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I'm getting close to really complete some infantry models for my imperial guard army, a squad of Kasrkin stormtroopers, but I'm stuck on how to base them. So far I've just sprinkled some modelling gravel over a base painted black to get a force up to minimum gaming standards. But now that I start giving the models a better paint job the bases look too crude.

Rough story of the army is that it is the household troops of a very talented, but slightly tainted and superbly megalomaniac, navigator. Being the seventh son of a seventh son of an ancient imperial trading house the navigator was born with few prospects in live. If it weren't for the prophesy cast at his birth that he was to become the master of silence... Silence may or may not be the ex forge world planet Silence located on the very fringe of the imperium that centuries ago was all but consumed by a cataclysmic but inconclusive battle between a minor tyranid hive fleet set on devouring the planet and the necron defenders that unexpectedly rose to repel the invaders after all human resistance was over.

I would like a basing scheme that tell the story while at the same time bringing forward the muted blue-grey-orange color scheme I chose for the minis themselves. I think dark yellow is the right color for this army. I kind of like the plasma gunner's charadon granite base in the attached pictures. Then add details to give an overall urban feel, sparse dry vegetation and debris to tell it is a forgeworld. I browsed the web extensively but I haven't quite found what I've been looking for...

Please give me some inspiration! Pics of your own or others minis with nice bases, tutorials, whatever.

I kind of like some of the bases from Dragonforge and some other manufacturers, but I'm somewhat afraid that they are too detailed, drawing attention away from the models themselves. Does anyone have experience (and pics) of resin urban bases with actual models on them?

Attaching pictures of the Kasrkin models in progress and the basing material I found so far as a color and style reference.

No input on the basing question apart from maybe trying astrogranite from GW and a few spot items like pouches, debris or the odd helmet.

I really just wanted to comment on the paint job Very nice mate.

Actually if you look on my gallery some of the Sm are based on the GW resin urban bases.


CW

I don't have any pics of them uploaded but one thing I'd recommend is trying just painting one of your gravel bases. I think you'll be surprised at how effective they can look.

For example, here's how I paint an urban base (Citadel paints):

Flock with anything...even sand works
Paint with 1:1 mix of Mechanicum Standard Grey or Adeptus Battlegrey and Shadow Grey or the Fang - gives you a blue-grey
Heavy drybrush of Fortress Grey
Drybrush Skull White

Even if you're just using sand the end result looks like pulverised concrete.

As for accessories, Gale Force 9 do a "concrete rubble mix" which looks good.

I have also used this:

http://www.darksphere.co.uk/p.php?p=30449&c=563

No picture on the site but it's a pack of plastic tubing, girders and other bits. I'm sure cheaper versions are available. One thing I did with a few models was having a short piece of plastic tubing sticking out form under some bits of rubble, or from a hole in th egorund, to look lik ebroekn pipes.

@Celtic Warrior

Thanks! It's been real fun painting for the sake of painting for a change (as opposed to just speed painting to get an army on the table) and I'm really happy with these Kasrkin and I'm glad you like them too!


@Fezman

Maybe keeping it simple is best...

The game force nine concrete set looks promising. I might try that out. Do you know how thick the "concrete" is?

zoat wrote:
@Celtic Warrior

Thanks! It's been real fun painting for the sake of painting for a change (as opposed to just speed painting to get an army on the table) and I'm really happy with these Kasrkin and I'm glad you like them too!


@Fezman

Maybe keeping it simple is best...

The game force nine concrete set looks promising. I might try that out. Do you know how thick the "concrete" is?

You sometimes get a nice thin piece but I each piece is normally about 5MM thick. Very easy to break up to use as flock though.