Tutorial – cork rocky bases

I’ve been using a simple and quick method for making my multibases lately that has raised a few questions as to what and how, so I thought a quick tutorial would be the best answer.

After using various expensive packaged basing materials and getting caught out when I used it all, I decided to work out my own supply.

I went to B&Q and bought a damaged sack of builder’s sand. It cost a whopping £1 and will last me years.

To prepare the sand, I scoop out a small bowl full of sand to dry naturally. Then I sieve it into two containers. One for the fine sand, one for the small stones. At first I was binning the stones, but I quickly realised they are ideal to use too.

There are all sorts of cork tiles available in kitchen and batchroom shops, which tear up nicely into a rocky texture.

Wickes sell thin tiles and The Range sell thicker tiles.

You can study rock formations and tundra landscapes to get ideas for how to arrange your bases, but I find it’s better to just do it adhoc for the models you are using.

I plan a rough footprint of where models will occupy and try to provide a surface that the model will stand naturally, mixing pieces of each cork and also just leaving areas blank to add sand. Pinch a few rocks and drop them randomly onto the base, then scatter a few areas with loose sand..

I wouldn’t recommend gluing a whole unit to a base before painting, but when have I ever done the sensible?

The strength of using natural materials is that you can simply glaze the material rather than paint it a base coat. That’s not always an option though and it’s very easy to drybrush these materials.

I am still learning and experimenting with these bases, but there’s such a big selection of grass tufts, foliage and flock out there, there’s always something new to try.