Diesel DM

 

Basing your WARMACHINE models is one of the easiest things you can do to really make your models standout.  It gives a sense of terrain and ties the model in with a bigger scene. As I was completing the last model from my Cygnar Battlegroup box (the Lancer), I thought I’d take time to photograph my process and make a quick “How to” guide for making a battlefield base.  To the right is a photograph of the finished product that we’ll be working our way up to.

Materials

There is a wide variety of basing materials available for purchase.  Gale Force Nine, which refers to these materials as “Hobby Scenics”, has a nice selection of all different materials that arrive in convenient plastic containers. While GF9 is a well-known supplier of basing materials arts and crafts stores like Hobby Lobby may also carry similar products.  Before discussing the needed materials, let’s define some terminology: grit and flock.

Grit refers to tiny rocks and comes in multiple sizes such as fine, medium and rocky from GF9’s store.  The fine grit is quite small, though still coarser than sand, and makes an excellent base layer to represent dirt.  Medium grit, at our model’s scale would be equivalent to hand sized rocks.  Rocky grit would equate to boulders for our models.  Grit is often a light tan color, though any lighter color is fine as we will be painting it.

Flock refers to the softer elements used in basing, materials that represent grass, snow, leaves, soil, etc.  I mention soil flock here, but above I said the fine grit makes a good base dirt layer.  Either can be used, but I prefer the grit because you can paint it the color you want.  That being said, if you’re trying to achieve a nice rich, soft dirt look, then the soil flock will work great and not need to be painted.

Soil (Fine Grit)

For the base ground layer I used fine grit purchased from Hobby Lobby, equivalent to the GF9 fine basing grit.  It may not look like soil in the container, but once you get it glued down and painted it will give a nice rough texture perfect for drybrushing to give it some quick highlights.  In the picture above it’s mixed with some medium grit to give a size comparison.

Medium Rocks (Medium Grit)

For medium rocks I used medium grit from GF9.  These add some variety to the ground layer, especially if you paint them a different color than the ground layer.

Large Rocks (Kitty Litter)

For the large rocks I use kitty litter.  Kitty litter provides unique shapes, many of which have a slate appearance to them with sharp broken edges.  The bonus here is that if you know someone with a cat you can get a handful of basing material for free.  These boulders are a nice way to give your bases a little something extra, but you don’t want to overdo it, just accent the base with one or two large rocks.

Grass (Static Grass Flock)

The grass I use is GF9’s Static Grass: Green.  They make a variety of colors to represent different seasons or climates.  As with the large rocks I like to use the grass as an accent, with most of the base not covered.

 

Step 0: Practicing

It’s not often there’s a cheap and easy way to practice modeling techniques, but basing is one of those opportunities.  There are countless objects you can use to practice basing.  I used cheap plastic poker chips I had lots of to practice different techniques.  As I go through the steps on my Lancer’s base, feel free to follow along on anything you can find around the house if you don’t want to commit to the real thing yet.

 

 

Step 1: Setting the boulder

By placing the largest items first you can glue them directly to the base, ensuring they are solidly attached and won’t fall off during transport.  For the boulder I like to use super (PVA) glue because it sets quickly allowing me to move on to the next couple steps without worrying about it sliding around.

From your selection of boulders (grit, kitty litter, etc) decide how many and which pieces you want to attach.  For medium bases I like 1-2, for large bases 3-4, for small bases you want to scale it way down, try even breaking a piece of  your boulder off to make a smaller boulder.  These are accent pieces, so you don’t want Stryker hiding behind an enormous boulder.  Once you’ve made your selections try different arrangements until you find something interesting that doesn’t detract form the model.  In other words don’t build a replica Stonehenge if you want the attention focused on your model. For my Lancer I’ve chosen one boulder that I will place a little off-center, toward the front left.  I rotated it to get the most interesting edges facing forward, which will be the most visible part of the rock.  I then applied PVA glue to the rock and set it in place using tweezers.  You have a few second to rotate and adjust it before the glue sets.  Once you’re happy with positioning hold it in place for several seconds then release and give it a minute to dry.

 

 

Step 2: Applying white glue

Boulder in place, we will now cover the entire base with white glue (like Elmer’s School Glue).  First we want to water down the glue to make it flow easier.  I do about 70% glue, 30% water.  Squeeze the glue out into an old paint tray or cup, then add your water.  Stir it up with the handle of an old brush.  I use a cheap old water-color brush to apply the paint to the base.  Rinsing your brush thoroughly when you’re done it should come perfectly clean.  You want a thick coating of glue so don’t just paint on a thin transparent layer, we need it to hold our grit securely.  Don’t worry, white glue will dry clear(unless it’s extremely thick then it’s tinged a milky color), so you won’t have white showing through.  When you’re finished your model and boulder will be standing in a pool of glue.

 

 

Step 3: Adding the medium rocks

Scattered around the base we want several medium-sized rocks.  Using tweezers grab one piece of medium grit at a time and place it in the glue where you want it.  I tried to spread them around randomly but with even coverage.  Be sure to press them down all the way into the glue so they don’t just float on top.

