A guide to good looking bases

[Ray K.]

• Take a file and make the "cross" pattern anywhere you damn well please.
  
• Take a tank brush or other brush you don't mind messing up and heavily "stipple" Beastial Brown... that is to say STAB the base repeatedly with Beastial Brown.
  
• Take a 50/50 mice of Beastial Brown and Snake Bite Brown and stipple base again... not the entire base though. You'll geta feel for it.
  
• Take pure Snake Bite Brown and stipple again.. again even less and even lighter.
  
• Finally do an EXTREMELY LIGHT drybrushing of Bleached Bone over the top when it's done.
  
• Finish it off by painting any type of glyph or rune or whatever you feel like. First paint the glyph or rune in Shadow Grey and then go over it in Bleached Bone. That's how I do it anyway.

That may help a little bit.

[Cadian 21st]

- I'll post up a tutorial tomorrow. I just couldn't remember how to subscribe without posting, lol.

- Anyways...I like the idea of filing the base rather then adding more junk to it. Pert (I think you're the one), are you using normal sand/gravel?

- Hmmm, my method is with sand/gravel/scattergravel from the local work yard with some potting moss. The potting moss cost me about $3.00 (CAN) for a bag the size of those tank boxes. I just cut it up into little bits (looks kinda like weed when I put it in the lil snack baggies, lol!), then sprinkle it over the base. White glue works best, IMO, 'cause it's cheap and dries clear. I haven't bothered with the urban base look on normal models, though I play with it on the big 50mm? The Heavy Weapon Team bases... Mmk, I'll go make a base and post it up here - I feel inventive and it should only take me a few minutes.

[Cadian 21st]

K, I started!


1. Hehe, I just used a spare WHFB slotta base I had kicking around.


2. Allright, since it's a slottabase, I've gotta fille the hole, right? Rather then wasting Green Stuff, I use this oven-dry clay I bought a while ago for a dollar or two. At the time I thought it was air-drying, lol. Anyways, it works great for filling holes. By the time I'm done with a base, there's enough glue on top to keep it from falling out! And even if it does, who cares? The "base" will still hold. It's like scaffolding...but for a base.

http://photobucket.com/albums/f217/C...nt=Pics003.jpg
3. I'm lazy and primer my bases so that the paint will apply more readily. It only takes a few minutes to dry anyways. The pimer came out bad...oh well, it was from a can I thought was empty, lol. Yes, I use grey primer - it works a helluva lot better then black or white IMO.

[Cadian 21st]

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ik/Pics005.jpg
1. Here we go, I added some paint. I'm not quite sure why I add paint...I used to think it was in case any gravel chipped off, or whatnot, but it never has. Anyways...I still apply paint to the top. I paint each choice a different colour along the edge of the base - I've done that ever since I found out that I'm absolute crap at decals. If I were looking for some rubble and such then I'd have added it before priming. Oops, shoulda done that...oh well.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ik/Pics004.jpg
2. Some of my sands and grass.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ik/Pics006.jpg
3. Apply a coat of glue over the base. I used some old wood glue 'cause that's all I could find, but anything will do.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ik/Pics007.jpg
4. Next, dip the base in sand like so.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ik/Pics008.jpg
5. Clear away any debris along the edge and let dry. It's best to let this dry overnight or for a few hours. In this demonstration, I've probably let it sit for about 1min before playing some more.

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ik/Pics009.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ik/Pics009.jpg
6. Now, add some grass, and let sit!


7. As a finishing touch, I blow the fine gravel over my model and base to create a dusty look.

(P.S. My pictures are absolutely awful, sorry! I blame the lateness...I'll try to take some better pictures tomorrow, I just got so excited! lol...)

[skavenguy13]

http://www.hobbyhawk.com/Tutorials/M...xTutorial.html
Good tutorial for lava bases I guess: the dude won the slayer sword with it.

I have 3 kinds of bases: grass, snow and rock&grass.

Here's 5 wolves:

the middle one is on a small knife-sculpted pink styrofoam base with only grass, I didn't put rocks on it. I painted the foam green and then put a lot of static grass with Krazy Glue. I tried my normal plastic glue, but it melted the foam. I did the same with other wolves, but no foam underneath. What I do to glue the grass is I dip the whole base (and the legs) into the bag of grass, shake, remove from the bag, and then tap the base to remove excess.

