Alexia, base WIP

This mini has been on the table for a while now, but I thought it was about time to post a few WIP shots of the base, and mini for Alexia. I had the mini painted mostly up for the Longest Night event, but I had held off on the base, as I wanted something a little more special for this lady. In the end, I opted for this base by Secret Weapon.

Here, Alexia's base all but done, some muddy water to add, and some touch ups to the mini after all the man-handling required to remove the horse from its previous base and pin it to this one.

I went on to touch up the paint work, and fill in the base with some water effect, stained with Secret Weapon's Sewer Water wash. Perfectly named I feel, and the colour works great as swamp water. I dumped some grass and leaves in the mix at the last minute, as I was too eager to get the water in there, I completely forgot how I had actually planned to place these before adding the water effects.

Furthermore, I had also planned to varnish the model before I put the water effect in, as I didn't want the spray varnish I use for a dullcoat clouding up the base! This will have to be worked around, as already the paint job has chipped again where I repaired it last night. I guess I'll have to paint on the 'ard coat, then mask over the base to spray with dullcoat.

Tutorial: Ice bases I

Ok,so not so much a tutorial, as 'I tried this and here's what happened'

I was reading some blog/forum or other (sorry if you're reading this and it's you, but I just can't find the link)a few days ago, and I saw mention of ice bases. It struck some inspiration in me, ans i remembered a few years ago I had found some rubber moulds for rocks in a hobby store. I had tried to use these moulds with polyfilla as a quick and dirty way to make some scenic bases/scenery. That was a failure as the polyfilla never cured well in the moulds, and even a few years later the remnants on the moulds are rubbery and not set. Anyway, back to the now, and the idea came to me to fill one of the moulds with some Still Water. Ever keen to see what this stuff can be used for, I filled one of the moulds. As an afterthought, I realised this may have been better if I had first tinted the water with some blue/white paints. Instead, I ran to the fridge* and pulled out the baking soda, and sprinkled it on top (well the bottom of the rock). It floated, so I grabbed a spoon, and used it to push the baking soda into the Still Water. I then placed it on top of the fridge and left it to cure. 48 hours later, I pulled it out, and this is the result.

Flash to be trimmed

In the mould

Then on to cleaning up the 'flash', colouring the underside to give a tint to the ice, and finding a use for it. Both my Legion and Khador are Northern factions, and are therefore suited to ice terrain. Maybe a 'jack or 'beast base, as the mould I chose was larger than 30mm.

The above pictures show it off well, but in reality, it's a little too transparent, and there's no visible definition. A wash of some kind should bring out the details of the rock/ice pattern, but what colour to choose?


*As an aside, what is it with North Americans and their compulsion to put baking Soda in the fridge. I know the theory is that it soaks up the smells, but really, if your fridge smells, clean out the offending food! In all my years in the UK, I never had this problem, and yet here, every fridge! What's up with that?