Farsight Enclaves - O’Vesa Riptide - Complete sans base

[Bryan Blaire]

So it looks like the Necromunda 25mm are sold out from the GW stores, online shop, and my FLGS, so I took a shot at making my own Sector Mechanicus 25mm base:

I'm about half and half on it - it's definitely rough, and there are holes along the edges, plus it's about 2-3mm too tall, at the same time - hells yeah, I made a base! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Clearly there is still some refining to do, and I need to figure out how to get the right height without compromising the width, but I'm relatively happy with the result.

[thewarriorhunter]

I do something similar so here is my unsolicited advice. I roll mine out with clay so I think I have it a little easier but...

 

Get some 60 grit sand paper and rub the toppers on them so it reduces the height. This may or may not work (because plastic) but it will allow you to trim them down. I actually have some bases I left a little taller so that my oldmarines don't look so short next to my Primaris:

 

 

Take a finer grit and go around the edges in several gentle passes to help get rid of the roughness and help blend your taper.

 

Then use a putty to fill in any holes. I use Perfect Plastic Putty. It's easy to work with and can be thinned down with water. You can brush it on like paint of leave it thick and use tools/fingers to apply. You can clean up excess with fingers, damp paper towel, or wet q-tips.

 

Then give it another light sanding to help take any edges off the putty and you're good to go. Here's two of my guys on finished bases:

 

[Bryan Blaire]

Thanks for the suggestions! Definitely looking at using some putty instead of the plastic leavings and plastic cement glue to try and melt it all together in the future.

 

I can't actually sand down the top, because I'd end up losing the underlay detail, so I'm going to have to figure out how actually lower the top of the base so that I can still let the Sector Mechanicus base parts sit on it. Going to run my 300 grit sanding block around this after trying to fill the remaining holes and low spots and see where I get.

 

This is going to be for a crouching Pathfinder, so the extra height might not be a big deal.

 

Just had an idea - going to see if it will work for the next one...

[thewarriorhunter]

Are you gluing the top piece to a bottom base or is this all one solid piece?

[MithrilForge]

@ Bryan Blaire  - Gee,when you said that i got worried..  so i checked and i can actually get em here in Australia ?!...  dude ,did you want me to order some and post em to you ??... 

 

also what are you using to make the mold and what product are you using to make the base with?...

 

Cheers, Mithril

[Bryan Blaire]

Jeez, it's been a while for that idea to get me to the point of actually doing something. :facepalm:

Are you gluing the top piece to a bottom base or is this all one solid piece?

Yes, I'm gluing the top plastic piece that I have trimmed down from a Sector Mechanicus 32mm base to a 25mm base with no adjustment to the 25mm base.

@ Bryan Blaire - Gee,when you said that i got worried..:ermm: so i checked and i can actually get em here in Australia ?!... dude ,did you want me to order some and post em to you ??...

also what are you using to make the mold and what product are you using to make the base with?...

Yeah, the Necromunda 25mm bases came back on the US site within a few days of me posting, but I haven't gotten around to making a GW site log-in or ordering them from a FLGS (although I keep going in hoping that someone may have ordered them randomly, which hasn't worked out yet).

No molds used though, just the 32mm Sector Mechanicus bases from the box, melded with plastic-melting cement directly to the 25mm bases that came with the models.

So because I am somewhat frustrated by there being no 25mm Sector Mechanicus bases, but always looking for a way to soldier on in the face of that adversity, I continued making mine, but I'm going to order the Necromunda ones "soon" (that's a GWpreview/movie trailer 'Coming Soon' interpretation of that word, not a more common vernacular understanding of it) so that I can mix them in among the ones I made, since I want my Tau army as a whole to have the Mechanicus style bases (been building a story in my head about them attacking some kind of Mechanicus outpost/Forge territory/continent, but not a full on Forge World, which lends me an automatic opponent for my basing needs - Tau skulls, helms, and other armor pieces on my Mechanicus bases, and vice versa on my Tau bases).

