"The conflict on Isstvaan III was the first battle in the history of the Imperium when Space Marines of the same Legion fought on opposite sides. Former comrades and brothers-in-arms became bitter foes. Betrayel and treachery abounded. On the devastated planet it was kill or be killed. No quarter was asked and none offered... "
- Visions of Heresy, Alan Merrett (2013)
I called this diorama complete today, mainly because I spent the half of my last allocated painting day trying to rework "just one more part" of a rather speedily assembled and painted project. Sometimes you just have to roll with it and call it done, knowing you could spend days repainting certain sections and washing/dry-brushing rocks until you are lost in internet image searches looking for the perfect boulder photo to copy with a certain mix of glazes!
The inspiration from this project came from a picture in the recently released Visions of Heresy, depicting Space Marines of Emperor's Children (the elite "Charosian") and Sons of Horus fighting in the battle for Isstvaan III. The "Eye of Horus" flag is being raised by (presumably) turncoat Emperor's Children over the defeated (loyalist) Sons of Horus who survived the virus bombing and orbital bombardment, represented by the deceased model in the lower left. Technically I should not have included plants as they should have died in the virus bombing, however I felt the basing needed something extra and the story is already quite detailed for what should just be seen as a "cool" diorama.
If I were to make this diorama again I would take more care in detailing the Rhino and Emperor's Children, as I found it difficult to paint in details which would have been present or more crisp on an official model, rather than the green stuff versions I have created. I also set myself a goal of painting the majority of the model using a new (to me) technique of "two brush blending", which I am still learning. Combined with the use of my new airbrush for base coating, it made for a speedy three week painting project with less than 40 hours total time a rough estimate. I enjoyed the challenge, and look forward to spending a little more time painting some upcoming projects, especially a few single model display pieces which I have not really attempted yet using my newer skill set.
You can find all the posts relating to this project by clicking on the "Charosian" tag, or on this link.
You can vote for this model over at Cool Mini or Not.