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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:41:47 PM EDT
Our esteemed guns762 and his students inspired me to finally get off my ass and start a project I had been thinking about for a few years. Here's their current Viking-themed project: https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/The-2nd-Age-of-Vikings-Student-Project-Thread-2023-24-Update-4-24-Ghost-on-The-wall-pg30/5-2665862/
As a kid growing up, I did the occasional model airplane and tank, and when I was around 19, I made a small Warhammer 40K themed kit-bashing diorama. In college, I made a Zulu vs. British (Rorke's Drift) diorama, which was also a lot of fun. Since then, I have not done any modeling, or made any dioramas. So it's been at least 35 years ... so basically this is me making a complicated diorama without really knowing what I am doing.  But a few years ago I started thinking that a Vikings vs. Samurai diorama might be a neat project - and something to spend time on during dark winter evenings. Some nerds might be curious (or argue) about which of them were better warriors, or whether a Viking longsword is "better" than a Samurai katana, and other silly dorky arguments. So I figured it would be funny to make a fictional diorama in which they end up in a fight. So, inspired by guns762 and his amazing students, I decided to actually do this project this winter. I started seriously thinking about it and planning in January, and then started working on it at the beginning of February. This project involved TONS of stuff I had never done before, like sculpting the landscape out of foam, using resin for water, creating water surface and waterfall effects, etc. I definitely watched some YoutTube videos to help me figure stuff out. This took me about two and a half months, working evenings and on weekends. Below are a bunch of pictures. I will follow up with a step-by-step description and pictures of the process of making everything (assuming anyone is interested). Who knows? Maybe this can become a fun thread for those of us who like modeling and dioramas.  The "story" is that a Viking longship got waaaayyy off course, and ended up crashing onto a rocky shore in Japan, running into a group of Samurai.                 
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:43:53 PM EDT
[Last Edit: HDLS]
[#1]
 That is bad-ass. What is the size of it (LxW)? How tall are the little figurines? Trying to get a sense of scale. |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:44:19 PM EDT
[#2]
Too cool!!!
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:46:13 PM EDT
[#3]
That's great!
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:46:39 PM EDT
[#4]
Love it!
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:47:39 PM EDT
[#5]
I love dioramas. Looks like you did a great job
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:48:43 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DK-Prof]
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By HDLS: /media/mediaFiles/sharedAlbum/toast_gif-994.gif That is bad-ass. What is the size of that (LxW)? How tall are the little figurines? Trying to get a sense of scale. It's 1/72 scale. So each figure is less than an inch tall. The base is 24x24" ETA: Here's a picture on my work bench, showing the scale 
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:49:07 PM EDT
[#7]
Good job! Also enjoy your Japanese sword thread.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:49:23 PM EDT
[#8]
Very well done.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:51:10 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By guns762: Love it! High praise!! 
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:51:34 PM EDT
[#10]
Very nice! Good pics too and looking forward to more as you continue.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:55:31 PM EDT
[#11]
Pretty cool. A lot of work!
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Posted: 4/24/2024 3:56:28 PM EDT
[#12]
This is the very beginning. A 2'x2' piece of plywood for a base, and insulation foam to create the landscape.
 Of course I had to have a plan, so I drew out the general idea:  Then I had to get to work, using box cutters and a hot wire thingy     
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:00:06 PM EDT
[Last Edit: GRENDEL87]
[#13]
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MN, USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:00:17 PM EDT
[#14]
Now you've done it. Now I have to go on the search for the video of the weapons expert who claimed the Viking Ulfberht sword was far superior to the samurai sword.
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:01:38 PM EDT
[Last Edit: BoneB1B]
[#15]
I saw a History Channel ( I think ) years ago did hypothetical engagements like this comparing a one on one scenario.
One episode was a Viking vs Samurai. The Samurai edged out a win , which I disagreed with based on it turning into CQB and the samurai using one of those big studded clubs. I just didn’t see a rather small guy using a heavy striking weapon to defeat a bigger, stronger opponent. Nice work on the diorama |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:02:01 PM EDT
[Last Edit: beitodesstrafe]
[#16]
Lololol!
That is awesome.  
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MT, USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:02:13 PM EDT
[Last Edit: 35Whelen700]
[#17]
Looks great. I used to love building dioramas. I should get back into it, considering a new hobby shop opened nearby about a month ago, something I haven't seen around here for close to 30 years. Having six airbrushes on hand now, I'm running out of excuses.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:04:25 PM EDT
[#18]
Thanks for all of the kind comments!
