Post by Whiterook on Sept 10, 2023 21:54:26 GMT -5
This miniatures diorama build thread is for a Stagate SG-1 Miniatures Game I am designing for personal use. See the thread at this link at my wargaming forum for more details on the greater miniatures game project, if you’d care to. This thread is likely to be a long running one, as the diorama itself will be pretty massive (likely in the area of 8’ x 12’, if I had to guess) and has a ton of components that will sit on it.
What you will see in here specifically, will serve as the overall diorama build thread for each element, as I go though all the elements separately in individual build threads for each, like you see here for miniatures, and other threads for structures. In this way with this thread, I hope to show a full log of a step-by-step method of building the entire diorama itself, to be used in the miniatures game. As I finish each planned element (temple, obelisks, village, etc.), I will link to the specific build thread for that game element including start to finish progress.
THE TEMPLE
The major scenarios to be played in the game will take place in and around an Egyptian-style temple. In the Stargate universe, the System Lords (the bad guys) pretend to be Gods to unsuspecting pre-technology culture worlds, and many of these fake Gods favor an imitation of Egyptian culture. Hence, this will be an Egyptian-style temple, set on an arid desert planet. The first element I chose to buy was the same playset I saw used in a home brewed miniatures game hosted by a guy named Art, at the 2008 Origins Game Faire expo. This playset was marketed in 2001, and is out of print, but I was able to buy one on eBay back around 2008 or 09. I can’t remember what I paid for it but it was probably at or a little over $50; copies are rare today and go for upwards of $125. Near as I can tell, the company that produced it was SOMA.
It's called the Great Adventure of the Lost Kingdom playset, and is made from soft, hollow plastic for the big entrance walls, and hard plastic for the rest. There are two, big statues, but I’m thinking they need modification to look less cartoonish. It was missing a few bits, but the major stuff is there! I liked the idea of having a good foundation element to start from and build up from there. It’s the major building terrain element of the diorama.
Plans are to modify it with sheet styrene to fill in the columns that have open backs, some painting and weathering, and whatever modifications might be needed to make it look less “kiddie”. I'll rearrange and repurpose many of the items, and add other secondary market and scratchbuilt items to the overall temple. I'll probably enlarge the compound and fortifications, inner and outer village structures, and add accessories like wells and fountains.
The first link above (leading to my forum) to the original thread has some pictures from the the 2008 Origins Game Faire miniatures hall, of the game from the other guy, but I'll post the actual items of my set here and this thread will show my original build.
This was the playset I bought...
The front entrance to the playset is made of blow molded soft plastic, and is so soft it can be squished with the hand! The detail on it, and pretty much all of the components are somewhat juvenile, but it's a kid's playset, after all! Options I'm considering include:
Option 1. Using it constructed as is, which its’ super thick walls, but it may prove unstable, so I've thought of weighing it down wil pouring sand inside (there are injection holes in the molded piece so I could widen one and then fill it with sand, and then seal the hole).
Option 2. Cut the walls in half, trim to thinner halves and re-glue them back together. I doubt I'll go with this option, and stick with the above. Either way, I know if I airbrush, hand paint, and weather the heck out of it, it will be more passable in realism.
The detail in the molded artwork is actually quite nice as is! The two statues are nice, but the heads especially are very cartoonish... I might not use these at all; but if I do, they will need alterations, which may or may not be doable in the soft plastic they are made from.
…yeah. Bold table cloth
…WON’T be part of the diorama!!!
There are two large walls that flank back from the main entrance wall. Again, we're talking thicker than maybe realistic, but that depends on their use. They also suffer the same instability issues as the main entrance, but not to as drastic a degree. The option I am thinking about for these two walls is opposite of the main entrance, which is to actually widen them! "What?!?", you say! Here me out! If you look on the entrance front wall, there is a main gate in the center, which you find on most fortified forts; but notice there are two side doors... why would they be there? To me, they look to serve as Guard posts (and used secondary for large crowd gatherings). With that in mind, an option here, would be to make inner open faced stalls for markets, or maybe military weapons storage, or closed storage bays. Another option would be to widen them more and make enclosed entrance tunnels, though I haven't worked out why you would need them, except for a better weapons storage thing...the latter 'tunnel walkways make for great miniature bottleneck movements!
As you walk into the inner courtyard, you reach the sacred temple. This is all in hard plastic and has some awesome detail, including massive doors and hidden treasure floor vaults. As cool as the setup is, I doubt I'll use it like that. What I'm thinking of doing is, using the walled outer walls elsewhere, and placing a rood on it; and using the inner temple throne area in another area, scratchbuilding a Goa’uld sarcophagus regeneration device area attuned specifically for the System Lord's use only.
