Erikjust
23rd Dec 06, 11:52 AM
A stone and rock guide
(a little note on the sideline, I did NOT make this toturial I just translated it nothing else, fell free to ask any qustions you like i will seen them to the auther and pm the answer back)
If you want to give your base an extra touch, why not try and make the rocks and stones on your base look as they do in real life? If you look at the different stones in nature you will find that close to none of them is completely grey, but rather a mix of different shades.
This guide will primarily deal with larger rocks instead of smaller stones, but this tutorial can be used on these too. After all, stones are just small rocks.
Anyways here we go:
Q: Is a rock just a rock?
A: No of curse not, let’s take a trip with Google and see if we can find some rock formations.
Rock example 1:
http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/2624/flutedstonelargenx5.jpg
A nice little stone that has been lying out in open. Pay attention to the fact that it isn’t entirely grey – there is all these little purple and red shades. The surface is, even though it is relatively even, rugged. In addition, there’s a lot of moss on it.
Rock example 2:
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/7279/rockljp8.jpg
Just a clearer example on a rock that definately isn’t grey.
Rock ekssample 3:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/9922/chiricahuabalancedrocksv3.jpg
These stones aren’t even grey, but rather reddish. Again with a very curly and rugged surface – it almost look like they are made of several layers.
Okay those are enough to give you an idea about rocks.
Q: Okay so what do I use to make them of?
A: Anything and everything! Okay, I know that this isn’t a very constructive answer, so here’s a few examples:
Greenstuff/Fimo/and other kinds of modelling putty: shape it like a rock and let it hardened/dry. You can press a real stone on the half dry mass so you get the stone features in it.
The advantages of this material is that you can make it like you want.
The disadvantages is that the final result has a tendency not to so sharp defined in the edges, unless ofcourse you cut and file it when its dry and then some of the structure will get lost.
Use these for manufactured stones (as stone floors and so forth) and then use other more appropriate materials.
Cork: Cork has a natural structure, which can be used in the making of rock. Tear some cork, cork plate or an old display board to shreds, and you will have a very uneven and crack-filled structure of cork pieces, you would want for your rock.
There to it is. Very light and you will have a nice surface to put your miniature on.
The Disadvantages with cork is that it often looks like painted cork instead of the rock, especially on the even top.
It can help to break the surface a little, either by cutting or tearing it a little, or put some new structure giving mass on it, for instance some sand or flock.
Besides, cork is very easy to get hold of, especially for us wine drinkers, otherwise you can get it in a DIY centre or a hobby store.
Slate: Slate is a very soft stone. It has many advantages: Mostly that nothing look like real rock like real rock; It has a kind of the same rock structure as seen in Rock example 3.
Apart from the fact that it is surprisingly easy to work with, you can both drill and saw in it without any problems.
And now for the Disadvantages: Slate is a very fragile kind of stone. This has the disadvantage that the stone often break (along the lines of the layers it is made of).
So for gaming bases you often have to think about where you place the stone on the base so it doesn’t get to many shocks and bumps.
In addition, you have to be content with the fact that you can never quite shape it like you want, but more or less use the pieces as they come from Mother Nature. They are quite easy to break into minor pieces, but it will never be a complete controlled process.
Slate can be found on the beach. But if you don’t have a beach or slate just around the corner you can always go down to the local stone cutter, they are often willing to sell there slate splints to almost no money whatsoever.
Otherwise, you can buy them to astronomical prises in some hobby stores.
Bark and wood chips: Oak and wood chips are something you can find outside the door, it is fairly easy. In addition, it can possess some really interesting structure, which can make it a very attractive choice for bases. Though you have to remember to dry it before you put it on a base, and seal it (fx. with a mixture of wood glue, varnish and water) to prevent it from rotting, bark/wood chips have some of the same qualities as Slate: it is even easier to cut in, but it will split easier if you are to rough whit the drill – so take it easy there.
Q: So how do I paint it?
A: It’s a little harder to answer that in a satisfying way, so lets keep to the almost grey rocks – under every circumstances it’s what people mostly want to paint. Easiest would be to just paint a dark grey stone and then gradually highlight, typical drybrushing a lighter shade of grey.
But as we saw in the examples, stones are rarely completely evenly grey; there are all kinds of shades in it. So what do we do then? The easiest way to get it on is to have all kinds of washes and glazes.
A little toturial:
1: Basecoat the base, either by hand or with sprays. Its a good idea to use a darker shade of bsecolor, fx. black, I myself use a grey primer (saves me some of the work).
