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Basing: Trench Bases

Welcome to the Trench Bases tutorial. Here I will take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of creating the Trench Bases the same way as seen at: Gallery: Trench Crusade New Antioch.


Before we start, some notes:

  • This one does require an airbrush, although can be worked around.
  • To better demonstrate the technique I used standard 40mm, 32mm and 25mm round bases.
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.


Required materials:

For this tutorial I will be using:

  • Thin Super Glue & Activator
  • Wooden coffee stirring sticks
  • Thin wire
  • Thin dry branches, like a dried out grape
  • Tiny gravel


Modeling


Step one: Trench Floor

I started by breaking wooden coffee stirring sticks into small pieces, then gluing them on top of the bases about 1 mm apart from one another to leave some space to be filled with texture paste during the end stages. I then cut the excess of the sticks and filed it down with a sandpaper stick to match the base’s edge.



Step two: Rubble

Next I put small piles of gravel on the bases and poured thin super glue on top of them and in-between the ‘planks’. I then sealed it with short bursts of aerosol super glue activator. This created an irregular texture made of partially evaporated glue.



Step three: Charred Vegetation

I then broke a thin branch of dried out grape into small pieces and glued one piece on each of the larger bases.

Tip: I highly recommend sealing each piece with thin super glue for extra durability.



Step four [optional]: Barbed Wire

In order to make barbed wire I combined a curved screw and a screwdriver. I then rolled the twisted wire around a brush handle to form a proper shape. This was then cut into smaller pieces and glued on top of the bases.

Side note: For the New Antioch warband I used a ready to use product, but decided to include this DIY wire version in the basing tutorial. It’s not perfect, but it does the job and is much cheaper.



Modeling results


Painting


Step one: Base shading

With the modeling part complete I moved to the painting process. After applying black undercoat I airbrushed Vallejo 71.056 Panzer Dark Grey all over the bases. I then followed with Vallejo 71.044 Grey RLM02 airbrushed on top of rubble and branches.



Step two: Wood & drybrush

Next I covered planks and branches with The Army Painter Grim Black Speedpaint and left it to dry. Afterwards I drybrushed Vallejo 72.046 Ghost Grey all over the bases.



Step three: Barbed Wire base

I started the barbed wire with a layer of Vallejo 72.060 Tinny Tin.



Step four: Wash

I have covered everything with The Army Painter Strong Tone wash – Baron Harkonnen style (almost).



Step five: Barbed Wire

Once Wash dried out and done its job, I have applied a layer of Vallejo 72.609 Rust FX* to random spots on the barbed wire. I then flatbrushed a bit of Vallejo 72.052 Silver* on top and followed up with Vallejo 72.610 Galvanic Corrosion FX, again applied to random spots.


Side Note: *Vallejo Rust and Vallejo Silver are both optional. Looking back I do think I’ve unnecessarily overdone the barbed wire.



Step Six: Highlight

Next I added a bit of contrast by highlighting the sharp edges of the gravel piles, edges of the planks and a few spots on the branches with the Games Workshop Flayed One Flesh.



Step seven: Earth texture

Moving forward I applied a thick layer of AK Interactive Dark Earth texture prioritizing flat base surface, small space between the planks and some areas on top of gravel, to better set all these elements in the scene. The texture was then drybrushed softly with Games Workshop Karak Stone.



Finally I applied a few Gamers Grass Brown 2mm tufts here and there, thus finalizing the visual feel of the base.



Painting results


I hope you find this review interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

Tutorial: DIY Sci-Fi Containers (Recycling)

Warhammer 40,000, Infinity the Game, One Page Rules, Deadzone or Kill-Team – every proper futuristic miniatures game benefits from nice looking, properly themed scenery. Where to find proper scenery for your gaming board? Such issues can easily be resolved by dropping loads of cash on original scenery elements or 3d prints. Still, why not make your own great looking and finely detailed scenery, fast, super cheap and recycle some plastic while at it?

In this article I will present to you an easy way to make nicely detailed, in-scale Containers as presented in The Colony Gallery, perfect for Warhammer 40,000 and Infinity the Game with anything in-between.

