Friday's Article of Interest:

Another week is history, and you know what that means. It is time for another Article of Interest.

This weeks article comes to you from Drathmere over at 40k Hobby Blog.

This article features a tutorial by Drathmere on basing for urban combat zones or ruined cities.

You all know how fond I am of urban bases, ruined cities, and urban warfare in 40k. So, I could not resist the desire to feature Drathmere's article. Furthermore, he has done a great job on the bases (and other aspects of our hobby).

He is a fellow member of the From the Warp 40k community. So, check out the 40k Hobby Blog.

Tactical Squad Finished!

I have finished the Tactical Squad. Well, that is except for Meltagun. I will have to catch him up later. Also, my Lascannon marine, who usually runs with this Tactical Squad, will be rebased with the Devastator Squad. So, I will catch him up eventually as well.

I am quite pleased with the way it turned out. I am really excited about having the whole army on these urban bases.

On a side note, I like to take pictures of the mini's that I have finished painting and post them up here. I have noticed that it is much easier for me to see any mistakes that I have made through the camera's zoomed up lens. My eyes are not as good as they used to be.

Honestly, sometimes I cannot really see the particular tiny detail that I am trying to paint. I just go on the basis of muscle memory and my familiarity with the models. After that, I look at and see how it turned out. It is sort of like driving with your eyes closed on some of these tiny details.

When I look at the details through the camera's lens and zoom it in here on the computer, I can really judge whether or not I have the model exactly like I want it.

Tactical Squad WIP

I am nearing completion of my repainting and rebasing work on the Tactical Squad. You will probably notice that Mr. Meltagun is absent. I cannot really tell you why I did not work on him with the rest of the Tac Squad. When I moved them to the workdesk for painting and such, I just left old meltagun on the shelf. Just a mental lapse on my part.

You should be able to see in the pictures that I have decided to use the CD Plastic Urban Bases from our Urban Base Test. I really like the outcome. I have done some work to add extras on the bases. I piled some Random cuts of CD plastic on some of the bases, and I cut some bricks out of plastic sprue for one base.

I have a few more things to do in order to finish them up. However, I am pleased with the way things are going. My Tactical Squad was really bringing the army down.

I bought them in the Assault on Black Reach set and painted them quickly before I had a real direction for my new venture out of the Imperial Guard into the world of Space Marines. Now that they have gotten the care and attention they deserve, I feel a lot better about them.

It was getting late, so I did not set up the lights and background box for photos. You will have to be satisfied with the workdesk for a background.

Also, I paint all the heavy weapons with blue helmets, not just the Devastator Squad. The purpose is to allow me to switch out all the heavy weapons between the Tactical Squad and the Devastator Squad. Versatility . . . options. It is the same reason that I magnetized backpacks and jump packs for my Assault Marines.

Urban Base Test Pt.6 (Finale)

I present to you the finished Urban Base made from cereal card. As you can see, the marine is missing his jump pack. Other than that, the marine is finished. I decided to go ahead and post it up here, considering that the base is really what we are interested in here.

So, you can see what the finished base looks like. And as this is a test case, I will post a picture of the CD plastic urban base at the bottom.

Look at them both and decide which one you think is better. Please give me some comments on this one. I want to know what you think. Which is better?

I will go ahead and tell you that I think the CD Plastic is better. Unless you all convince me differently, I will base the entire army with the CD Plastic Urban Base.

As far as the modeling and painting of the Cereal Card Urban Base shown here, I will tell you the method.

I cut out a number of equal sized squares from cereal card
(just thin card). I glued them on the base in the fashion which suited me, and trimmed of the
excess.

I painted this base exactly the same as the CD Plastic version.

Undercoat Black.

Base coat in Codex Gray mixed with Badab Black.

Highlight up through Codex Gray, Codex Gray mixed with White, and Codex Gray mixed with more White.

I mixed some Snakebite Leather with Ogryn Flesh to make very watery. I applied this liberally and dabbed it off with a paper towel. The amount of this brown that you leave on there can make it look dusty, dirty, or muddy. It is up to you.

I left the Yellow stripe off this one, because I didn't think that it fit the layout on this base.

So, let me know which you think is better.

Urban Base Test Case Pt. 5

I give you a work-in-progress photo of the second contender in our little urban base challenge: The Cereal Card Urban Base. You will remember how tremendously pleased I was with the CD Plastic Urban Base. So, this cereal card base had better be good if it wants to best the CD Plastic.

