Bolt Action – Diorama project
Recommendations: 9
About the Project
I bought a Maxim Machine Gun team from Black Tree Designs, just because the pose appealed to me but I was never going to buy an entire Russian army. I decided to make a diorama using some paper terrain, that I think I downloaded from backstage, and I was happy enough in the end to give it to my dad as a present for Christmas.
Related Game: Bolt Action
Related Company: Warlord Games
Related Genre: Historical
Related Contest: Bolt Action: Western Desert Boot Camp
This Project is Completed
The idea
After printing the terrain out (I think it was a David Graffam ruin) I realised that I would want the walls to be thicker so I glued them to card. Sadly I did not take into account the changes that would need to be made when cutting things out and it didn’t quite line up.
My initial idea was just to showcase the gun and the crew. Have them hunkered down and probably use some snow effect here and there. The pose wasn’t really conducive with the look I was hoping for, they seemed to be leaning into the gun too much and you wouldn’t have been able to see them very well. I raised the gun and planned to have a pile of rubble for them as cover.
I used some blister plastic for the broken glass in the window.
The end result
I decided that the scene needed some drama.
I added one of the multi-pose German Grenadier Warlord Plastics minis with a Sturmgewehr 44. I positioned him in a flanking position behind the gun team – peering at them through the broken window.
I sadly didn’t get a final pic before I handed over the diorama as a present.
I had added a dead German to the upper level mostly obscured by snow. I made his flesh much paler than the others (with a hint of greeny blue) to denote he had been frozen in the snow and dead for a while.
The snow effect was useful to cover up joins, mistakes and combine all the elements together nicely. I enjoyed making this. Learnt a lot and am convinced I could make something much better next time as a result. My dad seemed to appreciate the time and effort that went into making it.
