TUTORIAL - Chaos Bases

One fateful day, about two years ago, I picked up the recent copy of White Dwarf. In that issue was an article about creating Chaos World tables and terrain. The Tzeentch table used wallpaper to cover the table instead of grass or sand. It looked like a cracked surface with blue warp energy emerging from below. I was sold. Having previously decided to do all four cults (Thousand Sons, World Eaters, Death Guard and Emperor's Children) along with the Black legion, I decided that I would use this wallpaper on all of my Chaos bases.

This has been a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it keeps me from having to apply sand and static grass to my bases. It also creates a very effective yet easy look, that stands out from a lot of conventional bases.

It's a curse because it provides a weak joint between the model and the bases (the paper just rips sometimes) and because painting in the highlights on the warp energy take longer than merely doing a fast drybrush on a textured base.

But I made the decision, and overall I'm happy with it. I usually get a lot of compliments on the bases, and always seem to shock people when I tell them that it's just wallpaper. As you can see in the above picture, it works for all the different flavors of chaos. I've also used mixed armys (most notable some EC and BL), and there is enough consistency in the style and the rocky surface that the different colors of warp energy don't seem to clash.

The other day someone I met at Hat's Games wanted to do the bases for his Eldar. I had previously shown him some of the other examples on the blog. He came here for a tutorial on how to do it, and low and behold, there was none. Ironically, it was one of the first tutorials I had planned on doing when I first started I just never got around to it (in fact I mentioned wanting to to the tutorial back on April 9, 2008 in the post about my Death Guard).

So here it is... how to do Chaos bases, RFTL style.

Preparation

I usually start by grabbing a bunch of bases at once. I then rip off a large section of the wallpaper. I'm not concerned about conserving it, because I haven't even come close to making a dent in it after some 300+ bases plus a large display board.

Applying Superglue

Kind of hard to tell from this picture, but you just want a bit of superglue in the center of the base. I tried different methods, most notable where I would even spread a very thin layer of glue over the surface of the base. But now I just put it in the center. It takes a little to figure out the right amount. Not the end of the world if you use to much, but don't let it happen too often.

Gluing the Bases to the Wallpaper

You then place the wallpaper upside down and press the base down firmly. Check to see how much glue seeps out the sides. If there's a lot then you're applying too much (makes it difficult to cut the paper). Ideally you want to see just a little bit of moisture at the edges. If there's not enough then the edges will stick up, which you have to go back and glue later.

Cutting the Bases

After they've had 10-15 minutes to dry I start by cutting them in separate, manageable pieces using a scissor. Next I cut them out, trying to get the edge of the wallpaper as flush to the edge of the base as possible. I used to use an exacto, but have been happier with a pair of sharp scissors with a thin blade.

Once they're done, you just glue the model to the paper and prime it up. For metal models with a slot base you have 2 options:
Option 1: Put the model in the slot before the wallpaper. Then cut a piece of wallpaper so that there is a hole for models feet and a center cut so it comes together like to halves. This is a lot of work.
Option 2: Cut off the slot, and pin the model to the base after the wallpaper has been applied. I think this turns out to be easier, especially if you have a dremel.

Painting the Rocks

Step 1: Over a black base do a heavy drybrush of German Grey (GG is a vallejo paint, I highly reccommend getting it and the other Vallejo colors I reccommend here - alternatively mix 1:1 - Chaos Black:Codex Grey).
Step 2: Drybrush Dark Grey (Codex Grey)
Step 3: Finally do a light drybrush of Neutral Grey (Fortress Grey)

Painting the Warp Energy

Well this is up to you, depending on what effect you want. For the Sons of Sek, they have red bases because the worship Khorne (blood for the blood god, and whatnot).
The contrast between the colors looks better in person than in these pics, but I think you get the idea. So for Khorne bases I do the following:
Step 1: Mechrite Red
Step 2: Highlight of Blood Red
Step 3: Finer Highlight of 1:1 - Blood Red:Blazing Orange
Step 4: For those bases with a larger area of energy I'll do a final thin line of Blazing Orange


Really you could do just about whatever. The guy I mentioned earlier from Hat's Games, want to do them as water. I never thought of that, great idea. I reccommended that after he sealed the model to use gloss varnish on the water channels. Looking forward to seeing them finished. Maybe in the future I'll have to steal the idea from him, that he stole from me, that I stole from White Dwarf (somehow that reminds me of Krusty the Clown).

Well, that's it for now. 21 Sons of Sek to go, plus the display board. I'm trying to take pictures as I go along, but its hard when I'm trying to hurry everything.
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Sons of Sek - Standard Infantry - Part I

I've been making little to no progress these last couple of weeks. There's been nights out with friends, and things to do around the house. Plus I was in New Mexico visiting my family for 5 days. These previous week, I was able to crank things out. But these last couple of weeks have proven very unfruitful. I don't go back to classes for another 3 weeks. I'm hoping I can really get some stuff done in the meantime.

It works out to just less than 4 models per day that I need to get done, if I want to finish before the GT. "4 models per day" doesn't sound so bad, but considering I have to maintain that for 30+ days is a little daunting. But anyways, on to the conversions.

The majority of my troops require this particular conversion, and it is based off the Cadian model, rather than the Chaos Warrior model.

As always I'm going off the above source picture. I've had to make decisions that provide a balance between approximating the source image and ease of reproduction over 130+ models.


I started with the legs, and began by removing the cargo pockets. Why? I don't know. I guess maybe with the armor plates it would look to busy. I also cut off the boot straps. Again no particular reason why.