So long winded way to get here. In addition to the original base I made, which I mounted a crouching Fire Warrior on, but haven't painted yet, I made ten more 25mm bases:

Larger version accessible here if you really want to look at all the gory details

So the very top one was my 'new idea' - took a 25mm base, gutted the top out, then used the ring to fit around a base portion I made from cutting out a 25mm circle from a cut down Sector Mechanicus 32mm base. I thought maybe it was going to come out better than it did, but I don't like how it ended up. Even less than my first attempt that resulted in an overly thick base.

Then I decided to try and cut the 32mm SM base higher up to get a thinner cross-section. As expected, that resulted in a loss of most or all of the underlay detail from the pipes and wiring, BUT I did decide that I kinda like it and will fill those voids with a bit of sand and see if I can't make it look like some of the structure is slightly sunk into the sandy waste.

So I moved to making a slightly thicker cross-sectioning of the 32mm bases and while it ended up costing me razor saw cuts across both my thumb and index finger, I like the results over all. I've got a Fire Warrior and Breacher teams, as well as two Pathfinder teams, to do bases for, so I figure I need to make another 5-8 of these and then order a couple of the packs of Necromunda 25mm base packs and I'll be set. At least until I start doing my Skitarii.

I'm going to be leaving the holes in the bases - I think I'll either fill them with sand, or I'll use them to try and get some corrosion/rusted hole effect going in/around them. I am always more ambitious than my talents actually live up to, but let's see how it goes!

WarriorHunter, did end up using my fine-grain sanding block to smooth the sides and round the tops just a bit, so thank you for that suggestion!

I am intending to get some paint on these bad boys today.

[thewarriorhunter]

When I was talking about making the pieces thinner I mean sanding the underside of the top piece, that way you don't lose your detail but it's also not so tall.

 

Those look great and it's cool to see the different things you tried to make work. I love seeing DIY stuff for the hobby. A store-bought solution is great but when you do your own thing, even if it's a slight variation, I think that's where they hobby really shines.

 

Great job!

[Bryan Blaire]

Well, I'm not too fussed about losing the details underneath on some of those, because when I can finally get some sand in there to fill in the holes some, I think it will look really cool, like the factorum stuff is slowly being swallowed in the sand - and that detail I think could make some cool story variations.

[Guest Triszin]

before you paint them, grab some super sculpty and make a press mold for those bases? so in the future, just put some greenstuff in the mold and apply it to your bases.

[Bryan Blaire]

Unfortunately I have already gotten Fire Warriors on them and have them started in the paint process, but that is definitely going to be the plan next time. I’m also looking to have some Necromunda bases and some Sector Imperialis bases that work with the terrain I’m going to be getting together for my whole army. The first Kill Team is actually close to done - I got the first four Fire Warriors going last night, have two more bases to base coat tonight, and the Stealth Suits are on painted bases already (except for the rims, I’m waiting on those until i know exactly what I want to do color-wise).

 

I will hopefully be able to get some pictures of the team so far up tonight, as well as getting started on the last two members of the Kill Team. Once I’m done, I will likely work on the terrain I’m hoping to use and might make some alternate Kill Team members. And then on to other Kill Teams!

 

Edit: Sadly I didn’t get pics done.

[Bryan Blaire]

Managed to get quite a bit done in the last four days, and I feel like I'm closing in on the finish of this particular team.

Some pics of the progress:

Remaining WiP Fire Warrior w/ Pulse Rifle and Pathfinder w/ Rail Rifle (Front and Back):

Stealth Suits on Sector Mechanicus bases to match terrain being built:

Currently built Fire Warriors on Sector Mechanicus bases:

Bases for remaining Kill Team members:

Base close-ups showing slight blue tint (viewable in shadow/at oblique angles):

Only have a couple of colors left in the base coat for the remaining KT members, then it will be on to the shading!

[brother_b]

Sooo clean. So good. I just love that.

[MithrilForge]

Your very meticulous i must say, but it proves worthy from your end product...2 x 

 

Mithril

 

p.s. i really like your base colour choice's, well done indeed!

[Bryan Blaire]

Sooo clean. So good. I just love that.

