Hello again after another little break, it is time to get it on with this monster article. The last couple of weeks found me very busy with life, work and love so with a little delay this one goes to its final post.

If you missed part one - check this link. 
If you missed part two - check this link.
If you missed part three - check this link. 

When I am done with all parts I will make a sum-up post and link it to the Article section of MV. Ok, here we go, part four is about finishing the project, getting close to Games Day and working harder on the details. Again it is not easy to explain everything in detail, but I hope you can follow my thoughts. If any questions might occour, please do not hesitate to ask them via comment.

 
Summary

...

17. Getting deeper into details
18. Checking the progress
19. More details
20. The tip of the iceberg
21. The Aftermath




17. Getting deeper into details

Well, I have to remember back to Summer while writing this.
The last 1,5 weeks on the diorama were spent without looking at the hour table as I just had to focus energies in getting it done in time: Games Day was approaching and when I remember back those last days felt totally strange. Could be explained as a dream, were I just got up, sat in front of it and went to sleep. So far around 430~450 hours of work have been pushed into the project and I just did not want to look at the hour table any longer. There is no real sense behind knowing how many hours you have spent on a project (it is maybe good to know if you plan to sell it in the end), in the end all that matters is how your project arrives out of all your time you spent on it.

So it was time for details again. Diving again. Diving deeper and deeper. I will explain what happened with the next photos:

Another "Angel" found its way into the project. Thanks to Bene who gave it to me as I was searching urgently. I beheaded him and put him to the base ... Well, not I beheaded him, in my vision it was a alien claw that ended the flight of that poor little fella ... at the moment I don't find a photo of him where you can see him in the diorama. Will bring that one up with the finished photos.



 Overall you can say I did push the contrast further while diving into the project for the last days. Always trying to do so in the aspect of painting a big picture. So all should stay on a constant level of painting. I had to walk every step through everything before aiming for the next step to keep that constant level of painting. For example if I would have spent too much time on one single Tyranid and this one would pop out too much, all of the rest had to follow. Again, I realized I am not painting on a single model, I am painting 127.



 I started to add some ugly strings with UHU Glue to make the Aliens even more alienish ...


That Terminator over there was the thoughest one to reach ...
Here yo can spot the beheaded servitor guy ... on the lower right front: 
I added small plastic molten pieces to the fist of the Cybot to make it nasty with alien blood later on and to catch the speed of the movement. Also added those to some Aliens to make them look even more alienish ...















The ugly headshot on one of the Aliens was also prepared with the Blood Drop technique.





Blood of the Marines was placed where a mess was going on. Also put some of it to some Aliens mouth and claw areas to make the ongoing battle more authentic.

I used Tamyia Smoke to add Alien blood where it was needed. Dark and mainly black Alien blood.



18. Checking the progress
Step by step and very I was closing in to finish all the parts on my progress bar list. As you can see some are already done and on some I added one frame with a "D" that means details are still missing here. I also added a new bar to the right which shows the final overall detail work progress that I planned to add during the last 4 days before the Games Day.

Looking good in the overview now, but still detail work to do. No minute until games Day will be lost. Every minute that is pushed into the project will change it, hopefully to a better piece :D ....

With details in this case I mean, cleaning up here and there, pushing the contrasts further in the whole piece as good as I can, putting even more focus on areas important. My mind was long gone over the Styx. Still the angel is not yet in his place ...


19. More Details
While Games Day approaced and the days were ticking by I concentrated my brushwork of brining out areas which catch my eye while looking at the big picture. The Lictor in front, the cybot, the marines, some aliens ... all of those did recieve some final treathment. I decided to put another Servo-Skull into it but building it with a little scratch ... prepared some additional Purity Seals for the Cybot with that skull ...


Well, basicly I can tell that those last days have been spent with such detail work. Pushing and pushing until the time is over ... and Games Day arrives ... and pushing :D

20. The tip of the iceberg
Finally itwas time to sit at the Angel again. That one fella who demonstrates "Hope" in that diorama. 
Again, I sat down to push the areas further on the model. More contrast everywhere. More light to the wings ...


During a little break I asked myself how this guy must feel and I found an impression with a selfie. I guess this is how he looks under his helmet:



So this guy is really not convinced about the outgoing of that battle ... I thought, he should be wounded too and I added a little drop of blood that is repeating the whole dynamic moving of the whole big picture.



 Ok, Friday night, before Games Day I had to put the Angel on top. I can't really describe the moment when I did so. After these many hours, weeks, days, nights, months, minutes I was sitting in front of the big picture, it was time to see it finally come together. I was happy to have my good friend Martin in the Studio on this last day. I know him back from the time when I used to become a teacher and he is such a great person. He is not painting any figures at all, but he stayed a long time with me, as he was really fascinated how this all comes together. He really enjoyed seeing the fine little details added in the end and told me that he thinks this is really cool. He just saw some finished figures so far from me, but this time he was live in the middle of the action. Seeing that little details can take you hours ...

My workspace started to look empty already ...


... but when I looked inside my cabinet I felt proud. Very.

I really enjoyed how the light situation I painted to the piece got even more intensified by the light of the cabinet, which gave the inspiration. Looking at this I really did not understand that I made that. I just knew I was tired, my mind was completly off the hook but it felt great to see it all come together and finished. Still knowing that the main idea works, even if there are 127 figures in it.


Well the only thing I had to think of now was how to get this to Cologne in one piece. As I know its dimensions by heart I was sure it won't fit in my usual figure transport box. So I headed to Ikea and bought a big plastic box to carry it. This was not the final solution as I was able to build "the Last Light - Transport box" some weeks after the Games Day ...



 
21. The Aftermath
Well I thought I was done with that piece, but I even caught myself adding something the night before Games Day. A neverending story and Games Day ended it. Thankful I was about that. I was thankful that I did this project as I learned a lot from it. A lot about myself, a lot about madness, a lot about loneliness, a lot about focus, a lot about motivation, a lot about how to avoid heat, a lot about Space Marine poo and Alien Slime. Much in fact.

Special thanks to my girlfriend Anna, to Bene, Phil, Valerie, Hon and Thomas.

I  learned that I can do such big projects. I learned that I will not do it very often. My summer 2013 was basicly spent in a bunker and I really missed many cool days of Summer. In the end this diorama won me Gold in the Diorama category and the Slayer Sword at German Games Day 2013.

Well, if you are interested in some Kong Fu about the Games Day, here you go:

Games Day Germany 2013 - Kong Fu, part 1
Games Day Germany 2013 - Kong Fu, part 2
Games Day Germany 2013 - Kong Fu, part 3

I hope you enjoyed this step by step. In the next days I will sit down, sum everything up and will finally have the 360° video and photos ready from "the Last Light" ...

Slowly it starts to feel that there is an end in sight. 450 hours + and 127 figures later ... :D

Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes
Roman