Some notes:

  • This tutorial is a refurbished piece of an old DIY Infinity Terrain article. It’s pretty basic.
  • Please note pictures present closeups under strong light that might result in a feel of clumsy, messy job.
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

The Material:

It might be a surprise, but unless you are living in the vicinity of the South Pole, there’s probably a lot of stuff you can recycle into Miniatures Wargaming scenery. It fortunately is the case with the Sci-Fi Containers. Milk, water, sodas all tend to come in bottles / containers with a plastic cap. This is a goldmine of resources to build scenery with.



The Building Process:

Building Sci-Fi themed containers is as easy as gluing two plastic caps of the same size with one another. I recommend cyanoacrylate glue with an activator for a strong bond. The ‘containers’ can then be mounted on baes or used separately, depending on your preference.

For painting I recommend a sprayed undercoat. The caps are not the same plastic as Games Workshop miniatures, the paint is prone to chipping if applied on top of manually painted undercoat (or no undercoat).



The Effect:

Once done the containers can be stacked to create a varied battlefield or to provide better cover. They can even be combined to imitate urban hills and industrial areas. Perfect for any game that shares their theme.



I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional warhammer 40k miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

Basing: Ballsy Bases

Welcome to Ballsy Bases tutorial. Here I will take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of creating Ballsy Bases that, although might not seem like it, were always canon, since the first of the Ten Thousand…


Before we start, some notes:

  • This one does require airbrush.
  • To better demonstrate the technique I used standard 50mm and 32mm round bases.
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

Required materials:

For this tutorial I will be using:

  • Super Glue
  • PVA Glue
  • Hey-Clay or similar putty
  • Gamers Grass Alien Void 6mm tufts
  • Black plastic rods (explained later in the article)

Step one: Landscape

I started by applying Super Glue onto a base then adding a small ball of Hey-Clay on top. I then used my fingers to gently caress the ball and shape it into a sack-like lump. Next I used a steel brush and applied pressure to add additional texture. I let it dry for approximately six hours, then went back and used a long, hard brush to smear the thick white PVA glue all over the base and seal it.



Step two: Fleshy Colors

I applied a matt black undercoat then painted the entirety of the base with a thick layer of Vallejo 72.107 Anthea Skin. Next, I grabbed a thick brush right in the middle, then drybrushed the whole thing with Vallejo 72.100 Rosy Flesh hard, then again with Vallejo 72.099 Skin Tone.



Step three: Curly Hair

There are multiple sources of natural and synthetic curled hair. For this tutorial I used the inside of a kitchen knife stand, but I recommend experimenting a bit with brushes or whatever you might come across during brave hobby exploration. I pulled a few single plastic rods out of the knife stand and wrapped them over a brush handle. I then cut them into, about 4cm long, small springs. These I have gently pushed into the ‘meat’ of the sack, followed by a small droplet of Super Glue to seal the deal.



Step four: Shag

Finally I glued a few Gamers Grass Alien Void tufts on top in seemingly random places. After repainting the edge black, the job was done. ‘perfection’



Thanks to Wargamingowy Shitposting for indirectly sponsoring this material.


I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

Tutorial: Recycling Old Miniatures into Chaos

What if I told you it is possible to turn almost any old, damaged, badly painted Space Marine model into an Obliterator using trash and a bit of modeling magic? Sounds good? How about I just show you!

Before we start, some notes:

  • For this tutorial I used a thick painted Space Marine Centurion model, to better present repurposing old models.
  • You should be able to use any type of materials, not just the ones recommended in the tutorial, with a similar effect. Stay open minded.
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

One Man’s Trash…

I have been playing Warhammer for over two decades now. Throughout that time I had multiple armies that I built, then painted, then sold out to get dough for another dose of ‘plastic crack’. At times I had to get rid of some really badly painted, out of date sculpts. Easy to say, I came up with a variety of ideas on how to make such miniatures more desirable in the eyes of potential buyers, one of which was turning old minis into Chaos Obliterators and Spawns. The key was to use an old miniature and as little extra bitz as possible to up the value on the gaming board. Nowadays Obliterators come in plastic and look cool, but I believe there is still value in recycling old minis, especially if you’re short on cash and would like to play CSM proper by spamming these bad boys all over the place. The method shown below can be used for anything, including turning Marines/Vehicles Death Guard, making Possessed or Mutants and more. I deliberately chose to make an Obliterator, but stay open minded and let me know in the comments if you would like to see some kind of dedicated Nurge’esque magic in the future.

