Cork Base Post Tutorial

The Barghest Fiends are a great replacement for the aged and expensive Flesh Hounds of Khorne kit.  Given the size of the model, two wound status, and board control aspect, it's appropriate to put them on 50mm bases.  Friends have told me that newer versions of the kit have 50mm bases, so that's what I'm going with for my hounds  They look quite oversized on a 40mm base.

The 50mm bases are still pretty scarce. First introduced with Centurions, slowly more kits are using them, especially ones with multiple wounds.  Resin bases are rare and expensive, usually $3-$4 per base, which adds significantly to the cost.  It's been on my list of hobby activities for a while, so this was the perfect chance to create my own bases using cork and other materials.

For this post, I'll be making my own 60mm bases that I'll use with Renegade sentinels.  The same method works for bases of any size, just scale down how much material you use.

Materials

• Round plastic bases
• Cork material
• Polyurethane Glue or hot glue gun (I use Liquid Nails)
• Sand and tiny rocks
• White glue (like elmer's)
• Cheap or old brushes (for spreading glue)

Optional

• Superglue
• Your bit box 
• Metal pins
• Drill 
• Bit to match size pins such as a 1mm (1/64in) bit

Most of the materials you're already going to have as a modeler.  You want to use the bases that come with the model as your foundation.  You can use any old bits you have in your box to add character, but aren't strictly necessary.  Most modelers already have super glue -- note that plastic glue won't work -- I use loctite gel.  The polyurethane glue can be just about any waterproof glue that dries kinda rubbery.  Liquid nails is a little expensive, but very good as it holds the cork in place, but hot glue guns work as well.

The cork material can be found in numerous sizes at nearly any craft store like Michael's.  I bought the roll in the lower left of the picture for around $4 and it should last for hundreds of bases.  I also used some old cork coasters from a pack of 4 for a thicker material.  I know Ikea has a stack of mats for only a few bucks a pack.

Step 1 - Create cork rock faces

Tear off the cork in irregular pieces.  You want no flat edges.  These should cover most of your base, but as you get more comfortable you can start tearing off strips  and layering them.

Make sure you save every little piece that you tear off.  I keep them in a back.  they make great rock and can be mixed in later to add texture.

Stack the pieces on the base and glue down with the polyurethane glue. Cover any surface that will contact the base of other pieces of cork with the glue and press down.  You generally don't want to use so much that the glue squirts out the edges.  If it does, you can use a tooth pick or something small to scrape it away before it dries.  If you miss some, it's not a big deal, we can glue sand over to mask it later.

You don't have to cover every little bit of the base, as that can be covered with sand or other materials.    Here's an example of using pieces of varying thickness.

 The cork in a roll has a tendency to curl.  The best thing to do is place the bases between some medium weight books while they dry.  In the middle of a stack of magazines works well because they are flexible enough to adjust to the size of the base, not not too rigid to make them glue irregularly.

Keep in mind how the model will fit on the base at this stage.

Step 3 - Mark off where the model will stand

Cork is softer than the plastic material of the base so it needs to be able to support the weight.  If you have a heavier (esp metal) or unbalanced model like the sentinels I'm using, you'll have to pin them, which I'll cover later.

At this point it's a good idea to go ahead and place the model you're going to use on the base and make sure that it will fit.

I prefer to use a marker to indicate where the feet will touch the surface.  You want to make sure that you don't end up gluing sand or other bits in the same spot.

Step 4 - Adding character

With the cork in place, we can add a little character to the model.  I've got a huge bit box with loads of parts to glue to the base.  For instance this can also include anything you've had to clip off of models.  In the above picture, I have bits from the dark vengeance box as well as assault on black reach, so ork magazines, old grenades, and spent shells.

I also have a collection of tiny rocks from all over.  These are slightly bigger than sandbut not quite pebbles.  Often you can find these sizes at garden stores or aquarium shops.  You can have jagged rocks or smooth, it's up to you.

Glue a few pieces onto the base using the superglue.  You don't want to go overboard.  Just think of the model as being part of an active battlefield.  A lot of used shells, or broken parts just lie about. Little piles of rock can fill in areas.  Larger rocks can lean up against bigger pieces of cork to cover to hide imperfections.