Of course when I look at it, I see all of the things I screwed up (especially the resin!) and all the things that "should" have been better. That said, I am actually extremely pleased with how it turned out. The final product looks very close to what I imagined in my mind's eye when I first started thinking about it. |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:06:54 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DK-Prof]
[#19]
This was the first component that I put together:
 And then I planned out which figures to use. When you buy a box of figures, there will be many duplicates - so you might get three identical archers, and four of the same swordsman, etc. But I wanted ALL of the figures to be unique in the diorama, so I managed to find several different boxes of Vikings, and four or five different boxes of Samurai - so I managed to achieve that goal. There are no duplicates in the model.  I also modified some figures. The Vikings working to salvage debris from the broken ship obviously had to have their weapons or shields removed, and maybe some arm positions changes (using a head gun to soften the plastic). I also modified some figures so they could be drowned bodies on the ocean floor. (One of them is missing a leg that is in the mouth of one of the sharks ) I also cut axes, swords, spears and shields out of figures that I wasn't going to use, so that it could be debris in the ocean, and stuff recovered on the beach.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:07:39 PM EDT
[#20]
Damn! that is incredible!!!!!!!
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:11:06 PM EDT
[#21]
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:12:56 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Notcalifornialegal]
[#22]
Fuck that's cool.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:14:32 PM EDT
[Last Edit: beitodesstrafe]
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Notcalifornialegal: Fuck that's cool. Only if the vikings went off course for about 500-600 years. Eta: damn, I didn't beat your edit! |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:18:13 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By beitodesstrafe: Only if the vikings went off course for about 500-600 years. Eta: damn, I didn't beat your edit! Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By beitodesstrafe: Originally Posted By Notcalifornialegal: Fuck that's cool. Only if the vikings went off course for about 500-600 years. Eta: damn, I didn't beat your edit! The time-line doesn't QUITE line up. These Vikings would be from around 1000-1100 AD, but the Samurai are probably more like 1200-1300. So there's a bit of willing suspension of disbelief involved, on top of the fictional premise of the entire thing.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:19:50 PM EDT
[#25]
Do you know the 47 ronin?
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:20:30 PM EDT
[Last Edit: beitodesstrafe]
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DK-Prof: The time-line doesn't QUITE line up. These Vikings would be from around 1000-1100 AD, but the Samurai are probably more like 1200-1300. So there's a bit of willing suspension of disbelief involved, on top of the fictional premise of the entire thing. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DK-Prof: Originally Posted By beitodesstrafe: Originally Posted By Notcalifornialegal: Fuck that's cool. Only if the vikings went off course for about 500-600 years. Eta: damn, I didn't beat your edit! The time-line doesn't QUITE line up. These Vikings would be from around 1000-1100 AD, but the Samurai are probably more like 1200-1300. So there's a bit of willing suspension of disbelief involved, on top of the fictional premise of the entire thing. Maybe some offshoot of forgotten vikings in the New World survived and discovered the Northwest Passage. 
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:22:00 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By beitodesstrafe: Maybe some offshoot of forgotten vikings in the New World survived and discovered the Northwest Passage. THEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:22:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DK-Prof]
[#28]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By highstepper: Do you know the 47 ronin? That was actually not an inspiration for this (I assume you are talking about the diorama from the movie). But I was definitely reminded of it as I started working . I almost went to watch the movie again, just to look for it - because I was wondering what the scale was. My vague memory of the movie suggests that it might have been a bit larger than 1/72 |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:25:28 PM EDT
[#29]
I started filling in with Sculptamold (never using that bullshit again!
)  Then I just positioned everything where I kinda thought it would go, just to see if everything made sense.  Then I added a layer of Mod Podge  |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:28:50 PM EDT
[#30]
Definitely the coolest
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:29:22 PM EDT
[#31]
well done!
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:30:31 PM EDT
[#32]
Very nice.............eventually i am going to build a diorama, a sort of what if, that has German paper panzers counterattacking Russians in the Seelow Heights........my subjects will be Panther F tanks as well as Maus and E series vs IS-2, 3 and T-34/85..........
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:31:24 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DK-Prof]
[#33]
After some primer, I could start painting and adding some grass, shrubs, trees, rocks and stones and other effects. Making stone look natural can be tricky, usually involving both washes and dry-brushing.
Because the resin pour and curing (for the ocean) would be tricky, I wanted to do that as early as possible - so that if I ruined the whole thing, I hadn't spent too long on the other parts (if the whole thing needed to be trashed) - so at this point I focused on everything that would be under the water, or on the immediate shoreline ... including the Vikings who were working on salvage, who would be partly in the water.    This is the shark who grabbed a leg off one of the drowned Vikings (well, hopefully he was already dead). I wanted to try to make a "blood trail" effect that would be visible in the water, so I used so cotton wool that I painted red.     
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:33:13 PM EDT
[#34]
Excellent
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IA, USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:34:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: NoRobots]
[#35]
I too was a 40k and WHFB nerd at the very beginning (1989ish). I commend your work and you certainly gain +100 credits for the clear epoxy pour for the water scene. Bravo!
-87 points for obviously omitting the naked pearl diving Japanese female that should obviously play a critical role in the Viking landing party's selection of bays to land. |
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USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:39:21 PM EDT
[#36]
So , the guys carrying lumber to the boat. . . are they trying to fix it underfire ? Cause I don't think they can fix that. |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:43:14 PM EDT
[Last Edit: M1Zeppelin]
[#37]
You should sneak in an Easter egg of some kind. Like a single Warhammer figure or something.
