Hi All,
After my recent success building my first custom figure base (see thread: HERE), I have decided to attempt another, more detailed base for another figure. Much as a bonsai must be correctly matched to its pot, I plan to make bases to display all of my figures. Each base will be designed specifically to complement the figure which will stand upon it. For the sake of uniformity, I hope to use the same standard IQO base (or similar) that I used in my first custom base.
I built this base for a Crusader knight figure that I have been working on. The original idea was to build a desert scene with a small section of ruined castle wall.
As with the previous base, the ground work and wall was made using XPS extruded insulation foam. I started by cutting a circle to fit the base. This was carved roughly to add a bit of profile to the ground. A few thin pieces of foam were added on top of the base to simulate flagstones. This was an afterthought and could just as easily have been carved directly from the base. A couple of small stones that I picked up on the side of the road add a little visual interest.
Meanwhile, the wall was made from individual blocks which I carved from foam and glued together before attaching the entire wall to the base. Realistic stone texture was added to the stone blocks and flagstones with a scrunched up ball of tin foil. Once the glue was dry I mortared everything in place with some builders plaster filler. Additional texture was added along the base of the wall and around the stones with a layer of Tamiya diorama texture paint.
Once dry, real sand and some small pebbles were sprinkled over the base, while avoiding the flagstones and the stones.
The stonework and the sand were painted in different shades of tan and desert yellow to ensure sufficient contrast between the two surfaces. Everything then received a number of different washes and some drybrushing to help unify the colours and make the details really stand out.
The final step (which can be seen best in the first photo above) was a dusting of pigments and adding a few tufts of grass.
While I am overall quite happy with the result, you really can’t see very much of the wall or the base once the figure is standing atop it. I am not sure if I’ll stick with this or if I will build another base for this figure. What do you think?
As always, your thoughts / comments / suggestions / praise / criticism / outright derision is welcomed.
