I decided fairly confidently at the start of the year, that despite my lack of ability, skill and experience, I would attempt to create something for Armies on Parade. When last years event showed off it's winners and entries, I was utterly in love with the creativity and originality, bringing more of a miniature world to miniature painting through the dioramas that housed the miniatures.
Thus, just short of a year later, I am now starting on my own entry. Deciding on what army and style of diorama came pretty quickly to me, as by the end of last year, I had created a colour scheme on a couple of Tzeentch models that I felt was both satisfying to paint and to look at. This helped make the decision that the army in question for AoP (you liked that, didn't you?) would indeed be Tzeentch. This in turn also solidified the style of diorama I was going to make, killing two blue and mutated birds with one stone.
I spent the first half of the year slowly painting up a sizeable Tzeentch force, in-between a multitude of other projects and commissions, ensuring I was making some form of progress towards AoP. By the start of summer, I was still enjoying painting more units to add to the force, so it set the decision in stone, that I was absolutely going to create something for AoP.
Feeling a little intimidated by the DIY venture I was about to embark on, I had many a lengthy discussion with a friend about how to take on this undertaking; the right materials to use/equipment needed. With a rough idea how I wanted to create the board, I bought a large piece of plywood, and then cut it to the specifications set by Games Workshop to make it a viable entry.
During this process, I had an epiphany of how the board and diorama had to be designed. I knew that to make it in theme with Tzeentch and give it a little bit of an edge, I wanted to incorporate the eye of Tzeentch somehow. The initial plan was to create terrain that resembled an eye when looked at from above. However, I felt this would easily get lost, and didn't also allow for much space for the miniatures themselves. This is when the lightbulb turned on for me, realising I could use the symbol of Tzeentch in some form, for this plan instead. Looking from above, it would be far more recognisable, plus it allowed a lot more space on the ground. The thought process behind the idea was now completed, and my mind felt a hell of a lot less intimidated by the undertaking in front of me. Now this conceptual idea just had to become a reality. I then spent the entirety of the summer doing nothing more for the board, but painting up more Tzeentch miniatures, as well as finishing some other projects, like painting the entirety of the Leviathan box.
That brings us to today, where the real work now begins... Did you like that suspenseful cliffhanger there? No? Oh well. You'll just have to make sure you catch Part II to sate your unimpressed thirst for more.
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