As usual, we’ll explore several different methods for building your own urban bases, starting with the one that takes the least time (and most money), and then looking at how several other Gonnhammer authors build their urban bases. Because the cork will be soaking up some of the pressure you’re applying, you probably won’t get your green stuff perfectly smooth and even - again, this is fine. You can see in the second picture below that mine even has a big indentation with a clear thumbprint. It doesn’t matter! The detail that we’re going to add, plus the paint job, will make it barely noticeable. The following are more thoughts on each of the two types of alternative mediums you can use instead of Citadel Texture Paints.

Note that, with most techniques and methods, urban bases are going to look gray. This can be a real positive, because it means that urban bases can go well with pretty much any color scheme, and work best when the model itself has bright colors, so that it can pop against the gray base. It also means that most of the time we’ll need another way to visually communicate “urban” beyond just “gray grit,” particularly on larger bases where the effect may look boring. In these cases, we’ll see how things like rubble, debris, roads, and other destroyed structures can help pull the model together and complete the effect. Because I wanted my flagstones to look old and weathered, I gave them a little extra texture by taking a very small (3mm) and roughly textured stone, and rolling it gently around on the green stuff to create subtle, irregular indentations. The more pressure you apply, the rougher the flagstones will look.

The Concrete Jungle

This is as far as I’ve gotten with the box. Next up from me is most likely going to be the bikes, which I’m extremely excited for as they’ll bring a nice bit of mobility into my army. At this point I’m not expecting any of the remaining models to be substantially different to what I’ve already painted up; the Bladeguard are the most complicated units remaining and I’ll be approaching them very similarly to how I painted up my Captain and Lieutenant. Raf’s Method Finally, the shields were done by basecoating the inner section with Caliban Green followed by a heavy stipple of Warpstone. Reaper Jade Green was then lightly stippled, randomly to create clusters of color like you get in the gemstone. Finally the white veins were done with thinned down Splintered Bone. Scale75 Necro Gold frames the shield (and is what I used for all the rest of the gold. I base the whole thing in Mechanicus Standard Grey, then wash it unevenly with Agrax Earthshade. From there i heavily drybrush on Dawnstone and then lightly with Terminatus Stone.

The bases are stamped SuperSculpey, painted in a basic stone scheme with Stirland Mud and bits of aquarium flowers or Citadel Creeping Vines washed with Druchii Violet and Carronburg Crimson to tone down the color. The Quetzales Jades live on a deep yet alien jungle world, amidst the ruins of a still-active civilization. Not unlike modern day Guatemala. There are some custom transfers coming for a chapter logo and squad markings, and I plan to expand on their story in a later article. But when I applied this approach with Mordant Earth I found the PVA itself and the layer of paint under it also pulled apart leaving the primed base or maybe the milky PVA underneath exposed. This extends to the models as well, where I’ll drybrush the lower parts of models with Celestra Grey as well to both blend them with the base in a natural way and also make them feel like a part of the environment. For me, these are some of the paints that I use most often. Keep in mind that most color schemes will require a few certain paints, such as Death Guard Green for the Death Guard, or Blood Angels Red for the Blood Angels. It was at this point that I was discussing the bases with my brother, and he obnoxiously asked if I’d used straight PVA or watered down. Another variable to consider, another round of samples!The little 'cup' on the cap is well thought out in terms of usability, but 1. when you shake it, there's just so much paint trapped in the cap that 1.a. it gets messy when it begins to drip 1.b. it gets all over the rim when you close it, which is also exacerbated by the little trapezoid shaped nub that helps keep the cap open (which serves its function well, but is ABSOLUTELY terrible when closing it) just splatters the paint all over if you don't get past it properly, and the snap from closure of the cap splatters the amounts of paints as described in 1.a and 1.b everywhere. The most popular Citadel Technical Paints are their texture paints, which are used for basing your miniatures or adding special effects to them. These paints can be mixed with regular paint to create interesting textures such as mud, sand, stone, or even snow.