Cracked Desert Bases

[S Dalsgaard]

I'm working on some ideas for the bases for a bunch of Chaos Cultists (perhaps the slow start of a Chaos army) and thought of making something like the cracked desert in the attached image below. I thought it would work nicely for a scourged earth kind of look appropriate for chaos and still be fairly simple to make. The only problem is figuring out a simple way to make it :-/

View attachment 24604

I'm thinking making a plate of greenstuff, milliput, or similar and then using a sculpting tool to make the cracks. Another possibility would be to let the stuff dry and then break it up, hoping for natural looking pieces, but that adds the problem of keeping track of the pieces when gluing them to the bases.

A search of the forum suggested broken CD covers or paint that cracks up when dry, but neither of those ideas seem good for what I want. The CD cover is probably to hard to control and the paint won't give deep enough cracks.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know (including links to store-bought bases with that look).

 

[Wyrmypops]

GW have a few new paints out in their technical range. One of them would suit. Agrellan Earth. There's a vid showing it off.

 

[S Dalsgaard]

GW have a few new paints out in their technical range. One of them would suit. Agrellan Earth. There's a vid showing it off.

Wow, that's quite nice. Still, I would like something with a bit larger "flakes" and more depth to the cracks.

 

[Matt Cexwish]

I strongly recommend our Painting Buddha Basing Alchemy DVD : Earth for you...... In this, we show all the Techniques needed to create exactly the Effect you describe... The DVD is up for Early Beard Pre Order here...

http://www.paintingbuddha.com//season-1/15/season-1.3-base-alchemy-volume-1-earth

Besides that, you can also read more about the Cracked Earth Effect here...

http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.de/2011/06/earth-dry-soil-effect.html

http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.de/2009/11/tutorial-making-base-with-dry-desert.html

 

[S Dalsgaard]

Thanks for the links Matt

 

[S Dalsgaard]

After a few experiments with Milliput I have come up with this.

View attachment 24756

It works pretty well, but took quite a while to make (scoring the lines with a needle). Hopefully I will be able to make the following ones a bit faster.

 

[sm51498]

crackle paste from Golden works nicely. However, you need to let it dry for 48 hours or so and then it needs to be "fixed" with a layer of watered down paint or matte medium. If its not fixed it will come off the base quite easily. However, it looks really good when done.

 

[S Dalsgaard]

crackle paste from Golden works nicely. However, you need to let it dry for 48 hours or so and then it needs to be "fixed" with a layer of watered down paint or matte medium. If its not fixed it will come off the base quite easily. However, it looks really good when done.

I was contemplating using some sort of crackling paint or similar, but I decided that it would give me to little control over the final look and as you mention there are some issues with durability.

 

[freakinacage]

Or you can buy em:

by this guy:
http://www.modeldisplayproducts.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=38_51_58&product_id=122
Painting is crap but the bases are solid. I can say that as I sculpted and painted them...

 

[boardandy]

These guys make a range of rubber moulds for basing. Might be worth a look.
http://www.happyseppuku.com/texturestamps.html

 

[S Dalsgaard]

I may end up buying some pre-made if it turns out to be too much of a time sink making them myself, although I have thought about making casts of my own and then mass-produce them as I need. I haven't had any experience with making my own moulds, but as my wife has thought about going in that direction with her cake decorating stuff, I might try it out.

 

[Bloodhowl]

I did a search for crackle medium and found a thread with a link to this tutorial: http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2011/03/tutorial-working-with-crackel-medium.html

Is this the effect you are after?

 

[S Dalsgaard]

I did a search for crackle medium and found a thread with a link to this tutorial: http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2011/03/tutorial-working-with-crackel-medium.html

Is this the effect you are after?

It sort of is, but like the new technical stuff from GW, the "plates" seems to come out a bit to small for my taste. I don't think there is any way to do this mith with crackle medium and still get the control of the final result I am looking for.

I appreciate all the help and suggestions you guys have given though

 

[Spittle72]

http://v5studio.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-best-cracked-earth-dry-mud-bases.html

 

[S Dalsgaard]

http://v5studio.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-best-cracked-earth-dry-mud-bases.html

People used the weirdest stuff to decorate bases

I found a tutorial on Coloured Dust using something called facetten-lack, which I think I will try out (http://www.coloureddust.com.pl/2012/08/how-to-make-desert-base.html). It seems to make cracks and plates in the size I am looking for.

 

[Wigdog]

You might try some of the crackle paint that you can buy at craft stores. Have seen this used quite well to represent desert crackle.

 

[thesoulman]

Hi there. I know I'm only new here, but I have found that GW agrellan isn't too great if you want to achieve a deep effect.
I have never really produced anything like this, but If you were contemplating on already made bases, you could try Secret Weapon Miniatures.
They have some amazing cast resin bases and look awesome once done.
Just passing some info on.
Good luck!

 

[S Dalsgaard]

Hi there. I know I'm only new here, but I have found that GW agrellan isn't too great if you want to achieve a deep effect.
I have never really produced anything like this, but If you were contemplating on already made bases, you could try Secret Weapon Miniatures.
They have some amazing cast resin bases and look awesome once done.
Just passing some info on.
Good luck!

Thanks thesoulman. I agree with you on the GW Agrellan, it is a good effect, but not for what I want. I am pretty set on making them myself, but if/when I give up on that, the wasteland bases from Micro Art Studio (http://www.shop.microartstudio.com/wasteland-bases-round-25mm-p-714.html) are more or less exactly the look I'm going for.