The initial casts came out well, and then I modified them, with additional cracks, chips, and features such as a shattered piece of Archaeology of some kind, a small crater, and slopes.
I also modified the original pieces, again with more cracks, rubble, and in two cases raised sections.
All the damage is done by carving the surface carefully with a scapel. Meanwhile I found an Eldar base (I think for a farseer) that I’ll also be replicating and modifying into a couple of variations. More interestingly, I’ve made simple press moulds of two of the runic parts from this base. For those who don’t know, press moulds are made by coating the part in release agent and pushing some sculpting putty over the bit to be moulded. Once dry, remove the putty, and then again coat it in release agent before using more putty to make the cast. It works for small parts, avoiding the hassle of the full silicon casting process, and I’ll then be using the cast runic parts on other bases in parts (all of this is because carving such detailed runes is beyond my sculpting ability).
I started on the big 60mm bases too. This one is the standard Eldar 60mm base, with the centre hacked out and plasticard stuck underneath – it will become a crater. Some additional shattered Eldar archaeology from a Wave Serpent also.
The plan now is to make 15 x 25mm bases, 5 x 40mm, and 3 x 60mm, plus a number of additional parts that can be stuck down to vary the bases as required.
Canny
Wow these are awesome! Love how they turned out! have you got any 40mm eldar styles for wraith guard?
Admin
Thanks! Yes, I did make a few 40mm bases too, following exactly the same process. In the event I never did complete this project. A big problem I faced was that the surface of the bases was too smooth, making it difficult to paint (I would need to blend, layer or edge highlight each one). In retrospect, I would use a textured plasticard allowing washes and drybrushing to work well.