Spectral Dark Angels by Jon Law
What better way to visually depict the grimdark atmosphere of 40K warfare than being photographed in the style of Jon Law's models?
The collection featured here is primarily based upon the Dark Angels from the Dark Vengeance box set, with the addition of Sammael, Asmodai and an excellent Azrael conversion. In their own right these are all beautifully painted models. The treatment of their robes and armour shading for instance is outstanding. And they are all beautiflly based. I particularly like the Deathwing Knights moving through a corridor. But the models themselves aren't the whole story here as these are really fully-fledged, carefully staged and photgraphed dioramas within their own landscaped universe.
The extensive terrain within which they are set is just amazing. But how is it all done?
Terrain build times really depends on the subject. They range from a few hours to many sessions of building and painting. Adding lights, if done from the outset is relatively easy, retrofitting them once a building is constructed can be more time consuming!
Jon Law
Because Jon is using smoke a lot of the time, most of the buildings are unfinished — the details being hidden in the gloom! To generate the smoke Jon uses a small FogTech smoke machine. They're very cheap, but it's worth spending when it comes to the liquid. He tried a cheap brand, but it had a musty smell and dissipated pretty quickly. The expensive liquid has a lovely scent and fills the room much better, and remains airborne for ages. And there are no issues with residue being deposited on the models either, which is good!
More evocative atmospheric 40K dioramas can be seen on Jons' flickr page.
