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I've seen basing vids where rocks are made of small pieces of cork to resemble little boulders. They look real enough to me if base coated and dry brushed properly.

So why do some people use real little rocks and others use small pieces of cork?

Because rocks are in your front yard for free.

It's just what you have on hand, or what's the right shape.

I use both, myself. They both look good. Sometimes, cork doesn't give you the right look -- if you want rocks that are rounded like boulders, for example, you can't get that out of cork.

The other potential advantage is that you don't have to paint real rocks if you don't want to. They're already naturally rock-colored

Not that they might not look better with highlights and shades, etc.

Lance845 wrote:
Because rocks are in your front yard for free.

No one in your house drinks wine????

Having used pre-mixed 'terrain' paints like GW's Astrogranite, shredded Cork and smashed up bits of rocks, I'd go for rocks almost 100% of the time from here on in. For me, it's the inconsistency of the rocks that adds to the realsim. Although you can tear up cork, as a biological product (Bark) it tends to have more rounded edges. Hence, when you're using it for rocks - particularly surface rocks, I find it isn't as realistic. In reality, the main source of rounded rocks are found in glacial deposits or underwater, with certain exceptions - due to the constant abrasion of ice or water. However, most surface rocks, especially in temperate, arid or volcanic regions are angular and jagged. Therefore, when you smash a rock into tiny bits with a hammer - it fractures into jagged bits as it's larger cousins do in the outside world. Of course, cork still has it's uses, but in the main I prefer actual rock.

I use all sorts, even moulding and casting real rocks in resin!

However I will use real rocks for weight. If you need to stabilise a model or a dynamic pose, you need a nice weighty base, rocks work perfectly.

Lance845 wrote:Because rocks are in your front yard for free.

Talys wrote:It's just what you have on hand, or what's the right shape.

I use both, myself. They both look good. Sometimes, cork doesn't give you the right look -- if you want rocks that are rounded like boulders, for example, you can't get that out of cork.

The other potential advantage is that you don't have to paint real rocks if you don't want to. They're already naturally rock-colored

Not that they might not look better with highlights and shades, etc.

Both of these are the best reasons. Bark, cork, and real stones are all good at giving different results and like Talys, I use what I think works the best.

Cork plates are good at making slabs of concrete or stratified layers of rocks:


Real stones have an amazing variety of textures to them. This one was primed white and then painted with about six different colors of oil paint:


Bark mulch works really well because it has similar texture to real stones but it's easier to work with because, you know, it's not stone:

I use beach sand because it's free, suits my Desert World armies, and it contains various types of small pebbles that either work by themselves or can be painted. It can also be painted green and look like short grass if I want.

The exception is if I want to drill through a rock, to insert a pin perhaps, it's easier to bodge up a 'rock' from Milliput than to drill a real rock.

Rocks - cheap. Also add weight to the base, which can be good. And realism.

I use whatever I have on hand tbh, if it's small real rocks, bits of cork left over from other projects, rockly bits of sprue, whatever. I actualy keep a cup to put all cast off bits in as I go, so I can either turn them into rocks (or whatever) or, eventually, rubble paste/paint.

Problem with rocks/stones...

1. You have to clean usually
2. You have to spend time finding them (unless you or your neighbour have a nice garden which use stones for a border)
3. They take longer to adhere to the base because of weight
4. They don't have a flat surface so are sometimes difficult to get a good bond
5. They suck for pinning a model to the base. Because stone is well...stone it is often labour/time intensive to drill a hole for a pin and can ruin you drill bit if your not careful.

Advantages
1. Free
2. Heavy

If your going to paint them just get a cheap bag of aquarium rocks.

I like using the cheap shiny cast offs from when I go to those roadside emerald/ruby/gold hunt place. A cheap shiny stone is eye catching. A got a huge chunk of fool's gold on my high elf dragon base.

I've switched over almost entirely to cork now, oddly enough, it looks far more real than rocks do, lol.

At this scale we work at, you don't always need perfect rocks, but rather the right texture, which cork may provide for your hobby project.

As for price, cork is almost free, so that really isn't an issue either (you can buy it at the dollar store in 2x 1'x1' sheets for a dollar...) Those sheets will almost do an army on each of them.

In my case, If I use rocks, then I'm using them as ballast and cork just won't cut it in that regard. It may look real, but I'm after solid mass.

I have great eagles for fantasy (older, metal). I run them as a unit. In order for them to rank up, 2 have to be mounted off-centre on their bases, which makes them liable to tip over due to the off-centre mass.

If I add a couple of rocks to the bases, they counterweight them, and everything is fine.

I like the variety in shapes real small rocks provides. They're easy to find around where I live and only take a quick rinse before being ready to paint. Though I find it amusing that I'm painting rocks to look like rocks.

mix it up. use everything. that way you get the most realistic looking bases. in a warry place you will probably find natural and man made things anyway

Hoping to find some of these in my front yard.


I think cork will actually be more/too coarse to get this look I'm looking for. I'd have to cover it really well and then texture over top and at that point I could just use flat anything and it wouldn't look at all realistic.

@ScootyPuffJunior - Just wanted to mention that I love your dreadnought