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http://www.windycityminiatures.com
This is by far my most ambitious diorama project. It stands roughly 10 inches high.
About 3 pounds of sculpey and a half-mile of armature wire went into this piece  The logistics were tricky, since I knew that it would eventually have to be shipped to an ebay buyer. I had to be sure that it was not too top-heavy, and that the foliage would be tough enough to handle being packed up.
That limited what I wanted to do with the trees, but then I was able to show more of the arch! I used several different types of sculpy. Sculpey 3 was used for all the bas relief areas, since it is the strongest polymer clay when baked. Regular sculpey was used for the base, and roughing out the main structure. Also, regular sculpey can be carved very easily after baking, and that allowed me to chip away parts of the surface and carve out the detials of the underlying bricks. Hacking away parts of the sculpey 3 sections after baking created natural cracks and fissures that looked far more realistic than anything I could have sculpted while it was still soft. Normally, I don't bake a piece until it is complete, but this required 3 seperate trips into the oven. The sheer weight of the top of the arch would have made it sag before it hardened.
Since this was an ancient ruined tower, I had plenty of opportunities to "age" the structure. I spent many hours carving away cracks, etc. Staining the white alabaster arch and showing the bricks meant I could get a lot of nice contrast with the green foliage. The figure that goes with the arch had a custom base which matched pretty seamlessly with the cobblestone road on the main base. That was made with green stuff once the road section had been finished.
This is one of several views that I will posting of the arch, and the Reaper Paladin that went with it.
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Viewer comments:
Antenociti
22-Feb-06
#168656 |  | Rating: 10
Changed my mind and voted a 10 to take the average to 9! |
asphyx
09-Jun-05
#136243 |  | Rating: 9
This base is too small. |
Antenociti
25-Feb-05
#124171 | | Rating: 8
I'm going to be, perhaps, very harsh and only rate it as an 8.
The sculpting work and the overall conceptual design is very good, the paintwork is good however the groundwork and vegetation is not at all special.
Given the detail lovingly applied elsewhere it is a shame that the vegetation is so lacking in detail and, for me, this spoils the overall affect tremendously.
I want to go "wow" but keep thinking "Why did (s)he just dump a load of lichen on the top looking as though it was an after thought?".
It's a great piece, and given better vegetation a fantastic piece; but the poor vegetation really kills any chance of a 9 or 10 for me.
Sorry. (and at the same time - congrats on a lovely piece of work!) |
Wappellious
17-Mar-04
#78035 |  | Rating: -
Actually, the lines ARE carved on. It took several painful hours just to do that |
fukpigonabike
09-Mar-04
#77029 |  | Rating: 9
everything about this is absolutely class, except for the cobbles on the base. I would have given it a 10 if it wasnt for this. they just dont look real,. you could havecarved them out instead of drawing on lines.
Dont get offended, it really is awesome |
provoke me
24-Jan-04
#70981 |  | Rating: 10
I HATE YOU |
Marion
26-Nov-03
#62638 |  | Rating: 10
This is just incredible! Very very beautiful piece! |
Zora
26-Nov-03
#62637 |  | Rating: 9
STUNNING job! Absolutely beautiful. |
ahmacrom
26-Nov-03
#62630 |  | Rating: 9
I love it.You even shot it with a nice grand perspective.Great feeling.The colors and matte texture work big time. |
Mengu
26-Nov-03
#62620 |  | Rating: 9
I love that she is dwarfed by the archway. Its enourmity gives a great sense of reality to the piece. Aging effects are awesome. I do wish the greens were a bit more varied in color and density. | |
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