How To Create Your Own (32mm) Resin bases...

If you're willing to follow the proper steps, creating your own resin bases can be surprisingly easy. Hopefully you can learn from my experience and my mistakes to get started on your own bases.

First, you'll obviously need to make base master copies. I got a cheap roll of thin cork from Staples and with some odd bits, sand, and PVA glue, I made some simple scenic bases. Next you'll need a container to hold your mold - I used plastic egg containers (the flat side).

In the first batch I used wall-tac to affix the base to the plastic but the mold-mix seeped underneath the bases causing complications. The best thing to do is to glue the base down so no mold-mix can penetrate.

Once the bases are glued down, seal the entire container with a gloss finish. I used Krylon Crystal Clear... I learned the hard way that not sealing them will leave all of your fancy base work stuck in the mold.

Now you are ready to pour your mold. Be sure to use Silicone rather than Latex if you intend to make more than one batch of bases. I used the One-to-One Express from Micro-Mark: http://www.micromark.com/one-to-one-and-express-mold-rubber-32-fl-oz,11755.html

I used water to get the measurements correct so as not to waste any mold mix, marking the plastic cups accordingly. Once the mix was poured and cured, I gently pealed it off...

In this picture ^^ you can see the flash around some of the base molds - that is because I didn't glue this batch down and the mix got beneath the base master -- make sure you glue them down and make sure you seal them!

Now you're ready to pour some resin... I used Smooth-On Smooth-Cast 300; but you can use Alumilite, Micro-Mark or whichever is your favorite type of resin.

Make sure you mix and pour before the resin cures... in this picture ^^ you can see how the resin started to cure before I was finished pouring - these bases were trashed.

Again, I used water to get my measurements correct before pouring so as not to waste any resin... once I got the timing down the rest came easy:

I painted one base so that I can re-base Commander Dante (who usually falls over on the smaller base), but I intend to re-base all of my jump-infantry and my newer Tactical squads.

 

Once I got the technique down I was surprised how easy it actually was to create nice looking resin bases. I hope this article will help some of you create your own bases; feel free to leave questions or comments!

Giant Trees for 40K Apocalypse!

Our last battle was fought on a 12x6 foot table with 12,000 points per side. To have some large line-of-sight blocking terrain pieces I threw together some giant trees.

I started with some cheap (Home Goods) fake Bonsai Trees like this:

I pulled them out of the planters, then hot glued them to my own MDF and sculpted foamcore base.

Then I used coarse Pumice to cover the lines and add some texure...

And finally I added some paint and green flock/grass to finish them off; though eventually I will go back and repaint the tree bark and even Matte finish the leaves (I was running out of time before the big game!)...

Here are the rules we used for the trees in our Apocalypse game; just for fun I made an Apocalypse data-sheet:

Losing to Eldar got you down?

Well... take a passive aggressive stand and make some crashed Eldar scenery heh.

Here is a photo of the wicked Eldar in action:

And here are my crashed Eldar terrain pieces:

Objective Markers ...(unpainted)

Here are two sets of (6) Objective Markers I threw together, they obviously still need to be painted and they're not much to look at yet. I have a plan for 6 more that I'll get to one of these days... For the two sets shown I do need some ideas on how to number them eventually also.

City of Death...

I can't believe I'm saying this but, I think I need some more terrain. Thankfully I have an Imperial Sector waiting to be built and a few other big pieces waiting to be painted.  Here is a glance at my Urban battlefield - using the new Frontline Gaming Mats (Urban Combat).  I ended up getting two of these mats for use in larger games.  The grass/snow/etc other mats are also very nice, but as I already have lots of green and brown felt I decided to wait.

Here you can see just the mat. The color looks off due entirely to my camera and not the actual mat detail.

+++Commander Dante has dispatched a small recon force of Blood Angels to take and hold this key city; knowing that eventually the ongoing campaign versus the "Fallen" will arrive at this theater.

Imperial Bastions...

A few more pieces approach completion... the scheme is clearly very simple but with a little more detailing I think they'll turn out nicely.  The pictures are sadly not too good.

The Honoured Imperium...

I finally have a decent blog submission and another piece to my Terrain archive... the Honoured Imperium is now complete. I started aggressively working on the two Imperial Bastions but then immediately ruined them with thinner (long story)...

Well here are a few more pics:

Amera Vacuum Molded Terrain WIP - Phase 5!

Another quick terrain offering. It's not complete yet; still needs moss, grass, sand etc, but I'm pretty happy with how it looks so far.  As you can tell, I love this Amera stuff!

For US shoppers this Amera terrain is not quite a bargain but still comparatively cheap.  With some love these pieces look pretty good and the simplicity of the mold makes them very durable as well...

Amera Vacuum Molded Terrain WIP - Phase 4!

Yeah this blog stayed idle for over a year but I'm back... here is a piece of Amera Terrain ...the crashed ship/chopper.  I plan to sand down the moss a bit once it dries but I didn't want to wait before I took pictures... so here it is: