When I started out with this hobby three years ago, I never could've imagined where I am now with it. The customizing community is a close one, but more importantly, a truly inspirational one. I would have to say Rebelscum/Yakface member MyEnShi inspired me to expand on figure customizing, by adding a small base. You can see that with my Aqualish Mercenary and Krath Shocktrooper (see the section Custom figures).
I see these altered figure stands as tiny diorama bases. A step up from that would be making small environments for your custom figure(s). Well, for me Ron Hemble is the guy who got me into collecting (styro)foam, cheap picture frames, plastic plants and all sorts of other materials to make up a detailed base.
Technically my Crashed TIE Fighter diorama is my very first one, but since it's really big, it's progress is rather slow going. In between takes I managed to make two mini dioramas, which you can see below.
This part of my site will feature my dioramas. Making these small picture frame based dios is fun and they're a great addition to the custom figure(s). But stay tuned for other dioramas as well. Some will be pretty basic, other will be more exotic and elaborate!
April '09
Ever since I've played Killzone a couple of times on my buddy's PS2 I've been a huge fan of this game franchise. When Killzone 2 came out for PS3 in February 2009, it didn't take me long to come up with a pretty cool crossover between the worlds of Killzone and Star Wars. Below you can see my idea of what Star Wars could have looked like, were it to take place in the gritty, bloody, downright dirty Killzone environment.
Recipe:
Figure:
Head/helmet: TAC Galactic Marine
Torso/arms: TAC Po Nudo
Gloves: ROTS Royal Guard
Legs: TAC Galactic Marine
Backpack/tubes: TAC Starkiller Hero
Base:
Again a cheap picture frame with a mix of plaster of paris/fine sand/woodglue/water painted in the desired muddy colour. The sign's made from a piece of styrene sheet, the power cables sticking out of the ground were made of Lego tubes with jute wire plugged into them.
April '09
You've probably already seen the WIP shots of this little scene. I finished this late April '09. The idea for this particular scene came from a tutorial on how to paint a life like lava base for miniatures (like Warhammer, Reaper's, etc.). I found it most useful for what I had in mind: making a fresh lightsaber cut on a Super Battle Droid. But pretty soon I felt I shouldn't leave it at that. The Jedi who inflicted the damage had to be in the scene as well. Instead of posing her in front of the SBD, I decided her place was behind the droid, her back turned to its back. She used her Force speed ability to attack the droid, slice it and get behind it.
Some detailed shots:
Recipes:
Jedi:
Body - 25th Scarlett
Head - VvV Bombstrike
Gloves - TAC Starkiller
Skirt - ROTS Shaak Ti
Plus some pleather for the belt and such and a little detailing on the saber hilt.
Super Battle Droid:
ROTS (?) SBD figure, modified (duh), fully repainted
Base:
Picture frame with a mix of plaster of paris/fine sand/fish bowl pebbles/woodglue/water. It was then painted in the desired sandy colour. Added a battle droid arm and blaster for good measure.