While working on my latest commission, I had to find out how to make lava for the model’s base.
Introduction
I already did several lava bases. So in order to avoid boredom I had to come up with a new idea or end up with boring and uninspired results.
So I returned to browsing the internet for photos of lava:
Now this is something I haven’t done before! 😀
What we need to make lava
How to make lava that is boiling and splashing? We will need:
sheet of plastic (I used a thick plastic sleeve)
scissors
source of heat (I used a candle)
filler putty (I used a modeling putty for plastic models)
Vallejo Water Effect
hygroscopic balls (you will find them in a new wallet or handbag, where they’re supposed to absorb moisture)
Maskol
foam
airbrush (you can do without it, but I used mine)
paintbrush
paints: white, black, Vallejo MC 952 Lemon Yellow, Vallejo Ink Skin Wash, Winsor & Newton Orange Ink, Vallejo MA Mahogany, Reaper Red Brick 09001, and saturated red of your choice.
retarder (because regular Vallejo paints tend to clog my airbrush)
So how to make lava like that?
I pulled, stretched and bent stripes of plastic over fire:
I made a test application of the lava surface on a sheet of metal. The consistence of my putty made it a suitable material to imitate lava:
I ruffled the fresh putty with a toothpick and added the splashes I formed from plastic:
When the putty was dry, I finished the rest of my lava base with Vallejo Water Effect. Its thickness is similar to that of mayonaise, so it feels perfect for the task. If you want to make finer splashes of lava than mine, you can apply some water effect on a piece of thin wire:
Painting lava
I left the base to dry overnight and in the morning I started with priming the base. Then I used my airbrush to apply several layers of paint to build up colors of lava:
I checked if it fits to the scenic base:
I could see I was going in the right direction. Now I only needed more contrast, so I returned to painting.
I highlighted the hottest parts once more with Vallejo MC 952 Lemon Yellow. Once more I applied Winsor&Newton Orange to increase saturation. I glazed some parts with my red. And then with the side of a paintbrush I painted cooled cracks with Reaper Red Brick 09001 and black:
Finished lava base
Finishing touches were done later, when the model for which the base was made was ready. Now you should know how to make lava splashes for your minis and see the finished thing here:
I hope this tutorial was helpful to you. If you have any hints or tips, feel free to let me know about them or discuss this technique in the comments below.
This time: Build me a… tree worthy of Lorien! That’s right we’re going to help mother nature make a treetop house ELVENSTYLE! So if you are interested in a How To Build A Tree tutorial – read on:
Components
We’re going to need:
a piece of a branch…a piece of wood that generally resembles a tree.
a plate of plastic or hard cardboard as a base
a lot “wavy cardboard” (You know, most boxes are made of it)
lots of sand
lots of PVC glue.
at least 1 pack of green stuff
water effect
something that will look like clumps of leaves. I used special modelmaker’s dyed moss.
some plasticard for the actual platforms for the tree house and the pavement.
Some static grass, stones, few pieces of natural branches of trees.
Super glue
some wire/small iron rods
Tree trunk
So starting the fun of Godlike nature construction. We have to have a tree trunk: make a general idea how the tree house is to look like. I decided on a fixed size of the base and I wanted to add a pond to my tree house. So first you make the base. Use strong cardboard and glue a plate of plasticard to it with super glue. The base MUST be strong as we are about to connect the main trunk.
You have it already? Nice! So let’s get down to the actual tree. If you found yourself a satisfactory piece of wood in the forest and planned the general way the diorama is to look like, cut the branch so that it is more or less flat on one end. Place it on the base and make a hole underneath. Than simply nail the branch through the base so that they stick together. I’ve put like 7 nails and poured some superglue around to make sure it’s not going to come apart.
Surrounding terrain
Now we have a stable base lets start building the terrain. I decided to go easy and started to glue flat pieces of the wavy cardboard. Shaping them as I went so that they would make up the general form of the terrain.
As I went higher and higher I added plates of plasticard so that I could have a cobblestone path and a sort of a by-the-pond boulevard. As mentioned I also started making the banks of the pond. I placed the “stones” on the path using superglue to keep them connected to the cardboard.
Once the general shape of the ground level is done, we start the messy part. This involves a lot of sand so make sure you have some kind of a box. To make the terrain look real we will glue the sand to the wavy cardboard with PVC glue. Pour the glue on a side of “ground” parts and simply throw some sand over the glue. It will stick to the glue and after 2-3 layers you should see a nice round hill.
Make sure that it doesn’t stick to the parts that should be sand-free like things that should be a stoned path.
Branches and roots
Notice that the photographs show some other things which we’ve been doing while the PVC was drying. For one you can see more “branches”. This is done so that the actual tree would look like an actual creation of nature’s product of boredom so we’d expect there would be roots and more branches. We connect those by drilling some holes in the main trunk and in the new branches’ bases. We simply glue the previously prepared pieces of natural shaped branches to our tree. you have to drill both the trunk and the new branch and put an iron rod inside to keep the connection strong and stable! you may use some extra green stuff while gluing them together so it will look smoother.
