How good would your army be with crazy flaming bases? Or any other crazy looking bases for that matter!
It’s true to say that a huge part of making models stand out from the pack is the story they are telling.
Nothing helps tell that story more than the bases your models are standing on. It’s a small slice of the universe in which they exist. And if done well can really sell the story about the location - capturing a moment when your model is interacting in that space.
The more interesting, detailed, and dynamic the components you use to create a base - well that means there’s a greater chance that the depth and detail will be better conveyed… and people get it without having to read your background or be told by you.
‘Phantom’ - The Ghostly Walker is an Imperial Knight cursed by the spirits of the souls it has failed to protect… at least that’s his background story. It’s what I tried to model and really have him interacting with the other pieces that make up his base.
I suppose what he demonstrates as a model is that his integration into the base was the one project. If you can make the base as part of the model building process then there’s more opportunity for the scene being created to be more interesting. But also the model can be imbedded within that scene.
The trick is then having sub assemblies able to be taken off and parts painted separately. In the case of Phantom his arms, carapace and armour plates were all able to come off. That still left a substantial model to paint linked into it’s base. But it was easier than doing it all in place.
The Arc40k army project was huge. But it didn’t stop at making an army of three Freeblades - the Knights of Damnation. Each of them on a personal quest to find and fight with the iconic Legion of the Damned Space Marines. I’ve continued to add to the collection - making new models - and making bases in the same style using all the same processes.
The background story for the army… that’s a page of words all by itself - hopefully the basing helps support the theme - Knights chasing after the Legion of the Damned - striding through flaming death and creating a path of destruction!
The important point here is that every model, every base, and the display board the army was presented on had flames I had to make!
I practiced, played around, found some flaming bits and in the end learned to roll, flute, and place loads of green stuff flames on the already highly detailed bases of my Imperial Knights.
Oh, friendly advice - don't be afraid to try and learn a new skill.
I'd never made flames or sculpted details using green stuff before this project. But to realise my vision of creating an army of Knights striding through the debris of a flaming city in ruins.
I hope you agree the results are spectacular! And these models are among my all time favourite pieces individually and more importantly as part of an Arc40k army.
So how are you going to base your next project? Crazy or not...
