Basing Part II: Painting the Base

For my Bane Thralls/Tartarus I've decided to paint the ground a bone-colored theme to compliment the paints I used on the models(skulls, wrappings) while still adding contrast to the model as a whole. What colors you use is really up to you, but here's how I did mine.

The first step is to apply a coat of a deep brown. I chose Umbral Umber, but any dark color will do. You get this down first because it's what you want the darkest shadows to be, everything else will be dry brushed on top. Make sure you thin the paint when you do this one, you want it to get in all the crevices.

Next I mixed the Umbral Umber with a little bit of Battlefield Brown and Bootstrap Leather. The Bootstrap Leather lightened it to a very milk chocolateish color while the Battlefield brown muted the saturation a bit. This still isn't dry brushing, just brush very lightly. This will add depth to the shadows and make a good base to dry brush onto.

Now I was pretty much out of paint to work with, so I started over with some Bootstrap Leather and just a touch of Battlefield Brown. This is when I started to dry brush. Only wipe a little paint of the brush, you aren't doing highlights yet. Painting bases is all about working from dark to light, since having to add shadow later on usually implies a step backward(or several). Avoid this by building up slowly. You'll be rewarded with awesome looking basses!

Here's where you'll see the previous steps pay off. Bootstrap leather was too saturated and with an orange, flesh-like color to use on it's own, so I lightened and muted it a bit with some Menoth White Base. I then dry brushed this over the gravel 2 or 3 times, going lighter on the paint each time.

Next up was straight Menoth White Base dry brushed over several times. Make sure you're wiping a lot of paint off the brush now.

After that I did very very light layers of Menoth White Highlight. At this point you should be wiping a lot of pait off the brush to the point where it doesn't look like you're doing anything. If you need proof that you are, give the black part of the base a brush and see.

And a final highlight of Morrow White, very very lightly dry-brushed.


Your final step should be painting the rest of your base black again. It's no doubt coveredin dry-brush lines. Now you're ready to add the flock and what-have-you. Check the next article, Basing Part III: Adding Flock for a short how-to.

Basing Part I: Adding Gravel, Rock, and Sand

This is part I of a series on basing your models. Make sure you check out Basing Part 0 first since your bases should be properly prepped.

Basing is one of those things that can be a big deal or a little deal. Whether you go bananas or not, basing makes a model looked finish. It can be a personal thing, making a theme for your entire army or making an epicly unique base for an epic model. Or, you could just want to make the models look finished.

This tutorial will be for adding sand, gravel, or rocks to your base.

Supplies
For this tutorial you'll need the following:

Some Supplies

• Water
• Elmer's white glue(don't buy this at your FLGS. Sorry but 9 dollars a bottle is retarded)
• Rocks, sand, ballast, etc. I recommend you go to Michael's and find the  bags of sand for like 1.99. Beats the hell out of buying a small tin for $5
• A Paintbrush you don't care about (small enough to get hard to reach areas)
• A small container
• Models to base

Alright, so let's get started. The firs thing you should do is pour some glue into your empty blister/palette/whatever you're using. Start adding water to it a little at a time. You don't want it to be watery, just loose. The regular glue is too thick and unwieldy for proper use, so thin it out a bit. Use your crappy brush to mix. You don't have to make as much as I did, but I was doing about 14 models and wanted to make enough to be visible in the pictures!

Step 1: Mix Glue & Water

Now that you've got your glue ready, add it to the base of your model with a dabbing motion. If you try to brush it it might be too thin, dabbing helps it pool a bit. When you're done it should look something like this.

Step 2: Apply Glue

Now we're ready to dip. My girlfriend made me get all of my wargaming things organized and it was one of the best things I ever did. I got some stacking containers at walmart and they work wonders. My favorite is the small 3 door one that holds my brushes in the top drawer, tools and greystuff in the second, and the third is filled with basing sand. It's small enough that I can put it on my table when I'm working and store it away after. Take your model and dip it into the basing sand. Pull it out, give it a good shake/tap, and re-dip from a different angle. This assures that all crevices are properly covered. Make sure to tap off the excess.