Note that you can also paint the edges of the foam in black, then drybrush with codex grey and shadow grey, with white highlights if you want. And then just put grass on top and a little bit on the edges. That gives a more "rocky cliff" look:



The snow:

This involves product-mixing. I used wood glue, lots of baking soda, water and a tiny bit (very small) of Ice blue. IIRC it's 3 parts soda, 1 part glue, 1 part water, but I may be wrong. Next, we simply use a toothpick to mix it well (it's rather thick) and use an old brush to put it on the bases. To make it more smootly, I dipped my brush in water when I finished a base and "painted" it, to make it more curvy than square-y. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the results yet, but it is pretty good.

Grass&rocks:

this is very simple. You need extremely small rocks, almost sand. Put glue on the base, dip the base in the rocks and remove excess. Then, put glue on the base at the places you want: it can be all-grass, or only small spots of grass. Again, dip and remove excess. If you want few big rocks here and there, just go outside, grab a few on the ground and come back to glue them. I use wood glue for this type of basing.



Note that with dark-brown sand and grass and few little rocks, I got a "dirt&grass" result, but it wasn't that good.

[Rabid Bunny 666]

no pics, but my old Urban bases:

*PVA base and flock in GW sand
*wait until PVA dry, Flesh Wash the sand
*when Flesh Wash is dry, drybrush Codex Grey
*Drybrush base Fortress Grey
*Drybrush lightly Skull White

edit: and why is Pert banned?

[Orcdom]

@tagsta, what is the rock made from?
Steve

[binary]

well the bases I use for my Imperial guard army are simply freshly ground pepper and static grass superglued in random patches over a dark angels green base



just a thought.....

[cookiescrumble]

Nice thread! I'll post some piccies/tutorials on how my bases go when i get my urban basing kits to play with.

[dancingmonkey]

its alll ooking good chaps.
try www.brushthralls.com for some ideas for super display bases and other painting goodness.

[spikedog]

I just want to say a great big thanks to everyone who posted a tutorial in this thread, there are some mighty fine looking bases and as I have been looking for a basing scheme for my new army this was just what I needed.

[Still learning]

For my vostroyan Army i'm working on.







to see more or my army the link is in my sig below.

[Orcdom]

this was a good thread maybe someone will add pics to it to continue it instead of bitching?

BTW that middle picture above what is the plastic bit half covered? i cant wuite make it out.

Steve

[devolutionary]

Looks like half a mortar to me

[spikedog]

Well seeing as how you re-opened this thread I may as well try and get it going again with my own contribution.

1. Glue down some small rocks and/or gravel to the base,
2. Cover the gravel with a 50/50 mix of grey and PVA glue,
3. Wash the Gravel with a watered down black ink,
4. Drybrush highlight gravel with original grey colour,
5. Drybrush highlight gravel with slightly lighter grey or white,
6. Paint the areas you want the snow to go with pure white,
7. Paste on the mix of snow going slightly over the white painted areas so it the gravel/rock colour will slightly show through,
8. Leave to dry and it should look something like this,

Now my snow mix is pretty standard but I will list it here for people that haven't tried it before.

It consists of roughly:

• 40% PVA Glue,
• 40% Bicarbonate of Soda/Baking Soda
• 20% Water

All mixed together in a pot and then applied liberally to the base.

Hope this might have helped someone and if you want to see more of my snowy bases check out my 'nids in my sig.

[Orcdom]

nice and thank you for continuing the thread.
nice base

Steve

[Ethereal]

thanks for the tip on snow bases, winter has reached the empire!
Check it out here http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47523

[druchii]

Well seeing as how you re-opened this thread I may as well try and get it going again with my own contribution.

<SNIP>

Now my snow mix is pretty standard but I will list it here for people that haven't tried it before.

It consists of roughly:

• 40% PVA Glue,
• 40% Bicarbonate of Soda/Baking Soda
• 20% Water

All mixed together in a pot and then applied liberally to the base.

Hope this might have helped someone and if you want to see more of my snowy bases check out my 'nids in my sig.

I'm slowly painting up an army of Ogres, for my new Ogre Kingdom army. I've got the majority of the painting down (although looking at threads like this make me jealous!) but I still can't figure the bases out.

