Making Swamp Bases

[Honsou]

Hello all, there's a reason I've been posting lots of these threads. This article is part of the project that I am working on to collect articles from around the Warhammer community to have at Astro. Brannick approved.

===

Author: Starks333

Making Swamp Bases

Requirements

• Milliput
• Wood bark or Chunks of Roots
• Two part Resin (liquid)
• Dirt and whatever comes with it, aka nature (Taken from outside. Stick it on a tray and place it in the oven at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit for about 2 mins to dry it out.)
• Plasticard (0.2 mm works)
• Thinned PVA glue or Wood Glue (I use thinned wood glue, its stronger and bonds better.)
• Water Effects

Step One

Plan your base!!!


Step Two

Cut out a section of the base top.



Step Three

Clean around the edges. BE CAREFUL! If you press too hard you will break the rim.



Step Four

Superglue the bottom edges of your base and place it on plasticard. Let it dry. Once dry, cut out around the base (It doesn't need to be perfect yet).

(Mine's already cut out.)



Step Five

Apply milliput in whatever shape you want, making sure your "reservoir" still exists (this is what will hold your "water"). Bases look best when they don't fall over the edges, keep the edges of the base lined up with the edge of the rim as seen in the examples (it gets painted the same colour as the rim).

NOTE: A good thing to do while putting on your milliput is to check and see how your model fits on the base. If doing squads it is best to have a specific model lined up with its base.




Step Six

Now after the milliput and super glue has dried, your base has more strength. So you can begin to take a knife and/or file to shave away the extra plasticard from the bottom of the base with little worry of caving in the edges.


Step Seven

Apply your dirt mix (using your glue) so that everything is covered, even the reservoir. (Dirt exists underwater after all.)

You can also apply some random things that look swamp like (tall grass, cat tails etc) to the area where the resin will be applied.

Let it dry



Step Eight

Paint your bases. (Use lots of colour: blue, red, green, brown, orange, yellow, whatever.) Use the same idea as Step 6 of the Plasticard Bases tutorial (Link) with the big wet blend mess. Try to use colder or greener colours where the water would go.

Also highlight your base with a drybrush of a brighter colour. I usually mix a yellowy colour and a beige.


NOTE:

Before doing this, test with a piece of sprue on a spare base, I cannot guarantee whether or not your resin will melt the plastic or not. The chemical reaction in resin generates heat. (As it has not damaged my base, plasticard or anything else, I feel comfortable using it.) However, your brand of resin MAY BE DIFFERENT.

If you want your model standing IN the water, complete the entire model and base with paint, then apply the resin. When applying the resin, be careful not to touch the model. It will look wet and a bit thicker looking on him and might look weird. You can use gloss varnish to "wet" him.


Step Nine

MAKE SURE you have about 10 bases done before doing this!

You will need: two part resin, a cup to measure the mixes (preferably shorter as resin is thick, so you don't want glass ketchup bottle syndrome), a cup to mix the resin (I used the bottom of a pop bottle with the 5 bumps). You need some water, cup, paint, and a crappy brush.

Mix the resin as it describes (mine is a 1:1 ratio mix) .

Mix some colours you want the water to be, but not too much. Dip your brush in the colours and mix it in with the resin. You MUST use the resin as soon as possible after mixing. Don't let it sit too long.

Take your brush and apply the resin in dabs, let it settle then apply more. Repeat until its deep enough for you.

After doing all that, set them aside to dry and try and clean your brush up.

(My base wasn't painted first and it created a few problems, but i had mixed resin for another base and had too much left to just throw away!)




Step Ten

Apply Water Effects to give the water a more natural look. If you want calm water then just leave it.


Step Eleven

If you had the resin "overflow" onto your original dirt or flock, simply let it dry and apply another layer of dirt or flock over top:

You are free to do what you like after that. Applying a couple thin washes over the dirt will help tone down the realism and blend it into your model more, just be careful not to get it on the resin or it will look weird.