Now buckle up and let’s jump straight into it!



Step One: Preparing the Miniature

Using Hobby Cutters and a Hobby Knife I removed front parts of the miniature’s arms to make space for the upcoming weapon extensions. I also removed any Imperium related symbols.



Step Two: Weapon Barrels

Next I cut an old lollipop stick and a few toothpicks into short pieces, then glued them onto the shoulder guards and arms of the miniature with Super Glue. I used remaining sharp toothpick ends to form spikes on one leg and the back of the miniature.



Step Three: Veins and Cables

I then added another thematic detail by cutting paper clips into small pieces, then bending them to form swathes of cabling. I also twisted a few to form double cabling/veins then glued all of them onto the miniature. Again with Super Glue.



Step Four: Glue Goo Magic

I followed up with the favorite trick amongst my arsenal – a mix of PVA glue and Super Glue. First I applied some PVA onto the miniature, then right after, I applied Super Glue on top. I then started ‘dragging’ the goo around with a tip of a toothpick to form veins and some sort of meat chunks. The curing Super Glue twisted and hardened the PVA glue underneath – MAGIC!



Step Five: Additional Detail

Here’s where I would usually add some leftover bitz. For this particular miniature I glued three skulls here and there to better represent the theme of ‘big bad Chaos thing’, but I invite you to experiment with stuff. I just wanted to keep things simple.



Job done – seriously. I know the miniature above looks like crap, but just take a look at this undercoated, drybrushed Chaos Obliterator below. It took me less than ten minutes to make and cost as much as an old mini that hadn’t seen action in a decade!



I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it interesting. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

Tutorial: Modeling Trees

Who wouldn’t like to play games on a highly detailed, great looking scenery? Fortunately for us – hobbyists, we’re living in times of abundance. Not only is the market saturated with ready to buy awesome scenery elements, but there are many ways to make our own scenery from scratch. Today I’m here to share with you the latter – my method of scratch building well textured, interesting looking trees, of any size and shape!

Before we start, some notes:

  • For the purpose of this tutorial I will focus on 10mm scale trees, but the technique can be used to create trees of any size and scale like here.
  • You should be able to use any type of foliage and/or materials, not just the ones recommended in the tutorial, with a similar effect. Stay open minded 😉
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

Introduction:

Just recently I decided to finally let my 10mm scale itch loose and commit to a new scenery related project. I chose a dark, fantasy theme for it, so alongside crumbling ruins, rocky hills peppered with tombstones I needed some twisted, creeping trees to better tell a story of the glory times long gone. Making scenery from scratch allows us to tell a different short story with each individual piece. This can only be enhanced with self made trees of any size and shape, thus I decided to go this route. The resulting Ghasthollows Cemetery set speaks for itself.

Without further ado here’s how I went about it…



Step One: Trunks

I have started by butchering an old Ethernet cable, removing the rubber cover and pulling out small rubber protected ones. I deliberately chose this type of cable because of the rubber shielding the wires inside. I have observed paint sticking onto it much better than to smooth metal surfaces.

Next I have cut a few pieces of similar size and bundled them together, twisting them in the middle to form tree trunks and leaving top and bottom parts separated.



Step Two: Roots and Branches

Next I based the tree, first forming roots from the lower wires with a set of solid tweezers and then sealing them alongside the trunk with Super Glue. Once dry I then formed upper branches and sealed them with Super Glue using the same method.



Step Three: Texture

To add texture and increase durability I covered the entire tree with PVA glue, immediately applied Super Glue on top and sealed it with Super Glue Activator. This way I ended up with solid, sturdy trees covered with a mix of twisted veins / rough bark-like texture.



…Painting

This one I leave up to you. Everyone have their own painting preferences, depending on scale and the effect they’re aiming for. My set was painted with grey pre-shades on black undercoat, then covered in brown contrast like paint to finally get a drybrush od bright sandy-brown. Nothing special, but on a 10mm scale it really does the job.