 

 

Step 4: Adding the fine grit

To get a solid coating of fine grit the easiest way is to pour the grit directly on the model’s base until it’s heaped across the entire base. Hold your model over a shallow dish or the cover to your GF9 basing container and slowly pour the fine grit over the base, starting from the front and working your way back. Once it’s more than covered gently push down on the grit to get the bottom layer set into the glue, then tip the model sideways over your grit container to pour the extra back in. Now take a look at the back of the base, you may need to repeat the procedure from different angles to get full coverage. Getting the grit under and around the model’s feet can often take a couple different angles of pouring. Once completed tip the base sideways again and tap the edge with a brush handle to get any remaining loose particles off. Make another check for gaps and fill in as necessary. Now that the gaps are filled take a look at the model’s feet. You may notice some stray grit on top of the feet, in the crevices of the toes, or heels. Use an old dry brush to wipe off any stray particles. Now what you decide is “stray” is up to you, if you want a very rigid looking terrain then there should be no stray particles, if you want softer looking ground then it’s only natural that some of the basing material will be on the feet of your model as they sank in. If you find particularly stubborn grit that your brush can’t move or reach, the sharp-pointed tool that comes with most modeling kits works well for picking those off.

At this point I like to let the base dry overnight. You’re going to be painting and dry-brushing these materials, you want to make sure they are firmly attached or the brush will rip them right off.

 

 

Step 5: Painting the soil

Assembly is complete, the glue is dry, time to add some color. For my Lancer’s base I’ll be using the appropriately named Battlefield Brown (P3 paint), mixed with some water into a wash. Thinning the paint will help it flow into all the nooks and crannies that make up the ground layer. Lay on enough of the brown wash to get an even deep brown. Avoid painting our large boulder and the medium rocks. How much brown you get on your model is up to you, for multi-ton metal ‘jack, it’s natural that they will have some mud and dirt caked on their feet and as you can see I wasn’t too concerned about getting a little brown paint on the Lancer’s feet. If you get a little too much use a damp clean brush to push the paint back into place.

 

 

Step 6: Painting the boulder and rocks

Now paint the larger rocks and the boulder a distinct color to make them stand out as being rocks.  Since the kitty litter has a slate look to it, I chose a nice grey, in this case Greatcoat Grey (P3 paint).  I add just a brush full of water to break the surface tension of the paint, but not so much that it runs of the rocks.  Paint all the medium grit and the kitty litter boulder.  Let the paint dry thoroughly.

 

 

Step 7: Dry-brushing

With our base coats dry, it’s time to make the textures come to life with some dry-brushing.  Dip a dry brush into some pure Morrow White (P3 paint) and brush it back and forth on a paper towel until no more paint is coming off.  Now it’s ready to dry-brush our grey rocks.  For the best effect brush across the sharp edges, not along them.  This will accentuate the edges giving the rocks a weather look.  Also lightly brush the flat faces of the boulder to add some weathering all around.  Continue on to the medium grit rocks, giving them a light brushing as well.

Now for the soil use a clean dry brush and pick up some Rucksack Tan (P3 paint) brushing it against a paper towel until no more is coming off.  Then lightly dry brush the soil, taking care not to hit the grey rocks.  This gives the top of the soil a lighter, dried look and really adds some depth.  Give the dry-brushing a few minutes to dry before moving on.

 

 

Step 8: Planting the grass (Glue)

The last big step is to add our grass.  For this you’re going to use straight white glue, no need to water it down.  I still squirt it out on a palette to make it easier to apply with a brush.  Decide the pattern you want for your grass.  Our boulder should have some grass growing around it and we’ll have it trail back behind the model.  Separate patches of grass on the same base also has a nice effect.  Something to keep in mind is that once you press the static grass on both the glue and the grass will spread out a bit, so make your glue trails narrower than you want your end result to be and keep separate patches a healthy distance apart to avoid them merging together.

With an old wet brush take some glue off your palette and gently paint it around your boulder and then make you grass pattern.  It doesn’t need to be as thick as it was for the fine grit layer, but you still need enough to embed the grass in.

 

Step 9: Planting the grass (Flock)

Flip over the cover of your GF9 static grass flock cover and set your model in it.  Using your fingers pinch up a good amount of grass and place it on the base.  Repeat until your entire glue trail is covered.  Use the handle of a paint brush to press the pile of grass down.  Then tip your base sideways over your flock container and shake the excess grass off.  Turn the base upside down and tap it with a brush both to get more excess off and to help your static grass stand on end.  Well away from your flock container blow on the grass from the base upward toward the model to get it to stand up even more.  Do not blow anywhere near your static grass container, it doesn’t end well.  Use a brush to sweep away any stray grass blades from the rest of the model.

 

Step 10: Finished base

And we’re done!  You now have a battlefield base complete with rocks, a boulder and grass.  If the black ring around your base has any misplace paint, either from painting the model or the terrain, use Thamar Black (P3 paint) to paint the ring and give it a nice clean look.  Using these basic techniques you can extrapolate to new materials and different combinations.  Use the practicing ideas in Step 0 to make your own unique process for different types of terrain.