Diary of the Dead

[Ratty]

Started putting together my Redchapel Gang today which will be my second master to go with Kirai. He'll probably be borrowing Jack Daw and mates to go with him. I do like the idea of.

Seamus with 2 extra Soulstones

Jack Daw
Hanged
Grave Spirit
2 x Belle
Sybelle

I especially like the idea linking the Grave Spirit to the Hanged for double terrifying fun and a extremely tough Hanged.

For the Bases I've decided to go with Sewer bases as they can look quite fun.



The bases are mainly made with greenstuff but I have used paper clips to make the grilling. I first clipped the center out of Sybelle's tag, then I glued her in place with enough of a gap for the flagstones. I cut some bits of paperclip to the right size and then glued them into place. I then rolled out a sausage of greenstuff and coiled it around the clips. Using a Clay shaper I nudged it out from the center until I had an even circle. I then flattened the top outwards till it was the right depth and used a knife to cut away the excess greenstuff. I left it a while and then used a pin to delineate the separate stones. After about 3 hours I came back and used a clayshaper to flatten down a new layer of greenstuff around the grating. Again I left it about 30 mins and then started adding the lines between the stones.

[Ratty]

The stalk for the umbrella on one of the Belles is very very thin. I found it was buckling under the lightest of touches. I therefore decided it needed to be replaced. I clipped it away both sides of the hand, then I clipped away the tips of the fingers to reveal the palm. I then got a fine hobby drill and drilled down through the thumb and forefinger. After this was done I go a paperclip cut it to the right size and glued it in place. I found the pommel of a Graveguard great sword that looked about the right size. I clipped it off and drilled a small hole so I could attach it firmly to the stem of the umbrella. Lastly I got a small amount of greenstuff and using a pin re-sculpted the missing fingers.





The base was made by drilling holes into the base with a drill to house rods cut again from paper clips. I then built a U shaped wall behind the grating with greenstuft. When this was dry I bulked up the main platform using Milliput and pushed some plastic tubing. I picked up some texture plasticard from www.barrule.com I used a £1 coin as a template to cut a platform the right size. Using a knife I added notches to the edge of the platform and then glued it in place. I then made the ledge with a sausage of greenstuff, pushed it into shape with a clayshaper and then delineated with a pin again. afterwards I added the outside wall and detailed it again with a pin.

[Ratty]

Seamus' base is made more or less the same way. The wooden planking is from the GW flagipants (it has a book I cut away on the other side).

[Ratty]

Though it's hard to see the main flooring is wooden planking.
This is really easy to make. Just put a layer of greenstuff and then set to it with a pin. Lay down deep lines inbetwinx the planks and then after about 30 min put some lighter lining in for the wood grain.

[Ratty]

There is nothing much to say which I haven't said before. The plastic piping can be picked up from most model shops.
I use a mixture of PVA glue and old fashioned flock (you know the granular stuff not the fiberous one) It is really good for adding areas of soil or mud to the model.

[thetang22]

Definitely some inspiring bases. Now lets get some paint slapped on those suckers!

[oozeboss]

Basing makes minis imo, and I appreciate not only your inevitably superior vision and execution, but also your generosity in discussing your methods.

Yet again, great work Ratty.

[Ratty]

Definitely some inspiring bases. Now lets get some paint slapped on those suckers!

You might need to wait a little while on that. I have 2 Gaki I should really get finished or they will sit unpainted forever. I wanted to get these ones at least in a playable condition as I'm playing against a mate on Friday. It's his first game and I didn't want to jump my Kirai crew on him, my normal opposition get confused with all the moving around of models by one another. I don't want to scare him off. Seamus though tough is at least a bit more understandable.

Though I have sprayed them and then went over then twice to a thin coat of black paint. I will probably give them all a dry brush of Charadon Granite -> Khemri Brown. Though I don't use much drybrushing when painting I always find it nice to get down a coat at the beginning as it makes it easier to see all the detail.

[Ratty]

Oh Dear had to lose the green in my Sig as it has too many characters again.. I get the feeling the purple will go next. Please Mods allow me to have a longer sig

[Ratty]

As I said the first thing I do is give them a drybrush with Charadon Granite and Khemri Brown so I can see what I'm doing. After this I added a undercoat to the skin. These days I use Valejo Brown Sand for this. It is a nice colour and it goes on very smooth. I find this allows me to get a better look at the model and the areas of it.

First I started to work on Sybelle. I undercoated the white under clothes with Valejo Iraquian Sand, and gave it a high light with Pale Sand, after this I gave it a wash with GW Gryphonne Sepia. Then I highlighted up again with Pale Sand, then a Pale Sand/Skull White mix and finally with Skull White. Then another wash of Gryhonne Sepia, after this I gave it another highlight of Pale/Sand/Skull White mix and then a highlight of Skull white on the very edges and the curve of the breasts.



For the Shear Tights. I used a mix of Vj Brown Sand/Vj Light Grey/GW Chaos Black, then highlighted it up adding more Brown Sand and Light Grey to the mix, then I started adding Vj Flat Flesh. I then gave it a wash of GW Badab Black and after that Gryphonne Sepia. then again highlighted up with a thin coat Vj Light Grey and Flat flesh. I probably did these last two steps 2 or 3 times until it looked nice and smooth, the trick being to highlight less each time.



For the gloves (which didn't come out well in the pic) I undercoated with a GW Liche Purple/GW Dark Flesh then highlighted with this mix with some Red Gore mixed in. Then Red Gore on it's own. the final highlight was Red Gore with Brown Sand mixed in. I then painted on a coat of GW Leviathan purple wash. when this was dry I painted a second coat into just the cracks.