Eldar Ruins/Crone World Bases?

[Tyriks]

Anyone know of a good tutorial for doing bases with Eldar ruins or a Crone World feel? I'm thinking things like the stuff the new Drazhar and Jain Zar are jumping around on.

[Gederas]

Dunnp about doing bases for an Eldar Ruins/Croneworld feel (maybe we can summon Kierdale by flaying a bunch of Eldar and using their tendons for guitar strings? As iirc, he's done those) but Secret Weapon Miniatures has two base lines that look like Eldar stuff, specifically the GHOST STONE and ALIEN TEMPLE sets (the latter being much more of a destroyed/damaged feel)

[Kierdale]

I just happened to look in on the thread! :)

 

I used simple card/plasticard, cue curves with a French curve (I think that’s what the tool is called). Sesame seeds look excellent painted up as soulstones. I got Green Stuff World’s Eldar textured rolling pin.

 

For painting I used some cheap craft paints the same shade as Rakarth Flesh, Flayed One Flesh and Pallid Witch Flesh, drybrushing the latter two over the former lighter and lighter.

 

I’m sorry I can’t post photos now, but you can check images via the links in my Sig (Psychopomps).

[Xenith]

Something like this?

I used Milliput, the Greenstuff world Eldar rolling pin to make broken chunks of wraithbone, then just stuck them on the bases.

Method/pics here:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/265816-xeniths-chaos-iron-warriors-plague-marine-bastion/?p=5540203

[Jukkiz]

I too would suggest looking into Greestuff Worlds offerings. They have quite fancy selection of fantastic texture rolling pins

Edited May 21, 2021 by Jukkiz

[Kierdale]

Something like this?

I used Milliput, the Greenstuff world Eldar rolling pin to make broken chunks of wraithbone, then just stuck them on the bases.

Method/pics here:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/265816-xeniths-chaos-iron-warriors-plague-marine-bastion/?p=5540203

That’s the thing! :tu:

[Rik Lightstar]

I've not tried the Eldar one, but I can't praise the Greenstuff World rollers that I have highly enough.

 

What I would suggest if you want to make life extra easy for yourself is to make your base toppers with an oven bake clay/putty. I also invested in a set of the GSW Cutters (like cookie cutters in base sizes) and a pasta maker from Amazon.

 

For me the pasta maker is an absolute game changer for making bases as you can roll a sheet of consistent thickness putty in seconds and then just put the textured roller over the top of it.

 

Including baking time I made all the base toppers for my Cursed City set (60 in varying sizes) in under 90 minutes.

 

Rik

[Tyriks]

I was mulling over the GSW rollers when I saw my LGS had just started carrying them so I grabbed the Eldar one and some putty. Haven't used it yet. I'm going to put the chunks around some pink or purple soil I think, should be a clear visual that it's not a human world, I think. I appreciate all the input!

[Jukkiz]

Always try to get even pressure when rolling with pins too. You might get weird looking basing material otherwise

[Xenith]

Make sure you grease the roller properly, I just used water on the milliput and it stuck a bit - maybe vaseline then wash it off. I'd also use a normal rolling pin/bottle to flatten the putty first, making sure it's flat and even, then go over with the GSW roller. 

[Bung]

I do the same as Rik and use a pasta maker, GSW Cutters ans Super Sculpy Firm.

 

You can get a pasta maker rather cheap, mine was at a discounted price of 10€.

 

You can do some sheets too and Just brake them into small parts for ruins.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I used AOS shattered dominion stuff for my Harlequins. Worked pretty well.

[Tyriks]

So I've been experimenting. The slab of rock I made didn't turn out great but it's mostly usable, just a bit thin and the detail is worn out on some spots. I only had a little sample size of Procreate Putty which is too flexible to break pieces off so the breaks are just me cutting it and then roughing it up a bit. The soil is Vallejo Rough White Pumice texture paint, gone over with Magos Purple contrast paint. I'm pretty happy with it, not sure yet if the blue flock is necessary or not, I'll have to see it with a model on it to decide I think.

 

The left base was the first test, it looks fine to me but I knew I could do better, the right one I think is much better. So, thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Xenith]

Looks great, and super distinctive, the colours work well. 

[Arkhanist]

 

 I only had a little sample size of Procreate Putty which is too flexible to break pieces off so the breaks are just me cutting it and then roughing it up a bit.