Step Four: Foliage

As a final touch I applied just a bit of Super Glue on top of each branch then, using a set of tweezers, glued a small canopy made of Green Stuff World Tall Shrubbery on top. I then sealed it with Vallejo Polyurethane Matt Varnish airbrushed all over, to keep small specks from falling off.



That’s all – a set of awesome looking trees for miniatures is now within your reach. As a final word I recommend staying open minded – there’s plenty of different materials you can use to make your own trees, not just the ones I presented. It is worth experimenting. Be sure to share your result with me.



I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it interesting. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

“The Crimson Wrath” Special Project

Armies On Parade – a yearly contest held by Games Workshop, pitting lovingly crafted Warhammer armies from across the globe against each other. I always admired all the stunningly painted pieces of art presented in the content with a mix of awe and jealousy. Deep down I felt (and still feel) the ceiling is just too high for me to reach. Then again the entire theme of this competition seems to be fun and participation, sharing our hobby joy, rather than trying to win against the very pinnacle of talented people out there. This year, seven days before the very deadline, I have decided to unleash my Crimson Fists and join the challenge!



Humble Beginnings

Like all of my hobby projects, the Crimson Fists collection started out of nowhere. I was ‘divorced’ with Warhammer 40,000 for about ten years, after abandoning a huge Space Marines army back at the down of the sixth edition. The new Primaris Marines grew on me and for a long time I felt like it’ll be fun to start a new army. One day something broke and I went for it, getting just enough carefully selected boxes to build a solid 2000 points list. I had many ideas on where to take my miniatures, including multiple made up Chapters and color schemes. In the end, remembering the wrathful charge of the Crimson Fists from the “Crimson Tears” Soul Drinkers novel, I decided to follow up on a youthful dream of a Crimson Fists collection. Contrary to my usual practices of fast bulk painting to play, I focused on small numbers, cherishing the process and pouring my heart and soul into each and every miniature. I steadily grew the collection, adding a few units at a time, prioritizing unit diversity rather than chasing the meta. As it happens, expanding a collection by adding one or two units every month, allows for some awesome hobby experience – but also expands the available toolset to breathe fresh air into the gaming experience. With a lively, positive local community around the corner, I’m having the time of my life with miniatures games right now and am speaking from over 25 years of wargaming experience behind my belt.
Easy to say that having a main, living project – a growing collection to add to and have fun with, might have saved me as a hobbyist. I love my Crimson Fists army and it is for this reason that I chose to honor it by preparing a special diorama.



From Ground Up

Once I’ve committed I had a really bad time sleeping – multiple ideas ferociously fighting with one another inside my head. I spent almost four hours laying in bed, trying to fall asleep, grinding thoughts on how to better present the army. In the end I chose to focus on a two level base with a part of an exposed ground level and a large vantage point. I have been building advanced Crimson Fists themed scenery for the last year and figured a relatively simple base would allow me to use everything I have to build an interesting background and add detail.



To spice things up I have added a decrepit bunker complex entry tunnel and taken it a little bit further with a set of small lights spread across its length. Because there was an entire vantage level coming in on top – I had to finish painting the tunnel before starting to work on the exterior area.



It took me about four hours from laying a wooden worktop on the ground to sealing the vantage floor on top of the finished tunnel. What was left was the exterior and this part was rather easy in comparison. It took less than two hours of the actual work (and a lot of AK Interactive’s Dark Ground texture paint apart from other hobby materials) to see the thing completed.



Setting the Scene

Once the painting process was finished, I was left with the tedious and challenging process of setting up the background, planning the scene and breathing some life into it. I always admired cinematic shots from White Dwarf magazines – never would I ever dared to imagine I would be taking one myself 🙂

It took a lot of time and hard decision making on which units to include and which ones had to be cut, but in the end I finally had my epic, cinematic shot. Or at least a test shot to be precise.



Now all is in the hands of Games Workshop’s team. Let’s see if I can get as much as a shout out from them. Keep your fingers crossed for me mates!


I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it interesting. Finally if you are looking for a professional warhammer 40k miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

Tutorial: Modeling Armada Ghost Fleets

Converting miniatures, am I right? There’s probably nothing more satisfying for Armada hobbyists, other than tinkering with their tiny resin ships. Adding bits and relocating parts to add more personality to one’s miniatures has always been an important part of the hobby, but with Armada it really takes a collection to the next level. This is doubly true for Ghost Fleets, that does not have dedicated miniatures. Still not everyone enjoys converting miniatures. There are many reasons for it, not having enough skill or idea to name some.

