Sculpting your own urban pavement bases

Here is how you sculpt your own urban pavement bases for Warhammer 40K, WFB, etc. It's a tutorial that can be universally across all game systems.

The idea is to create an urban environment that has been heavily destroyed by war and/or natural forces. It's quite a simple tutorial that involves simple sculpting skills.

Weekly Snapshot:SM to Plague Marine

Again, I haven't gotten much done this week because I've got some exams coming up.

However, I did manage to convert a regular Space Marine to a Death Guard plague marine. Let me tell you one thing.

Nurgle conversions are easy to achieve and look awesome. This guy was actually the FIRST 40K model I had ever painted. You know those cheap snap fit space marines that they give you for your first demo painting session at Games Workshop?

Yep. This is him. Papa Nurgle decided that he would strip the guy, chop him up and repose him. Then add some lovely little textures to the surface of the armour to make it look disgusting and appropriately Nurgly.

I don't know if this plague marine will be the first of many in a new army (new Chaos codex!) or just a fun thing I did. Either way it cost me pretty much nothing.
Just spare space marine bits, the demo SM, and bits of sprue and sand for the base.

If you're interested in reposing your snap fit marine (from either AOBR or the new Dark Vengeance, etc.) I made a tutorial a while back here. 

Weekly Snapshot: AOBR Ork Convershun

I haven't been doing too much hobby this past week because I've got an exam coming up in a couple of weeks. So don't expect too many posts from me until their completion, I'm afraid.

Dark Vengeance, the new 40K starter set has been released, but I'm not planning on getting it this time round. For now...

So I've decided to repaint and convert my old Ork army which I've scrounged up from just purely AOBR Orks. I did a little reposing and made him look more...human. I was planning to run these guys as a WWII German inspired Blood Axe force.

Wow the guy hardly looks like an Ork anymore. He's still in the middle of painting, but I tried out a camo pattern on him which was new for me.

Weekly Snapshot: Knightly Blood Angel Conversion

I've been looking at the Horus Heresy: Collected Vision for some inspiration, and I've found some really interesting looking Space Marine helmet designs.

Pictured above is an AOBR marine converted to be taller than the average marine and have a more dynamic pose. The reposing tutorial can be found here.

From a normal marine helmet, I raised the top of his head a little bit, gave him a 'beak' and added a cross design. It kinda looks like a medieval knight helmet.

I got my inspiration from this picture, of Chapter Master Astelan in the Collected Visions book:

Another pre-heresy space marine tutorial coming soon!

Cutting Costs: The Sculpting Tool(s)

This is Part 3 of Cutting Costs.

We all know that enjoying our little hobby can be tough on our wallets. And your ears as your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/dog repeatedly complains about those "little men". 

I've been trying my hand at sculpting lately, as you can see by the posts lately. Getting the right results can be tough. It's also frustrating when your giant fingerprint suddenly appears on the beautiful work you accomplished.

There's no real secret to sculpting. You need sculpting tools to do it. Imagine if you had to paint a tiny 28mm figure with your finger. Good luck with that!

But like all tools, dedicated sculpting tools are a liability; one that eats into your budget allocated for miniatures. 

Alright, I admit it. I'm guilty of using dedicated sculpting tools, one which I bought of course. But there's nothing wrong with using cheaper alternatives, you can achieve the same results most of the time.

I recommend this:

Good for your teeth, and good for your details! Use these for sculpting the details. Or, if you want a slightly larger size, you could always use the end of your brush. 

Sculpting putty has a habit of sticking to our fingers and our tools. A lot of people like to use oil or lubricant, but I use:

Water! Wet your hands and tools periodically with this. 

Next up:

These are good for achieving smooth areas. It's flat, cheap and also gives you an excuse to enjoy something delicious!

Tutorial - Easy MK4 Space Marine Helmets

In last week's Weekly Snapshot, I went from a default MKVII Space Marine helmet, to an MKIV.

So how would one achieve such a thing?
First of all, make sure you have these:

• An MKVII SM helmet
• Some form of sculpting tools
• Sculpting putty (I used Green Stuff)
• Your hands

Weekly Snapshot- Scratchbuilt MK4 helmet

I've always loved Forgeworld. All of their kits. Every individual model. So it's no wonder I began to lust after these puppies: