Sprue Cutters #17 Go Big or Go Home

I've been thinking about this week's question for most of the week, rather than diving right in.

If I devoted the next 12 months to a single project, would I do it, and what would it be?

My first thoughts hinged on dioramas - I'm currently building a complicated 40k vignette for Golden Demon. I've been building it for a couple of years, actually - but I haven't devoted enough time to it.

Based on a mission that Mikey and I played at Games Day a couple of years ago, it's titled 'Deep Strike Mishap'

The inspiration for the scene

The whole thing must fit inside a 1-foot-cube to be eligible for entry. There's a kitbashed Drop Pod stuck on the edge of a cliff with its 10 Marine occupants getting out in various ways. Overhead, though is an Ork flyer dropping some nasty payload.

Scope for lots of great little details, but I haven't project managed it well enough to get it done. The terrain is still a glint in my eye; the Imperial Fist Marines are 95% built (conversions on each and every one), and mostly base-coated, but no detail painting yet. The Drop Pod is finished on the inside, and only about 50% done on the outside. The Ork flyer is 80% finished, although I haven't figured out how to mount it to the terrain.

There are lots of technical engineering issues to overcome - how to make the Jet look like it's flying, without using a base, and without it waggling on a wire. The same goes for the men - some are abseiling from the Drop Pod, but I don't want them swinging around when it's on display.

Transportation is another issue - how to get it to the show once it's finished without bits falling off it mid-transit. Do I build it rock solid, or make it modular and re-assemble at the venue? The ostrich in my mind is pretending these issues don't exist, and is happy to carry on with other jobs...

Then there's the Armies on Parade competition. On a 2ft Square board, I'm supposed to showcase an army - figures, vehicles, terrain. Make it eye-popping, make it memorable. It has to win the heat at my local store, and only then is it allowed to go to the show. Mikey and I started collecting Orks for this very purpose last year - before the hobby cooled off for him - and it's a good idea for an epic job. Lots of repetitive stuff, sure, but loads of variety in the minis to paint, and a bucketload of creativity for the scenery.

But can I be bothered to do it? Probably not. I've just looked at what pieces I've actually finished this year. I might make it to 5 or 6 by Christmas if I don't keep getting sidetracked with new things.

Maybe I should aim to do that, then...


Other Sprue Cutters have joined in the discussion:

Jeroen Vantroyen
Fill and Sand
MattBlackGodsWorld
Doogs
The Migrant's Wanderings
The Eternal Wargamer
The Combat Workshop