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I'm kind of stumped. I have based using static grass and the regular GW flock many times but I went out to buy the 40k basing kit today thinking I could do something special and I'm just sitting here looking at it thinking "What the hell can I do with this?"

Any advice whatsoever? Do you use superglue or PVA with the slate? Is the small slate used like flock (glue the base chuck it in and remove the excess or what?). How do you get it to look natural?

Any help much appreciated.

use pva with the slate, it absorbs super-glue too fast to give you any working time. the fine slate should be used sparingly, or to create an ash waste type effect, use it at the bottom of the larger slate to look like broken chunks of it on the floor. you could also use it to represent debris from bullet-holes in walls and other structures

Thanks...just did a couple of practise bases and they don't look too bad. I can see how with a bit of paint on they will look pretty nice.

Plasticard is an easy way to add more details to a base. Cut out some rough shapped flagstones and stick em down before sand and rocks.
Or go for an industrial look with flyscreen glued down and used as metal grating.
i saw in the past a model that was based with a low wall in the middle of it and the guardsman on the base was vaulting over the wall.
Go nuts, bases can be more than just slate and flock.

I like to use cork, with sand and touches of flock. If you do go that route I suggest you seal the cork with a couple coats of PVA or super glue to keep it from crumbling. One down side is cork tends to raise your model off the base, so in actual game play with real line of sight your models could be seen or can see over obstacles that would normally hide them. Here is an example of my method and something similar to what Zenarius is talking about,

I think for general basing advice, it would good for you to post pics of your current bases so we have an idea of what would be good to add... That way we could help give you ideas based on YOUR bases. Rather than general basing tips.

I have the 40k basing kit. I rate it "meh". The fine slate I like to glue in patches before I put down the sand, and then glue sand around it to preserve the difference in textures. I also use the fine slate around the bottom of a clump of med. slate, to represent crumbled pieces of rock around the larger ones.

Unfortunately, the slates are pretty much all I use. I've used a few pieces of etched brass and maybe one or two of the resin bits. So, if you want the resin, go ahead and get the kit, but if you want to be a little more cost effective, perhaps find somewhere to buy slate separately?


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If you want, I can show you some pics of how I use the slate (small and med.).

All I've ever used is the GW sand with a few small rocks and stones from some sharp sand thrown in.


It comes out with a nice textured look...and a few stones always glue to it as well

To get a muddy look, i mix PVA glue with brown sand/dirt. THis makes a muddy texture which seals itself (PVA Glue).

Thanks for the tips guys. Out of the 5 bases I put together I painted 2 yesterday. They came out looking pretty nice.Cork is definitely something I will look at using in the future for an HQ choice or something. I do have a friend who uses it quite a lot and his models look fantastic. Will try to get a pic of my base and Necron tonight.