Everything went well with our new baby girl over the weekend. My wife is recovering from the surgery, and I am trying to take care of everything around the house including my 2 year-old daughter.

Well, everyone was fed and napping this afternoon. Furthermore, I had caught up all the dishes and such around the house. So, I sat down at the painting table and broke out the paints.

As you can see from the photos, this Veteran Assault Marine is nearing completion. I have some work left to do on the Power Sword and Bolt Pistol. Also, the Jump Pack is not complete (or attached).

As a result, the painting of the base should take place tomorrow. I have only base coated it black and added some modeling sand which will become rubble. We shall see how it turns out.

I really do not believe that the Cereal Card method of urban basing will match or exceed the quality of the CD Plastic method. We shall see . . . We shall see.

Model One Finished (Urban Base Test Case Pt.4)

I give you the finished project. This is the first finished Veteran Assault Marine for my Angels Sanguine Army.

I am really pleased with the result.

Of course, this marks the end and finish of the first Urban Base Test Case model: CD Plastic.

The next model naturally will be the exact same Vanguard Veteran Model from the second Veteran Assault Squad which bears the Cereal Card Urban Base. After I finish that model, then we will have the two together for the judging.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!

Urban Base Test Cases-Pt.3

This is the finished project, or something very close to it. This base here is the CD plastic.

Undercoat: Black

Base Coat: Codex Gray and Badab Black mixed

Highlight up through Codex Gray, Codex Gray plus white, Codex Gray plus more Skull white.

Paint on a Yellow Stripe with Sunburst Yellow. I don't know if they use Yellow for marking lanes in the 41st millennium, but there must be one planet in the vast Empire of Man that does.

Somewhere between a drybrush and a damp brush of Codex Gray, I lay the brush on its side and barely tap the yellow. This gives it the look of the pavement fading through.

Mix up Snakebite Leather and Ogryn Flesh Wash. I apply this liberally (in small sections), then dab it off with a papertowel while it is still wet. This makes it appear dirty/dusty/muddy, depending on how much you leave on or dab off.

What do you all think? How do you weather things? How do you paint up pavement/asphalt or concrete?


Inspiration for this type of basing came from a book entitled, The Ultimate Miniature Painting Guide


Now that I am looking at these pictures, I think it might look better if I paint the edge another color. . . like black. What do you think?

Urban Base Test Cases- Pt. 2

I give you Work In Progress photos.

This is the first test case model for the clear plastic CD case urban base. I have done some painting on the model and some initial painting and texturing the base.

I did not take the time to set up the lights for real photos. So, I have taken one with the flash and one without the flash to keep everyone happy.

Also, remember that the Vanguard Veteran models come with some battlefield debris at their feet. This particular Marine has some rubble and an Ork skull under his feet. I never noticed the Ork skull there until I started painting.

I undercoated with black. After that I began with a base coat of Codex Grey mixed with Badab Black Wash. After that, I began a progressive dry bush through various shades of grey as follows: Codex Grey, Codex Gray plus a little Skull White, Codex Gray plus a little more Skull White.

At that point, I realized that I had forgotten to glue on some sand to add to the rubble effect. As a result, I added the sand, put a very wet black on it, and went to bed.

More to come later.

Urban Base Test Cases

Since I have all the Blood Angels units for my tournament list painted up and finished, I have decided to work on some of the Auxiliary Units. These units will be available to me for variant lists and apocalypse games.

So, I started working on two five man Veteran Assault Squads. These are the two which I used in the 'Ard Boyz Tournament. I purchased the Vanguard Veteran models, because they are great.

While I was working on them, I decided to try out two new and different ways at making urban bases on the models. I have determined to go back and base the entire army in one of these methods if I really like the way that it turns out.

For one squad, I have cut out a piece of plastic the size of the base top. This plastic is from an old CD case lid or something similar. The reason that I chose this type of plastic is because it is very rigid. I want to break the plastic in order to achieve a natural broken concrete (or asphalt) look along those rigid break lines that come natural to the plastic. I think it will imitate the real thing very well.

The second squad, I have cut out a number of equally sized cereal card squares. Then, I glued them onto the top of the base and trimmed off the excess.

I have a picture of each before painting. I will add some bits for gravel or rubble, bricks, etc. We shall see which turns out the best.