Edit: I figured it out. A Darth Vader figure painted like a samurai. |
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CA, USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 4:52:07 PM EDT
[#38]
Wow, a lot of effort into that diorama.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 5:01:35 PM EDT
[#39]
Awesome!
 Definitely channeling your inner Michael Lonsdale. How's your beard and mane looking these days? 
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USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 5:16:12 PM EDT
[#40]
Very impressive.
Can't say I have ever seen a movie where Vikings battle Samurai. Perhaps there is the makings of a script here. "Some nerds might be curious (or argue) about which of them were better warriors, or whether a Viking longsword is "better" than a Samurai katana, and other silly dorky arguments." Sir, you are student of steel so the fact that you are mocking men who would debate what steel and tactics are better is deeply troubling. The Riddle of Steel is not something to be mocked or trivialized. Everyone knows the speed of a Samurai with his katana trumps the brute force of the Viking with his longsword. |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 5:20:16 PM EDT
[#41]
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Posted: 4/24/2024 5:22:23 PM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By CTM1: Very impressive. Can't say I have ever seen a movie where Vikings battle Samurai. Perhaps there is the makings of a script here. "Some nerds might be curious (or argue) about which of them were better warriors, or whether a Viking longsword is "better" than a Samurai katana, and other silly dorky arguments." Sir, you are student of steel so the fact that you are mocking men who would debate what steel and tactics are better is deeply troubling. The Riddle of Steel is not something to be mocked or trivialized. Everyone knows the speed of a Samurai with his katana trumps the brute force of the Viking with his longsword.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 5:23:54 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DK-Prof]
[#43]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By VEPR39: So , the guys carrying lumber to the boat. . . are they trying to fix it underfire ? Cause I don't think they can fix that. They are gathering salvage to allow them to build either shelter, or perhaps repurpose wood/planks into some kind of raft or smaller boat? They're still in the early stages of planning. As indicated by some of the shields and weapons on the beach, they are also salvaging weapons and equipment. If the Japanese hadn't shown up, they'd presumably start cutting down trees soon. |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 5:48:01 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DK-Prof: The time-line doesn't QUITE line up. These Vikings would be from around 1000-1100 AD, but the Samurai are probably more like 1200-1300. So there's a bit of willing suspension of disbelief involved, on top of the fictional premise of the entire thing. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DK-Prof: Originally Posted By beitodesstrafe: Originally Posted By Notcalifornialegal: Fuck that's cool. Only if the vikings went off course for about 500-600 years. Eta: damn, I didn't beat your edit! The time-line doesn't QUITE line up. These Vikings would be from around 1000-1100 AD, but the Samurai are probably more like 1200-1300. So there's a bit of willing suspension of disbelief involved, on top of the fictional premise of the entire thing. Kind of like the Final Countdown, but the Viking longship goes forward in time. |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 5:56:45 PM EDT
[#45]
Pretty damned cool! I’m sitting at my modeling bench right now working on some 1/32 Nazi shit.
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NJ, USA
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Posted: 4/24/2024 6:09:14 PM EDT
[Last Edit: bjjbrawler]
[#46]
Awesome! I love it. 9.98 out of 10. A floating face down Viking on the resin "water" surface with an arrow in his back would have been cool!
 Edit: Oops I forgot Samurai arent using bows here... doh! |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 6:47:30 PM EDT
[#47]
I'm still in awe of how well your resin pour went and how ot turned out. Really cool.
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Posted: 4/24/2024 6:50:47 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By guns762: I'm still in awe of how well your resin pour went and how ot turned out. Really cool. Ironically, the resin pour is the part I am LEAST happy with, and I feel like my impatience really screwed it up. 
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Posted: 4/24/2024 6:52:48 PM EDT
[Last Edit: DK-Prof]
[#49]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By bjjbrawler: Awesome! I love it. 9.98 out of 10. A floating face down Viking on the resin "water" surface with an arrow in his back would have been cool! Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By bjjbrawler: Awesome! I love it. 9.98 out of 10. A floating face down Viking on the resin "water" surface with an arrow in his back would have been cool! I wish I had thought of that! What a great idea. Edit: Oops I forgot Samurai arent using bows here... doh! No no, they absolutely have archers. There are a handful of them at top of the dirt trail, shooting down. ETA: These guys:  |
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Posted: 4/24/2024 6:53:20 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Kingdead]
[#50]
Nice job. If you wanna make more grass, I HIGHLY recommend investing in a static electricity grass applicator. Basically you spray PVA glue onto your surface and shake a hopper with your grass blades over it. There is a 9V battery that makes the grass stand up as you shake it and it dries in place. You can get extremely realistic looking grass with it.
 Attached FileAnd yea nice job with the resin pour. The characters are well positioned (they don't look like they are drowning) and the edges are clear with minimal bubbles. |
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