What if I told you converting ghost ships is far more easy than you might think? What if I showed you…

Before we start, some notes:

  • Instead of standard step-by-step I will present a list of tips on how to convert Ghost Fleet ships.
  • For this tutorial I have used original Basileans and Empire of Dust miniatures as a base, to expand upon.
  • Please note pictures present a huge miniature under strong light that might result in a feel of a messy and clumsy job.
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

Hull Damage:

A good way to distinguish ghost ships amongst other fleets is to add significant hull damage. This can be done easily by cutting a chunk of hull with a pair of piers and/or drilling holes with a hand drill. The latter is perfect for damaging sails. For a natural damage look I drilled some holes then moved the drill bit up and down to produce a slightly more irregular shape.



Ragged Sails:

To add more dynamism to the sails and some key features I used a tissue trick. First I moisten a piece of tissue and form a basic shape. I then glued the shape to the ship with Super Glue. I followed by smearing more Super Glue on top of the tissue with a tip of a toothpick. Once hardened the shape made a solid foundation for some more advanced techniques.



Ghostly Mists / Phantom Shapes:

One of the most recognisable ghostly features is the body/hull distortion dragged by the etheric winds. A good way to represent this is by mixing PVA and Super Glue (cyanoacrylate) then smearing and dragging the resulting goo on top of ship features. The way I usually go about it is to apply some PVA glue on the surface, then apply Super glue on top and start smearing with the tip of a toothpick. I always try to smear the ‘glue goo’ in one direction to form dynamic shapes and interesting texture. Once the base shape is formed I let it dry and just let the goo do its thing.



Extended Hulls:

An interesting way of presenting a ghost ship is to take it out of the water. A ship drifting in the air has a truly menacing feel to it. The way I did it was to drill small holes in the underside of the ship, then glue metal wires into them. Once glued firmly I then bent the wires to look like floating under the ship.

Next I modeled an underside of the hull using a Hey Clay, which is a plasticine-like toy for kids. It dries firmly pretty fast, becoming semi hard and very lightweight afterwards. Perfect for this kind of work, with glue goo to further improve its durability and texture.



Broken Masts / Split Deck:

To greatly enhance the theme of battle damage I have added some damaged woodwork. Ice cream sticks, toothpicks and skewer sticks are all a good source of properly shaped wood. First I cut them into small planks and mast elements, then broken each in half to get that extra feel of splintered wood. Once glued onto the ship it was all covered with thin Super Glue. This increased durability, which is pretty important when considering gaming with such stuff in the future.



Skulls and Chains:

Either 3d printed or pieces of other sets, a few extra bits to add character. I fancied myself an anchor dragged on a chain behind one ship – simple stuff once special chains for miniatures are around. Same for any ghostly visages coming out of hulls and sails. Nothing that a bunch of 28mm scale skulls can’t handle.


These are basically all the tricks I used while converting Ghost Fleet ships. The end result can be seen below and in Armada: Ghost Fleets gallery.



I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

Basing: Crimson Crags Bases

Welcome to Crimson Crags Bases tutorial. Here I will take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of creating Crimson Crags themed Bases the same way as seen at: Gallery: Warhammer 40,000 Crimson Fists.


Before we start, some notes:

  • This one does require airbrush.
  • To better demonstrate the technique I used standard 50mm and 32mm round bases.
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

Introduction:

The “Crimson Crags” is a name of a self designed Warhammer 40,000/Kill Team scenery setting themed around my Crimson Fists Astartes collection. The idea behind the setting is reinforced rocky ravines ravaged by war. You can see more examples of the scenery and basing in the Killzone Crimson Crags gallery. I have already covered painting Crimson Fists and modeling the scenery in previous hobby articles. Now is time to present to you the basing.



