Bases

Figures need to be on a base to avoid the damage caused by handling. Some, like Clarecrafts range, come on a base that can be used for display purposes. Others use the Games Workshop type of "slotta-base" and are usually the regulation base designed for a specific game. Most other ranges come with a small base area around the figures feet and leave the buyer to make a standardised base cut from a piece of plasticard or washer of the appropriate size for the game played to fix the figure to. For wargame use where your want the base to be as intrusive as possible, mount on plastic card with filed edges. Your army will look like they are all standing on molehills but it will look better than Games Workshop's one foot high scale boxes. If the figure is just for display hobby shops sell various wooden plinths that can display single or groups of figures. An alternative is to make your own from wood or plywood which can be sanded and polished or painted.

How you decorate you base will depend on the figures final use. If for display only you can be quite adventurous, but if you intend to use in a game think about the rest of the scenery that may be used. A pirate looks great standing on ships decking, until he's required to invade a coastal port, but alternately if you base him on grass he looks odd onboard ship. Gaming bases are always a compromise so keep them relatively simple, typical of the main environment the figure would be in and decorate the bases of all figures the same to give conformity to the unit. My Watch figures have a cobble, paving stone effect, which I marked into the filler as it dried and then did a simple drybrush of grey over black, to represent the streets of Ankh-Morpork. Mr Teatime and Friends have bases to represent the destruction of the town of Mordheim where the game in which they are used takes place. A variety of flat stones, cut from cereal cardboard, have been stuck on a section of each base. The rest of the base is covered in a layer of fine sand/budgie grit. This was all painted black, and drybrushed with a very dark grey. The stones were then dry brushed in a lighter grey and finally white. Pieces of prepainted burnt wood, and bricks from plastic sprue, some cut so that they would look as if they were part buried in the ground were then attached. To finish small clumps of foam "grass" were glued on and used to hide any un-natural looking gaps etc.

If neccessary fix the figure to your required base using a suitable glue, leaving the sole of the feet just above the top of the base to allow you texture the surface. If required drill a hole inside the figures leg and use a short length of wire to obtain a secure join.

Build up the base with milliput, self hardening clay (Das Pronto) or household filler mixed with PVA glue to the level of the figure's shoes, thining the filler towards the edge of the base, and leave to dry. You can obtain from some wargaming suppliers a type of thick paint which you put on like a paste. It drys with a textured surface leaving you with a greenish base which only needs a quick dry brush to finish.

While the filler is drying you can add texture, like paving stones, with a sharp pin, compass point, knife, etc., or you can wait until it is dry and then glue a texturing agent to it. Apply a coat of PVA glue to the the base avoiding the figures feet then sprinkle sand, budgie grit, cat litter, or a mixture of all three to give a variation in sizes (grit from out of the road gutters does this naturally). Tap any excess off and allow to dry. It is a good idea to put a coat of thinned PVA glue over the scatter to fix it firmly in place. Paint in the shade of earth, rock etc your figure is meant to be on, giving a dry brush and wash to add highlights and shadows. Model railway scenic scatter comes in many forms and colours and is an easy substitute as it doesn't need painting.

The current trend/fad with wargamers is not to have complete grass covered bases but to add patches of grass to an earth coloured base. This can be done by either painting areas of green onto the textured ground created above or to glue on areas of flock or static grass as sold for model railways. Paint small areas with PVA glue and cover with flock or pick up a clump of "static" grass in a pair of tweezers and plant into a blob of the glue. Again tap off any excess and when dry, dry brush to tone the colour down. "Static" grass is 2-4mm lengths of green coloured nylon which makes the grass a scale 4-9" so use it sparingly, with just a few patches here and there.

Figures are best displayed in a bookcase with a glass front to keep dust of them. An alternative are the clear display boxes that are available. Otherwise any shelf or bookcase will do so long as it is, not in direct sunlight as this will cause the paint to fade, and, is out of the reach of tiny hands. Dusting can be done with a large soft bristled brush and a wet paintbrush should remove any long term deposits safely.

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Dioramas

A diorama is basically anything bigger than a single figure. Most either try to represent a part of a story or are displaying a central feature, like a tank, and have other items and figures to give interest. It can be of any size, from Nobbs and Colon on guard duty, to Nobbs and Colon on guard duty at the City Gate with a thousand elephants. Anything of a suitable size can be used to build your diorama on. I find that as picture frames come in various shapes and sizes they are excellent for diorama bases, particularly as my woodworking skills leave a lot to be desired.

