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So I've almost got to the point where I'm thinking about basing my Lamenters Marines and I'm wondering how to do that exactly.

Sorry, no pics as my cell is blessed with an extremely terrible camera.

I have some idea of how I want to base them but I don't want the mini to blend into the base. I was thinking a sandy desert type theme would be good and would fit with the type of game table I want to make when I get around to it/have the room for it.

When I assemble minis I will usually put down any basing material I want to be painted after the glue is set. A bit of glue on the base and a dip in the basing jar. In this case I've used a fine grain pebble mix that I got at a dollar store. Pebble is probably a poor term as it resembles coarse salt in that it's got a more crystalized appearance. It is however a little uniform looking and I'm thinking of adding some finer texture.

Also, what is this GW texture paint all about? I've got a bottle of greeny beige stuff (can't recall the name now) and I was thinking I could use that as a first coat over the sand mix for added texture.

Anyways, what does dakka think? Should I continue with the desert theme or go another route? I was thinking a dusty orange red for the base colour. Any suggestions?

Cheers.

Desert basing is fine, but I'm biased since I'm doing it myself. Mine is a more Sahara tan with golden highlights. Before you settle on a final color, you might want to google various deserts. At the moment, it sounds like you lean towards the Painted Desert of the SW United States, which is good choice colorwise. It should contrast with the Lamenters' yellow, but not clash.

My sand mix is HO scale railway ballast + a very fine sand purchased from an art supply store (this sand is dust-like, each grain is that tiny). Apparently this sand is used for flower arranging and home decor uses. Perhaps you can find it at the Canadian equivalent of Michael's.

Not having used GW texture paints, I can't answer that.

You didn't want it to blend but you chose a yellow base for a yellow model? I think I'm missing how you reached that thought process.. You could do a desert base. I would try and get some purple tones into it though. Shades or base layers your rocks. Doesn't have to be bright, work it into the layers. That will give subtle contrast to your yellows.

Airbrush yellow/orange about 90% yellow the rest orange. Undercoat with the orange yellow mix. Than layer up to yellow with an airbrush or paint. You're going to want to use a yellow shade to finish with a darker shade mix for panel lines.

This Warhammer TV tutorial may be of some assistance in choosing your base colors:

Texture paint is basically for bases.

The GW tool for applying it is a flat plastic applicator, rather than a brush.

This PDF gives a vague idea of how it works : https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Blog/Textured_Paints.pdf

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
You didn't want it to blend but you chose a yellow base for a yellow model? I think I'm missing how you reached that thought process.. You could do a desert base. I would try and get some purple tones into it though. Shades or base layers your rocks. Doesn't have to be bright, work it into the layers. That will give subtle contrast to your yellows.

Yeah that does sound silly doesn't it. I had been wanting to do a desert base theme with my Eldar and had a nice board made too but then I had to move and sell a ton of stuff so... I guess I just wanted to continue where I left off as it were.

I was thinking a nice red/orange Arizona looking theme would work well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Fictional wrote:
Texture paint is basically for bases.

The GW tool for applying it is a flat plastic applicator, rather than a brush.

This PDF gives a vague idea of how it works : https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Blog/Textured_Paints.pdf

Oh wow, that's pretty neat, thx. I have Armageddon Dust, now that I'm in front of my paint box. That will work well with the material on the bases already. Later on I might spring for some flock.

For desert basing, you could get a lot of mileage from premade grass tufts, which are less messy to use than loose flock and come in all kinds of dry and parched colors.

 darkcloak wrote:

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
You didn't want it to blend but you chose a yellow base for a yellow model? I think I'm missing how you reached that thought process.. You could do a desert base. I would try and get some purple tones into it though. Shades or base layers your rocks. Doesn't have to be bright, work it into the layers. That will give subtle contrast to your yellows.

Yeah that does sound silly doesn't it. I had been wanting to do a desert base theme with my Eldar and had a nice board made too but then I had to move and sell a ton of stuff so... I guess I just wanted to continue where I left off as it were.

I was thinking a nice red/orange Arizona looking theme would work well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Fictional wrote:
Texture paint is basically for bases.

The GW tool for applying it is a flat plastic applicator, rather than a brush.

This PDF gives a vague idea of how it works : https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/PDF/Blog/Textured_Paints.pdf

Oh wow, that's pretty neat, thx. I have Armageddon Dust, now that I'm in front of my paint box. That will work well with the material on the bases already. Later on I might spring for some flock.

Sometimes colours blending is unavoidable. I'm painting mortarion at the minute and the grey of his armour blends terribly with the dull colours on his base.

maybe do a test... lay your sand on the base. layer with a purple brown. once this is dry, layer up your drybrushes with your desert tones and drybrush the base. this should mean that the base doesnt look outwardly purple, but it should be enough to suggest a nice contrast. I find that playing around with slightly odd colour combos can work quite well, and purple is yellows complimentary colour, so should unconsciously be quite pleasing to the eye.

I honestly cannot recommend a sand base for a yellow paint job. Maybe a light bluish gray or dull steel? Contrast is key for bright color schemes.

 darkcloak wrote:
I was thinking a nice red/orange Arizona looking theme would work well.

I've been using reds and reddish browns for basing for years and I'm quite happy with how it looks on the Imperial Fist I'm painting at the moment (see spoiler). I have a bit of trouble envisioning that Arizona color you're talking about, but in my experience as long as you go easy on the orange and keep the overall appearance of the base somewhat dark and muted, it should look fine on a Lamenter.

You can add me to the list of people voting against traditional sand colors for a yellow Marine. If you want anything like that, you are best off making it a steppe base and add some reddish or green static grass to give it a spot of color and counteract the blending effect a little.

Thanks for all the replies, I am thinking now I might just try out that Armageddon Dust and see where that gets me. I will have a look at a colour wheel and see what I can do with yellow.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Whelp. Purple is yellows complementary colour but since these guys are going to be pretty weathered too strong a base will have the opposite effect and will make the base the focal point. So I'm going to go with a grey and light blue base with purple highlights, then maybe some of those tufts in a really muted beige.

The red and browns of an Arizona desert would look good but looking at my paint box I'm on a pretty limited palette and I really don't like mixing paints. I can never seem to get the same colours again when I go to paint another batch!

Edit: I'm actually pretty excited to try out that tex paint. I probably shouldn't as I'm not done the models just yet but...