Well, Chris (the guy who built a model of Gormenghast) has made a purchase of the Maiden as well now. He intends to make some posters with it and CWU.

I have considered dioramas, but never something to hang on the wall, except as a way to store a piece. I want to see how it comes out, I have my suspicion that it will look incredible, but then he does 'art stuff' (graphic design and layout, with a degree in architecture) for a living.

Considering how fast he built Gormenghast I should have more info about it soon.

The weird thing is that he has no interest in these for gaming, he thinks of them as decorations.

The Auld Grump, his builds blow mine out of the water...

Man, if only he could find or design a way to store the models that looked like it was supposed to be that way!

I'd love to have them up on the wall in a semi-permanent diorama style that I could just pull off what I need.

You know, without the whole "thumbtacks" and the "looking like ass" thing.

I'll second the wishing you had a digital camera!

Maybe you could just give us progress reports, in lieu of actual images? I'd love to know that someone actually built that beast!

Well, he has a print that is serving as a backdrop, a cloudy grey sky and some buildings. The print is a painting of Commercial Street in Portland, Maine circa the 1870s. The Maiden will be replacing the prow of a ship that is shown on the print. The print itself is folded at the horizon.

The maiden is cut at 12.5 degrees, half of 45 degrees, for reasons that escape me. The road is modified from a cobblestone image he got from somewhere, narrowing from 5 inches to 3 as it runs diagonally to the back, coresponding to a gap in the buildings on the print at the back. I do not know where the cobblestone texture came from, but it makes a good road.

He has some buildings that he has put together from CWU, they are not square, but skewed, the ends of the buildings will parallel the front of the box while the sides will follow the road. Front buildings are taller than rear buildings. But he is calling the buildings 'dummies', so I don't know if they will be the final build or are only for test fits. None of them have roofs yet.

The box is about three feet wide, maybe a bit wider, two feet deep and a bit less than two feet high. He used the print for sizing the box.

That's as far as he has gotten so far, the Maiden's hull is not yet done, the decks have been cut out and angled.

The Auld Grump

"Strictly speaking it's against the license to make those mods, but it's only for my own use anyway and it seems WWG encourages kitbashing."

Only against the license if you use it for anything other than personal purposes. Kitbashing is great and a wonderful creative process that WWG definitely encourages....as long as you are not giving the digital textures and product to other people or trying to sell it.

Jon[/quote]

Or maybe he drank an eighth before posting...

Seriously, though, AuldGrump: thanks for the peek into this guy's progress. It sounds great, and I'm really hoping someone you know gets a digital camera!

Oh, dear lord, say it's not true, Grump! Rotary?

Suddenly my view of the world has gone back to normal. Chris is currently stalled on the project, and is talking about another, sillier project in the meantime.

Having watched Time Bandits again he is now thinking about making a Maiden hat... (Chris very slightly resembles the giant in that movie.)

My suspicion is that he will get back to the wall sculpture next week, and put off the Maiden hat either till Halloween or just forget about it as a passing fancy.

But I find the fact that he has stalled slightly comforting. Even if he gets back to the project next week he has shown that he is not immune to distraction, after the Gormenghast project I wodered...

The Auld Grump, who has had projects that have never been completed...