to look like a foxes tail. Just a little addition that makes me smile.

I'm really pleased with how the green gems on the Skornes armour turned out. I've not tried this effect before and I've really been trying to push myself to try new things lately its been nice to challenge myself.

The Pyg borrower was a fun little addition, I wanted something in this corner to balance the scene and add something a little different. Its wearing a loincloth which I painted the same as the tartan the other Trollkin are wearing but as its somewhat ragged I also didn't line it up correctly to make it look like the Pyg didn't know exactly how to wear it correctly and scavenged it.

The Skorne Praetorian swordsman was the last model addition I made, I felt the amount of models for each side of the fight was unbalanced and wanted something to even it up a bit but also not add an "active" model. The idea here is that the Pyg shot its arm off at the shoulder!

Considering how tricky it was to photograph this project I decided to take pictures of all of the minis before I added them to the diorama. This is them before the addition of the various weathering and bloody however but it does show you the paint job which was underneath!

This was a really fun diorama to make, and I have more ideas for others in the future so follow my on all the socials to see the works in progress and help shape how they turn out as I often ask for suggestions or advice on there!

This was a really hard piece to photograph so if you have 2 mins please give the video a watch it really shows it in a different way!

If you like it please like, comment, and subscribe on Youtube it really does help with letting Youtube know it's a video worth suggesting to other hobbyists. (And it upsets Mike...)

If you would like to own this you can! I enjoyed the process of creating this, but I want to offer it to someone in the community who will enjoy and appreciate it.

Just send me a DM and we can discuss it.

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Patreon which you can find here. Or Kofi here. I don't put any finished content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future or outright just picking the next subject of an article as well as posting wip projects.

Even if it's just $1 it really helps me out!

See you all next time!

Model Review: Burrows & Badgers Starter Warband B, Mouse Burglar & Fox Rogue

I recently a long time ago (I really should finish and publish articles quicker...) started playing an RPG called Humblewood, and being who I am I wanted a miniature to represent my character. I'm playing as a fox so had been looking around for something fitting.

I watch a lot of hobby content on Youtube and there was one guy in particular who provided the answer, Burrows and Badgers! 
The Youtuber in question is Magrathea Builder of worlds, you can find him here

He focuses on terrain making videos, mainly for games like Necromunda, Lord of the rings and Burrows and Badgers.

I quickly found the fox miniature I wanted and while I was there... I ended up picking up a starter warband as well because the minis looked really fun to paint. I had recently sold a few things personally so I had a bit of spare cash in my hobby fund so I picked up the rule book as well!

So here are the minis I picked up as well as the dice which came with the starter warband.

Sparrow warrior. I really like the style of the way this bird is mounted onto its base, it can often be tricky to pose flying models. I like all the extra details across this mini, with sword and shield and a pouch.

There is a slight mould line running down the shield and left wing, this was fairly easy to remove however with a few minutes work with a hobby file.

I think the face of this bird is really expressionate, which for a bird is impressive. I think it will be interesting to paint, I will have to finally learn how to paint eyes for sure!

Rabbit archer. This is a really neat mini there are a couple of points which required a little clean up such as where the bottom of the bow is attached to the rabbits knee.

The quiver is closed which is really nice, not something I've often seen on archer miniatures.

There is a slightly unfortunate mould line across the eye here, luckily it's not too big and I was able to file it away without losing any detail.

Squirrel ranger has a really nice pose readying an arrow about to aim. I really like the way the tail feels front and centre and a highlighted part of the mini by having it across the front.

Shrew-zerker is simply an awesome mini. Tons of character in this little guy.

Slight mould lines can be seen on the arm armour which file off really easily.

Mouse nun. A pretty simple character but very nicely executed.

Otter pirate. Well... this sculpt is simply fantastic! What's not to like? Otter and pirate! My five year old loves this mini and I look forward to using it in our games in the future.

Mouse burglar. This little guy came free with the rulebook which was pretty neat. It's a really nice character concept and I think it will work great for narrative scenarios.

Fox rogue. Well this is the mini which incited the whole purchase! Such a cool and dynamic sculpt, I'm really impressed with this. I think it will be a lot of fun to paint, though I think it will be quite challenging. 

Over all I think these are some fantastic miniatures with tons of character. Even if you have no intention of playing Burrows and badgers these minis are well worth buying just to paint. I've been working my way through painting these in the time since I started writing this review. (I really do need to get quicker at my turn around)

If you want to pick up some for yourself or just want to check out all the other amazing minis they make you can find their site here

Heres a rotation video should you find it helpful.

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Patreon which you can find here. I don't put any content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future or outright just picking the next subject of an article as well as some wip content.

Even if it's just $1 it really helps me out!

See you all next time!