Required materials:

For this tutorial I will be using:

  • Super Glue
  • PVA Glue
  • AK Interactive Dark Earth Texture
  • Gamers Grass Brown Tufts
  • Dry Birch tree seeds
  • Stones…

Let’s get it out of the way – yes, I am using natural stones. I like to have my miniatures heavy and stable on the board, plus trying to imitate the effect with self made elements would be rather time consuming. These particular stones are something I’m being asked about a lot, so here’s what I can tell you about them. The stones I’m using are regular decoration gravel from construction/home/garden stores. They are sold in small packages for about 1-2€. Unfortunately I do not know the professional name for this kind of stone, but am sure you will find similar stuff in either Ikea, or other home/garden stores. Below an old pic for reference.


Step by Step:

Rocks out of the way, let’s rock! (You see what I did there?).

The modeling process is pretty straightforward, starting with base rock formation, after which the miniatures are mounted on top, everything gets undercoated then painted. Lastly the second part of modeling kicks in with textures and finishing touches.



Step one: Rock formation

I started by applying PVA glue on top of the base. There’s no need to keep this one smooth – a clumsy random layer will suffice. Next I applied few drops of super glue on top. Finally I put few flat stones on top. Both glues mixed under preassure, filling most gaps between the stones and keeping them in place.


Step two: Increased Volume

Depending on the size and future assignment of the base I sometimes add volume to the rock formation. Some miniatures have one leg slightly raised, or I just want to get a more dynamic posing for my Astartes characters. Having that in mind I applied a drop of PVA glue followed by a drop of super glue and added another stone on top.


Step three: Undercoat

Once the mix of glue dried up nicely I moved to undercoating. This was done with a smooth layer of Citadel Chaos Black spray primer.


Painting


Step four: Base Color

I started painting by airbrushing a strong layer of Vallejo Panzer Dark Grey (air), straight from the pot. I then applied a slightly thinned Vallejo Light Grey Green (air), followed by Vallejo Cold Grey (air). In both cases I tried to reduce the area of paint to add color differentiation.


Step five: Highlights

Next I applied a drybrush of Vallejo Medium Sea Grey all over the bases, followed by edge drybrush of Vallejo Wolf Grey. Finally I softly airbrushed Army Painted Strong Tone Quickshade onto the middle points of each individual stone on the base, and slightly around. All of this to add more visual volume.


Step six: Final Highlighs

I then stippled a bit of Vallejo Wolf Grey on the edges of each individual stone, to make them stand out a bit more.


Step seven: Ground Texture

Next I moved to my favorite texture of all time – AK Interactive Dark Earth diorama series that you can learn more about here. I applied a thick layer of the texture, let it dry than drybrushed Citaled Karak Stone on top.


Step eight: Leaves

Then I applied few small drops of super glue and put a Birch tree seed on top of each. Once dry, leaves got painted with Army Painter Soft Tone Quickshade, to add color depth and just some durability.


Step nine: Final Touches

Finally I repainted base’s edges black and airbrushed a strong layer of Vallejo Polyurethane Matt Varnish all over. Job done.


I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.

Hobby Advice: Organizing Your Workspace

Keeping a clean and tidy workspace might seem like a chore, but it does not have to be so. In this article I will share with you some tips on organizing your hobby workspace, based on my own experience. I will also let you in on what benefits are there from working in a well organized environment.


Before we start, it is worth noting that I am a full time, professional commission painter. For years now I have been testing different solutions to try and improve my personal workspace. Moving from town to town required me to build my workbench from the ground up multiple times and provided a lot of insight into what to aim for. You might not necessarily have space, funds or need to achieve a similar setup, but if my adventure has taught me anything, it’s that there is always the space for improvement. Here’s the best proof of that – some previous iterations of my trusty workspace:


Benefits of Tidy Workspace:

Regardless of you being a weekend hobbyist or a professional, a workspace’s main purpose is to provide comfort of your painting process. This includes the ease with which you access tools, manage projects and even how you feel when painting miniatures. A tidy, clean workspace translates directly into your work and motivation. It is far easier to take on a new project when you don’t have to take care of the mess first. Less time spent in search of tools or bitz means more time spent on the actual thing you want to do. Most importantly keeping things in established spaces allows to train muscle memory, thus increasing productivity. 


Workspace Organization Tips:

For the purpose of this article I have narrowed down the list of useful advice to a few tips that greatly improve the quality of life while not being too hard or expensive to implement. Without further ado, let’s get into it!


