Basing Tutorial - Rusty Metal Walkway, Derelict Spaceship, Abandoned Hab Block, take your pick

Given the high quality work on the blogs I read, I feel a bit awkward offering this as a "tutorial".  So, maybe consider this more like: "if even I can do this, what's your excuse?"

I recently picked up two Judge Dredd minis.  They came with round bases, but I had two spare hex bases left over from my "Box of the '80's."  Seemed like I could put them to use to help make these two Judges stand out.

Now, my bases vary from "sand and grit" to "grit and sand" and the occasional piece of slate that broke off from my front walkway.  Wanting to change things up a bit, I figured I'd make use of all the scrap plastic bits piled up on my workbench.   Having a bit of a Space Hulk jones, I wanted to do a rusty, catwalk, derelict spaceship sort of base for the judges.

And here we go:

Slathered on crazy glue to the top of the bases, stuck it to some thin plasticard.

Did a rough cut, but not too close to the edges, as I didn't want to junk up my scissors with glue.

Once the glue dried, I trimmed the plasticard and filed it flush.

Since these minis are slotta based, I cut channels into the plasticard, cutting from the bottom up.

Not a bad fit.

Twice as nice.

I needed some rivets - what's a derelict spaceship/abandoned hab block without rivets, right?  This pink-handled tool is a very small hole punch, I picked up from the scrapbooking section of a craft store.  I just punch a bunch of holes out of scrap plasticard for small rivets. 

These things are very small, so I wind up losing half of them (don't sneeze!).   A sewing needle pushed into a cork wine topper is a great way to pick these up.   I spread some Testors plastic cement glue on the place where I'm putting the rivet, pick it up with a needle, "work" it onto the base, then pull away the needle while twisting.  Works (nearly) every time.

On top of the Plasticard I glued some granny grating, a strip of plasticard with the rivets added, and some scrap automotive wire I had lying around.

Trimmed everthing flush with my cheapo flush cutters (from Harbor Freight - gosh, I'm cheap).

Grey primer.  $.99 a can.  

Prime Time!  O.k., that was a bit lame.

Painted a basecoat of Delta Ceramcoat black.  Maybe I should have just primed in black to start. 

Drybrushed a silver/charcoal mix onto the base.  Then I painted the wire housing Dark Angels green, then toped it with a 50/50 mix of Dark Angels and Scorpion Green, then did highlights with mainly Scorpion Green.  I figured that the Judges are mostly blue and yellow with a touch of green on the accessories, so I figure the green will help make those "pop." 

I whipped up a wash, 1 part matte medium, 1 part Delta Ceramcoat Raw Sienna, and a healthy splash of dirty brush water (my secret sauce!).  Let it pool all around the details.  Then, while the brownish wash was still wet, I added some Bright Red to the wash mix.  I gingerly (pun intended) added the reddish wash around the rivets and a few other places, here and there, for a rust effect.

While the second wash was still wet, I added my home-made black ink wash (1 part black ink, 1 part matte medium, 5 parts water - its pretty dark so sometimes I water it down more).  I layered the black wash around the wire and in some random patterns.  

Here's the wash, all dried, nice and flat.  I used to use Future floor polish as the base of my main wash recipe, but it always dried with a heavy gloss effect.  I'm much more happy with using matte medium, as it dries . . . well, matte. 

Look out Perps, these Judges are now ready for action!  At least they will be when they're painted up.

Well, that was pretty easy.  Hardest part was placing the basing materials in a way that didn't interfere with the slots (and the minis' feet).   I suppose this basing style would be easier with more modern, non-slotta minis.  But, what's the fun in that, eh?  Though, I'm now thinking about adding the ubiquitous hazard stripes.

Thanks for stopping by!