TerranScapes ~ Custom Terrain Gallery

Alien Diorama
(Completed 8/07)

For this unique project, the customer provided me with the two photographs below and requested I construct a diorama base that would model a marsh or swamp environment for action figures you see. These figures comprised an assortment of heavily converted action figures (to model Colonial Space Marines), an APC model, as well as some unmodified alien models.

The base was built in two halves and features a wide open area to accommodate the APC (vehicle on the right) as well as a marsh on the left. Vegetation was scaled up to match the models (approximately 100mm scale) better by the inclusion of negative space in the larger shrubs. The models were not fixed to the base to allow the customer to rearrange them to create multiple scenes or to add additional models as desired. No back drop was requested as the diorama is to be displayed on an open table viewable from multiple angles.

As a fan of the Alien movies, I wanted to capture the stealth and speed of the aliens as well as the chaos of the fire fights that involve them. A surprise attack by an alien from behind/over the APC as well as a leap from a nearby rock onto a blind-sided marine were developed to represent the movie depiction of the alien surprise attacks. These positions also help to bring a vertical element to the display.