The Cave

[sberry]

It was great fun building the villa diorama, and equally so presenting it afterwards here to an audience of model-making experts.

But every now and then I need a break from the meticulously researched, as accurate as possible, historical projects. Then it's time again for a little bit of alternative history, letting my “Romans in Outer Space” having a new adventure.

This time, the ultimate trigger for the project was a very simple one: I noticed that I still had a huge amount of cable duct (from an earlier diorama project, in fact), for which there was no reasonable use:



To create alien structures from this, all you need is a sharp knife and a perverse mind:



But what could the scenario be? I came up with this idea:

Pythia, the prophetess on the oracle planet Delphi IX, was for a long time known as a wellspring of knowledge and wisdom. But over the eons, her form and character have changed so drastically that she has lost all traces of humanity: exposed for millennia to the toxic fumes of the oracle cave and assimilating the knowledge of the darkest desires of myriads of seekers, Pythia on her tripod has mutated into a creature of profound malevolence. Death and destruction await those foolish enough to seek a prophecy. It is high time the Roman Empire sent the Space Marines!

The Roman marines are some 32 mm figures from an “Aliens” board game by GF9:

[sberry]

Next, we need a Pythia, of course:





(I think this creature may be inspired by the main character in “Slither”, see here https://www.imdb.com/de/title/tt0439815/ - but be warned: This is definitely one of the most disgusting movies ever!)

And here we have the construction of the oracle cave:

[Santi Pérez]

A very promising start to another one of your projects, Stephan, although this time it’s on a larger scale.

Rest assured that this admirer of yours will be following it with great interest.

Santi.

[Iceman1964]

Ohhhh, nice, a new "Sberry project" starting
I'll follow it carefully, since the beginning it seems really intriguing
Enrico

[sberry]

Dear Santi and Enrico, thank you so much for your encouragement! There is hope that this project will progress much faster than the villa I started in 2022 (based on even older research on Pliny's estates, dating back to 2012...).

Here are the skulls that will be scattered all over the cave floor. They were 3D printed:



I usually clean everything with soap or alcohol before painting, but washing 85 skulls individually (I didn't count them) seemed a terrible nuisance, so I came up with this solution:

[MABO]

Another dashing project! Cool to see something completely different. I will follow!

[sberry]

Cool to see something completely different.

Something different, indeed. The next “real” diorama projects in the pipeline will be in certain aspects similar to the villa scene: A combination of land – with some architecture – and water – with a ship. I have discovered that really I like to have this combination in a scene. Therefore, I decided it would be good to have something in between that is really different.

Here Pythia shows up for a first test with her tripod:





And there are even more tentacles; it is really disgusting to see what damage can be caused by merely half a package of Milliput (no cute dolphins this time, sorry):

[sberry]

Besides the skulls, there is other stuff scattered on the floor, too. You know, the typical dirt of an alien cave; all in all it will be quite a dirty diorama, I have to confess:





And the diorama will need a suitable background, we had that topic before. Since my own stock of holiday photos does definitely not include pictures of alien oracle planets, I had to resort to AI generated pics again. I wanted something with an atmosphere similar to H.R. Giger’s fantastic work, so I played around with photos of real caves, until I got results like these:









None of these picture will be used in the final version, but you get an impression of what I want.

[Iceman1964]

wow, impressive pictures, your ambitions are high but I'm confident you will reach them !!

[JurgenH]

I'm also curious to see what you'll come up with.
Jürgen

[sberry]

your ambitions are high

An interesting remark. I think you're right, this project is ambitious in that I'm trying to achieve that dark and dystopian look, like the kind you see in the fantastic Alien films.

On the other hand, I see it more as a fun project, a little relaxation in between other things, than as something particularly ambitious:

- The figures at this large scale are much easier to paint than my usual 1/72 scale figures.

- I can basically do whatever I want here: For ancient Roman architecture, there are tons of archaeological evidence as an unavoidable reference, but for an oracle planet… no one can tell me if I've done it right or wrong.

- The scene's dark atmosphere means that everything will be dimly lit, which generously hides painting mistakes and the like!

[Santi Pérez]

I think any of the AI-generated images you've found would make the perfect setting for an alien diorama, Stephan. In fact, looking at them has given me the same creeps as when I watch the Alien movies.

Santi.

[sberry]

Dear Santi, on these AI generated pictures one can see a number of structures that are not well-defined and one cannot really tell what they actually are. This is a common problem with AI pictures – but in this case, it is for me a welcome feature, adding to the mysterious atmosphere of the scene…

Here we have the Space Marines. The figures are assembled now and I have Romanized them a bit, by adding swords and a crest for the centurion (from a Victrix set of Imperial Romans).
I would have liked the idea of adding shields, too, but that would have been awkward in the end: For most poses, there is just no reasonable way to add a huge Roman scutum to a figure holding firearms in their hands, I think.

[sberry]

A test on the diorama base. The skulls have been added, and Pythia has now glued on the appendages. That was a bit tricky, as there's no peg-and-hole system or anything similar to fix them in place. Therefore, I first used superglue to hold everything in the correct position, and then two-part epoxy resin for added stability.

[elegantmess]

I really like that crest.

[Santi Pérez]

I love the gladius each figure carries and the centurion’s crest, Stephan. It gives them a special, strange, exotic touch by blending futuristic elements with others from the distant past, but it looks brilliant. I also agree with you that the scutum, unlike the gladius, wouldn’t have looked very good on the figures.

And the test of the figures on the base looks really great, even though there’s still work to be done.

Santi.

[Susofrick]

This looks like a big project! Will be cool to see it finished!

[sberry]

I also agree with you that the scutum, unlike the gladius, wouldn’t have looked very good on the figures.

Yes, but it's a pity, I think: I love this hard plastic set by Victrix, the sculpting and casts of the figures with excellent detail. But yet, no use for the scutum...

Meanwhile, I have started painting/spraying the cave. First, some uniform brown and grey layers, using water-based acrylic spray paint:

[Iceman1964]

I love how it's growing !
for the shields, why not putting them on the shoulders (as a backpack of the soldiers with the firearms) transported to be used only when firearms are no more usable (close quarters with gladium) ?

[sberry]

for the shields, why not putting them on the shoulders (as a backpack of the soldiers with the firearms) transported to be used only when firearms are no more usable (close quarters with gladium) ?

You are abolutely right, this is a very plausible idea and actually I was tempted to do this.
I decided against this solution because I felt it would be a bit like cheating: The figures have nice details of armour and equipment and stuff, also on their backside - covering the back with those huge shields would mean I don't have to paint it. A great temptation for a lazy painter like me, but I probably won't do that. Right now, I am focused on the cave, so the final decision on the figures has to wait...