Desert bases for dummies by Hash :)

How to convert or sculpt a miniature? How to make a decent base or even a full diorama?!
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hashmallum

Desert bases for dummies by Hash :)

Post by hashmallum »

I'll post it here, so maybe someone will benefit from it ;)

Ok so here we go ;)

All we need is
1. A tad of cork
2. Some miliput tiles

ImageClick to see full-sized image

To prepare miliput tiles you will need :

a. Miliput ;)
ImageClick to see full-sized image
b. some foil (e.g taken from a shop bag - not too rigid - we need it to give the tiles a texture)
c. About 6 hours

First of all you need to mix both the ingredients for miliput.
Then you place it between 2 sheets of foil, and flatten with something (I used a regular jar) you can use a roller too ;) (the flatter the material, the thinner tiles you get)
The foil will give the desired texture to the miliput
Then we leave the flattened piece of miliput on a radiator, or in any warm place.
After about 6 hours the tile will be hard and ready for crumbling ;)

We need to get some small tiles.

I'm using a regular cork as a base for the whole thing - the cork gives a better 'grip' for the super glue and allows to pin the mini to the base ;).

So first of all we glue some cork to the base - using super glue.
Then we add the tiles - try to place them so that they look like naturally- like cracked ground or something. You can also change the degree of the tiles- you don't have to place them flat - cutting off some cork vertically at an angle allows to get nice rocks ;)

You can add the tiles at different levels, and generally there are endless possibilities to preapre a base this way :P

After you glue the tiles to the base it looks like this:

ImageClick to see full-sized image

then you take
PVA glue and some sand.
Add the sand in random spots, wait untill it dries and it's ready!

All you have to do is to check whether your mini fits on the base ;) - if it doesn't you can still ad some tiles, or use any other means necessary to fix the problem.

Now for the painting
Spray the base black, use additional brush to paint the hidden areas black - it looks kinda weak when you can see white tiles / unpainted cork , or sand in some areas ;)

For the desert/barren lands scheme I'm using :

Base: Graveyard earth (painted all over the base)
1st highlight: Vallejo Model Colour Ochre (drybrush)
2nd highlight:Reaper(?) Tanned Leather (drybrush)
3rd highlight :Vallejo Model Colour Iraqui Sand (drybrush)
4th highlight :Bleached bone(light drybrush)
final highlight :White (drybrushing the edges)

After this we get rather a boring base with the same colours everywhere...

Now we need to add some details :D

So first we wash all the sand areas with Vallejo smoke ink. Several thin washes will be ok. Don't worry if you'll wash the area around the sand - this will also add some character to the base.
After the sand gets brownish, we need to highlight it a tad again using all the paints we previously used.

Now we need to fit the mini again, and drill places for the pins - the tiles are pretty flexible and glued to cork they won't break.

After we prepare the holes for the pins we can also add some dry pigment used for staining Historical Models - looks like dust - there are many colours available

Here's an example of pigment set:

ImageClick to see full-sized image
ImageClick to see full-sized image

It's used dry - you need to brush it into the base - it's easily removed, so rmemeber about varnishing the base!

Now I placed the mini on the base, and added additional small stones (or pva glue + sand) under the marines legs - there were gaps visible there - needed to fill it ;)
After doing this I used the pigment to mask the stones/sand again ;)

Now it's good to varnish the whole thing - the pigment won't fall off the base this way.

The last thing is adding static grass or moss - I used the one that you can get in GW's hero basing kit - straw,a lso added small foliage that you can get in local hobby stores.

Here are 2 examples of finished bases :

ImageClick to see full-sized image
ImageClick to see full-sized image

ImageClick to see full-sized image
ImageClick to see full-sized image
ImageClick to see full-sized image
ImageClick to see full-sized image
ImageClick to see full-sized image

If anything is not clear - please ask ;)
Hope it will be helpful

Hash
Last edited by hashmallum on 8 Feb 2007, o 00:22, edited 2 times in total.
robacek

Post by robacek »

great tut hash:) I have already one pigment but I never use it:) I don't know how:P bases are realy cool:) thx for sharing:)
alvarezwawa

Post by alvarezwawa »

nice to know, how these outstanding bases are made ;) Thanks a lot!
Demi_morgana
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Post by Demi_morgana »

thanx for sharing color combo! I really wish I don't have whole necesssary vallejo line here :(
anyway I hope to try such milliput base: I wanted to try it after I saw Przemosz' bases, now I'm well motivated even more :wink:
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mahon
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Post by mahon »

Great idea and very clear description. Useful for many for sure!
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Skrit
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Post by Skrit »

Seems easy enough, thanks for sharing!:)

So... Are you calling us dummies?! :P
hashmallum

Post by hashmallum »

He he he :P In polsih it's called 'dla opornych' - 'for those who resist' :P
robacek

Post by robacek »

:oops:
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