Grimstonefire:
So I’ve been giving my hobby a lot of thought in recent months, with the death of WHFB.
Admittedly I’ve never really been a gamer, and all the models I want are still available, but I’ve found myself severely lacking motivation to actually start a new army.
If I were to it would probably be Wood Elves, Bretonnians, or a 40k army.
So what I’ve decided will be my direction certainly for 2016 and probably the foreseeable future of my hobby will instead be to build mini dioramas for whatever army I like.
This has a few benefits:
Firstly (and most importantly) it naturally restricts what I will collect to whatever I can fit within a defined space. It naturally stops me wanting to build a whole army, only buying and building what models I need and no more. These will be designed to always fit within the shelves of a display case.
Secondly I can build dioramas for 40k, fantasy, maybe even LOTR. I am growing increasingly fond of 40k fluff and have sorely been tempted to collect many models for them.
Thirdly, it will allow me to build more terrain
Lastly, it will allow me to tell stories which I have never really been able to do beyond what’s on the model itself.
So first up will be a Grey Knights diorama
I have 5 Paladins and a Dreadknight. I’m going to fit them on a display base that’s an A4 box picture frame. I’ll put a bit of terrain as a backdrop (as all these will have).
After this I may do an O&G one using an Araknarok and some savage orcs as I already have them.
Then another 40k one towards the end of the year, maybe Horus heresy themed. Again, as I already have Angron and Fulgrim.
I will still work on my CD but very slowly.
Abecedar:
My focus has been increasingly Hobby related and some other games rather than WHFB games so I’m in sort of the same boat.
I’ll just be keeping at painting what I have and whatever takes my fancy to create.
Will definitely keep an eye on your dioramas with interest as they are something I haven’t really tried yet
Grimstonefire:
Been trying this weekend to adjust the Dreadknight to hold a greatsword two handed…
Not the easiest task as they are not built to be adjusted anywhere near that level. I’ve also rebuilt a leg to be bending more. Like he’s throwing his weight into a strike. Also had to re-adjust one leg of the pilot to make it a tad more realistic.
I’m going to be adjusting it a bit with a tabard for the pilot and maybe some star thing over the machine like the stormcast eternals have.
Xander:
I’ve been switching over to small teams and warbands in recent years, so I know the route your are taking.
if you are like me, you want to be able to realize the flavour and lore that you like in discrete and finishable projects.
I’ve recently got my work station all setup in my new house for some sweet 2016 hobby times. 
Xander:
I’ve been following this blog lately which tends to make diorama pieces. You might find it inspiring too: Blog
TheHoodedMan:
I`m looking forward to that adjusted knight. The adjustments seem very challenging, good luck. Sounds like you add a lot of dynamic, that will improve the model a lot.
Grimstonefire:
I’ve started painting my grey knights diorama but I’ve hit something of a problem.
I painted the manufactorum a greenish colour as a test, decided it didn’t work and so repainted it red and painted up the metals (basecoat) using metallic paints.
Just half the backdrop at this stage.
Today I started painting my first grey knight nmm and thought it should look ok across everyone… Forgetting that I had already done a fair bit of work on backdrop using metallic paints!!
So I went back and highlighted the metals using nmm highlights and it actually looks ok!
But is that strange to combine nmm and non nmm in close proximity?
The dreadknight was a pain in the ass to covert the way I wanted it.
Darkmeer:
No, to me it’s not strange. I have some models I have attempted (and failed) NMM on that look okay. Placing them next to some standard metals lets them stand out a little, but otherwise works fairly well. If photographed or posed correctly the two methods can stand right next to one another AND look great doing so.
Grimstonefire:
Been a while since I posted anything of note on here…
But I have been working away painting the Dreadknight up. This has been a real challenge for me because I’m not a fan of painting metals over a large area. It’s a challenge because to do it well you need to bring in more realistic shading and highlighting and not just paint it flat.
So I gave up doing it NMM as it would just have taken forever and this is taking ages as it is.
In separate news, I have been working on a secret project for about 6 months now and will soon have it available to sell. Fingers crossed before end of September.