MAKING A BEASTMAN HERDSTONE
The herdstone is at the heart of Beastmen culture, forming a focus for gatherings of the tribe. As such, it makes a great piece of terrain to add to your collection if you have a Beastmen army. We asked Mark Jones, who built the herdstone for the Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos book, to tell us how he made it.
Starting Out
Mark
out three rectangles on the sheet of polystyrene, each measuring 8cm wide and
20cm high. Cut them out with the long bladed craft knife, making sure
to cut away from yourself to avoid accidents. Before you glue the rectangles together,
insert three cocktail sticks into the middle rectangle, and then through each
rectangle as you glue them on. This will help hold them in place while the
glue is drying. When glued together, the three rectangles will form a single
block, about 8cm square.
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The Basic Shape
With the herdstone taking shape, you can begin to add the worn ledges
that cover its surface. Start making some roughly horizontal cuts.
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Then carefully cut downwards to meet the horizontal incisions. To produce a more chiseled look to the ledges, don’t cut the line exactly vertical. Allow it to go deeper into the face of the stone. Repeat this over the surface of the herdstone, to give it the appearance of being roughly hewn.
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Detailing the Herdstone
The herdstone itself has a few additional details, such as Chaos star
symbols and alcoves that contain the herd’s war trophies. To cut Chaos symbols
and signs into the surface of the herdstone, start by drawing on the symbol with
a pencil, then deepen and widen the design with a small craft knife, so that
the detail isn’t lost when you apply the textured paint later on.
To make the alcoves, begin by drawing the shape of the alcove on the herdstone, then slowly pick away the polystyrene with a small craft knife.
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Making the Base
The alcoves are now complete, ready to accept the trophies of the
herd. Carving of the stone complete, it’s time to move on to the base.
Cut a base for the model from the thick card. The base should be slightly larger than the width of the herdstone itself. Glue the stone to its base with white glue. When the glue is dry, fill any gaps with Polyfilla. Once the filler has had time to dry, paint the herdstone and base with textured paint to give it a rough, stone-like surface. Finally, paint the base of the herdstone with white glue and sprinkle sand and gravel to give the base a rougher texture.
