Stunning base for your mini

Stunning base for your mini

Painting a stunning base for your mini is part of our painting Gotrek Guide series – we’re back painting the iconic dwarf slayer from warhammer, by hobbyist-painter and RGG supporter @anamnesis_studio. Read on and get David’s top basing and OSL tips. Be sure to check out part 1 first, if you haven’t done so already!

Table of Contents

Introduction from Anamnesis Studio

gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio redgrassgames rgg nmm painting guide base assembled model primed zenithal prime pre shading

Concerning the base, it’s a piece of cork where I added little tiles and 3d printed branches and a crystal to give some interest. Just be sure to leave some space for the feet of your mini. I tied everything together with texture paint, and voilà! The mini was primed black before airbrushing white from more or less 45° on the right side, it’s not a 'zenithal highlight' (simply pre-shading) per say but I want to emphasize the light coming from one side. You can take a picture at this point to give you a reference for later if you want.

1- stunning base for your mini: Base

gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio Redgrasscreative rgg nmm painting guide base drybrush stippling rgg glass palette 1
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gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio Redgrasscreative rgg nmm painting guide base drybrush stippling rgg glass palette 1b
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For the base I’ll be using stippling or sponging again to have a varied and quick texture. Pro tip: using a sponge for basing is very useful as it allows you to do a lot of them in a short amount of time, without ruining your brush!
Basecoat the whole base with PA Black Brown.
(1) Drybrush the ground with PA Light Umber, don’t worry if you go over other bits, we’ll correct this later.
(2) Sponge the tiles using PA Dark Golden Brown and focusing on the frontal part, always consistent with the direction of the light.
Sponge again with PA Golden Brown this time.
And finally sponge KK Cloudy Sky to finish the tiles.
(3) Drybrush the rest of the base using PA Ivory including the tree and branches.
Paint the bark-less part of the tree using Ivory.
Glaze the tree using S75 Wood Ink, slightly diluted for the bark-less part.
Highlight the bark-less branches with Ivory to finish the tree.
(4) The skull was also painted with Ivory, wet blended in the shadows with a bit of Golden Brown.

gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio Redgrasscreative rgg nmm painting guide base drybrush stippling rgg glass palette 2
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gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio redgrassgames rgg nmm painting guide base drybrush stippling rgg glass palette 3
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2- stunning base for your mini: Crystal

gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio Redgrasscreative rgg nmm painting guide crystal wet blending 1
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Paint the whole crystal with PA Dark Purple.
(5) When it’s still wet, I wet blend on the fly adding white to the base of the crystal and blending it toward the top and allow it to dry before moving on the next step.
Smooth the transition when dry with a bit of PA Transparent Purple.
(6) Highlight the edge using white with a bit of Transparent Purple, and done!

Stunning base for your mini
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Finishing Touches & OSL

gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio Redgrasscreative rgg nmm painting guide crystal osl 1
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Before moving on the final touches, Gotrek was glued to the base. I also took the time to paint some tiny nails on his hands, starting with Black Brown and painted the centre with Ivory being careful to leave a brown line around.
(7) I start the glow by washing the area lit by the crystal with Transparent Purple, think of the crystal like a light bulb, everything with their edges closer to the crystal should be highlighted.
A quick drybrush of Transparent Purple with a tiny bit of white on the area around the crystal where you applied your wash.
(8) Don’t forget to wash the bottom of the axe blade which should take a lot of reflection being in metal.
To give the impression of growing plants and moss, I apply wash of diluted PA Camo Green around the base and on the tiles, don’t forget to add a few spots on the boots and the tabard representing Gotrek moving in his environment.
I wash the base again with PA Yellow Green this time, just to give a bit more variation and life to the base, don’t forget to add a few spots on the tree, too.
(9) I glazed the bottom of the axe with Yellow Green to suggest the reflection of the environment and ground the mini to the base.

Final step is to add a few tufts and little plants all over the base to finish it. If the tuft stands out too much, give it a little wash of diluted Camo Green to blend it to the ground.

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gotrek dwarf warhammer fantasy age of sigmar games workshop anamnesis studio Redgrasscreative rgg nmm painting guide crystal osl 3
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Painting Gotrek Guide: Complete!

How to paint dwarf miniature

And it’s done! Congratulations to have read this far, and I hope you did find some useful tips along the way! Happy painting – David @anamnesis_studio

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