Broken Blade Studios - Miniature art by Golden Demon winner Joseph Tomaszewski

This is a simple tutorial of how to make rock bases for large miniatures that look great for display but are also durable enough for game-play.

The main bulk of the rock is made using either simple polystyrene, or pink insulation foam (which is a bit stronger). start off by cutting and shaping the foam to the desired size, ensuring it fits onto the base well.

To make the surface of the rock, it is best to use foamcard (as this will add much more strength to support the weight of the model) Cut the foamcard to the appropriate size so that it will support the whole miniature and fit on top the foam nicely.

At this stage dryfit the pieces of the rock and make any neccessary adjustments to the shape of the foam, once it looks right glue the parts together using p.v.a or a similar glue (Elmers glue if you live in America for example) you could use superglue but this would melt the foam, so that is not a good idea.

Now we take steps to add strength to the rock, as it will need to be sturdy and durable. Cut a hole (or holes) into the bottom of the base, which will allow copper rod to be inserted.

For the support rod i used copper tubing (available from model railway shops and some online modelling stores). It's pushed about 3/4 of the way in, you'll have to use a bit of judgement here as to not push the rod all the way through, clip the rod or tubing so that it is flush with the bottom of the base and sits flat, and then glue the rod in place with p.v.a.

This step is only neccessary for large or cumbursome models that could easily get knocked and broken (but it is best to do it for all miniatures to be safe). Drill through the top of the base using a pin-vice, dremel or other small rotary tool, through the foam and through the bottom of the base, to pin the miniature and the base together.

Drill into the foot, or whatever part of the miniature is best to support the weight of the model, (usually the largest area of the model touching the floor) and add copper rod all the way through the base and into the foot of the miniature, glue the rod into the base with pva and the miniature to the foamcard and the rod with superglue, this should give a strong enough support that the model with not break off the base.

Now mix up some plaster of Paris, about 50/50 water to plaster mix, so that it's not too watery, yet not too dry either, the best way is to add the plaster to a tub or bowl and very, very slowly add water, mixing  as you go until the plaster is the right consistency.

Now you can texture the foam by adding the plaster, using a knife or old brush to apply it, do not worry about being too neat (the plaster needs to look rough after all) try to keep plaster off the miniature and the edge of the base if possible, but it can be removed when the plaster dries without too much trouble anyway.

Before the plaster dries we can shape and sculpt the plaster to look more rock like, for this you can use a variety of tools, such as leftover foamcard (pictured), other good tools i have found are rough stones, which when pressed into the plaster will replicate the surface texture, and also standard sculting tools for adding cracks and defining shape to the rock. Once you are pleased with the look of the rock let it dry and it is ready to be painted.

Once it's all dried it can be painted, of course you can paint in any colour scheme you like, but i used a mix of fortress grey, chaos black and scorched brown, and highlighted it by adding skull white into the mix bit by bit and drybrushing the rock. This was then given a couple of washes to shade the cracks and crevises, with a watered down mix of scorched brown and chaos black.