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I want to base my CSM with a 'ruined city,' or an 'ash wasteland' feel because I like it when the mini is the focus of the model, but I'm in it for the long haul this summer, so I figured I would find a more involved method. What are some ways people base mins with a deserted feel but with little touches? I know what I want to do, more or less; I'm looking for the little things that make it look 1% better.

I'm doing ruined city on my DE currently and am shooting for the same feel. I've been dusting them up a lot, adding some grass sprouts through cracked blacktop, adding rusty debris, etc. Not sure how much more deserted you could make wasteland feel aside from just doing wasteland though.

Play with it, make a few bases sans model and see what you like!

Have a dusty street, and add little pieces of civilian life, like a small, bright sock, or something else just to give a contrast.

 Matthew wrote:
Have a dusty street, and add little pieces of civilian life, like a small, bright sock, or something else just to give a contrast.

In the grim darkness of the 41st millenium there are no bright socks. THERE IS ONLY DRAB ITCHY WOOLEN ONES.

I MEAN WAR!

 Matthew wrote:
Have a dusty street, and add little pieces of civilian life, like a small, bright sock, or something else just to give a contrast.

That's a great idea, despite PeteySodes and his obvious aversion to bright colors. I will try to do something along those lines.

Tell a story of the combined bases of your entire army, such that when they're laid out together on a display, you can almost tell a narrative. If your troops have road tarmac for their bases, have your bigger bases show something like a Knight crashing through a wall, or a Sentinel walker striding around a building corner with its guns trained on a foe that's coming into view.

I have this grand view of finishing all of my armies with the same bases, and when I have the space in my apartment, building a huge display board with them fighting against one another.

hey,

So I recently started dabbling in the same abandoned / ruin city look.the method is quit easy but a little time consuming due to the prepping of the material needed to creat the base. The great thing about this style is its super Cheap to make and you can add and costimize it to what ever you like using the basic idea of it. Any way here is a link to my blog.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/640396.page#7836743

If you scroll down a bit on my blog there is a totorial I used for the bases and a few pics of the bases I created with before and after pics to give you a good idea what it looks like.

Hope this helps,

Cheers!

I did ruined city bases for some Raptors and it was pretty easy: some thin cork sheets, various widths of styrene tubes,model bricks, and normal basing grit. There is some more examples in my gallery if you wanted to see some variations of them.

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
I did ruined city bases for some Raptors and it was pretty easy: some thin cork sheets, various widths of styrene tubes,model bricks, and normal basing grit. There is some more examples in my gallery if you wanted to see some variations of them.

Stolen,
looks effective, is cheap gona do this on my next set of mini's I paint (When I eventually get round to painting!)

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
I did ruined city bases for some Raptors and it was pretty easy: some thin cork sheets, various widths of styrene tubes,model bricks, and normal basing grit. There is some more examples in my gallery if you wanted to see some variations of them.

I'll echo Solar shock's sentiment as well. I'd love to see your take on a dreadnought sized base, but you don't seem to have one in your gallery. Thanks for that!

I'll say it again, you ever seen Schindler's List, the scene were the girls coat is all red and everything else is grey? Do that.

 Powerfisting wrote:
I'll echo Solar shock's sentiment as well. I'd love to see your take on a dreadnought sized base, but you don't seem to have one in your gallery. Thanks for that!

I did the same theme for a Centurion base (50mm) which is slightly smaller than a dreadnought base (60mm):

Most of my armies are a variation on Dirt and sand.

I have done some Urban stuff and i find Lenolium flooring to be very nice to do basing with as when you snap it it creates a nice broken concrete crack.

But i have been having fun with these.


for my Necromunda and 30k ZM needs. as well as a bit of infinity

If you are trying to do wasteland honestly you just need crackle paint for the majority of it, then sprinkle in some Corse sand here and there, Add skulls to a few bases, Server skulls, spent shells, and other very generic items VERY Sparingly.

 Desubot wrote:
Most of my armies are a variation on Dirt and sand.

I have done some Urban stuff and i find Lenolium flooring to be very nice to do basing with as when you snap it it creates a nice broken concrete crack.

But i have been having fun with these.


for my Necromunda and 30k ZM needs. as well as a bit of infinity

If you are trying to do wasteland honestly you just need crackle paint for the majority of it, then sprinkle in some Corse sand here and there, Add skulls to a few bases, Server skulls, spent shells, and other very generic items VERY Sparingly.

Any examples of the linoleum flooring? I've never heard of anyone else doing that before, and I'm trying to go with a "city-fight" esque base that's clean and simple to base/re-base for 4 armies (I'm still rubbing my head at the thought of rebasing over 150 miniatures...)

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

I did the same theme for a Centurion base (50mm) which is slightly smaller than a dreadnought base (60mm):

That's cool. I like the detail you are able to fit into that space. I will try to do something like this.

 Powerfisting wrote:

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

I did the same theme for a Centurion base (50mm) which is slightly smaller than a dreadnought base (60mm):

Spoiler:

That's cool. I like the detail you are able to fit into that space. I will try to do something like this.

It was made with two layers of 1/4" cork sheets, the bottom piece representing the "dirt" and a larger top piece acting as the "concrete slab" on top of it, leaving some to overhang the bottom piece. On the top piece, I spread a thin layer of Milliput out and used a sculpting tool to add some large tile-looking squares to it. I used a couple of different styrene tubes to make the pipes and some premade bricks to build the little wall. After the Milliput dried, I added some gravel on top of it to give the appearance of rubble and stuck some brass wire in the top piece of cork to simulate rebar in the concrete. The copper wire is just modeling wire I had in my drawer (it's actually my least favorite part of the base) and the shrub is from Army Painter.

Which shrub did you use from Army Painter for that?

 Enigwolf wrote:
Which shrub did you use from Army Painter for that?

I don't remember as I have all of the tufts they make and I grab whatever I think looks good.

However, if I had to venture a guess, it's probably the Winter Tuft or Wasteland Tuft.

Forgot this guy was in my WIP file

The flat concrete stuff is actually linoleum.

It glues down with super glue or wood glue like normal.

can be snapped to make nice cracks

and can also be carved into sand sanded down to make different heights.

and at 60 cents per 1 SQF tile you cant go wrong with it.

That's pretty awesome. I love the smooth finish of the surface by the rough finish of the cracks. While I'll probably not use it to represent concrete persay, it'd be perfect for say, cracked marble, IMHO, or tile.

Love it. Thanks!