Thanks Brother B! May not always keep them this clean, possibly going to need to give them some battle damage as the years go on...

Your very meticulous i must say, but it proves worthy from your end product...2 x :tu:

Mithril

p.s. i really like your base colour choice's, well done indeed!

Thank you much, mithril! Unfortunately the meticulousness gets in my way sometimes. The bases are actually shockingly easy: it's all a brilliant silver base coat, then washed with Nuln Oil. After that, some judicious Bloodletter and Lamenter's Yellow produce the red and yellow wiring, Seraphim Sepia produce the golden brown wiring sheathing and piping, and finally, Guilliman Blue thinned with Air Caste Thinner is used to produce the bare blue tint on the upper metal faces.

Now, on to the show!

New Additions to the Kill Team:

New Gunners:

Fire Warriors seen before:

Family photo! Entire team:

Now, my question for you - my personal current table layout will include the Fronteris Kill Team (desert/wasteland) with Sector Mechanicus Manufactorum terrain - would you use black or dark grey rims (dark grey matches the dark grey of the Mechanicus terrain), or even a different color?

[brother_b]

Now on with the full army!

[Dosjetka]

I'd say black rims look best.

 

Anyway, congrats on completing your Kill Team! What can we expect to see next? :)

[thewarriorhunter]

My take on bases is a black brim, but only the base. The portion of terrain that you added on top should have the same color on the side. I personally think it helps the topper to pop more and be defined.

[Bryan Blaire]

Now on with the full army!

:lol: We'll see! I think I might be in it for Kill Team'ing for a while.

 

I'd say black rims look best.

 

Anyway, congrats on completing your Kill Team! What can we expect to see next? :)

Thanks! Appreciate the feedback on the base rims too. Do you think with the desert/wasteland theme that a desert tan/sand might be good/better?

 

As far as next - probably going to work on some terrain next, and my Mechanicus Kill Team (have several options I'm weighing there).

 

My take on bases is a black brim, but only the base. The portion of terrain that you added on top should have the same color on the side. I personally think it helps the topper to pop more and be defined.

Thanks for the feedback - unfortunately the rim was never going to be the same colors as the tops, because I'm not intending to clean up that mess with the glazes! :lol: Plus the bases for the other Kill Team members would look very different from these, or I'd have to make an imaginary line around each rim on the larger bases.

[MithrilForge]

Awesome work and i like the inks/washes trick   

congratulations on finishing this great task!! 

Now take a rest for the Greater good 

 

Mithril

[BloodWolves]

Like the deep red! Looks awesome Edited April 22, 2019 by BloodWolves

[Bryan Blaire]

Putting this here for posterity, easy reference, hopefully helps some folks, and maybe to record how my paint scheme changes over time.

 

Fatigues/Undersuit/Inner Armor or Structure/Weapon Frames:

1:1 Abaddon Black:Mechanicus Standard Grey -> Nuln Oil (recesses & shadows) -> 1:1 Ab Black:Mech Std Grey (clean up) -> Mech Std Grey (line highlight) -> Dawnstone (bright edge highlights) -> Administratum Grey (bright spot highlights)

 

Red Armor Plating:

Mephiston Red -> Carroburg Crimson (line/plate dark lining, recesses, shadow areas) -> Agrax Earthshade (deepest shadow areas) -> Mephiston Red (clean up & line highlight deepest shadowed areas) -> Evil Suns Scarlet (brightest spot highlights in dark shadowed areas & line highlights on brighter parts) -> Wild Rider Red (brighter highlights on upper surfaces) -> Lugganath Orange (bright spot highlights)

 

Light Grey Armor Panels & Markings:

Celestra Grey -> Agrax Earthshade (recesses & shadowed areas) -> Agrax Earthshade (most shadowed areas, 2nd application) -> Celestra Grey (clean up & line highlights in most shadowed areas) -> 1:1 Celestra Grey: Ulthuan Grey (line highlights in raised areas, brightest spot highlights in shadowed areas) -> Ulthuan Grey (brighter line highlights on upper surfaces) -> 1:1 Ulthuan Grey:White Scar (bright spot highlights)

