Miniature Showcase

Macabre Base

This base is part of a larger work in progress I have been working on. It was a very detailed base all on its own so I thought it merited its own article. I started off by priming the entire base in a white primer. It took about three coatings of the primer to make it as opaque as I wanted.

After priming the base I started painting the outer rock. I started with a basic stone gray color for the base tone. I also painted the big rock in the basic gray. Although the base color is gray there will be various color differences in the stones and various textures as well. I like watching a miniature go from super simple looking to a crazy setting or person that look alive in the world.

For the next step I began painting the inside in a deep brown. At first the coating was very light because I was using a bit of water to thin down the paint. I had to apply a few layers of the brown paint to get the dark base color I was going for. I also began painting the stone I added a lighter gray dry brush over the darker color. After the dry brushing I also added a layer of dark tone to bring out the shadows in the rocks.

This next perspective shows the texture of the rocks from a side angle. I added different colors, some areas had a white dry brush, and others a brown dry brush to add differences to the stone. Unfortunately, the color difference doesn’t show well in these photos. I also added a light brown dry brush to the brown portion which was going to be painted as mud. It gave the mud a nice bit of highlight.

Next up was the bodies strewn all over the base. I started off with a simple skin color for the base color. I covered all the bodies as well as scattered body parts all over the muddy sacrificial area. The other, smaller, stone was also painted in the same manner as the others. I love the way the bodies are arranged on this miniature, it was very careless and cruel looking. Right now it doesn’t look too scary but I can’t wait to bring in the effects paint!

The next step in the skin of the dead on this base was the flesh wash. It added more of a skin effect to the paint and deepened the shadows. This seems like it might be the end of the paint job but there was still a lot more to do. With the flesh wash you can actually start seeing the details slowly emerge from the miniature. Protruding bones and empty sockets are more pronounced after the wash is applied.

I took the death effect a bit further by adding yet another wash to the dead people. I used a new wash I bought called “Mouldy Wash”. It made the body look like a lot more decay had occurred. It deepened shadows further and really did look like mold was starting to form on the dead bodies. I also added some bone color areas to show the bones breaking through the decaying flesh. I also applied a bit of “mold” to the bone color to deepen the shadows there too.

The final step for the dead was to add the blood effect. Much of this was the existing blood of the bodies and parts but also new splashing blood from fresh sacrifices. I made sure to pool the blood in some areas and swipe or splatter them in other places. At this point the miniature is looking pretty freaky. I love the Blood effect paint, it adds such a cool look to the miniatures. I absolutely love using this effect.

The final part left to paint was the giant foot of the nightmare monster I will be painting! I used a combination of Lich Skin paint and Zombie Flesh paint. I used the Lich Skin as the base and the Zombie Flesh for the dry brush effect. I also added some of the Mouldy Wash for the final effect on the skin. I used a bone color for the nasty broken toe nails and added a bit of “mold” to them too.

I ended up really happy with the base and the effect that I was able to create. It was such a project all on its own to do and I can’t wait to complete the entire miniature! My favorite part of this is probably the stone. It can be really difficult to get stone to look real when it isn’t.

Have any questions or comments? Message below or find me on Twitter @DnDWifeStories and on Instagram @dndwife. I would love to hear from you!