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Intro to basing...

So, let's start off these little mini guides I mentioned.  You can find painting 101 guides on hundreds of sites on the internet.  So I am going to go a different direction... Basing.

Basing your miniatures can take good looking models and make them look great.  Sure, you could slap a solid coat of paint onto the base and call it a day. You could also not paint the base at all. However adding some scenery to your bases sure does make things look a lot better and helps to draw interest to the miniature that is on it.  It can also help distract from some imperfections in painting as people's eyes are drawn to look at the base quicker than to scan the model for those imperfections.

I always use scenic bases for all of my miniatures.  Well most of them that is. I don't base my Imperial assault miniatures on scenic bases, I use clear acrylic, but that's another story.  Scenic bases can also help set a theme for your army and help tie your army together based on the material used on your base.

Despite all the miniatures in that photo above having a different paint scheme, the bases help tie them together.  So what do I use to base my miniatures. That's a question I get asked quite often.  I use a few different products depending on what look I am going for. However the base layer for all of my bases is a product called liquitex resin sand. This is basically a resin paste that is spread across the base to give texture and help break up the flatness (is that a word?) of the base.  The nice thing about liquitex resin sand is that you can mix in paint to color it as it dries clear typically. I use cheap $1 Craft paint to do this as there is no sense in using your expensive hobby paints to color the resin sand.  Basically apply this stuff on evenly, kind of dabbing it with a old paint brush across the base.

That is the effect that you'll get once it dries. After everything dries I add a coat of wash, typically army painter strong tone. Then there are any number of things I can do with this base from here. Dry brush it in a lighter brown, add a few bits of dead grass or rocks and you end up with a muddy or desert-like base.

Add some static grass, leave some of the dirt showing and you end up with a wooded or field style base.

And while I don't have an example, if you use very very light grey as your base color rather than brown, then wash it with a very very light blue and dry brush with white you can end up with a nice snow effect. Add some bits of rock or cork that is painted to look like rock and boom, snowfield.

So that being, said I like liquitex resin sand quite a bit. I use other things as well. I use some very fine ballast on some bases.  I've used sandbox sand mixed with PVA glue on some.  However lately it's been all liquitex resin sand. This stuff is simply amazing.  It is also much cheaper than any of the textured hobby paints that you're going to get.  For an 8oz jar I think I paid maybe eight bucks.

So get out there and try some new things on your bases. Make them look awesome. Don't be afraid to try something new.

As always, thin your paints.

Dustin


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