I prefer not to use dead models of other factions too much.  It's hard to make the model look authentically dead and, especially in a unit, draws too much attention away from the model itself.  Unless you're going for a diorama or specific theme, it's best to stay away.

Step 5 - Adding sand

Take a look at your base and think about where sand/dirt/grit/gravel/etc needs to be.  It may look like tiny sand, but at this scale, can be dirt mounds, rocks, or pretty much anything.   It's good to have a mix of sand sizes.  Really fine sand can be found where they sell aquarium supplies, usually sold as fine grit ballast.  Hobby stores sell varieties of sand near the artificial plants.  I bought a bag of medium sand from the dollar store.  Worst case, just grab a few handfuls from a sandbox, but make sure to let it dry. I use a mix of really fine sand, medium grit sand, and ground up cork (the smallest bits that are leftover).

In order to secure the sand to the base, we use thinned down PVC glue.  It should be about the consistency of GW layer paint.  For my bases, I added glues on all bare spots on the base as well as some spots around edges of stacked pieces maybe even a few random spots.  This is where you can cover up any of the glue that squeezed out the edges.

Then cover the base completely in the sand mixture and shake around so that it gets into all the areas.  You'll want to do this in a container of some sort so you can reuse it again.

You can see the little bits of cork in there as well as the different sizes of sand.  Smaller pieces will fill in the areas between all the larges pieces.  Shake it off right afterward and you should get something like the below. Maybe even give it a little tap to make sure the loose sand comes off.

Step 6 - Sealing the base

After the sand has had a chance to fully dry, make sure to remove any sand that is on the markings you made for the feet, otherwise, the model won't stick.  Give it another tap to make sure all the loose sand comes off, but not too hard.

We need to seal the base at this point otherwise, the paint won't stick and sand will come off all the time.

For this you'll want to use even thinner PVC glue.  This should be closer to a wash.  It should be able to flow freely into all the cracks and crevices of the base.

Paint over the whole base with the thinned down glue, make sure to get the sides of the cork (not of the base itself) and even underneath any parts that hang over.  Don't let it pool too much on the sand.  If it's too watery it will loosen it.

It will take a while to dry.  Once it has dried completely apply another coat. The cork should be firm and the sand shouldn't come off when rubbed or shaken.

Step 7 - Pinning

If your model is small or light you may not need to pin it.  The sentinels will rip the cork right off the base if I try to only glue to the cork and they aren't pinned.  It's much easier to cover up any errors if we do this before painting, so this is the final step before the primer goes on.

Line up the models again, clear any sand from under the glue points, and make sure the model is balanced.  With 60mm bases, that's not too much of a problem, but certainly on 25mm bases or with metal models it could be a problem.

With a thin GW base, there isn't much material for the glue to grip on other than soft cork.  My preferred solution is to use dress pins or nails where the head rests against the bottom of the base.  This provides stability for the pin itself and are dirt cheap.  In this case, I used some small nails that come in a variety pack from the dollar store due to the size of the sentinel put usually I use dressmaker pins that are stupid cheap.  You want the ones with flat heads, not round.

It really helps to have a hobby drill like a dremel.  It has so much uses -- cutting nails, drilling holes, rounding points, or grinding off huge resin chunks.  Drill the holes in the feet to the appropriate size.  It takes some manual checking and adjusting to make sure they are at the right angle.

I ended up clipping, rather than sawing the nails to get them down to size.  I double checked that every hole lines up with it's nail.  This was the most precise and time consuming part of the whole process for me.

If you've lined up the nail correctly they should be able to slide into the drilled holes and you'll want to test them all.

Above, I have all the pins inserted and glued to the base.

I don't glue the sentinels to the base ahead of time.  I almost never glue the models before priming and painting, though most people do.  These models in particular though, I'm going through a much different process painting the sentinels that doesn't make sense for the bases.

Nevertheless, they are ready to be primed and painted.  I'll cover that in a follow up post sometime soon.