Remember not to glue the new branches before you finish with the staircase and platforms. Just drill and try the new branches so that the general look of the tree will be satisfactory, than go with the construction of the stairs. It will be much easier this way and after you’re done with the stairs and platforms glue the extra branches to the trunk.
Stairs and platforms
Also you may notice the new side bars added to the pond. This is plasticard that will be black and will be the borders of the pond that are not part of the diorama and are considered open waters. Also we started building the platforms and the road itself. The idea is that the paved path will go around the diorama and eventually change into a stairwell of the tree house.
Now you might notice the stairs are going up the trunk. This is done by making small pieces of plasticard. Cut a few strips of plasticard so that they will be of similar width and that you can cut the stairs-steps one at a time and that all will be roughly the same shape. Than make small, but deep cuts in the trunk and glue the steps in. Try to go up the trunk so that this will look somewhat coherent … you can see the cuts on the photo…I used a small modelmakers’ saw to do this. As we go up you might want to start thinking about the platforms themselves. you can see my first platform on the photo below.
Cut any shape you want and attach the platform in the same manner you did with the stair-steps. However, in this case there might be a fairly obvious need to use additional support like a branch and some adapters below the platform level.
Try not to glue the platforms to the trunk and keep them as separate elements. This will make it easier to build them and to construct the whole diorama. The last thing I did in this part was to glue the platforms in after all the painting and gluing of everything else.
Balustrades
This will help the platforms to be stable and will look better. Once you built the stairs and the platforms you might want to add extra edges to the stairs. This rim will add to the overall construction look and will make you believe it’s made by true craftsman and not an overanxious woodcutter who never got to work for IKEA. The photo also shows some important parts on the platforms. A banister, balustrade or a rail around the platforms will add reality to your creation and will look more natural for a high construction structure. I made this using the iron wire and some plasticard. The best way to do this is to simply shape the wire like the area you want to have a banister around. Than make the plasticard pylons and simply make a hole in each and slip them along the wire. Make a small cut in the platform and glue the whole thing together.
Assembly
Now that we’re done with the platforms the hard part is over. Take the platforms out and glue the previously prepared branches to the trunk. If you want even more branches simply drill some extra holes, put an iron rod in them and form a branch from green stuff. Don’t worry about the actual shape because we’re going to cover them with leaves later on.
Painting
Already done with the branches and platforms, are you? Ok… let’s get down to painting. I took the basic black spray available in any construction market/DIY supermarket. Be generous with the spray as the sand will need at least a few layers. Now I went to paint the platforms and stairs. First I painted them with Citadel‘s Bleached Bone , than gave it 2 layers of Citadel‘s Thraka Green wash. In the end I want for two layers of 75%/25% Skull White and Vallejo glaze medium. This last part was airbrushed.
The same treatment was given to all platforms, but the moveable ones were done separately.
Now with the wood itself:
First I gave all the tree parts a drybrush with Citadel‘s Scorched Earth, than a drybrush of Citadel‘s Graveyard Earth and a drybrush of Citadel‘s Bleached Bone. Than a watered down layer of Citadel‘s Devlan Mudwash, a similar one of Citadel‘s Thraka Green wash and again Devlan Mud wash. If you want you can give it a final wash of Thraka Green again and/or light drybrush of Bleached Bone again.
The ground itself was painted with 3 layers of drybrush (Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown, Bleached Bone). The area which was supposed to be underwater parts was given a wash of Thraka Green to give it a muddy/foresty kind of look once the water effect will be applied.
Leaves and final touches
Done? Ok… time to make our tree a proper summer/fall tree: I used special modelmaker’s moss to mimic the leaves on the branches. This can be bought in most proper model shops. I simply used strong PVC glue to glue those to the branches in large mixed clumps and than added some super glue into the insides of those clumps to make the connections stronger.
Now the only thing left is the grass on the ground and the water effect. Some PVC glues are better for watter effect than the actual Citadel‘s water effect itself. Pour this into the prepared ‘pond’ and voila!
See us in Lorien!
You can invite the Ringbearer and his friends once Ian McKellen has ‘fallen into darkness’ in Moria.
So here’s a simple tutorial on how to make movement trays. It’s the most basic way to make a tray for both normal and magnetic bases for minis, but it can add a lot to the visual impact the miniatures make.
What we need to make a movement tray
Here’s what we shall need:
a plate of thin steel (less than a milimiter will do but as long as you can cut it with scissors it’s fine)
a few pieces of balsa wood
some sand
super glue / PVC glue(any gloue for wood will do)
paints and some static grass
How to make movement trays
Cutting the movement tray
First: Let’s cut us a base for our tray! You must decide what kind of a tray you need. For example 3 ranks of 10 Games Workshop normal infantry is 10x20mm of width and 3×20 in depth. This will be the space inside the tray so it’s better to make it a little bit bigger.
