This tutorial will follow a series of photo’s I took while putting together my Archaon on Foot model and will eventually host a link to other cork basing ideas as well. For the time invested I would surely say that this method beats using modeling clay or epoxy putty or other common methods to create a rocky texture.

First off – What supplies did I use when putting together the cork base?

Aside from the large lord sized square base:

• Cork tile squares
• GW Sand mixture
• Large and Medium model railroad Ballast
• Techstar Snowflakes
• Realistic Water
• Folk Art Glass and Tile Medium
• Black Ink
• GW Inks
• Vallejo Game and Model colors

Am I forgetting anything?

Putting the cork base together

I wanted to go for a rocky plateau in the chaos wastes for my Archaon on Foot. I didn’t want it too high but I wanted it built up enough so that I could create a small overhang in which to place some icicles. I started by breaking several pieces of cork into rough square shapes just about the size of the larger lord square bases from GW.I glued the first piece of cork to the base and then taking the tweezers I pulled away pieces of the cork grain around the edges to get rid of the sharp flat edges and create a more “natural” rocky texture. Do this to your own vision. Pull off as much or as little of the cork as you want. I purposefully took off uneven amounds all around so that it didn’t look so controled and manufactured.

Building the base up

The second layer was the smallest layer that slowly grew larger through the top layer to create a gradual overhang. I built up a total of 5 layers. I simply glued each layer on top of the other making sure to pull the edges away of each layer individually before added the next. Also to help blend the two pieces together I made sure to pull pieces of the cork out where the seams of the two layers joined together. This helped create the illusion of a more natural rocky surface.

Mounting the figure and finishing the basing

The Archaon on Foot model came sculpted to a rocky base. I drilled two holes into the bottom of the figure and glued two pins into his feet. To achor is securely I made the pins the depth of the cork and simply pushed the base flush with the cork. After getting the holes in place and making sure I liked its placement I added superglue the the pins and the holes and re-inserted him.

To help blend in the rocky outcropping that he was based on with the flat plateau of the cork I added several different sized pieces of model railroad rock ballast. After I was happy with the arrangement of the rocks I glued them into place and then added GW sand mixture to fill in the cracks as well as any visible seams in the cork layers.

Painting Stage 1
Colors Used:

• Dark Grey 994
• London Grey 836
• Black ink

After priming the base with my standard Glass and Tile Medium mixed with black ink and letting it cure for over 24 hours I painted the base with Vallejo Model Color Dark Grey and then washed it with watered down black ink.

Once this was dry I went over the high areas with the base Dark grey and then with a lighter mixture of Vallejo London Grey.

Painting Stage 2
Colors Used:

• London Grey 836
• GW purple
• flesh ink
• Tamiya clear green
• clear orange

When I had the first highlight applied to the base I decided to randomly hit various shaded areas with a random pattern of brush dabs using a wider flat brush. I went and applied random areas of Tamiya Clear green, Tamiya Clear Orange, GW Purple ink, and GW flesh ink. My goal was to break up the grey with a bit of color (also hinting that this is the chaos wastes and not the common land of man). Also I made sure that they tinted the grey rather than replace it.

After the glazes dried I went back and hit up the highlights again with the London Grey. This helped to further blend in the areas hit by the ink.

Painting Stage 3: Final highlights and Snow

Colors Used:

London Grey 836
Pale Bluegrey 907
I finished up the base color by first mixing London Grey 50/50 with Pale Bluegrey, then pure Pale Bluegrey, followed by added a bit of Game Color Ghost Grey and finally straight Ghost Grey added to the sharp edges of the base.

Below you can see pictures of the snow and icicles. The snow was added in 3 separate layers. To make the snow I mixed several small scoops of Techstar snowflakes with white glue, and a touch of water. You want it to be a pasty consistancy and not too watery. Then I dolloped it on with an old mixing brush that I had that went hard in the bristles. I used a toothpick where I couldn’t reach with the brush. This first layer dried kind of flat. To build up a snowdrift appearance I repeated this process 2 more times making sure not to completely cover the areas I did before to get an uneven appearance. Finally when the last layer was in place and before it dried I sprinked on some of the techstar snowflakes to the wet snow to give it a powdery look.

The icicles are very easy to make. Taking clear fishing line you dip the end into the realistic water bottle and create a small build-up. When this dries (I waited 24 hours) I re-dipped them until they were the thickness I was looking for. Then I simply snipped them at the base and superglued them to the underside of the overhang.

Well that wraps up this painting guide. I had a lot of fun putting this together and would like to do more of these in the future. It took quite a bit of dedication to write down notes on every step but overall I think it was worth it. If you liked this guide and want to see more or you just have a question don’t hesitate to e-mail me at: slorak@curdledmilk.com. Thank you for visiting.

Reproduced with permission from Mike Pierce
www.curdledmilk.com