So! When I started doing my terrogheist base with the intention of using what I already have at home I thought - why not document all the process and make it a tutorial? So, here it is xD The TG base is kinda specific, but some tricks could be helpful in other areas ;)
What is used in this tutorial:
- 100x150 base
- pva glue
- 3mm x 3mm balsawood sticks
- wooden dust [I'll explain below]
- plasticine
- small greenstuff balls
- tissues
- super glue
- sand & pebbles
- citadel paints & 'ardcoat
- TG bits and optional decorative bits
Okay. On the first picture you can see the basic framework. I already positioned the stones on which the TG is standing - and made a place for the optional SGK to stand - inspired, once again by Rob Hawkins. It's supposed to work like THIS. I positioned the 20mm base where I thought he would not interfere with the TG and glued 3mm x 3mm balsa sticks there - I also use them to build my unit trays. I also placed some decorative bits, glued to stones to set the range of the swamp pool and outlined it with a pencil.
After that - as you can see still on the picture above - I cut/filed the edges of the balsawood square, to make it slope easier into the rest of the base. After that I build the hill to cover the balsawood and some additional mounds with plasticine. I know it doesn't harden by itself like Milliput or GS, but we'll make it sturdy soon enough and the base isn't exactly a heavyworking construction element ;)
Next - I covered the plasticine with single layer of common tissue.
And then - I put super glue on the tissue - it absorbs the glue, hardens, joins with the plasticine and makes a rough surface to which sand glues neatly.
Next thing - my pva-glue-woodendust mix ;) At first I mixed pva glue with a bit of water - about 3:1 and then started adding the dust.
About the dust - my father had stored much of it after some sawing/filing so it was easy for me, but it is easy to make by filing a twig to a container. When it mixes with pva glue it becomes lightweight wood-concrete xD It makes very rough shapes - I used it to create a border for the swamp pool, but I think that it would also make a very sweet cave floor for night goblins army or something xD
The mixture needs to be wet to actually spread and build with it, but also solid enough to not collapse into a puddle under it's own weight - after some trying it is easily attainable.
And using it I made a border for the pool.
You can also see that I added GS - small greenstuff balls which I cut into kinda-halfs and then glued to the base where the pool will be. The wooden dust takes some time to dry so it's a good moment to add this.
It becomes darker as it hardens and dries and looks not unlike cookie dough being cooked :rolleyes: I tried to speed the process using the heat of my lamp, but the plasticine started to 'sweat' from beneath the tissues - I don't know what that was, but I didn't like it - so be warned :)
In the meantime I also glued some larger pebbles onto the base - it makes it more interesting ;)
When it's ready it's time to sand the base as you would normally - I only did it in phases so that the glue won't dry while I was still applying it ;)
When that dries - it's time for paint! I did my usual routine for the bases:
- spraycoat black / painted black
- heavy, heavy, 'wet' drybrush of raw umber acrylic paint - I use it because it's cheaper that citadels - it's similiar to Scorched Brown.
- heavy drybrush of Mournfang / Bestial Brown
- drybrush of Steel Legion Drab / Graveyard Earth
- light drybrush of Ushabti / Bleached Bone
Stones get the same treatment with the difference that the Bone drybrush is heavier and then there's also White drybrush.
On the last picture you can see that I painted the scenery too - I wanted to have everything painted before I stared adding the swamp.
And now it's time for the swamp/tarpit!
I am using a water + pva glue mixture to get the liquid for the base. At first I tried using a 1:1 mix and then 2:1 with more glue, but that wasn't a good idea. I'll explain later why.
All the swamp painted with watered glue:
And after drying - as you can see - it was way to watery, pooled close to the bubbles, stones and scenery and didn't leave almost anything on the actual surface.
So, the next mixture was more like 3:1 or 4:1 with less water than glue. It became more viscous and seemed kinda uneven at first.
Beware of the glueswamp, little zombies - one mistake and you could be stuck forever!
And after drying - it's much better, but there is still some base-texture there.
So I added yet another layer of thick mixture - and this time, after it dried - it was good enough for me. :thumbsup: Using so much water made it stick very much to anything in the swamp so it looks very thick and viscous - but it's all right when it's tar - you need to use more glue and less water when trying to make something more less thick, like blood or normal swamp ;)
When it dried it's time for painting. I painted it black using a big brush - the glue absorbed water quickly so to make an even layer of paint you need to brush kinda quickly - but even if there are some faults, you can always paint it once again ;)
Too much blackness was kinda dull, so I decided to go all watercolour on it. I washed all the swamp with water and then mixed some greenish and watered-down paint and then put little splotches of it onto the water - it flows and dissolves in the paint, creating watery/swampy effects.
And after that is done it's time for the 'Ardcoat - or any glossy varnish to be precise. It's important here to use a soft and big brush and also to water down the varnish a bit - it need to flow freely and make an even surface. I did three layers of it. The last one was pure varnish straight out of the pot with water added later - I poured some drops of water on it and then tilted it until water created a smooth surface. Be careful for anything to land in the varnish while it's drying - I got two small hairs inside and it's impossible to get it out without destroying large portion of the varnishing :slapface: Leave it on a even and horizontal surface and wait for it to dry - and it's ready! xD
I'll add static grass after all the model is done and I'll update the tutorial accordingly.
Now it only misses the terrorgheist ;) I'll glue it here later and repaint a little the stones on which it's connected.
