Here’s a quick step-by-step guide for how I’ve been painting some slightly more colourful tiled bases. Perfect for when you want to add little more colour to your models. Make sure you check out my guide for making these bases first!
To start with, you’ll need your tiled ruin base. Check out my previous guide on how I create ones like this.
In this example I’ve primed with Grey Seer, as it’s the same spray I use for the models, although any primer colour will work. If you have a lot of tiled sections, then a brown such as Zandri Dust will likely speed things up.
The first thing to do is to loosely block out your initial colours. Any tiles/ruins should be picked out with Gorthor Brown, while rocks and ground can be done with Incubi Darkness.
Then we can start to paint the gradient on the tiles. Pick one direction, and make sure all of your colour transitions are aligned with this direction. I like to do this from the model’s front-left.
You want to start by covering most of the surface with Zandri Dust, and then quickly making a transition between the colours with either blending of feathering. While wet blending will get you a smoother result, I find feathering slightly quicker for a battle-ready standard.
Then just repeat this step again with Zamesi Desert, but covering far less area.
I then add a quick highlight around the tiles with more Zamesi Desert. This step is really what gives the bases a stylised feel, and ties the colours together a little better. You can also choose to use this colour for some small, subtle cracks.
We then want to apply a similar 3-colour process to all of the dirt. Any Stones and larger rocks can be layered with The Fang (or blended if the rock is big enough), while any textured ground works better with some drybrushing. I tend to vary my intensity of drybrushing across the model to add variation.
Then come in with Fenrisian Grey for an edge highlight on rocks and a final drybrush on the ground texture.
Paint the rims, and you’re ready to add the model and start playing. If you want to learn how I painted the Direwolf then check out my guide to painting them, or if you want more base painting tips check out my futuristic necromunda base guide or get a bit wet and shadowy with my Harrowdeep/Nethermaze inspired base guide.
If you give it a go, let me know! Leave a comment here or tag me on Instagram at @ajb_minis
Did you enjoy this article? You could always tip the author with a coffee (or something stronger). If you want to pick up any of the materials used in this guide then check out Element Games. They have great deals on a wide range of basing materials and tools. Finally, make sure you’re following us on Instagram to stay up to date and get involved in our community!
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