It's All About the Base

When building my Skaven force, since it was a horde army with lots of models in large units, my goal was to have as few separate models as possible. To make deployment easy, I used as many regimental base strips as as I could. Unfortunately, I built myself into a corner because now the screaming bell won't fit in my stormvermin unit.

The bell fits just fine if I set up the unit in a 10-wide Horde formation, where I can have four models on one side.

 

 

But any narrower and there's nowhere for my four-man regimental strips to fit up front, and there aren't any single models left to fill out the gaps in the back ranks.

 

I picked up ten more stormvermin, which will allow me to bump up the unit to 50. Six of them will be converted into bell pushers on a large base and the other four will be singles. As I'm painting them, I'll take the opportunity to rebase a few of the regimental strips. The plan is to cut two of the four-man strips in half, and pop six guys off and put them on single bases.

 

With the Age of Sigmar round-base craze going on, I figure this will give me a little taste of what this would be like on an army-wide scale. 

Because of the metal strips on their feet, the models on the double base need to be cut free with clippers. I also cut the strips away so the models can stand on the top of the new bases.

 

 

The models on the regimental bases come off a little easier. The already had their metal strips removed, so they just pop right off.

 

Breaking the models free leaves the feet needing some touch-up painting.

 

There are also some spots on the miniatures that didn't get painted while on the regimental strips. The models were close together and the sides behind the shields couldn't be reached with a brush, and were mostly unseen. Now that they will be on single bases, the sides of those models need to be painted.

 

Touching up the rats is easy enough– Some metal on the armor, a single coat of flesh on the feet, and a brown ink wash over those areas takes care of it.

 

The loose bases are sprayed with primer so the edges can be painted. I coat the top of each new base with super glue, position the model on it and sprinkle fine ballast over the surface before the glue dries.

 

For the strips that need to be cut in half, I measure to the center and make a cut in the side with a hobby knife. Then I slice along the underside of the base.

 

I cut as deep as possible to get through the plastic. Then, with a little flexing, the two halves of the base come apart.

 

I trim the cut side to match the angle of the opposite edge.

 

A strip of plastic is measured and cut to the height of the base. The strip is sprayed with primer on one side.

 

The un-primed side is glued to the base.

 

Then the corners are trimmed and sanded to create a smooth join.

 

Note that I accounted for the thickness of the plastic strip when trimming the base, so the final length matches the width of two single 20mm bases.

 

The final step is to paint the ballast on the new bases and paint all the sides green. Then I add static grass and use it to cover the join of the plastic strip.

 

The batch is rebased and ready to rejoin the ranks of their brood-brethren!

 

The new models are also finished, and the bell pushers came out great. I made these the same way I modeled the monks pushing their plague furnace. You can see that post here.

 

With the basing finished and the new models added, the 50-man unit of stormvermin can form up around the screaming bell in any formation!

 

'Til next time!

Push It Real Good!

I had a free moment between commission work. Did I use it to paint anything in my project queue? Hell no! I knocked out one of my "micro distractions." Micro distraction is the name I give to quick little projects that distract from the long-running unit grinds or large models that take weeks (sometimes years) to finish. These often result from a spark of inspiration for a conversion or an army accessory that can usually be knocked out in a day or two.

The Screaming Bell/ Plague Furnace has always irked me because it overhangs the back of its base in such a way that models can't be ranked up behind it. If they have staves or halberds (in the case of Stormvermin) just forget it!

 

 There.  Perfect!

 

I had been toying with the idea of making a base to fit behind it, with models posed like they are actually pushing the Plague Furnace, and I finally pulled the trigger. (Hey, it was either this or spend the day blending the flesh on those two Stormfiends. I intend to put that off as long as possible!)  I began with a 40mm and two 20mm bases to accommodate the six models in the spaces behind the machine.

 

 

The bases were glued down on a thin sheet of styrene card, and the gaps filled in with Aves Epoxy Sculpt. (You'll notice that I made two bases, because I'll eventually do this for my Stormvermin unit so they can push the Screaming Bell.)

 

 

Once the epoxy was dry, I cut the card around the bases and filed the edges to create a smooth, beveled side.

 

 

I super glued some ballast on the top, and then began adding the Plague Monks. I started with the front models, angling them in such a way that they wouldn't collide with the machine's framework. Their weapon hands were replaced with Crypt Ghoul hands– They are nicely sized, open hands, perfect for pushing the Plague Furnace.

 

 

Once the first two monks were positioned, I began adding the others. To attach the skinny Ghoul hands, I drilled out the sleeve and shaved the end of the wrist with a hobby knife so the hand pluged into the socket. This provided a much more secure bond than simply gluing two tiny flat surfaces together.

 

Patty Cake at +1 To Hit!

 

The models in the back were posed to be pushing the ones in front of them, and everything lines up perfectly with the furnace.

 

 

I painted the monks to match the rest of the unit. To see the process I used, check out my Painting a Plethora of Plague Monks tutorial.

 

 

The monks rank up perfectly with the Plague Furnace now, and my modeling OCD is satiated for another day!

 

 

Coming up, We'll take the terrain train underground to see some new Wild West Exodus game tables.

 

 

'Til next time!

Horror Unleashed

Recently I got to play catch-up on some of my projects that have been sitting half finished for the past few months or longer.

Halloween Terrain Tutorial

Something I've wanted to do, pretty much since I started this blog, is an undead-themed terrain tutorial taking advantage of all the goodies that become available around Halloween– things like plastic skulls and skeletons.

I'll be posting the tutorial toward the end of the month but I wanted to show the items I'll be using in case you want to build one for yourself. It's hit-or miss with Halloween supplies; you might find some great things on clearance if you wait until after the season, or they might be sold out before Halloween even arrives. If you're lucky enough to have a dedicated Halloween store, it's often a race to get there and pick through the leftovers on clearance before they close shop until the following year.

I got these plastic skulls and a nice rusty metal fence for a few bucks at the local craft stores (specifically: A.C Moore for the skulls, and Michael's for the fence). Stay tuned to see what I do with them!

 

 

Hell Pit Abomination

The horror of the Under Empire is unleashed! I hope this will be as much a nightmare for my enemy as it was for me to paint! Again I fell victim to Vallejo's paint being lighter when you paint it on than when it dries. So what looked like beautifully contrasted highlighted and shaded skin when I called it quits for the evening was an even range of mid tones when I looked at it in the morning. After another round of highlights and some controlled, darker washes in the recesses, I got the skin tone where I wanted it. The end result with all the mechanics and warp stone is really satisfying. I'm looking forward to sending this monstrosity into battle.

 

 

Screaming Bell

The Screaming Bell is also ready for battle. I made a couple "placeholder" skulls to go where the small censors would normally be hung, and I'm using a regular Grey Seer in lieu of the one to go on top of the bell. Those are the only details remaining before I can call it "finished" but it's to a point where I can put it on the table and match the quality of the rest of my army.

The Plague Furnace components are on hold for a while. The Furnace can only be pushed into battle by a unit of Plague Monks, so I'll need to paint them before I can field it, anyway. But first I've got a few Undead models to finish.

 

 

'Til next time!