Making Urban Bases (updated 9-22-06)

The time has come to write a little tutorial on how I make urban bases, for my upcoming Nid Zilla army. These are WH40K bases (carnifex size bases, to be precise), but the same technique can be used to make WHFB bases as well, and smaller bases too. Here is the list of items I have used: 1.super glue; 2.my handy Swiss knife; 3.cutter; 4.old CD case; 5.the base we want to convert; 6.white tack. STEP 1: First thing you have to do is attaching the old CD case to the base, at make sure it is sturdy and won’t move. For this, the white tack is a great media: STEP 2: Now it is time to cut out the rounded portion of the CD case, and this will be what we will model. To do so, flip upside down the CD case, with the base attached to it, and, using a precision cutter, cut all around the base (that won’t move, because of the white tack attaching it to the CD case). It is advisable to use 2 hands: while one cuts, the other holds the CD case in place (I had to use one hand to take the picture, so don’t use me as an example). Beware: the top most part of the base is slightly smaller than the lower part of the base, so the cutter should be pivoted a little inside, in order to have the circle as big as the part where the miniature will stand. STEP 3: Detaching the base from the CD case, we have a circle, that will have to be cut out with our handy Swiss knife. A cutter can be used too, for this, but the blade is a little to thin, and it may chip, causing serious damage. If the base cracks during the process, don’t worry: you’ll have to crack it anyway later, so no fuss. STEP 4: As you can see, this is the final product: I have cut out the circle. Now all we need to do is to see where the miniature is going to be and “ruin” it a bit with some cracks, indents, etc. STEP 5: Now we put our miniature on the circle, to see where the feet are going to be placed (I have a converted carnifex, for this, but, of course, you can use what ever you like, but remember: the bigger the miniature, the better the effect will look). We carefully mark, with the tip of our precision cutter where the feet are going to be, and we cut out these parts. STEP 6: As you can see, I chipped the base, and it broke, but, as I said before, no fuss, since this will be broken concrete, so this will give it a realistic look. When you have found the right position of your pieces, glue them with superglue (I use the one with the little bristles, but any will do). STEP 7: This is the final product: I have added some little bits of the CD case, to represent the weight of the carnifex that broke into the ground. To do so, I put some in a pivoted manner, partially on what should be the holes created by the monster. I have also added some crumbles and scrubs to show that it is not a clean place. Now put the miniature on it, to see how it fits. Just add/remove the little bits, until the miniture fits perfectly on the holes created. Now the base is finished. Paint it up, and pin the miniature in place, and you have an urban cracked base. If you wish, you can go further, and add sand and/or bricks to represent broken walls etc. The bricks are made out of old sprues, cut in the length I wanted, and glued one over the other, as building a wall. Here is what I did:
I finally managed to paint the bases, and create a scenic base to may nid-zilla army.
I added a touch of sand, some tubes, and sprue pieces, to create a rumbled looked.
The paint job was done by undercoating with a mix of codex grey and black ink, the highlighting to shadow grey.
I then drew some yellow lines with sunburst yellow, and, then I tapped the yellow with codex grey, first, than shadow grey, than a little touch of black ink.
The gravel was painted with watered down brown, and drybrushed shadow grey.
here are the finished pics:



and this is the finished display base (made out of staerofoam) using the same paiting technique:

cheers