Introduction

Preparing a base is the part I look forward to after spending hours painting a mini. Applying those nervewracking final touches - painting pupils in the eyes, carefully adding the final top highlights, then at last it's done! Time to relax and pretend I'm a mini landscape gardener...

This article will guide you through how to make a realistic looking slate style base for your Warmachine miniatures.

There are a few things you will need to make "slate" bases :

• A clean Warmachine base
• Milliput (Super fine white)
  
• A+B putty or if you can't get hold of this green stuff would do
  
• Plasticard - 2 pieces 4-5" square
  
• Masking tape or clear tape
  
• Pliers
  
• Sculpting tool with a point or a sharp pencil would work just as well
  
• Scalpel / Exacto
  
• Paints
  
• Brushes
  
• Scenic glue / PVA
  
• Small piece of natural sponge
  
• Grass or Green flock - I use Woodland Scenics
  
• Snow / Baking Soda

Building the Base

To begin with I recommend you find a clean space to build your bases. Somewhere away from your painting area is good as there is nothing more annoying than finding bits of snow and flock in your paints, or on your palette - This happens to me regularly, I should really start taking my own advice.

Usually, I prepare the Milliput the night before. As it is an epoxy putty, it involves combining equal amounts of the two parts - a grape sized piece of each should be enough for making one base. As the two parts of the Miliput are a similar colour it's not that easy to tell when they're properly combined, so it is vital that you mix the two parts thoroughly.

Once mixed, I place the putty in between the two pieces of plasticard and squash it flat. It's a good idea to keep it pretty much the same thickness throughout. I usually place it on my work desk and press down on the plasticard with my hand or roll over it with a piece of tubing.

Over all I try to get the putty down to about 4-5mm in thickness but this is completely up to you. Remember though, the thicker it is, the harder it will be to break!

It is best to leave the putty between the plasticard over night as it will be easy to peel off when the milliput is completely dry.

Once you have removed the plasticard, you should be left with a flat, reasonably even slab of milliput. Now it is time to break it up into slate style pieces.

My fingers aren't that strong so I find it easier to break it up with two sets of pliers. One to hold and one set to break bits off. I have also used a desk vice to hold the milliput secure while I break off pieces.You will need lots of small fragments but also one larger piece to pin the mini itself to. For the MoW's this piece needed to be quite big as their feet are quite far apart whereas Sorscha only needs a very small area to pin on to.

Now your milliput is in bits and ready to go it is time to begin the basing.

First of all I cover the slot in the base with a strip of masking tape. This is not essential but I prefer to do it so I don't lose half of my putty down the slot in the base.

Next you should mix up a blob of A+B putty. Depending on what size base you are building you will need a blob that will cover the top of the base and is about 7-10mm in thickness.

Next, take the largest 'platform' piece of slate/milliput and place it firmly on top of the blob of A+B putty, keeping it as level as possible for the mini to sit on. Now with all the smaller fragments begin to press them into the putty underneath the platform piece. You can have these bits sticking far out or pressed flush into the putty, it's totally up to you. I try not to put too many pieces in so I have some space round each piece to press the putty round and make each fragment secure - you will see what I mean when you come to actually do it.

Now all the pieces are in place, take the sculpting tool and press the putty round each piece. If it's needed, add a bit more A+B putty in between or underneath pieces, almost as if you were pointing a wall to secure the bricks/stones. Finally with the sharp point of your sculpting tool or pencil poke at the surface of the wet putty to texture it. This should look now look more like rubble or earth texture than putty. This again will take some time to dry - a couple of hours at least.

Painting the Base

Now you're finished building it, it's time to paint. I always begin by mixing quite a dark warm grey colour and paint the whole thing. It's best to keep your paint reasonably thin and let it naturally run in to all the grooves in the miliput/slate. A couple of coats will usually do it at this stage. Enough so the colour of the putty and milliput is covered. Let this dry thoroughly.

To begin highlighting, mix a lighter grey, thicker this time, and start applying it to the base with a sponge. Keeping just a little paint on the sponge works best. I usually blot the excess off with some paper towel and then dab the sponge all over the base allowing the raised areas of the slate to pick up the paint and all the crevices stay dark. I guess the effect we're looking for is similar to dry brushing.

Next mix a lighter shade, back to quite thin again, and dab all over the 'slate'. You might be thinking what a mess it looks at this point but don't worry!

The next step involves mixing a browny-green wash for the slate. I usually do this with a blue and brown ink and then add a little GW Bestial Brown with a bit of yellow. This mix is all a bit guesswork really but needs to end up a muddy looking green. Hopefully once applied this colour will give the slate a real damp look and bring all that patchy sponge work together. Initially, I paint this wash over the edges of the slate so the colour runs in all the creases and striations in the broken milliput.

After doing this several times I add more water to the wash mix and paint over the rest of the slate. Once this is dry, depending how it looks I may mix a slightly browner wash and go over the whole thing one more time.

Let It Snow

Once the paint is thoroughly dry, it's time to add some snow. These days I use a mixture of scenic snow and baking soda.

To create the slightly melted patches of snow I put a blob of scenic glue/ PVA on a bit of plasticard or some other suitable clean mixing surface and with an old brush add some water to the glue to thin it down. Next I take a few pinches of scenic snow and mix it into the watery glue making a kind of snowy paste (it shouldn't be too thick or too thin).

Now with the old brush place a few blobs of the gloopy mixture on the base. In the gaps between the pieces of slate looks quite effective but it's completely up to you. As these blobs are drying sprinkle a little baking soda or scenic snow over them and then wait for them to dry completely.

Finally, I always add some bits of flock or grass or both depending how I'm feeling. I have found it is best to add the flock or grass after the snow as the green colouring in the flock will bleed into the snow if it is not completely dry.

When I add flock to these bases I first mix it with some watered down scenic glue and then press little blobs of in to any crevices on the base. The added glue will make the flock more durable when dry and it's easier to dry brush. I find an orangey colour gives the flock a lichen effect. Scenic grass I just use as normal and dry brush with a bleached bone.

Before I forget, the last but very important finishing touch - carefully paint the edge of your base black. There is nothing worse than a beautifully painted mini mounted on an untidy base.

--Ali--