MODELLING AND PAINTING IDEAS FOR YOUR ARMY
SMOOTH HIGHWAY ROADS
Modelling. Highway road bases look great and are easy to achieve. Not much to say here other than make sure to use a homogeneous blend of sand. You want the surface to appear relatively smooth but still textured, like the real streets we all drive or walk upon each day. Avoid really gritty sand with miscellaneous lumps of large pebbles and such.
Painting. Lightly drybrush the sand with a mixture of Shadow
Grey + Chaos Black. After this, you're free to paint whatever road designs you
want. In this case, we painted the striped road lines with a few simple coats
of Skull White. For the arrow, we first painted it with Skull White followed
by Sunburst Yellow. Once the decorative symbols dry, stipple Chaos Black in
a few places to imply deteriorated patches of paint.
WORN CITY STREETS
Modelling. A slight variation on the highway base, city streets are a bit more worn and broken in spots. Make slight breaks in the pavement by first cutting out thin, jagged strips of plasticard or card. Then, arrange and glue them to the base. Blend one side of the plasticard strip into the base with a little bit of green stuff but leave the other with a sharp edge. This slight break in elevation makes the road appear cracked. Once you add a few breaks like this, flock with sand as before.
Painting. Use the same painting techniques as you did for the
roadway. Consider a different style of road markings, as you're in the city
now. In this case, we painted the striped stop lines and "V" with
the same techniques as before to drive home the urban concept.
MUDDY SHORTCUT
Modelling. For a muddy shortcut through a field, mix up a bit of green stuff. Spread the putty down the length of the base with a sculpting tool. There's no need for the putty to be very thick, so spread it thin. Once the putty is in place, be sure to smooth out any fingerprints. Now, grab a spare Space Marine bike wheel, dip it in some water, and roll it down the strip of putty a few times. Texture with sand as you see fit, and you're all set.
Painting. Drybrush the entire base with Scorched Brown followed
by Dark Flesh. Paint the sandy areas of the base with the following drybrush
progression: Bestial Brown, Graveyard Earth, and then Bleached Bone. Pick out
the small pebbles with a 2:1 mix of Shadow Grey to Chaos Black, followed by
Codex Grey and Fortress Grey. Paint the mud once more with Dark Flesh in a few
areas to bring it up a bit. Once the paint dries completely, coat the mud areas
with Gloss varnish so that it appears fresh. After that dries completely, glue
down Citadel Static Grass in random spots on top of the sanded areas.
PARCHED DESERT PLAINS
Modelling. To create a cracked desert plain, first mix up an appropriate amount of modelling putty. Spread the putty out along the base where you want cracked desert areas. You'll need a bit of thickness in the putty to create the desired effect, but nothing too thick. Smooth out the putty in order to eliminate all fingerprints and trim any excess putty that goes over the base edge. Now, using the bladed end of your sculpting tool, segment the putty into a sprawling series of cracks. When you've completed this segmentation, go back and smooth out the putty and trim the base edges one more time. After the putty cures, glue some sand onto the exposed areas of the base.
Painting. Drybrushing alone will provide less-than-favourable
results, so there is a need for some painting finesse here. However, start off
by drybrushing the entire base heavily with Bestial Brown. Leaving the cracked
earth behind for a moment, drybrush the sandy areas up using the following colour
progression: Vomit Brown, Bubonic Brown, Desert Yellow, and then Bleached Bone.
Now, begin the process of building up the cracked desert areas. Water down your
paint and layer each cracked segment using the same colour progression used
for the sandy areas. If you wish, glue a few patches of dead-looking static
grass here and there.
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Examples Page 2
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Making Bike Bases
