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After 14 months of 40k for some unknown reason, today was the day to do some basing. . .


On the reasoning that any basing is better than no basing, I didn't want to put too much effort into each base. Or I would not get many done, and they would remain Un-based. . . As they have done for the last year or so. . .

I was only gonna do about 1 squad of tac marines, but suddenly I was racing through them and after about an hour I realised that i had a whole bunch done.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this is a fantastic basing tutorial, but maybe it will show some people how easy it is to do, and then they will not keep putting it off like I was.

So, here is my method.

Take painted figure.


Take Materials:

On left, a mixture of fine sand, stones from my driveway, foliage, static grass, the innards of a fennel tea bag, ground coffee (used), bits of grass, sawdust, whatever else I could find that was the right size. On the right, PVA glue mixed with water. The consistancy is a trial and error thing.)


Apply the thinned PVA glue, fairly carefully, but not too fussy.


Plonk model in basing material (note position of index finger. . . This is very important )


Give it a shake (sideways not up and down. . .) until the glue is covered.



Shake the model to get the excess material off, then hold the model between thumb and forefinger and twist, rubbing the messy bits from the bevelled edge of the base.


Then, using another brush, gently brush off the model's legs (and anywhere else you may have unwanted bits of sand etc.)




Thats it! It took me about an hour and 20mins to do 64 models.


All that is left is to let them dry and then daub liberally with washes. I will use Devlan Miracle, Badab Black and Thraka Green.
Easy as Hell.

So, please tell me what you think!

Looking excellent!

Basic but attractive basing really is so easy and quick; you literally can get a whole army done in an hour or so, and it makes that army look 100% more attractive, as a rule.

Nice photos and nice clear descriptions as well.

Love it!

Love the mixture for the "Earth" you used I would have never though of using coffee grounds and tea bags.

I use a similar method for the snow bases Im doing right now. I use elmers clear glue instead of PVA, just apply the glue to the base with a brush, then shake the basing material onto the prepped figure. A medium tupperware works very well to contain the basing material.

Thanks. I deliberately wanted a basic base (sic.) For gameplay, I sometimes think that it is a bit too much for the same guy to be behind the same bush or rock no matter where he is on the table. I also wanted all my armys to have the same base materials for coherency.

Also the tea leaves were looted from someone else on Dakka. Sorry dude, I forget who, but step up to the limelight to take credit. Fabulous Idea really. Coffee grounds were just an extension of the idea, and funnily enough, I had just made a cup so had them spare. . .

Looks good. Have you considered painting the base a darker brown before you put the sand on?

I opened up a tea bag for the mud mixture on my tanks. You get some really nice stuff out of common items.

brettz123 wrote:Looks good. Have you considered painting the base a darker brown before you put the sand on?

thanks.

I considered painting the white bases black first, but decided to hell with it - it would take too much time - so, damn the torpedos! (due for a re-release any day now. . . . 10 teef to the first one to get the reference. .)

I actually prefer brown "earth" on black base rather than brown on brown.

Next plan is to see how well I can paint the base black without messing up the "earth."

Might want to give it another coat of watered-down glue on TOP of the flocking materials to seal it. Then paint after that dries.

I'll mix up a batch of brown paint with a heavy goop of PVA then water it down a whole bunch. I have done that before and it works quite well.

I'm currently using this method with a combination of grass flock, loose tea, clumping litter, gunpowder, and corn cob bedding. It looks great!

UPDATE.

brettz123 wrote:Looks good. Have you considered painting the base a darker brown before you put the sand on?

DO THIS!

Now that I have started to repaint the bases, it is taking at least double the time to carefully paint the beveled edge. It is a bit of a PITA really.
If I had quickly painted my white bases first, they would have been dry by the time I had got around to "earthing" them.

Lesson Learned.

What I do for bases, which I do in large batches.

1. Run them through dish washing machine.
2. Ballast the underneath with lead shot glued in with PVA.
3. Backfill with plastic padding or resin.
4. Add a bit of lumpiness to the top with putty, plastic padding, etc.
5. Spray basic sand brown.
6. Cement the figure on top.
7. Paint PVA glue around the figure.
8. Cover with beach sand.
9. Tap off excess and remove from the bevel.
10. Spray varnish the whole model – this also seals the sand.
11. Glue on some patches of Army Painter Highland Tuft.
12. Big bases get an extra bit of detailing such as large rocks, equipment debris, or the odd Ripper or so.

If I am doing the bases for temperate climates not desert, I’ll spray them green and paint the sand green, then drybush with yellow, before the varnish stage.

It’s quicker to do everything Desert, though, and my terrain is all desert themed.

Lonecoon wrote:I'm currently using this method with a combination of grass flock, loose tea, clumping litter, gunpowder, and corn cob bedding. It looks great!

hope no one smokes next to your bases

Looks like you get quite a good mix of materials on your bases doing them the way you are.

Good stuff.

Gunpowder dosent sound to clever, you could end up with a feir on your hands.

It is also toxic from what I remember...

It's mostly the lead that's toxic. Smokeless powder isn't really a danger. At any rate, there's only a few grains in there, as it got swept up with some of the sawdust around the reloading bench. Still, it adds a bit of color to the mix that really makes it pop.

Lonecoon wrote:Smokeless powder . . . really makes it pop.

Intended pun?