To make a simple base for a diorama from a small wooden picture frame first remove the glass and dispose of it safely. If the backing plate is hardboard cut a piece wood to fit over it as the hard board may warp. Build the ground level up using scraps of wood or polystyrene packing to its final approximate shape. Score the wood with a knife to aid adhesion. Cover this packing with a layer of Polyfilla to the ground level required. Mix powder paint with the Polyfilla while still dry then add with water and PVA glue. The paint avoids any future damage to the surface showing through as a bright white, and the glue adds strength and helps it stick to the wood. If you don't have powder paint any water based types will work. Shape the filler roughly to the ground effect you want then add any permanent features like walls or buildings which should be painted before fixing. Use an old or cheap paintbrush to push the filler up to the joints and with water to remove any that goes where it shouldn't. Sand and small pebbles can be added to the Polyfilla to give the top surface a textured finish.

Like the single base you can add other details to the ground before the filler sets, using a brush, cocktail stick etc. i.e. paths, cart tracks or add textures when the filler is dry. The principle is the same only on a much larger scale, so do small areas at a time. If there is to be any large stones or rocks glue them in place while the filler is still flexable so that they can be pushed into the surface. Paint the filler surface which the ground colour required. when dry add sand, grass etc and paint as before.

Add the every day items, boxes, cart wheels, weapons etc that have been left by the figures. This non-natural debris can come from railway scenery items, cat litter is good for rubble and damaged masonry as it can be easily stained to any colour with paint washes, various sized wires and brass tubing can become piping and tissue paper sealed with a diluted PVA glue becomes fabric items from clothes, tents to canvas cvers for wagons. Also look in you scrap box for loose weapons and other bits and pieces. I have bought military kits in sales just because I know they have a lot of extras, like crates, oil drums, jerry cans, bed rolls and tools, that I can make use of.

Finally the figures and any animals are last to be fixed.in place by lengths of wire glued into holes drilled in their legs.

Anything can be built into a diorama, it all depends on how adventurous you are. The following can be useful for diorama building.

• Plastruct make a variety of plastic shapes in long strips including tubes, angles and I-beams.
• Plastic sheeting is available in various colours as well as clear and also with patterns embossed on then, i.e. roof tiles and bricks.
• Items for model railways can be useful although most is made for the OO/HO scale which is a little to small for our figures. There are scenic products like static grass and other imitation foliage and ground cover that are suitable for covering figure bases or diorama work.
• Obeche wood: I find balsa wood is to soft but it is easy to shape and use. I buy my wood from the local dolls house shop as it is harder and stronger, but not difficult to work, it has a fine grain which is more in scale and can be left unpainted for a natural finish.
• Foamboard, from Art shops, is two sheets of card and a foam material sandwiched together which I have used to make buildings. It is easy to cut with a knife and stick with PVA glue.
• Paper and card in their various types can be used for a multitude of things. Paper is easier to work with if it is crumpled into a ball first to break up its texture. Cereal card has a texture suitable for representing paving slabs. Tissue paper with thinned PVA glue painted on makes most type of fabric items i.e. tents or canvas covers for wagons.
• General household rubbish, tops of spray cans, buttons, broken toys,

Vehicles - stowage from other kits like bed rolls, weapons, helmets, boxes, jerry cans, 1/72 aircraft missles on launch rails, chains, look in the local charity shop, or hawsers from nylon cord soaked in PVA or superglue, thin wire for ariels, grab handles to help crew climb into tanks etc from bent wire glue in holes drilled in the body. Fit where it looks like crew would need then. Crew sometime attach items to these or to any other part of vehicle where things can be firmly attached.

Grass:- Guagemaster make grass matting for model railways. It can be cut an stuck in place. When dry it can be dry brushed or painted, have additional stattic grass added etc. If it gets wet the grass can be scraped off in places. Stattic grass once glued in possittion if you blow accross the surface this will make the fibres stand up giving a more realistic appearance

Fence :- Cut posts from 1/8" strip wood about an inch long. Paint the wood before any glueing is done with a thin wash of a shade of brown darker than its natural colour. This helps bring out the grain and then when this is dry, dry brush with a grey or white to make it look old. Glue the posts to you base with white glue. Don't measure the distances between each one just put them where they look right. When the posts are dry add earth around them and allow to dry. Fill the gaps between the posts depending on the type of fence you are after. Thin square strip wood or cut a piece into planks 1/8" wide or use fuse wire for a wire fence, You can even get scale barbed wire in some model shops.

