Basing models?

[Blinkboom]

Hello!

I've recently got back into painting some 40k models after a break of around a decade. I've just got the Marines starter set completed at this point and I'm starting to play around with basing using a spare base I have lying around. I want to get my technique down before I try it on anything complete (well, complete-ish). I'm using PVA and sand at the moment, but I'm not sure how to proceed from here. I need something to fix the sand in place all over, rather than just from below as whenever I attempt to add any colour to the base the sand just comes off on the brush. Let me in on some tips? Also, general tips for painting/basing/modelling/anythinging would be appreciated, I'm looking to take this a little more seriously than I did as a kid.

Cheers.

 

[Blinkboom]

Add the sand on before you undercoat, when it's dry cover it in a layer of thinned PVA. Then allow to dry and undercoat as normal. You can do what you want from there - sand, mud, snow etc.

- GP

Okay cool, I'll bear that in mind for future models, thanks. Any advice for now? I have some glued and painted Marines, so I need to work around them on the base. A few videos have suggested inks, but I haven't seen GW inks since I used to collect back in the day. Nothing I have at the moment is liquid enough to serve the same purpose, save the Imperial Primer, possibly.

 

[Blinkboom]

What I have done on my new tyranids (which are undercoated white) is just do a seraphim sepia ink on the base which makes it look muddy/deserty and then when thats dry put blobs of static grass on top. Of course this wouldn't work with a black undercoat...

Otherwise, what I used to do on my black undercoated model was use calthan (now mournfang) brown as a base layer, then dry brush desert yellow (now tallarn sand) to give roughly the same muddy/deserty effect, then static grass on top

I was planning to use mournfang as I really don't have a lot of choice right now. Eventually I'll build up more of a choice of paints, but I'm a little limited currently. I was thinking of sealing the sand with a coat of watered down PVA.. do you reckon that'd work okay to then be painted over afterwards?

 

[Blinkboom]

That should be fine, though paint may not stick that well to it, though as its a base paint it should be fine. Ive still got some models from a few years ago which I undercoated before basing didn't add on a second layer of PVA and only painted over and they're still fine. The main thing is to leave a night between glueing on the sand and trying to paint over the top. If you don't leave it long enough, the sand just ends up on your brush.

Has it already been undercoated? And if so how thickly was it applied? Models can usually withstand a second undercoat if you're really that bothered.

I've done a very watered down PVA layer which will hopefully just settle down between the sand particles and anchor them a little more securely. It's just a test anyway, I'll find out if it works or not!

The one I'm toying with now is just a base, no attached model (as I'm just testing). It had a coat of mournfang before the sand, although you can't see that now. Then the layer of watered down glue, and I'll attempt to paint over it tomorrow and see what happens.

I'm practising to try and base some already assembled and painted Marines as I know the usual base THEN undercoat won't work in that case.

 

[Blinkboom]

Thinking about it, there are also the new textured paints available from GW now. Admittedly it'll be another trip to the shops and another couple of quid but they do work quite well, giving a nice effect. May be worth a look anyway if you're starting a new army and want to try something different.

And if you decide to go in that direction, you don't need to choose now how you're going to base them

I did see those, and I was quite intrigued. I might give them a go, just to see. Would only be a couple quid I suppose, and if I buy a vaguely brown-y one, it might serve as rust elsewhere if mixed with something.

 

[Blinkboom]

Or caked on mud on tank tracks/boots

Yeah, that's a good shout. I might have to wander into town tomorrow then.

 

[Blinkboom]

I'm not a fan of GW's textured paint. I follow the method that everyone in this thread seems to favour:

1) Slap some PVA glue on the base
2) Dunk base in sand
3) Wait to dry
4) Paint over with a layer of watered down PVA
5) Undercoat

I think that'll be my technique for the foreseeable future. It seems to have worked okay on my test base, so I'll see about doing the same to some others. I really need to buy a spray undercoat, it'd really streamline this whole process..

 

[Blinkboom]

Spray undercoat really does help. Are you just using thinned out brush paints now then?

I'm using Imperial Primer at the moment, I got a pot of it in the starter paint set I bought to begin with. Seems to work okayish, even if it is really slow. The only problem is that you need multiple layers to fully undercoat a model, and the second/third layers can actually take off the paint already on the model. Even if you allow 24h+ for each layer to dry, the primer is so thin that it can just wash layers off the model. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but it's kinda hit and miss in my experience. Makes recesses nice and dark without the need for multiple washes, but it barely primes large areas.