So there you have the playset, and what will be design foundation items to start with and build on. It would likely serve as the Mission Objective in a scenario. There would be a large village nearby, and of course, a Stargate!
What you will see in here specifically, will serve as the overall diorama build thread for each element, as I go though all the elements separately in individual build threads for each, like you see here for miniatures, and other threads for structures. In this way with this thread, I hope to show a full log of a step-by-step method of building the entire diorama itself, to be used in the miniatures game. As I finish each planned element (temple, obelisks, village, etc.), I will link to the specific build thread for that game element including start to finish progress.
THE TEMPLE
The major scenarios to be played in the game will take place in and around an Egyptian-style temple. In the Stargate universe, the System Lords (the bad guys) pretend to be Gods to unsuspecting pre-technology culture worlds, and many of these fake Gods favor an imitation of Egyptian culture. Hence, this will be an Egyptian-style temple, set on an arid desert planet. The first element I chose to buy was the same playset I saw used in a home brewed miniatures game hosted by a guy named Art, at the 2008 Origins Game Faire expo. This playset was marketed in 2001, and is out of print, but I was able to buy one on eBay back around 2008 or 09. I can’t remember what I paid for it but it was probably at or a little over $50; copies are rare today and go for upwards of $125. Near as I can tell, the company that produced it was SOMA.
It's called the Great Adventure of the Lost Kingdom playset, and is made from soft, hollow plastic for the big entrance walls, and hard plastic for the rest. There are two, big statues, but I’m thinking they need modification to look less cartoonish. It was missing a few bits, but the major stuff is there! I liked the idea of having a good foundation element to start from and build up from there. It’s the major building terrain element of the diorama.
Plans are to modify it with sheet styrene to fill in the columns that have open backs, some painting and weathering, and whatever modifications might be needed to make it look less “kiddie”. I'll rearrange and repurpose many of the items, and add other secondary market and scratchbuilt items to the overall temple. I'll probably enlarge the compound and fortifications, inner and outer village structures, and add accessories like wells and fountains.
The first link above (leading to my forum) to the original thread has some pictures from the the 2008 Origins Game Faire miniatures hall, of the game from the other guy, but I'll post the actual items of my set here and this thread will show my original build.
This was the playset I bought...
The front entrance to the playset is made of blow molded soft plastic, and is so soft it can be squished with the hand! The detail on it, and pretty much all of the components are somewhat juvenile, but it's a kid's playset, after all! Options I'm considering include:
Option 1. Using it constructed as is, which its’ super thick walls, but it may prove unstable, so I've thought of weighing it down wil pouring sand inside (there are injection holes in the molded piece so I could widen one and then fill it with sand, and then seal the hole).
Option 2. Cut the walls in half, trim to thinner halves and re-glue them back together. I doubt I'll go with this option, and stick with the above. Either way, I know if I airbrush, hand paint, and weather the heck out of it, it will be more passable in realism.
The detail in the molded artwork is actually quite nice as is! The two statues are nice, but the heads especially are very cartoonish... I might not use these at all; but if I do, they will need alterations, which may or may not be doable in the soft plastic they are made from.
…yeah. Bold table cloth
…WON’T be part of the diorama!!!There are two large walls that flank back from the main entrance wall. Again, we're talking thicker than maybe realistic, but that depends on their use. They also suffer the same instability issues as the main entrance, but not to as drastic a degree. The option I am thinking about for these two walls is opposite of the main entrance, which is to actually widen them! "What?!?", you say! Here me out! If you look on the entrance front wall, there is a main gate in the center, which you find on most fortified forts; but notice there are two side doors... why would they be there? To me, they look to serve as Guard posts (and used secondary for large crowd gatherings). With that in mind, an option here, would be to make inner open faced stalls for markets, or maybe military weapons storage, or closed storage bays. Another option would be to widen them more and make enclosed entrance tunnels, though I haven't worked out why you would need them, except for a better weapons storage thing...the latter 'tunnel walkways make for great miniature bottleneck movements!
As you walk into the inner courtyard, you reach the sacred temple. This is all in hard plastic and has some awesome detail, including massive doors and hidden treasure floor vaults. As cool as the setup is, I doubt I'll use it like that. What I'm thinking of doing is, using the walled outer walls elsewhere, and placing a rood on it; and using the inner temple throne area in another area, scratchbuilding a Goa’uld sarcophagus regeneration device area attuned specifically for the System Lord's use only.
So there you have the playset, and what will be design foundation items to start with and build on. It would likely serve as the Mission Objective in a scenario. There would be a large village nearby, and of course, a Stargate!