2: Paint the rock grey. Go for a grey with a darker shade, but stay away from bluish greys (GW Shadow Grey fx.).
3: Shadows can have some interesting colours. Mix some different thin washes with purple, green, red and brown and experiment a little. The shadows can be blended very nicely, but often you can just wash the entire rock whit a thin mixture of fx green and brown and then splash some more color intense washes fx Brown and purple around the deeper cracks in the rock.
4: Highlight towards a brighter shade. Consider mixing a little more brown in the lighter grey to make the colour more natural.
You should then have something that looks like rock on your base. After that its time to paint the sand you glued on (this can be done at the same time as the rock in the same colours, if you wish less contrast), and put static grass. micro leaf, snow or whatever you might want on.
I would definately recommend micro leaf, as it looks like real moss (as in rock example 1)
Q: Okay, but so far all you’ve done is talking and talking, how about showing some examples on some bases.
A: Well I guess I could. When I get the time I might, if anybody is interested, make a couple of step-by-step guides. But so far you will have to make do with this.
Base example 1: Slate
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7696/20061bi8.jpg
As you can see, I have painted the slate very dark grey and drybrushed it with some brighter grey.
Sand and grass etc. has been added. The rock is however rather boring to look at, since there isn’t any play of colours (that was before I started to look more closely to it)
Base example 2: Cork
http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/2079/2006ol7.jpg
Here it should be possible to see some more multicoloured rock. The Cork is sprayed grey, washed first with a mixture of Vallejo Smoke and Tamiya Clear Green (thinned approximately 50% with water) and later shaded with a 1/3 (more or less) mixture of GW purple ink and Vallejo Smoke (once again thinned with water) in the shadows.
The green shadows are easiest seen from this angle, but there is also some purple deeper inside.
Notice the problems with the material: It still look pretty much like cork – I have tried to break it up a little by making deep grooves and sanded it here and there, but it still doesn’t hide the fact that it is made of cork.
Base example 3: Bark
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7731/20065aw3.jpg
The miniature isn’t that well standing on the base, but it was the only picture I had of bark rock, sorry. Painted the same way as the cork, even though I have use a little more powerful shadow colours here. The green thing is micro leaf, it work fine as moss I think.
Well I guess that was all I had to write for now. Questions and comments are gladly received
So try it
Roar
edit: Image changed into link because it was stretching the layout. - Ap0k
(a little note on the sideline, I did NOT make this toturial I just translated it nothing else, fell free to ask any qustions you like i will seen them to the auther and pm the answer back)
If you want to give your base an extra touch, why not try and make the rocks and stones on your base look as they do in real life? If you look at the different stones in nature you will find that close to none of them is completely grey, but rather a mix of different shades.
This guide will primarily deal with larger rocks instead of smaller stones, but this tutorial can be used on these too. After all, stones are just small rocks.
Anyways here we go:
Q: Is a rock just a rock?
A: No of curse not, let’s take a trip with Google and see if we can find some rock formations.
Rock example 1:
http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/2624/flutedstonelargenx5.jpg
A nice little stone that has been lying out in open. Pay attention to the fact that it isn’t entirely grey – there is all these little purple and red shades. The surface is, even though it is relatively even, rugged. In addition, there’s a lot of moss on it.
Rock example 2:
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/7279/rockljp8.jpg
Just a clearer example on a rock that definately isn’t grey.
Rock ekssample 3:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/9922/chiricahuabalancedrocksv3.jpg
These stones aren’t even grey, but rather reddish. Again with a very curly and rugged surface – it almost look like they are made of several layers.
Okay those are enough to give you an idea about rocks.
Q: Okay so what do I use to make them of?
A: Anything and everything! Okay, I know that this isn’t a very constructive answer, so here’s a few examples:
Greenstuff/Fimo/and other kinds of modelling putty: shape it like a rock and let it hardened/dry. You can press a real stone on the half dry mass so you get the stone features in it.
The advantages of this material is that you can make it like you want.
The disadvantages is that the final result has a tendency not to so sharp defined in the edges, unless ofcourse you cut and file it when its dry and then some of the structure will get lost.
Use these for manufactured stones (as stone floors and so forth) and then use other more appropriate materials.
Cork: Cork has a natural structure, which can be used in the making of rock. Tear some cork, cork plate or an old display board to shreds, and you will have a very uneven and crack-filled structure of cork pieces, you would want for your rock.
There to it is. Very light and you will have a nice surface to put your miniature on.
The Disadvantages with cork is that it often looks like painted cork instead of the rock, especially on the even top.
