1st post for 2011 and it's about some lousy bases

Well not really. I actually like painting bases. Furthermore I think they are very important for the overall look of a model. A decent looking base can easily tip the scale in your favour. Taking this little extra time and actually basing your miniature can work wonders for your army. Nowadays it's a tournament standard anyway. Now, if you take a little bit care of them you will get an excellent end result.

I decided that I should paint the bases for my Blood Angels separate from the models. You see, I like to base the miniatures before I undercoat them. This makes the material extra sturdy so that pebbles won't start flying off when I begin drybrushing. Also, I will be using an airbrush to paint the little guys. This means that the base is going to be painted red and I will have to repaint it all over again. This can be time consuming and kinda frustrating to me. Furthermore I am a big fan of gluing the model on it's base after both are done. This gives the impression that the miniature is actually standing on the ground instead of sinking into it.

I used my age-old traditional way of painting bases. I've done it on more models than I care to remember (Necrons, Imperial Guard and countless Orks) so I am quite proficient at it. This involves:

• Undercoating the base black.
• Painting it Scorched Brown. I use several thinned down layers so all the little nook and crannies that the small pebbles of the modelling sand make can be reached.
• Washing with Devlan Mud to create a bit of a shading.
• Drybrushing Codex Grey.
• Drybrushing Fortress Grey.
• Painting the rim of the base with Catachan Green. Again many thinned down layers are used in order to get a smooth result.
• Airbrush Satin Varnish (Vallejo).

These are the results.

When the models are ready I can just use super glue and get them on the bases. I usually pin one leg for added sturdiness. That's about it.

Also take a look at this guy:

No, I din't include him here because he is the pinnacle of my hobby creations. I just want to show how frivolous my actions can be sometimes.

I am going to have two Sanguinary Priests and a Sanguinary Novitiate in my list. I ordered two of these and the third one can be made from the Command Squad sprue which I did as you can see above. I didn't take into account that two of them have to be modelled with a Lightning Claw though. Obviously the plastic model is going to be converted much easier than the two metal miniatures. I didn't think about it so I glued the bolt pistol arm instead. Furthermore it will look better if I have one plastic Sanguinary Priest and one metal since the models look quite different. The third metal Sanguinary Novitiate will be painted with different colours (full bling bling gold) anyway which will help to further differentiate between the models. 

I need to snap the bolt pistol arm off now somehow. And that plastic glue I am using is mighty strong. I hope everything goes well on the forthcoming delicate surgery procedure...