Next were the extra armor plates for the knees and shins. With both I began by estimating how big they would need to be. I then created the plates in Adobe Illustrator. I took my base size and made two more plates that were smaller, and two more that were bigger. With these 5 different sized plates I test-fitted them to determine the correct size, and make any adjustments for width and height. When I got it just right I created enough in AI, and then printed them on manila folders.

Using a fresh x-acto blade I cut them out and formed them to fit before super-gluing them on.


The cod piece was made from the shovel blade from the Cadian Heavy Weapons team. I then took a tiny Khorne Icon from one of the newer CSM helmets and glued it on the blade. I then made molds and am casting enough pieces for the army. In order for the piece to fit correctly, I had to cut out a portion of the overhanging jacket.


The backpack was made from a particular CSM backpack. I simply cut at the blue lines. This way it can serve as a drop-chute, as well as matching the backpack worn by the Son of Sek in the source picture.


The extra shoulder armor was made using the same techniques as the leg pads. I probably should have done 2 layers to stay true to the source, but that would have been a lot more work.

So far, I'm pretty happy with the modeling. Hopefully when they're painted, I'll get a better idea of how closely they approximate the source image. I'm planning to get them painted tonight... we'll see.
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Sons of Sek - Officers

It's been more than a week since my last post. Things have been a little crazy around here, and I'm behind on my schedule. I'll get it all figured out, and I might be able to get caught up or at least nearly caught up next week.

But anyways, let's talk about my officers. So I needed my HQ (a Heroic Senior Officer) and 3 Junior Officers to lead my 3 Infantry Platoons. They would also use the Chaos warrior bodies as the basis of the conversion.

I wanted to make all of the officers stand out from the rest of the Chaos Warrior body models. The first thing I did was for the HSO. I decided I wanted him a little higher on a rocky level. I needed something flat, that I could glue the wallpaper I use on top of.

Making the HSO Stand Out

I grabbed some square bases and cut off the beveled edges. The plan was to form these up a bit and glue them together, to create my rocky raised platform.

I then carved them into more natural shapes within a certain range of each other. I also beveled their edges.

Gluing them together and putting the wallpaper on, I wound up with the above. It doesn't stand out too much now, but is more noticeable painted up.

All of the officers have mutated heads from the Chaos accessory sprues. I also gave them each the hand respirator mask. The HSO also has the Chaos star on his back, which will represent his refractor field. The HSO also has a bolt pistol, while the JO's have las pistols which are converted lasguns.

I figured that their power weapons would also make them stand out. But half way through painting the models, I realized that the JO's weapons didn't quite look sci-fi-ish enough. So I added some plasticard and guitar wire make them look like there was some sort of power pack attached.

Here are the finished products:

Chief Sirdar (Colonel) Sheram

I decided that my HSO should have a red cape, which would further set him apart.

Vice Sirdar (Lieutenant) Katesh

All of the JO's I decided should have a different colored cape, and so I settled on black. I gave them the same chaos script along the bottom of the cape that the HSO has.

Vice Sirdar - Winscar

Vice Sirdar Maggol

So there they are. I should note, that the hard line highlights on some of the models aren't nearly as drastic in person, they're much more subdued. Oh well. Off to finish modeling some joe schmo guardsmen.
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Sons of Sek - Converted Veterans

So I'm still a little behind on my schedule. But I think I can get caught up this week, and possibly ahead next week. I'm working currently on my 3 Veteran Squads. The bulk of my infantry we'll be Cadian-based with conversion. The Vets, Officers and officer Bodyguards will all be based on the WHFB Chaos Warriors.

I had to make 3 Lasgun Vets, 6 Melta Vets, 3 Flamer Vets and 3 Sgt.'s.

CSM Nub Arm

The Chaos Warrior body is two pieces, that includes the upper arms and sockets for the lower arms. I used CSM arms, cutting off the shoulder and upper arm, creating nubs to fit in the Chaos Warrior sockets.

Stock Lasgun

The standard lasgun posed a slight problem. The stock doesn't fit in the crook of the warriors arm, so I had to shorten the stock.

Modified Lasgun

Now its a little more compact, but still doesn't fit like it would on a normal guardsman. Notice the dirty aquila is gone.

Finished Lasgun Vets

Here you can see that even with the shortened stock, I still had to position the gun one handed, and I gave them a combat knife in the other hand (from the CSM sprue). Hopefully, this won't be too confusing with the Sgt.

Finished Flamer Vet

Same basic principles as before, except the flamer and melta make a better fit. Both the flamer and melta come from the CSM Raptor Assault Weapon Sprue. I think I bought the last 17 from GW when you could still bitz order them. They came with a melta, plasma and flamer on each sprue for $1.50 I think.

Sgt. Sword Inspiration

As always, I come back to this drawing for inspiration. I want all of the Sgt.'s in the army to have a sword that looks similar to the one above. I could only find metal ones that would be too difficult to get a hold of now, what with GW bitz services not being the same. By chance I came across the perfect plastic piece.

Sgt. Sword

I just happened to have 3 boxes of berzerkers laying around (that's what happens when you're devoted to Chaos). I found several sword in scabbards on the sprue that were the same basic shape (lower sword). I simply shaved off some of the detail and formed a sharpened blade. Looking at the picture now, I may go back and create the notch of the blade edge near the hilt.

Finished Sgt.'s

All of the Sgt's in the army will have horned heads like the figure in the drawing. This head was from the chaos Warrior box, and needed a rebreather mask. For the Sgt's, all of their rebreather masks will be in the shape of a hand (again like the drawing). This one actually came out the worst of the 3, but some creative shading during painting should clean it up a bit.

Well, that's it for now. I really like how these guys came out, and can't wait to get them fully painted up. I have the 3 flamers vets painted, and should hopefully get the 6 melta vets done tonight.
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