For the mentioned example: 10x20mm is 200mm width and 60 mm depth. I usually add 15 to 20mm for to both length and width so that there will be more space in the tray and the unit will not be pushed tightly together. This is important for some units of minis can’t be placed in base to base for a number of reasons.
Also there must be some extra space for the side bars. Once you’ve decided how big must the base be, draw it on the piece of steel and cut it with scissors.
Making sides for our movement tray
Now we have our base for the tray. Cut the balsa wood so that you will have pairs of side bars. You might want to make 4 sides or 3 and leave the back of the tray open. I usually make 4 so the unit will not fall out while being moved. Glue them to the steel with the super glue. Hold it while the glue dries and make sure the side bars go well with the edges of the steel plate.
Adding texture
So here we have something that looks like a movement tray. Let’s make it presentable. Take the PVC glue and put it on the outer sides of the sidebars leaving the interior side and the underside (obviously) of the tray clean of glue. Once you applied the glue to one side of the tray throw some sand onto the tray’s side. The glue will catch the sand. Try to remove any sand that sticks to the bottom or the internal part of the tray. Try to do one side at a time.
Let the tray dry off again and one more time CHECK IF THERE IS NO EXCESS SAND INSIDE THE TRAY! CLEAN IT WITH A KNIFE (or some other tool) while the glue is still wet.
Painting the movement tray
Once the tray is dry paint it black with a base coat of black spray and now drybrush the sides of the tray with the colours of choice (for a typical summer tray I use Scorched Earth,Bestial Brown and Bleached Bone of the Games Workshop Citadel paints.)
Now that this is done take the PVC glue again and make a few dots of it along the sides and throw some static grass on the dots of PVC.
Done!
And voila! The movement tray is ready! Making it probably takes less time than it takes to read this text. 😀
Here’s an example what a unit of miniatures can look on such a movement tray. The tray looks OK, don’t you think?
We keep being asked if we’re ever going to publish any tutorials for beginners in the miniature painting hobby. Sure, why not!
To get started with these articles, let’s follow these five easy steps to make nice but simple bases for your gaming miniatures.
Let me show you a simple and quick method for making bases.
What do we need to make our simple bases?
sand,
static grass,
white glue,
superglue,
bases,
cork,
paints: Bestial Brown, Vomit Brown (Citadel) and Lupin Grey (HMG Paints) or Space Wolves Grey (Citadel)
Step 1
Glue a piece of cork to your base using superglue.
Step 2
Glue some sand to your base using white glue to cover free space on the base.
Step 3
Paint the whole base black.
Step 4
Cork: paint with Bestial Brown and then drybrush with Vomit Brown.
Sand: drybrush with Lupin Grey.
Step 5
Use superglue to glue a mini to your base and white glue to add static grass.
Your base is ready! 🙂
You see, it wasn’t all that difficult.
Now if you would like more tutorials for beginners, just write what you would like to read about. What subjects would be the most interesting for you. We will do our best to follow your suggestions.
I’ve been asked questions how to paint marble, like on the base of my Space Marines Librarian. As people seem to be interested in explanation of my way of painting marble, here it goes:
How to paint marble
I used VMC 907 “pale greyblue” as my base color.
I stained the surface with dark stains of wash made from VMC 939 “Smoke”. Beginning of this stage can be seen above, and the final effect – below:
While increasing the intensity of the wash I outline the streaks achieved previously by several layers of wash and make them bolder. I also create a few more streaks:
Effects of this operation can be seen below, just like thickness of the base color (ie. thinned a lot) which was still used to highlight the palest parts and to emphasize the edges where colors change:
I painted some veins with the base color
I used wash of VMC 938 “transparent blue” in some places, where my intuition suggested, I created spots. And then I used the same color, but thinned it less, to draw places for next veins.
With a wash of VMC 828 “Wood grain” I stained the surface just as I did before with blue.
With a thin brush I painted veins – cracks, using a mix of “Smoke” and “Transparent Blue”. It was nearly black, but I didn’t use black as I didn’t want the veins to contrast too much with the rest of the surface.
I emphasized the veins with the base color and the same brush, and I added a few more veins. I also added a few spots in this color.
I was only missing a few darker accents – deeper in the sculpt. But this was done with ground old dry pastels in color of dark browns and the scenic water effect, which I am presenting below. But you will find your own ways of finishing your marble.
Done!
So that’s the way I painted my slab of marble. Everybody might prefer their own ways, but maybe my method will be useful for you? 🙂
There are many kinds of marble, though. If you are interested, let me know and maybe one day I will be painting another marble base so I can take photos and show you how to deal with different marbles. Or maybe you want to share your ideas?
