Custom Bases - A Background

For a while now, I've wanted to do a tutorial on how I make my custom bases for my Protectorate army. It’s nothing too fancy, just a couple of layers of cork and then some washes here and there. Add a little drybrushing and some flock, then you’re done. First though, I want to explain how I came up with the idea of green turf on top of rock.

When I first started to assemble my Guardian, I thought it would be cool to make a custom cork base to reflect the rough and rocky terrain of the Protectorate land. I had imagined making an army that was deeply involved in the Northern Crusade and them marching across the desert.

I went out and bought some cork from the local department store and then started to sculpt. After thirty minutes or so on working with the cork, I had a desirable look. Then I primed it and started to add paint of various orange, browns, and reds.

This is where it got ugly, I couldn’t get the colours right to convey realistic desert rock or something you’d see in Utah. After doing a google search for cliffs, I stumbled across the Cliffs of Moher. I thought to myself, man I would like to visit these one day and I might even be able to create bases similar to the Cliffs themselves. The base I was working on then got trashed and I sculpted another one and started with a new idea in mind.

After a few tweaks to the process, I ended up with a custom base I'm satisfied with. Next week, the tutorial should be posted with some pictures to show the process.