Brush & Tools Holders:

With how popular the hobby has become, a variety of innovative brush storage utensils are being introduced to the market every year. Still when it comes to it, there’s nothing better than a good old mug. Well… not entirely. Toothbrush cups come in a variety of shapes and styles, bringing all the best that mugs have to offer, but without cons. Bathroom cups are usually plain, without handles, occupying less space and being easier to store around the workspace. Plus, depending on your tastes, they might up the visual style of your hobby area.


Trays:

Trays ain’t on a list of your typical miniatures painter must-haves, but they definitely should! One of the things that used to frustrate me the most was having to switch projects or move stuff around in order to dig for a tool. It became a none-issue once I introduced trays into my hobby. Nowadays groups of hobby tools, paints and even entire projects can be moved around freely, saving me a lot of time. More so, on top of clean and friendly work conditions, setting up ongoing projects on trays defines particular stages of the work, helps me to define goals and keep the motivation up.


Cable Organizers:

Self adhesive, rubber cable organizers are a useful tool to help keep all those nasty air hoses and cables in check. More so, with a bit of a lifehack’ish mindset, they can be used as a fantastic mid-work brush holders.


Sailing Blocks:

And while we’re at it, airbrush air hoses are usually very difficult to tame. They’re rather stiff and tend to curl. Fortunately, it’s nothing that a sailing block can’t handle! These puppies will keep the air hose where you want it and allow for rapid airbrush deployment when the time comes!


Desk & Edge Covers:

It is easier to switch a cover than an entire desk. Respect your desk and it will serve you longer, plus there’s probably nothing worse than dusted, grainy, irregular, dried paint surface irritating your skin when painting. Don’t even get me started on a sharp desk edge cutting a side of a wrist (shivers internally). Personally I use a thick cutting mat and a self adhesive PVC corner cover, but anything will do as long as it’s water resistant, easy to clean and stiff enough. 


Pull-out Shelf:

‘Enlarge your p’ …ainting space with a single pull. This simple solution expands your working area when needed, but does not take up much space when not being used. I sometimes find my desk overwhelmed with miniatures and instead of transferring a part of work to secondary space, I just extend a shelf from underneath and continue working. It’s especially useful when I have something messy to do, like applying static grass or pouring resin, but don’t want to risk the entire project getting dirty. 


Large Organizers:

These can be found in almost every house & decor store. Plastic baskets, food containers, tool organizers, clothes storage boxes. Instead of keeping all the boxes, packaged miniatures, spare paints and other stuff stacked on shelves and one another – why not keep it more accessible? Pulling a box from a shelf is much faster and more comfortable than ‘excavation’.


Hanging Tool Racks:

Some stuff is not very comfortable to stack around the workspace. This is especially true for large tools and packages of hobby tufts. There are of course some workarounds. Here’s a pretty simple way to store these items. These self-made tool racks are thin bamboo planks with small hooks and handles, screwed to the ceiling. For tufts I used a metal rod mounted on a piece of plastic on one side and inserted into a hole in a wall at the other. Tuft packages have then been cut on one side, as seen in the picture below, to allow them to be taken off and put back on the rack individually. This made an otherwise unused space into a nice storage area. 


Water Bowl With a Lid:

I think I should dedicate an entire article to the water bowl and how superior it is compared to a cup. Maybe even a book! But in all seriousness, the more water there is, the longer it will last. It is easier to clean an airbrush, or a regular brush in a larger area of water. Cups and mugs are prompt to topple and need to be cleaned and refilled more often. Plus there’s the lid. This magnificent contraption protects your desk from water when put on, allows for safe transportation to and from the sink and allows to use the space otherwise occupied by the bowl. Just epic!


Zip Bags and Storage Boxes:

When it comes to bitz, they tend to take up a lot of space. A good way of dealing with that is cutting all the separate parts from the sprues and zipping them in a thematic zip bag. These can then be stored in translucent plastic boxes to allow faster bag identification. Bitz of particular type in a single bag and a tray should let you fish out any bitz you need much faster, than searching through a room full of mixed, half emptied sprues. 