As much I love the way snow looks on bases, I'm completely stumped.

I'm assuming that Bicarbonate of Soda is just standard "arm and hammer" baking soda, from any grocery store.

Is this generally the "best" way to go?

I've heard basic scenery snow turns yellowish a few months into use. I'm speculating that this is a by-product of the glue used, but I thought it would be worth a try.

Obviously snow looks best when "broken" up, that is mixed with other bits of "stuff". But what sort of stuff? Also, how much snow should be on the bases? I'm thinking roughly 60-80% would be best, to get the "it's snowing!" feel acrost.

Grass doesn't seem to be the way go, as it would either be dead, or missing alltogether in a mountain setting (especially in the Mountains of Mourn).

So would gravel highlighted up to a dark grey look good enough?
My ogres are rather "stony" looking (with a very grey-ish version of the Army Book skin tone) and I think this might look sort of neat.

Also, do you find that stones from the street of yard offer the best variety? Or are there sorts of stones that one can buy?

I primarily want to take up the "open" space on the bases, and make the shape of the snow more natural-ish.

Alot of questions, and I apologize. To recap:
Baking soda?
Is gravel good enough?
How much snow?

Thanks!

d

[spikedog]

I assume that due to the quote of my post that these questions were aimed at me, so I will give as much help as I can.

I'm assuming that Bicarbonate of Soda is just standard "arm and hammer" baking soda, from any grocery store.

Is this generally the "best" way to go?

Yes it is, I just put Baking Soda for simplicity, but make sure you get Soda and not Powder as one will make a thick snowy paste and the other will make a mess.

I find it better than using the GW brand snow effects but I must admit I haven't tried Woodland Scenics snow, which I have heard to be good.

Obviously snow looks best when "broken" up, that is mixed with other bits of "stuff". But what sort of stuff? Also, how much snow should be on the bases? I'm thinking roughly 60-80% would be best, to get the "it's snowing!" feel acrost.

I have gone for more of a 80-100% coverage but that is because I based my 'nids with the idea that they are on a frozen planet where no vegetation has ever grown.

If you were going for a mountainous look then I think 60-80% would be better, however I think you would need to put a bit of vegetation in there. Maybe some static grass or reeds or something.

I did try using grass but decided it didn't go with the cold look of my ''nids, what I did was simply paint an area brown then glue the grass onto that, when it came to the snow if you push it up to close to the grass and use water on the edges to make it go over the snow just slightly it will look like the grass is melting the snow around it. Try it out on a spare base before you go putting on your Ogres though.

Also, do you find that stones from the street of yard offer the best variety? Or are there sorts of stones that one can buy?

I use store bought modeling gravel but I think it would work just as well from the street just make sure it is small enough and that you wash it before using it.

Also just as a tip, you see above where I painted the areas white that the snow would fall on, this is so important, make sure you do this or the snow will look really crap as it is quite transparent when dry.

When you have it in the rough places you want it then you can dip a largish brush in some water and use it to smooth the snow out and to push in to gaps you may have missed. I strongly suggest practicing on a few bases before you put it on your Ogres though, I think I made about 6-7 test bases before I had it good enough for a real base.

All in all, good luck and make sure you share your final product with us all here on Warseer!

[druchii]

I assume that due to the quote of my post that these questions were aimed at me, so I will give as much help as I can.
SNIP
All in all, good luck and make sure you share your final product with us all here on Warseer!

It was actually aimed at anyone kind enough to help.
So in that vein, thanks!


All in all, top-notch advice, thank you again.
I figure after I fiddle with a few more units, I'll scavenge a few oldschool models with similar sized bases, and practice with snow, gravel and such.

Would lichen and the "shrub" stuff look decent?
Most of the photos I've seen of mountainous regions (and those surrounding tucson, arizona) tend to have sparce, hearty vegetation.
Often it stays green through the winter, and snow.

I'm thinking of a gravelley base, starting black, and working to a medium grey. From there, the snow will litter the majority of the base (60-80 as we agreed) and possibly a few patches of modelling shrub or lichen-ish material.

I'm really looking for "tabletop" quality with a bit of the "wow!" factor that snow adds.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

d