 

Steel:

Leadbelcher -> Nuln Oil (recesses & shadowed areas) -> Leadbelcher (clean up) -> Ironbreaker (line highlights in raised areas) -> Stormhost Silver (brightest spot highlights)

 

Gold:

Balthasar Gold -> Agrax Earthshade (recesses & shadowed areas) -> Balthasar Gold (clean up) -> Retributor Armor (line highlights) -> Liberator Gold (bright line highlights) -> Stormhost Silver (brightest spot highlights)

 

Khaki Wraps/Fabric:

Steel Legion Drab -> Reikland Fleshshade (recesses & shadowed areas) -> Steel Legion Drab (clean up) -> Tallarn Sand (blended layers) -> Karak Stone (blended highlights)

 

Leather Straps:

Mournfang Brown -> Skrag Brown (pre-highlights) -> Agrax Earthshade (entire strap) -> poss. highlight w/Skrag or Deathclaw Brown (varied to make things interesting across army/within squad)

 

Wood Grain Buttons:

Rhinox Hide -> Gorthor Brown (thin lines to start grain pattern) -> Nuln Oil (shade between Gorthor Brown lines) -> Balor Brown (define lines better) -> highlight lines: Zamesi Desert -> Zandri Dust (brightest spot highlights)

 

Hooves:

Rhinox Hide -> Doombull Brown (vertical thorn lines & highlights at tops of hooves) -> Tuskgor Fur (highlights of lines/highlights) -> Agrax Earthshade (entire hooves)

 

Blue Skin:

The Fang -> Russ Grey (some of them mix with Drakkenhof Nightshade, or just shade with DN, some highlight up more with Fenrisian Grey) -> Guilliman Blue (as needed to vary colors)

 

For my O’Vesa Riptide, I did the armor panel lining on the dark grey with Black Templar Contrast, and the red armor panel lining with Blood Angels Red Contrast - both were done as a 1:4 mix of Contrast to Contrast Medium.

[Bryan Blaire]

No longer for the team, but it will KEAL!

The O’Vesa Riptide begins…

[Guest Triszin]

gorgeous stuff

[Bryan Blaire]

Awesome work and i like the inks/washes trick   

congratulations on finishing this great task!! 

Now take a rest for the Greater good 

 

Mithril

Thanks Mithril!  The inks/washes on silver and gold to make colors is something I’ve always liked.  You can do a good bronze with gold and purple shade - need at least two, maybe three (and add a small green tint to it).

 

I took some rest, but now it’s time for something bigger to join my Farsight crew.

 

Like the deep red! Looks awesome

Thanks BloodWolves - I’m glad you like it and it really isn’t that hard to make - I put my method above if you are interested.  I’ve been very glad how it’s turned out and I’m hoping I can keep a consistent color outcome on my minis.

 

gorgeous stuff

Thanks Triszin!  I hope it keeps pleasing and looking nice!

[Bryan Blaire]

The slow tromp to completion continues (and this is just one arm!) on O’Vesa, but I’m pretty pleased with how it’s looking so far. No panel lining or shading just yet, but I got some decent (IMO) appearance on the targeter elements of the arm and ion accelerator, as well as a decent ion glow for the weapon:

Only the ion accelerator has been completely cleaned up and the correct red color applied across the whole weapon - the rest of the red should be applied to all other arm elements tonight. The original red was applied as a base coat over black primer using GW’s Mephiston Red spray, but it does not color match to the bottles, so next time I’m going to be utilizing a close/similar color of a much less expensive spray that will provide better coverage. Every now and then I like to pick up some of GW’s branded offerings to see if they stand up, but I find that most of their materials just don’t stand up to the test and you can get better elsewhere, it may just take some extra clean up.

I’m not sure how much farther I’ll take the targeter glows (maybe some edge highlighting with Moot Green or Warpstone Glow), I’m not that great with OSL and would like to get it finished up - figure I could always come back and try and do some effects later.