Back to Base-ics!!
Finally all the bits and pieces arrived in order for me to be able to make the base, pictured right, for my dragon ogre shaggoth! Every time I sit down to build/hobby/paint I push myself to try something new and to surpass all my previous work (this is a serious curse sometimes). So looking at the bases I made for my brayheard, pictured left which I made a blog post on previously, I decided the main thing I wasn't 100% happy with was the way things felt like they were stuck on top (probably due to the fact everything was stuck on top) and the base lacked depth like it would in the real world.
So my solution to the problem was to start by going down into the base itself to add a layer of depth. I started with a standard 60mm citadel base and took my dremmel tool with a drill bit to in to it. I carved away until only a small amount around the rim was left.
A piece of 0.5mm plasticard was glued to the bottom using plastic glue then cut and sanded until flush and seamless with the edge of the base.
Using cork I filled in the base with the rocks and glued on several of the dark rune ruin slabs, made with the greenstuff textured rolling pin and super sculpey, to create the desecrated ruin look I was going for. After this I placed a few skulls (because it wouldn't be Warhammer without them) and a bone. Baking soda, sand and ballast was used to create the dirt around the base.
I base coated in a dark brown.
A gquick bit of paint later and it was starting to take shape. I wanted the dirt and rocks to meld naturally together so both where given an initial wash of Agrax Earthshade both after the base coats of grey and brown, and then after there final dry brush highlights to bring the colours together. However the rune slabs needed to stand apart slightly so a Nuln Oil wash was used as well as a starker dry brush highlight. The edge was given a pure black colour as I feel it frames bases most crisply.
Finally several bits of Mordheim Turf was added for a bit of greenery spot colour and a few mini dead leaves to give the impression that the scene is from a forest or a wooded area.
A few shots with the mini on the base.
Overall I was really pleased with the result, the depth of the base is not shown really well in my photos but it looks so much more natural than previous attempts. In the future I would like to play around with simple water effects and maybe add a greater variety of foliage, possibly adding roots and things.
Thanks for reading, sorry for the poor pics, hope you enjoyed! Any C&C is welcome!!
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