Doctor Who Diorama

(This is a project I actually did quite awhile ago that got a good response via Twitter and some forums, but I never got a chance to write it up here.)

My brother-in-law is a big fan of Doctor Who - last Christmas, it seemed like there was a "homemade" theme happening with the gifts on that side of the family, so I decided to make a diorama for him.  I had seen Slayer Sword winner David Soper's amazing take on a Doctor Who theme, and decided to give my own a shot.  (Spoiler alert: mine's nowhere near as good as his  :-)

The first thing I needed was a base, but I needed a fairly large one for what I had planned - I found this one on eBay:

It's a little bigger than six inches across - it's meant for 1/72 wargaming (it actually came with a 1/72 tank and some ruined terrain, which went into the bitz box).

Next I cut some foamcore board to a random shape and glued it down:

Then I mixed up some plaster of paris and spread it on with a plastic knife (just like buttering a big 'ol biscuit:)

For the miniatures, I used a Nerdlord II and an Emily Lake from Heresy Miniatures:

I started mocking up some scenery with some tree & root armatures from Woodland Scenics:

...and some tombstones from Antenocitis Workshop:

The T.A.R.D.I.S. is a police box from Ainsty Castings:

The Weeping Angels are "Scary Statues" from Crooked Dice:

Primer:

Painting:

Working on scenery:

I re-scaled some logos for the police box and glued them to some thin cardboard:

I wanted more scenery details, so I picked up some various types of foliage from Army Painter and Secret Weapon Miniatures:

I thought it needed a "final touch", so I found a seller on eBay to make an engraved nameplate for the piece:

Final product:

Overall I pretty happy with how it turned out - it could have been a bit better, but I was under a deadline.  I might have also ordered enough other models to make my own Doctor Who diorama (with my favorite Doctor & companion), so look for it in the future!

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

...so I have no intention of regularly covering Lego in this blog (CounterFett already does a good job at that) but I thought this was pretty cool, so I figured I'd throw it up here.  See, years ago I had a 1972 Volkswagen Westfalia camper that was very dear to me:

Eventually it became obvious that I had neither the time, space, or money to give it the attention it deserved, so I decided to sell it.  I took some solace in the fact that I sold it to one of the most active members of the local Volkswagen bus owner's club, so I figured at least it would get lots of use.  Unfortunately a few months later, the new owner was driving the bus through the streets of Cincinnati when someone ran a red light and T-boned him, totaling the van.

Regardless, I still love the old VW vans, and hope to own another one someday.  A couple of years ago my Mom was asking my wife what to get me for Christmas, and she tipped her off about this:

(Okay, it's a Type I, not a Type II, but still - it's awesome)

(There is long history of my Mom giving me Lego sets for Christmas - when I was kid, I always got the requisite clothes (bleargh), some books (which I actually liked, 'cause I'm a nerd), but my "big" Xmas gift most years was one of the large Lego sets.  Usually one of the "Space" -themed sets.  Those were my favorite).

We had recently moved when I got this kit, so it got stored with my hobby stuff in the basement.  I finally got around to building it and had a blast!

(I picked up a display case to keep everyone's grubby mitts off it!)