Tutorial: Snow Bases

Hello all! As I mentioned in my last blogpost, I am currently on holiday, so there will be something a little different for this weeks programming! I often get asked how I do my snow bases, so I thought I'd make a tutorial to show how I do it.

I've always found snow a tough one to get right for miniature bases. There's quite a lot of basing material out there (texture paint and flock), but I've never found it particularly convincing looking. I wanted the snow to look like it was melting, and that my Chaos Warriors were descending out of the North just as the snow was starting to melt.

For my snow bases, you'll need the following:

• Astrogranite Texture Paint
• Badab Black
• Longbeard Grey
• Secret Weapon Miniatures: Realistic Water
• Games Workshop Snow Flock

Firstly, I paint Astrogranite liberally onto the base, followed by a wash of Badab Black and a drybrush of Longbeard Grey. Clearly, if you want a different kind of ground beneath the base, you'd use a different set of paints for this stage.

I then mix the Snow Flock and Realistic Water together. A very liberal amount of the Realistic Water should be added. You want the mixture to be very easy to move around once it's on the base.

I then apply the snow to the base, ensuring that the coverage is not totally equal. The idea is to leave areas where the snow is either thin, or not there, for the texture beneath to show through.

Before the snow is dry, apply a very heavy coat of Realistic Water. You can also use the brush to correct any areas where the flock may be poking upwards and ensure that the snow is smooth.

Leave the snow to dry. I'd recommend leaving it for at least 3-4 hours. Once you've done this, apply another slightly thinner coat of the Realistic Water.

Once this has completely dried (I'd recommend leaving it overnight), edge the base in your chosen colour. I always edge my bases in black - I don't want to draw any attention to the edges of the base when I've put effort into making the miniatures look nice!

It is quite a lengthy process compared to most bases, but I think it's definitely worth it. It's really helped make my Warriors of Chaos the best army I've ever done. I hope this tutorial is clear! I might make one to show how I paint the armour on my Chaos Warriors if this goes well.

We'll be back to a normal schedule for the next blog post, where hopefully I can show that the lions share of my Chaos is done for Raze and Ruin and that I don't need to panic and cram a lot of painting into a short period of time!

Thanks for reading :)