White Dwarf recently hit the momentous milestone of 500 issues, and as part of the celebrations members of the ’Eavy Metal team each spent months working on a series of dioramas that had to fulfil a simple brief: function as a cover for the world’s best Warhammer magazine.
These incredibly talented painters and modellers put together six incredible dioramas, drawing inspiration from covers of the past, famous pieces of art, and other such artefacts. We loved them so much that we spoke to the creators for more information – and as an excuse to publish more pictures!
Drew: I knew I wanted to do something cinematic inspired by the amazing art of Warhammer, something people could see and hear – a perfect snapshot of an epic moment.
I have always been fascinated by common men and women fighting the horrors of the grim far future, ever since I got my first plastic box of Cadian Shock Troops back when I was 12. The new miniatures all have incredible dynamic poses, and it clear to me that they were begging to be used for a diorama. The unbelievable number of options and combinations when you start mixing in other kits made it easy to give them all a sense of individuality.
After I’d settled on the idea of a Cadian squad disembarking out of a Chimera into the heart of battle, I mocked up and dry-fitted everything, creating a composition with no model in the middle. The hero of the diorama is the squad itself, not any individual, nor even Minka Lesk (the banner has a 7 marking her regiment). They are all equal in battle! The tank gunner helps to give some height to the diorama, and serves as a backdrop but without being too obvious.
I sculpted an interior for the Chimera myself, and used parts from the Cadian Command Squad, Heavy Weapons Squad, Cadian Upgrades, and Cadian Shock Troops kits to give each soldier a little backstory. There is the radio operator (who is screaming into his receiver but is otherwise in less of a rush than the rest) the medic, the banner bearer (clearly a veteran, without even a lasgun but ready to give his life for this symbol of the regiment). I only used heads that were grimacing or screaming to show the tension of the scene.
Kieran: When I first saw this Battle Standard Bearer on Royal Pegasus I knew I had to paint it – from the dynamic pose to the plethora of open space in which to freehand heraldry and patterns on the caparison and banner, it’s a painter’s playground.
I wanted to reference David Gallagher's art from the fifth edition Bretonnian Army Book cover, as well as the wealth of images available from the years of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Colour and pattern were the order of the day, and this was the perfect canvas to explore on.
I settled on a mix of two different heraldry colours as I wanted this model to be the standard bearer for Louen Orc-Slayer, but as he is mounted on a Pegasus I settled on Parravon as the second choice – being as it is the main home of Pegasus breeding in the Kingdom – so I offset the red, yellow, and white of Louen’s colours with the black and blue of that region.
The front of the banner displays the heraldry of King Louen, a red dragon on a split field of yellow and white, while the back has the standard bearer’s blue and black field, featuring an elaborate grail hinting that he has completed the grail quest. I really wanted to honour the tradition of freehand banners seen on ’Eavy Metal miniatures for many years and it was a great way to showcase my painting while paying tribute to the legacy of the team.
I offset the brash motley of the model with a fairly subdued base featuring a lot of dense mossy foliage and bracken, maybe familiar to anyone who has walked the landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. There is also a small forest sprite around the back which hints at the cordial relationship between the Kingdom of Bretonnia and the Wood Elves of Athel Loren.
Rowan: I have the absolute pleasure of getting to work on the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy, Warhammer: The Old World, and Necromunda as part of my job on the ’Eavy Metal team and these are great fun to paint with lots of grit, weather, and a gentle nod towards realism within the ’Eavy Metal style. Blood Bowl, on the other hand, lets us really cut loose and paint bright, bold, and (dare I say it) silly colour schemes! And this is what I wanted to paint for myself – a wacky, in-your-face fang-tasy football star. Why not!?
Lucky Number 7 was loosely inspired by David Gallagher’s brilliant art cover for the 2012 Vampire Counts Army Book. Featuring a vampire with a red cape and blue-toned armour, this image also appeared on the front cover of White Dwarf 385. I spent a great deal of time freehanding all of the various designs over the model including the cape mural, shoulder and ankle pads and the many, many pinstripes and tessellating designs incorporated into the various armour panels.
I hoped to create two effects with this model. There’s what you see from afar: big, bold, and punchy blocks of colour. And what you see when you get up really close to the model: the subtle variations in the blue stripes, the scuff and scratch marks within the armour, and the many small freehand motifs that aren’t as obvious at first glance.
Tom A: The Water of Lethis was inspired by the incredible art and background of the Cities of Sigmar, along with the epic, narrative feeling of so many iconic White Dwarf covers.
Designing the diorama involved several rounds of digital composition, where I would place potential models and colours to create the most interesting, balanced scene. The final plan was a ragtag group of heroes from the free city of Lethis with, of course, a Warhammer at the centre.
I acquired the help of several talented artists from the ’Eavy Metal Team. Tom B painted the Alchemite Warforger, Gavin the Freeguild Cavalier, Carlos the raven with the key and the water drop, Aidan the fish gargoylian, Max the raven gargoylian atop the Relic Envoy’s box, while I painted the Freeguild Marshal, Battle Priest, Goblet-bearer, and the entire base. A true team effort!
It was going to be tricky to keep a coherent, unified colour palette across the diorama with so many contributors, so this is where the pre-planned design and strengths of the ’Eavy Metal Team’s skills and style paid off.
There are a range of effects and details across the piece that bring it to life. You can find object source lighting in the runes on the Battle Priest’s club and Warforger’s cauldron, green-tinted metallics in the Cavalier’s armour reflecting a spectral sky, freehand on the Cavalier’s reigns and Marshal’s cloak, and a healthy dose of weathering and battle damage to show the struggle of the humans in the Mortal Realms.
Simon: Neil and I had a great time collaborating on this piece. We both love grots and we thought that there was a lot of fun to be had by creating a lighthearted duel between rival clans!
We wanted to paint something that was evocative of the classic ’Eavy Metal style with bold colour choices and vibrancy. This worked well with the old-school cover style chosen by the White Dwarf team.
Finally, Natalie chose to use her diomara to recreate the artwork of Yndrasta from the cover art of the third edition Warhammer Age of Sigmar Core Book, complete with the hideous Chaos environment.
The miniature had to be carefully cut and reposed to match the artwork, and conversion pieces include using Theddra’s head from the Godsworn Hunt warband to imitate the ferocity of the expression, and a flaming blade for Thengavr, taken from the Knight-Draconis kit.
Finally, the Chaos background is a mass of putty, Chaos bits, and beads for the many staring eyes, finished off with a clean paint job that allows Yndrasta to take centre stage.
This is just a taster of the awesome content you can find every month in White Dwarf. Issue 502 will be available for pre-order tomorrow, so make sure you pick up your copy.
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