Step 3: Go for a dip in the sand

Now, step 4. This is very important. Just walk away. WALK AWAY. Alton Brown style. You don't actually have to walk away, now is a great time to repeat the process with another model. Rinse and repeat till they're all at this stage. The point is, leave them alone. Give the glue time to dry. Very very important.

Step 4: Wait, or Repeat with New Models

The next step is also pretty important. Instead of forging ahead with your basing plans, you should do the following. Take your dried models and your crappy brush, apply another layer of glue over the sand with a very light dabbing motion. Try to spread out any large drops that might form, but don't brush. If you use a brushing motion there's a good chance you'll brush off your sand with it. The water in the glue you're adding will loosen everything up again and it'll be susceptible to disturbance. Apply a layer of glue all around the base, and then set aside and repeat step 4.

Step 5: Apply another layer of glue!

You're done now! Unless you'd like to add a little variation. After the base is dry again, you can add a dab of glue to a spot and dip it in the sand. You can build up little mounds of dirt, rock cairns, make a "path", etc. This is completely optional though and something you need to come up with yourself.

Finished models

So there you have it. Next up is Basing Part II: Painting the Gravel

Basing Part 0: Filling the Gaps

So you know those little gaps you sometimes get in your bases? Where the metal tab of the model slides in. Those are no good, we need to cover those up. Before you read this guide and go shoving gray-stuff everywhere, I want to point out the following.

There is a very easy, cheap way to do this. Just put masking tape over the gap when you attach the model.

That being said, masking tape isn't always an option. Maybe you're working with models you've already attached to the base. Maybe you want the metal tab for stability or it's too much work to remove it. For any of those stituations and more, you can fill the gaps with the following method.

Note the gaps on the sides.

Supplies:

• Grey Stuff
• Hobby Knife or Clay Sculpting tools
• Models that need a good filling

Fairly simple stuff, here's how its done. The first step is to mix your grey or green stuff, whichever you use. As always, try not to waste this stuff. You can always make more! Mix it up and cut off a piece about the size of a pea, a little smaller or larger depending on your gaps. Roll this out into a little log about the width of the gap.

Step 1: Mix your puddy and roll into a log

The next step is to apply the grey-stuff through the bottom of the base. If youre filling an entire gap as I was with my bone chickens, you can slip the whole piece in. If it's a smaller gap like the one in Tartarus' base above, cut off a small piece. Use your hobby knife or sculpting tool to push the grey stuff into the gap, checking the top of the base to make sure it's all the way through. Then, use your knife or sculpting tool to flatten out grey stuff. It'll probably have a a rounded shape to it. A light pulling motion usually is enough to smooth it out nicely for me.

Step 2: Apply and smooth

Now go to the bottom side of the model again and use the knife to salvage any grey stuff that might be stuck on edges or whatever. Add this back to your ball. Repeat the process with any other models you have.

Remember that grey-stuff takes a little while to harden, so make sure you use it all and then give it time to rest. Now that your gaps are filled, you can go on to the next step.

Part 1: Basing with Sand, Rocks, or Gravel

And if you're interested in those organizing drawers, I found them here at Amazon. You can also get them at Walmart for about the same price.

Mans Painting 5/16

I actually got quite a bit done, even though we ended the night short to go to the tavern. Here's what I worked on last night.

Drumroll please....
Bane Lord Tartarus is....

So he's not done. He's got both his arms though! I just need to finish up the base and make his weapon not look lame. I don't have many ideas for that yet other than working the metals and adding some rotted gold to it.

I got a lot done on my Bane Thralls as well. I painted all of their weapons and attached most of them, and finished their armor/cloth. All that's left now is to do the skulls, and a few highlights/shadows on the weapons. Speaking of the weapons, I don't like them. If there were ever a reason to buy those Bane Thrall resculpts, it'd be for the new weapons. These ones are so bland. I think I'm going to carve runes into these and make them glow, because they're just so boring. Oh, I also need to do the banner.

Overall it was a good night. I also began basing these models, as well as some bone chickens, for a tutorial on basing I'll be adding shortly.