It can help to break the surface a little, either by cutting or tearing it a little, or put some new structure giving mass on it, for instance some sand or flock.
Besides, cork is very easy to get hold of, especially for us wine drinkers, otherwise you can get it in a DIY centre or a hobby store.
Slate: Slate is a very soft stone. It has many advantages: Mostly that nothing look like real rock like real rock; It has a kind of the same rock structure as seen in Rock example 3.
Apart from the fact that it is surprisingly easy to work with, you can both drill and saw in it without any problems.
And now for the Disadvantages: Slate is a very fragile kind of stone. This has the disadvantage that the stone often break (along the lines of the layers it is made of).
So for gaming bases you often have to think about where you place the stone on the base so it doesn’t get to many shocks and bumps.
In addition, you have to be content with the fact that you can never quite shape it like you want, but more or less use the pieces as they come from Mother Nature. They are quite easy to break into minor pieces, but it will never be a complete controlled process.
Slate can be found on the beach. But if you don’t have a beach or slate just around the corner you can always go down to the local stone cutter, they are often willing to sell there slate splints to almost no money whatsoever.
Otherwise, you can buy them to astronomical prises in some hobby stores.
Bark and wood chips: Oak and wood chips are something you can find outside the door, it is fairly easy. In addition, it can possess some really interesting structure, which can make it a very attractive choice for bases. Though you have to remember to dry it before you put it on a base, and seal it (fx. with a mixture of wood glue, varnish and water) to prevent it from rotting, bark/wood chips have some of the same qualities as Slate: it is even easier to cut in, but it will split easier if you are to rough whit the drill – so take it easy there.
Q: So how do I paint it?
A: It’s a little harder to answer that in a satisfying way, so lets keep to the almost grey rocks – under every circumstances it’s what people mostly want to paint. Easiest would be to just paint a dark grey stone and then gradually highlight, typical drybrushing a lighter shade of grey.
But as we saw in the examples, stones are rarely completely evenly grey; there are all kinds of shades in it. So what do we do then? The easiest way to get it on is to have all kinds of washes and glazes.
A little toturial:
1: Basecoat the base, either by hand or with sprays. Its a good idea to use a darker shade of bsecolor, fx. black, I myself use a grey primer (saves me some of the work).
2: Paint the rock grey. Go for a grey with a darker shade, but stay away from bluish greys (GW Shadow Grey fx.).
3: Shadows can have some interesting colours. Mix some different thin washes with purple, green, red and brown and experiment a little. The shadows can be blended very nicely, but often you can just wash the entire rock whit a thin mixture of fx green and brown and then splash some more color intense washes fx Brown and purple around the deeper cracks in the rock.
4: Highlight towards a brighter shade. Consider mixing a little more brown in the lighter grey to make the colour more natural.
You should then have something that looks like rock on your base. After that its time to paint the sand you glued on (this can be done at the same time as the rock in the same colours, if you wish less contrast), and put static grass. micro leaf, snow or whatever you might want on.
I would definately recommend micro leaf, as it looks like real moss (as in rock example 1)
Q: Okay, but so far all you’ve done is talking and talking, how about showing some examples on some bases.
A: Well I guess I could. When I get the time I might, if anybody is interested, make a couple of step-by-step guides. But so far you will have to make do with this.
Base example 1: Slate
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7696/20061bi8.jpg
As you can see, I have painted the slate very dark grey and drybrushed it with some brighter grey.
Sand and grass etc. has been added. The rock is however rather boring to look at, since there isn’t any play of colours (that was before I started to look more closely to it)
Base example 2: Cork
http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/2079/2006ol7.jpg
Here it should be possible to see some more multicoloured rock. The Cork is sprayed grey, washed first with a mixture of Vallejo Smoke and Tamiya Clear Green (thinned approximately 50% with water) and later shaded with a 1/3 (more or less) mixture of GW purple ink and Vallejo Smoke (once again thinned with water) in the shadows.
The green shadows are easiest seen from this angle, but there is also some purple deeper inside.
Notice the problems with the material: It still look pretty much like cork – I have tried to break it up a little by making deep grooves and sanded it here and there, but it still doesn’t hide the fact that it is made of cork.
Base example 3: Bark
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7731/20065aw3.jpg
The miniature isn’t that well standing on the base, but it was the only picture I had of bark rock, sorry. Painted the same way as the cork, even though I have use a little more powerful shadow colours here. The green thing is micro leaf, it work fine as moss I think.
Well I guess that was all I had to write for now. Questions and comments are gladly received
So try it
Roar
edit: Image changed into link because it was stretching the layout. - Ap0k