I recently managed to get my hands on a solitary plastic Witchling Stalker - a model which has taken the dubious honour of being the first of the "M2E" plastics that I've put paint to.
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| Still work in progress. Note - my first attempt at NMM is coming along nicely! |
With the little guy almost finished, I was faced with an agonising decision - what do I want to do with my basing going forwards? Looking back, my previous bases have lacked flair. I've done:
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| Flagstones cut from cereal packets on my Neverborn |
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| Sand + dried grass & cacti on my Guild |
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| Greenstuff Sculpted cobblestones on my Ressurectionists |
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| Wooden plank resin bases on my Ten Thunders |
You might be seeing the theme....? Flatter than a pancake in the wake of a steamroller!
After casting an eye over some of the available options, I saw something I liked in a Twitter post of @RdeValmont, who has used Micro Arts Studio Cobblestone bases to great effect on his McMourning crew. I was particularly drawn to the way the bases have different height levels, and how the cobblestones themselves extended beyond the edges of the base in an organic way instead of being restricted to clean lines.
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| I *really* need me some of these sexy new Rotten Belles! |
I hopped on over to Element Games and threw a couple of packs into my shopping cart. As per usual from Element, the order arrived at my door quick as a flash, however unfortunately when they arrived there was disappointment in store.
It turns out that Micro Arts Studio has been through a phase of resculpting their resin bases through 2013, and the ones pictured on Element's site (and above being modelled by Belles) are the old versions. The new ones look like this:
Much flatter, and with cobblestones flush with the base edge. In other words - exactly what I didn't want! Element Games were incredibly helpful, and apologetic for the fact that the picture on the store didn't match the item they were sending out (Note: The pictures on the site are still incorrect as of the date of writing - so caveat emptor if placing a resin base order with Element in the near future).
So now it was dilemma time - I could try and source the "old style" bases elsewhere, with the risk that stocks could be limited and I could only get half a crew based, or go back to the drawing board.
As it happens, while their new Cobblestone bases weren't to my liking, the new sculpts of Micro Arts Studio "Old Factory" are actually rather nice indeed. Unlike the "old style" Old Factory bases which, frankly, look like arse.
True to form, Element Games were very obliging and sent out some of the bases on the right as a replacement. I set to work doing my best to come up with the right shade of red brick to start basing my Guild models on.
Hang on a minute.... Red brick.....? Guild models.....?
I've always made a bit of effort to factor in the Faction colour when painting Malifaux. My Pandora has a purple coat. My Perdita has a red halter top. It just feels right.
What if I could escape from that compulsion by theming the models' bases with the faction colour? I'd be free to put whatever colour I wanted on the model itself, and use different bases for different crews, but with a unifying colour for the whole faction.
Micro Arts Red Bricks - Sounds like the building that collapsed on Lady Justice..
Micro Arts Red Tiles - Sonnia doing a bit of rooftop witch-stalking
Desert Red Sandstone - Perdita in the Badlands.
Moving to Ressers, lots of things are green! Eg. verdant green static grass plus gravestones works nicely for Nicodem.
What's that you say? Dual Faction? No problem!
Yan Lo - Green grass plus fallen orange autumnal leaves
McMourning - Green grass plus garden walls of red brick.
Zoraida - Brown cave/mine with protruding purple crystals
The possibilities are endless!
Getting excited now - I'll be back with a picture of a finished model soon!
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