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I'm looking to do scenic bases on my second army. I have no idea where to start or where to get the materials. I was thinking to just go to hobby lobby and get a few different colors of grass and some very tiny rocks along with some white glue and go from there but I don't know if that will turn out too well. Is there a guide here on dakka or somewhere else someone could direct me toward? And as far as materials goes who has what and what works best?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Well you could buy premade resin or plastic bases in a variety of styles. Armorcast and others make such things.

Eldramesha wrote:Well you could buy premade resin or plastic bases in a variety of styles. Armorcast and others make such things.

I'm kind of looking to do them myself. I just want it to look like dead-ish grass and a few rocks here and there. I think putting a few bones around on them will be simple enough.

Typeline wrote:I have no idea where to start or where to get the materials... few different colors of grass and some very tiny rocks along with some white glue... Is there a guide here on dakka or somewhere else someone could direct me toward? And as far as materials goes who has what and what works best?

answers



Ghidorah

There's also a GW basing kit out there that many people swear by.

Eldramesha wrote:There's also a GW basing kit out there that many people swear by.

Indeed. However, in true G-Dubbs fashion, it's the same product as somebody else's, only ridiculously more expensive:

5g bottle of super glue - $8.00
vs.
1/2oz. Zap A Gap - &3.59 (closest size to 5g that I found)

20g Green Stuff - $8.00
vs.
Green Stuff putty Tube 100g - $17.00 (you do the math)

15g grass - $8.00
vs.
75g grass - $3.29

118ml PVA glue - $8.00
vs.
4oz Elmer's Glue-All PVA - $1.69


G-Dubbs sells me cool miniatures. That's it.




Ghidorah

Heh - true. I had a citadel started brush, once, but I immediately cut it down into a fat flat drybrush for basing.

The steps are easy and simple...

Put superglue/pva on base of model (sg dries virtually straight away but is a bit brittle, pva can take ages depending on brand but is generally more wear resistant). A thin, watery coat of PVA will do if the material is fine enough, but a millimetre thick of the stuff doesn't hurt. Make sure you scrape it away from feet... use a sharp stick or other miscellaneous tool to push it around - don't pva a good brush!

Dip the model in sand, little rocks, whatever. I like to find a chunk of white sandcrete and a nice brittle piece of granite whatever, grind them against one another and use the result - two general grains of material is the result, and it's better than a GW overpriced tub of miniature rocks.

Decorate? Put in a feature rock, or nestle a skull/ribcage in there... bit of twisted poly anything painted like metal with a couple of washes looks like random scrap metal. Superglue can help, but do it while the PVA is still wet so it's all locked together.

Push the sand away from feet, etc again.

Other ideas are bits of thick brush fibre for grass, little plants, mushrooms are easy to sculpt... crushed synthetic white fishtank crap makes for snow. I think GW sells it now, but there are cheap alternatives to the plastic 'snow' crystals...

Undercoat and drybrush up your sand - I do that because I've usually gotten a dark stone and a horrible grey concrete sand combination that frankly looks better painted. Good quality sand can be used as is, but the base/glue often shows through.

You can leave the base undercoated until the model is finished painting - the undercoat helps hold it together and stop random tiny bits of sand ending up in your other paintwork...

Oops, gotta go.

I use 2-part epoxy glue for bases. When you put that stuff on and dunk it in sand, when Dry, that stuff ain't never coming off.

1. Put scenic bitz
2. Epoxy sand to base around model and bitz
3. Add model (if not on there yet) or clean sand away from feet (before epoxy dries fully)
4. Paint
5. Add static grass or flock or that stuff.

Agree. Epoxy is the best damn stuff there is, I just find it too messy...

I squeeze about a pea-sized ammount of both sides into bubble plastic (the container it came with usually) and mix it with a paperclip.

I can base about 5-6 25mm round bases with it before it begins to harden up. At this time, I can wipe the paperclip clean (it doesn't bond to it) and let the leftover dry.

Then I can remove the models from the sand, wipe the extra off the edges and model with my finger (epoxy doesn't bind to skin) and let them harden fully.

When all is done, I can bend the plastic bubble, the epoxy will stay solid and break off.

Far too much work. Thin down some wood glue, paint it on, dunk in basing material, let it dry. After your squad is done, (15 minutes) and dried (another 30-ish), thin down more wood glue and soak the flocked base and let it dry again. This works for any style of basing from grass flock to city rubble to polystyrene scenic bases.

Rock hard, sealed, flocked base with minimal effort and little time spent.

For what its worth, I use fine talus or "cinders" from Woodland Scenics for my bases and paint them in a city rubble manner. If the basing ever chips off (quite rare, but it does happen) it always comes off in a solid chunk which I just glue back into place and carry on.


Ghidorah

I saw your post when it first came up and its been knawing in my skull. I finally fount the link I have been looking for for you.

http://www.skullcrafts.com/

These people have some excellent tutorials on basing your minis and they have some great products for sale.

dang now I feel like a pimp.

any way you will find this sight very helpful I did way back when I first started.

Holy crap, those leaves are awesome!

The rest of the site, though, is kinda pants. No examples of product usage withthe exception of two (out of 12) available tutorials.

I'd buy those leaves in aheartbeat, if I had any use for "nature-y" bases...


Ghidorah