I initially posted this as part of my XV WIP topic however I think this would be better slotted into the Modelling Board so it does not vanish so easily....

Easy Basing – The El’mo way

You will need:

Dry tree bark (I get mine from the firewood pile)


Sand (from a beach/builders yard or use bird cage sand)


Static grass (get from a model railway shop/Ebay as it is far cheaper than GW http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Static-Grass- ... 8012ea226a )


Gravel “flock” (again from a model railway shop/Ebay http://www.modelrailwaywizard.com.au/tr ... ramset.htm )


Small stones (garden?)


PVA wood glue
Black undercoat spray
Codex grey
Fortress grey
Skull white
Black ink

Voll und Abtönfarbe watered down by at least 50:50 – your choice of shade but I find a middle brown shade works the best. Supplied in 500ml bottles so it will make at least 1 litre of wash.
(http://praktiker.de/ShowCategory.action ... ode=k20-70 This is a tinting paint which is added to white wall paint here in Germany. You should be able to find something similar locally or using EBay.)



Stage 1 – Basic prep

1. Wash the base with warm soapy water and allow to dry.


2. Choose a nice piece of bark (optional) and shape as required. You may have to sand or cut the underside flat.

3. Use the PVA glue to fix the bark to the base and clamp in place until dry.

4. Randomly glue small rocks to the base using PVA glue.


Allow to dry overnight

Stage 2 - Undercoat

Spray the whole base in matt black paint.


Allow to dry.


Stage 3 - Rocks

1. Paint the bark and small stones with Codex grey. This does not have to be too neat as it will be hidden later.


2. Paint a heavy black ink layer over the Codex Grey making sure that crevices in the bark are painted.


3. Wet-dry brush (more paint than normal dry brushing) the bark and stones in Codex grey.

4. Dry brush Fortress grey over the edges and raised sections of the bark and stones.

5. Lightly dry brush with Skull white. I have also glued on the figure at this point as I will be fixing the sand around its feet.


Stage 4 – Soil

1. Use watered down PVA glue to paint the remainder of the base and a couple of small dabs in crevices on the bark. This will look like windblown accumulations later, Then scatter the sand onto the PVA and shake off the excess whilst still damp. The edges can be tidied up by running your finger around to wipe of the overspill of glue and sand. Allow to dry.


2. Use the brown wash made earlier to give the sand a good wetting. This is the trick of the whole base. As the wash is very watered down it will naturally sink to the lower level of the sand leaving the bigger grains showing proud of the surface and in a much lighter shade – no need to dry brush later! Allow to dry.


Stage 5 – Grass and gravel

1. Place small blobs of watered down PVA glue randomly on the base and sprinkle the gravel “flock” over it.

2. Shake the base over a collecting pot, the gravel will stick to the glue but the remainder can be recycled for next time.

3. Repeat again immediately after for the static grass but also dab the glue onto the sand you earlier placed on the bark and between some of the larger rocks.

4. Sprinkle on the static grass and shake/ and tap the base upside down over a collecting pot to recycle the loose grass.

5. Finish by blowing across the top of the base to get rid of the final few bits of loose grass. Paint the edge of the base, if required, to hide any over-run of the brown wash.


All done.



Other examples:
A large rock outcrop made from 2 pieces of bark glued on top of each other


Using parts of the Tamiya wall set (1:35 scale) http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/ ... 35028m.jpg


The wash colours can be varied between different shades; I have tried green and different shades of brown with good effect. 1 Litre of wash will do many hundreds of bases at a cost of around 5 Euros.
The static grass (autumn effect – a mixture of greens and brown) and gravel flock I use came in 20g bags and I am still using the same ones as when I started my Tau/Dark Angels and Imperial Guard and my sons Tyranids so it is going a long way.

For the 25mm bases I tend not to use the bark and stones and this makes it even faster. The figure is normally glued to the base and I just paint the PVA glue around his feet.



Also good for the large oval bases

The graves are made by simply layering up the sand in multiple layers and the rifles where glued to the base before the sand.

Nice article El'mo!

The effect of the wash gives you a very nice result. Also, I like and the way the gravel looks! Like real small stones, seperated from the groundwork.

I agree with Nickfun.
What I'm curious about though, is how you managed to glue just 2 toes to the base (on the corners of the toes none the less) and not break the model every time someone walks past your game table. Was it pinned through the base? or are you using some magic glue I've never come across before? xD

Certainly adds to the diversity of basing going on about ATT, another Resource link!

Top stuff El'mo.

- Tael.

Thanks Tael

JT- There is a 1mm diameter brass pin glued into the base and through to the toe. I also pinned the ankle to give it extra strength. No magic involved