 

Pro-tip - for making slabs you want to break up into parts, use cheap polymer clay (e.g. sculpey or knock-off), roll it flat and use the texture roller on that. When baked in the oven, it gets much harder and more brittle than two part epoxy like procreate/green stuff, so it fractures into satisfying bits much more easily. As Rik lightstar suggests, a basic pasta roller will speed up creation of equal thickness sheets, but just a normal rolling pin also works.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O2yocT3Qq0

Edited June 16, 2021 by Arkhanist

[Tyriks]

I was looking at sculpey but wasn't sure it would work for this, I always saw people suggesting various 2 part chemicals. I'll give that a shot when I run out of what I have, thanks!

[Rik Lightstar]

First up, the bases look really good, the colour pairing works really well.

 

Second, oven back clay will be harder once baked and also is a bit heavier I find which works really will for bases as it gives the models more weight and stability.

 

Building out on the weight of the base point, I've been using small disk magnets on my bases for ages so I can keep my armies in trays rather than cases. I've started using standard construction filler in the recess of the base before "smushing" the magnet into it and then just levelling off with a basic palette knife, it gives a really nice weight and solid feel to the models which is the only thing I miss about metal models and because all of that weight is in the base it makes them way more stable especially for taller more top heavy models including things on flying stands.

 

Rik

[Arkhanist]

There are two main groups of modelling clay/putty for our purposes; polymer clay which is a single piece clay and is cured with heat, and 2 part epoxy putty which come as a resin and hardener, and cures over time even under water.

 

There are multiple brands and subtypes in each group which have different properties for different purposes. Sculpey, fimo, generic 'oven bake' clay from china are types of polymer clay. They are all much cheaper than epoxy clays, anything up to half the price. They're not sticky, but generally quite soft and not springy, so aren't ideal for the absolutely finest detail; but it's enough for terrain, bases or large scale pieces, where the price per kilo is most noticeable! Since curing requires baking, it's not great when you want to 'build up' multiple layers of detail sculpting. They are also generally quite heavy and somewhat brittle when cured, though you can get more expensive clays such as super sculpey firm that cures stronger when you're making structural pieces.

 

People use the many different colours it comes in and that it doesn't need mixing, and easily smooths to make really nice multi-coloured larger models than our scale, but it does mean it's easy to get hold of.

 

Epoxy putties mostly originated as marine and plumbing sealants as they cure water proof even underwater; that they're useful for modelling is more a happy accident. Milliput is UK based and standard is closest to the polymer clays in terms of quality, weight and brittleness. It is cheaper than most other epoxy putty. Milliput superfine is more expensive, similar price to greenstuff, but does hold much better detail, but it otherwise very similar. It mixes well with water and It's not very elastic, which means a milliput slurry (milliput and a bit of water) is great for gap filling as it stays put and doesn't shrink on cure, but easy to brush into gaps - an old modellers trick. It also works well for terrain/basing. It smooths well with water to cut down on stickyness when sculpting, but it's easy to use too much water if you're not careful and end up with a slurry, plus it's hard to get outside of the UK.

 

Green stuff/kneadatite of course is the 2 part epoxy we're all familar with. It's pretty sticky when fresh (normally you let it cure for a few minutes before working, and use talc+water or vaseline for tools) and quite elastic when cured. This means it's not brittle, but also means hard edges tend to soften a bit during curing. You can easily sculpt things in layers, letting each stage cure before you do the next. It's a decent all-purpose clay that's good for pretty much everything, but is also quite pricy and doesn't excel in any one area, but also easy to get hold of.

 

Brown stuff is a stiffer version of green stuff that dries harder and less elastic; I've heard it's better for sculpting weapons etc, but not used it personally.

 

Magic sculpt and procreate are both intended as artist sculpting putties, and I believe are much newer. They are fine detailed, and less elastic so hold the finest detail and don't shrink on cure. Procreate I found very, very sticky even more so than greenstuff so I just couldn't work with it at all even with copious vaseline; may have been a bad batch, not sure.

 

Magic sculpt is great though, it molds easily like polymer clay but holds detail really well, is much less sticky than greenstuff, is stiff when hard, and for using basius texture pads to 'stamp' base toppers, it's great stuff. For me, it's replaced greenstuff entirely for the sorts of things I'd use greenstuff for, but it is more expensive and harder to find.

 

Greenstuff world have a chart with many of these and their properties/best uses, along with mixes as a summary for reference purposes.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Arkhanist