Food Containers:

At this point you might see a certain pattern so there’s no need for me to hide it anymore. I admit I might have a little fetish. I tend to bring home a fancy looking food container, a bamboo tray, or some sort of other cool looking stuff whenever I go shopping. If only you saw my kitchen… Anyhow, stylish food containers combine fine looks and functionality. They can be stacked on top of one another and tend to take up less space than standard, flatter boxes. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, made of either wood, plastic, metal or glass. There’s something to fit any workspace and they have a wide range of storage uses.  


Tiny Drawers and Paint Racks:

This is a well known classic, so I decided to throw it in. There is a variety of paint racks, tiny drawers and even entire Modular Workshop Systems in the market, such as the popular HobbyZone. Although dedicated painting racks can only be obtained through hobby related companies, tiny drawers and wooden organizers can be found at house & decor stores. In my experience these are similarly priced so there’s not much difference, other than looks, style and in compatibility with other Modular Workshop System.


Old Paint Last Chance Rack:

Have you ever found yourself reluctant to throw out an almost empty drop bottle paint, because ‘there is still some left!’ ? Personally I dislike keeping two paints of the same type on a hanger rack, but am also not keen on wasting paint. To avoid diving into backup paint box mid-work, I ‘retire’ old paints to a special self made rack (a box with a few holes drilled in the underside). I keep them close, ready to use at all times. Took a while to make a habit of prioritizing old paints over the new ones on the hanging rack, but once it kicked in I started to save a lot of time. 


I’ve been using the above solutions for some time now. They’ve been my allies in a fight against workspace entropy. Now it’s your turn to put them to a test. Let me know if any of these spiked your interest. Are any of the above completely new to you? Which, if any, do you plan to implement in the nearby future? I am eager to read your feedback in the comments below. I’m also available at Facebook and Instagram if you’d rather prefer reach me there. Finally I would appreciate if you shared this article with your hobby buddies. 

If you are looking for a professional Warhammer miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me via this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours. If you don’t see anything from me by then, please check your spam folder.

Tutorial: Kings of War Armada Sargasso

When it comes to spicing up your miniatures naval games, there’s nothing better than nice looking scenery. This is especially true for games full of finely detailed miniatures, such as Kings of War: Armada. Today I would like to take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of creating and painting an alternative scenery for Armada – the Sargasso. These can be used as either Sandbanks proxy, or as something completely new, as you see fit.

Some notes:

  • This tutorial presents a pretty basic technique, but requires some rather high end materials.
  • Paints used in the tutorial are just what I’m used to work with. Please treat it as a proposal. I encourage you to test your favorite paints instead.
  • Please note pictures present closeups under strong light that might result in a feel of clumsy, messy job.
  • As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

Step one: Base

High end materials right from the get go. I do prefer my scenery to be durable and high quality, thus I went with laser cut translucent acrylics. That being said, there’s nothing preventing you from using a cheaper and more accessible material, such as clear plastic – maybe food packaging leftovers, or miniatures blister package? As long as it’s clear and sturdy enough you should be fine with any substitutes.


Step two: Dark Seaweed

I started by applying some Citadel Militarum Green Contrast in a random pattern all over the base. I used a large, soft brush and applied few large drops of the paint, then added some more to link them.


Step three: Bright Seaweed

Next I used a large, round brush to stipple Citadel Nurgle’s Rot paint on top of still wet Militarum Green. This was a bit tricky and I used a paper towel to clean the brush very often. The idea is to apply Nurgle’s Rot from the top by touching the previous layer, bot not smear nor mix the two paints too much.


Step Four: Seaweed Dots

Once the paint dried I decided to add more live to the mix. Using a large, round synthetic brush with a flat tip I stippled wet Vallejo Heavy Khaki paint all over the previous layer.


Step Five: Water Texture

Next I applied a thick layer of AK Interactive Pacific Blue. I usually go with Atlantic Blue instead, but this time I aimed at a brighter, more translucent effect.


Step Six: Waves

Finally I applied few lines of AK Interactive Water Foam texture. I then used a clean synthetic, flat tip brush to reduce volume and shape thin waves.


And that is basically all. Sargasso, Seaweed, alternative Sandbanks or some sort of awesome new Armada scenery is now complete.

I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.