I'm sorry if I was a little too verbose - but I hope I'll help with this at least someone, if not with a terrorgheist base, then maybe with some other tricks presented here.
What is used in this tutorial:
- 100x150 base
- pva glue
- 3mm x 3mm balsawood sticks
- wooden dust [I'll explain below]
- plasticine
- small greenstuff balls
- tissues
- super glue
- sand & pebbles
- citadel paints & 'ardcoat
- TG bits and optional decorative bits
Okay. On the first picture you can see the basic framework. I already positioned the stones on which the TG is standing - and made a place for the optional SGK to stand - inspired, once again by Rob Hawkins. It's supposed to work like THIS. I positioned the 20mm base where I thought he would not interfere with the TG and glued 3mm x 3mm balsa sticks there - I also use them to build my unit trays. I also placed some decorative bits, glued to stones to set the range of the swamp pool and outlined it with a pencil.
After that - as you can see still on the picture above - I cut/filed the edges of the balsawood square, to make it slope easier into the rest of the base. After that I build the hill to cover the balsawood and some additional mounds with plasticine. I know it doesn't harden by itself like Milliput or GS, but we'll make it sturdy soon enough and the base isn't exactly a heavyworking construction element ;)
Next - I covered the plasticine with single layer of common tissue.
And then - I put super glue on the tissue - it absorbs the glue, hardens, joins with the plasticine and makes a rough surface to which sand glues neatly.
Next thing - my pva-glue-woodendust mix ;) At first I mixed pva glue with a bit of water - about 3:1 and then started adding the dust.
About the dust - my father had stored much of it after some sawing/filing so it was easy for me, but it is easy to make by filing a twig to a container. When it mixes with pva glue it becomes lightweight wood-concrete xD It makes very rough shapes - I used it to create a border for the swamp pool, but I think that it would also make a very sweet cave floor for night goblins army or something xD
The mixture needs to be wet to actually spread and build with it, but also solid enough to not collapse into a puddle under it's own weight - after some trying it is easily attainable.
And using it I made a border for the pool.
You can also see that I added GS - small greenstuff balls which I cut into kinda-halfs and then glued to the base where the pool will be. The wooden dust takes some time to dry so it's a good moment to add this.
It becomes darker as it hardens and dries and looks not unlike cookie dough being cooked :rolleyes: I tried to speed the process using the heat of my lamp, but the plasticine started to 'sweat' from beneath the tissues - I don't know what that was, but I didn't like it - so be warned :)
In the meantime I also glued some larger pebbles onto the base - it makes it more interesting ;)
When it's ready it's time to sand the base as you would normally - I only did it in phases so that the glue won't dry while I was still applying it ;)
When that dries - it's time for paint! I did my usual routine for the bases:
- spraycoat black / painted black
- heavy, heavy, 'wet' drybrush of raw umber acrylic paint - I use it because it's cheaper that citadels - it's similiar to Scorched Brown.
- heavy drybrush of Mournfang / Bestial Brown
- drybrush of Steel Legion Drab / Graveyard Earth
- light drybrush of Ushabti / Bleached Bone
Stones get the same treatment with the difference that the Bone drybrush is heavier and then there's also White drybrush.
On the last picture you can see that I painted the scenery too - I wanted to have everything painted before I stared adding the swamp.
And now it's time for the swamp/tarpit!
I am using a water + pva glue mixture to get the liquid for the base. At first I tried using a 1:1 mix and then 2:1 with more glue, but that wasn't a good idea. I'll explain later why.
All the swamp painted with watered glue:
And after drying - as you can see - it was way to watery, pooled close to the bubbles, stones and scenery and didn't leave almost anything on the actual surface.
So, the next mixture was more like 3:1 or 4:1 with less water than glue. It became more viscous and seemed kinda uneven at first.
Beware of the glueswamp, little zombies - one mistake and you could be stuck forever!
And after drying - it's much better, but there is still some base-texture there.
So I added yet another layer of thick mixture - and this time, after it dried - it was good enough for me. :thumbsup: Using so much water made it stick very much to anything in the swamp so it looks very thick and viscous - but it's all right when it's tar - you need to use more glue and less water when trying to make something more less thick, like blood or normal swamp ;)
When it dried it's time for painting. I painted it black using a big brush - the glue absorbed water quickly so to make an even layer of paint you need to brush kinda quickly - but even if there are some faults, you can always paint it once again ;)
Too much blackness was kinda dull, so I decided to go all watercolour on it. I washed all the swamp with water and then mixed some greenish and watered-down paint and then put little splotches of it onto the water - it flows and dissolves in the paint, creating watery/swampy effects.
And after that is done it's time for the 'Ardcoat - or any glossy varnish to be precise. It's important here to use a soft and big brush and also to water down the varnish a bit - it need to flow freely and make an even surface. I did three layers of it. The last one was pure varnish straight out of the pot with water added later - I poured some drops of water on it and then tilted it until water created a smooth surface. Be careful for anything to land in the varnish while it's drying - I got two small hairs inside and it's impossible to get it out without destroying large portion of the varnishing :slapface: Leave it on a even and horizontal surface and wait for it to dry - and it's ready! xD
I'll add static grass after all the model is done and I'll update the tutorial accordingly.
Now it only misses the terrorgheist ;) I'll glue it here later and repaint a little the stones on which it's connected.
I'm sorry if I was a little too verbose - but I hope I'll help with this at least someone, if not with a terrorgheist base, then maybe with some other tricks presented here.