We are working on an interesting order that has pushed us to try new techniques and grow. One such area was crafting bases.
Toilet Paper Bases
You can't sculpt large bases without a material to sculpt with. Everyone likes using Scupltamold but I didn't fancy shipping a 15-pound bag to Sri Lanka at express shipping rates… Everyone also talked about Sculptamold alternatives made from toilet paper and Plaster of Paris combos.
We tried these, but in the end, we got our best results just working with toilet paper, water, and industrial-strength PVA glue. Mix them up, and once the toilet paper has disintegrated, you get a mass that you can work into different shapes. It will hold them.
The only problem is that it takes a great deal of toilet paper. So, for the last ones, we began bulking up bases with chunks of Styrofoam and covered them with the toilet paper makes to give them the shape and texture we wanted.
Colored Flock
We made our own. We dipped some foam in auto paint. Waited for the paint to dry, then threw it in a blender. We then glued it using some PVA.
Bark and Stone
You can see the stones in the bases. What looks better than the stones though, is the bark. Those are the bits of ‘stone’ sticking out that look more dramatic and interesting.
Finding bark was another matter. Sri Lanka is a hot, humid place. There’s lots of tree branches lying around if stop and look. They’re are lots of termites and the two tend to go together. Also, not all bark works the same. Some has more character, some, hardly any.
Verdict: Scratch-Building versus Resin Cast and Printed Bases
Once we figured out how to do these bases we were quite pleased with ourselves. The materials are so inexpensive! Why doesn't everyone do this? Then we saw how long it took.
Crafting is great, and if someone wants us to craft bases for them, we’re happy to. However, there is nothing cost effective about it when you consider the time it takes. As such, it is much cheaper to use manufactured bases and to just paint on their details.
Still, it was an excellent exercise and taught us some tricks we’ll be using for terrain making.
This miniature painting commission was done at Exhibition Quality.
Paintedfigs is a commission miniature painting service. You can send us your figurines to paint, and we also have painted miniatures for sale. We paint mainly Games Workshop (Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, Necromunda, Space Hulk, Bloodbowl, and so on), Star Wars, Warmachine and Hordes, and pretty much every Kickstarter and board game under the sun.
And we do so at the lowest rates on Earth (we’ve checked).
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