What is Your Dream Warhammer Crown Jewel?
We recently asked our community a simple question:
If you could have only one model of your choice (existing or not) that would become the absolute crown jewel of your collection, what would it be? How would you paint it?
We wanted to hear about your dream projects, custom Warhammer dioramas, and the crazy conversions you think about while painting troops. The answers we received were mind-blowing.
The hobby community is packed with endless creativity, and we had to share our absolute favorite entries from our recent giveaway.
The Ultimate Hobby Wishlist: Top 10 Centerpiece Concepts
Torbjørn’s Space Wolves Longship Diorama
“I would make a space wolves diorama where a battleforce crashes onto land in an actual Viking longship, ready to storm the village on the shore which is teeming with heretics.” – Torbjørn
Crashing a longship into a beach full of cultists is the absolute most Fenrisian way to start a fight. A massive, iron-reinforced wooden hull smashing through the waves right into enemy lines sounds incredibly cool. We can already picture the resin water effects splashing against the boat and the heavy battle damage on the shields lining the sides.
Erik’s Medieval Manuscript Imperial Knight
“I always dreamed of having an imperial knight and I would paint him like a medieval manuscript with flowers and those medieval rabbits. I once almost got one and I 3d printed some of those rabbits. They would be operating my titan.” – Erik
Those murderous medieval manuscript rabbits are legendary (looking at you, Monthy Python)! Putting them in charge of a massive Imperial Knight is exactly the kind of wild, creative thinking we love.
Painting the huge armor panels to look like aged parchment, complete with floral borders and chaotic rabbit battles, would look absolutely incredible on the tabletop.
Adam’s Aeldari Exodite Dinosaur Hunter
“A diorama of an Aeldari Exodite lord riding a velociraptor like dinosaur lizard hunting a Catachan guardsman in a jungle. Even a model like this would be an amazing addition to the 40k range!” – Adam
Everyone in the community is begging for official Exodites, and this idea proves exactly why! An Aeldari lord charging through thick jungle foliage on a deadly raptor sounds absolutely wild. Pitting them against a hardened Catachan guardsman makes for the ultimate survival matchup. Building a dense, alien jungle base for a high-speed chase scene like this would be incredibly fun.
We completely agree – the 40k range needs this immediately!
Daniel’s Necron Doomsday Ark in a Glass Bottle
“Necrons Doomsday Ark in a Glassbottle would be my crown jewel” – Daniel
Building a classic “ship in a bottle” is already a massive flex, but doing it with a Necron Doomsday Ark is just next-level hobbying. Figuring out how to fit those glowing ribs and the massive cannon through a narrow glass neck sounds like a beautifully crazy challenge.
Jarrit’s Khorne-Corrupted Commander Farsight
“Commander Farsight of the Tau if he had fallen to khornes influence. Sprouting large demonic wings from his once battlesuit thrusters and horns and spikes break through his armor revealing his new demonic screaming face as he still pilots his battlesuit.” – Jarrit
This is the ultimate “what if” scenario for T’au Empire fans. Fusing high-tech battlesuit armor with chaotic mutations creates a brilliant contrast. Sculpting daemonic wings bursting right out of the thrusters is an incredibly aggressive concept that would look absolutely awesome.
Jaydon’s Imperial Knight Workshop Diorama
“My model of choice is a project I am currently undertaking. It is an imperial knight questoris being built. The knight will be setup in a mechanicus workshop with multilevel platforms around it for workers, cranes and servo arms putting parts on.” – Jaydon
We are huge fans of “behind the scenes” dioramas. Surrounding an Imperial Knight with Mechanicus scaffolding, cranes, and tiny tech-priests is the perfect way to show off the insane scale of these machines.
Chris’s Warlord Titan Jacuzzi Party
“Warlord titan but instead of guns mounted on top, the titan has a private jacuzzi / hot tub on top where primarch guilliman and Yvraine are secretly enjoying coffee and biscuits together.” – Chris
Swapping out apocalyptic titan weapons for a relaxing hot tub date night is top-tier idea. It is a wonderfully absurd conversion that would definitely steal the spotlight at any local tournament.
Marc’s Apocalyptic Archaon vs. Be’lakor Duel
“For me, it would be a large-scale diorama depicting a duel between Archaon and Be’lakor at the very moment the world begins to burn around them. The focus wouldn’t be just on the two figures, but on the environment itself: shattered ground, warped ruins, and flames spreading as Chaos tears reality apart. I would paint it in a dark, dramatic style with strong contrasts: cold, oppressive tones for Be’lakor, almost swallowing the light, opposed to Archaon illuminated by hellish fire and corrupted glory. The surrounding blaze would serve both as lighting and storytelling, making the scene feel frozen in a single, apocalyptic second where gods, ambition, and damnation collide.” – Marc
Pitting the two biggest heavyweights of Chaos against each other is a fantastic concept. Using the burning environment as the main light source for the painting process is super ambitious. Balancing the cold, dark shadows of Be’lakor against the bright, hellish fire reflecting off Archaon’s armor would make for an epic display piece.
Chance’s Emperor on the Golden Throne
“The Emperor of Mankind would be my centerpiece model. He would be sitting on the Golden Throne. He would have a body that’s half alive and half machine. The top part of him would be shiny armor. Looking like a god. The bottom part of him would be all decayed and fused with machines and cables to hold together his corporeal form. The overall size would be around the size of a Knight. I would use gold colors that are not too bright for the armor. He would have skin that looks like bones. I would use a technique called OSL to make him glow. He would have a glow inside that would fade to cold blue at the edges. This would make him look like he is suffering. The Golden Throne and the room around him would be dark and broken. He would have eyes that look really clean.” – Chance Martinez
Tackling the Emperor of Mankind on the Golden Throne is the holy grail of custom projects. Scaling it up to Knight-size gives you so much room to play with the cables and decaying machinery. Using a cold blue glow against the bone-like skin and faded gold armor is a great technical choice to capture that grim, suffering atmosphere.
Brandon’s Necron-Infiltrated Custodian Dreadnought
“A robotified necron style custodian dreadnought where the necron wires shine under and throughout the regal golden armour to hint at the imposter in the order, standing above the plundered bodies of the ynnari forces of the drukhari fading to the webway” – Brandon
A Necron hiding inside the sacred armor of a Custodian Dreadnought is absolute tech-heresy, and we love it. Having xenos wiring glowing just beneath the regal gold panels creates a brilliant, creepy contrast. Basing it on top of fading Webway portals adds an awesome dynamic touch to the whole scene.
Your Wildest Ideas on the Tabletop
Reading through all these entries was great experience. These concepts are so incredibly cool that we might just have to build a few of them in the studio one day. Who knows?
Having a wild idea for a centerpiece is the best part of the hobby. Taking a saw to a massive, expensive kit like a Knight or a Titan can be intimidating. The fear of ruining a beautiful model stops a lot of great concepts from ever leaving the sketchbook.
That is where we step in. You provide the crazy concept – a hot tub on a Titan, a deeply corrupted T’au battlesuit, or a Necron ship in a bottle – and we handle the heavy lifting, the green stuff, and the brushwork. We want to help you build the crown jewel of your collection without the stress.
Ready to build something crazy? Send us a DM, and we will start planning your centerpiece.
Book a commission here.