Rivers, Ponds and Water:- Build up the bank or banks out of polystyrene or Das Pronto etc.. Covered the banks with PVA glue and then sand. Paint the sand with very dilute light brown/sand. When dry drybrushed with the base colour lightened with white before adding other scenic effects. If the water is flat you may want to add a few stones to look as if they are peeking out of the water.

There are many different ways to represent deep water but the underlying principal is to paint with greens, blue and black going from greenish near the banks into blue and then dark blue/black in the deepest areas, usually at the centre. If the base of your river is flat paint the above colours in their respective areas mixing and blending each colour together before adding a thick coat of gloss varnish. To get more depth you could now paint the varnish with thined coats of paint so that the original paint still shows through. Varnish again. This can be done as many times as required until you are happy with the finish. If you river has any depth, i.e. because you have a figure standing in it, use clear cast resin in thinnish layers with thinned paint between each layer. You should add gravel and stones to the river bed before adding the first layer of resin. Remember to darken the figures clothing to show that it is wet. A final coat of thick varnish can be manipulated with a paint brush to dry unevenly to show currents and ripples. Resins and some varnishes tend to dry with a slight upwards curve at the edges so you may need to remodel your banks after the water has set.

Rushes and reeds can be made from the long bristles of an old brush, dip the ends in glue and add flock for bull rushes. Long grass can be made from of natural rope cut to length and stuck in clumps with PVA glue.

Plants:- The local pet store will have many different useable plastic aquarium plants available which can be used as they are or painted. Individual leaves can be cut out of paper which has first been folded over glued to thin wire like a sandwhich. This give the join a better strength and a center vein for the leaf. Paint and group together for plants or add to a tree or bush branches. There are companys that make etched brass leaves but the only ones I have seen have been made for doll houses and are a little overscale. Also try twigs, dried roots, dried plants and flowers from the local florist. Rubberised horse hair can represent brambles, tangled undergrowth and hedges

Trees:- I've not made may trees as I've not found an effective way to get a realistic one. Lichen can be used to represent bushes and can be stuck on twigs or even bundles of wire twisted together and formed into branches which look OK but the're very basic and not very realistic. You can buy immitation trees of various types from model railway shops and now also from a few wargaming shops but they can be expensive, especially the better ones. Tea leaves, dried again after use, can be painted to look like fallen leaves on a base and twigs from bushes make logs. Privet twigs are good because they are easy to get hold of and you can see the ring in the cut wood.

Rocks:- Can be made of foam gouged out in to irregular shapes glued together if necessary with PVA and fixed with tooth picks. Cover with a filler to which paint and PVA glue have been mixed. Paint the base coat which should be the same shade as you added to the filler. For grey rocks paint it dark grey and dry brush with light grey and finally white.If the effect is too light do a wash of black. Add some small green areas for moss/lichen to which flock can also be glued. Scree at the bottom of a cliff from sand and small stones stuck on with PVA glue. Don't forget that like trolls, rocks come in many colours.

Snow:- Try plaster for thick snow or a dusting of baking powder for a light covering. An glass etch aerosol on a clear plastic sheetwill give the surface a frosting effect like ice, paint it black underneath.

Skeletons:- there are many skeleton figures, human and otherwise available. cut the bones up at the joins and push into the ground cover before it fully hardens. This gives the inpression it has been there for some time. Paint off white then wash with shades of brown. Have vegetation growing up between the ribs if it is old.

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Bits and Pieces

Clear Plastic

It can be tinted or dirtied if old windows by a thin wash of colour on the underside.

Use a white PVA glue to stick clear plastic as it is transparent when dry and will not damage the surface if it gets in the wrong place. Superglue and plastic cement can cause fogging and crazing of clear plastic.

If you do damage or paint the surface you may be able to rescue it with polish. Try a household metal polish, very fine grit sandpaper or a car polish. Finish with toothpaste on a cotton bud. It can a very long and tiring job to get a satisfactory finish.

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