Hello there, guys!
Dr.D is here and ready to party with you, chooms! The big corpos at Monster Fight Clubs’ Cyberpunk Combat Zone asked me if I would be willing to give you my ancient family secrets of basing to help improve everyone’s hobby scores! I love those guys, so HOW could I say no? I pulled out some models that needed some work and got to chopping!
This guide is a pretty thorough rundown of how I do my Cyberpunk models. It is very easy to do for any model that you want to give a more urban basing theme, and you can do any individual part without having to do the rest. Truly modular for the modern gamer’s needs. Don’t say I never did anything for ya, choom.
First, I pour the models on my desk and make sure everything is clean regarding mold lines and anything that I don’t want on the model.
Make sure to remove anything that is on the top of the base, since that will make gluing things to the top more difficult. Next, I order or open up my Death Ray Designs base toppers.
These kits come with toppers for a variety of base sizes, and thankfully, you can use all of them. Cyberpunk uses a slightly larger base than the 25mm toppers that Death Ray Designs sell, but it still looks great if you just paint some black in the area around the topper. The good news is that I don’t think about it too much, and people never seem to notice. So win/win, and it only matters if you care. My guide will still apply if that is not something you want, since it involves making the toppers any size.
I had some extra 60mm base toppers, and I knew I wanted to use them for this guide to show you that the size of the topper doesn’t really matter!
Pop them out of the frame and make sure you clean the edges of it to remove the little spurs. Otherwise, it will just look silly, and everyone might laugh at you!
I wouldn’t laugh at you, though! We can still be friends.
Next, you remove the paper film from the bottom. You can just peel it off. If you glue the paper to the base, it is likely that when you are playing a game, if you apply pressure in a certain way, the base topper might just slide right off, especially on a hot day. I may have made this mistake once or twice in my life, but we are all friends here, right? We don’t need to tell Monster Fight Club that Dr.D makes mistakes, right……right?
Then, line up the topper onto the base in a way that you think would look really cool. There really is no wrong answer here since fighting in the Combat Zones would involve someone standing in all kinds of places and positions. I just try and imagine how the model will stand on the base with the topper, so just always try to make sure you keep the model’s foot glue spot in mind.
Once you find a position you like, put some glue on the base and press the base topper on it until it feels fairly snug and dry. It may take about 30 seconds, but I like to leave it there for a few minutes to make sure.
The cool thing about the bigger base toppers is that you can actually glue two bases to them and get more bang for your buck. This works especially well if you like rubble and ruin-type bases. You will see some examples of that later!
So I did that for 6 of the 7 bases I was making. I left a single base to make a more rubble-style base so you can see what to do with the extra pieces. I am very much a stickler for not having any extra waste. They say need is the mother of invention….or something like that.
I keep the little chunks of base I have leftover in the case so I can use them to make more rubble-type bases.
If the pieces are too big, you can take some pliers and chop them up to fit the size of your base.
I warn you, if you are chopping, MAKE SURE TO COVER THE AREA YOU ARE CUTTING WITH YOUR HAND. These pieces will fly off in random directions when you are cutting, and I have 100% pinged myself in the eye once or twice. Don’t be like Dr.D in this situation.
Pinging your eyeballs with hobby supplies is not cool.
After you chop them up, you can line up the pieces on the base and make it look like busted-up concrete or chunks of building. You can even add other stuff, like bottles or sand grit, to make it look more like rubble. It really is all up to you and your imagination!
It might look a little odd now, but once you add magazines and tape, it looks much more “lived in” and the illusion sells itself.
Next, you go back to the other bases that are glued to the toppers, and you start to chop up the topper around the base so that it fits the 28mm base.
Slowly, just chop around the base until you get what you are happy with. It doesn’t need to be perfect, and you can sand the edge if you really want it to be smooth. Again, no one I have ever talked to has ever cared or even noticed.
Those little extra pieces will get thrown in the case for later use. Sometimes it just pays to have an extra piece of junk lying around. I think that is why my loved ones keep me around…….wait a minute….
I usually cut away any extra base overhang with the hobby knife just to make smooth it out a little bit. Don’t take too long on this since it might just drive you crazy.
Congrats. You now have a base that Dr.D would proudly use to make his models look better! Doing this alone will for sure get you some looks at the shop. Now you may be asking, “Dr.D, how does one paint this masterpiece of hobbying technology?!” Well, I will tell you, strange voice in my head, THIS is how I would do it!
You take a finished model on a primed base. The primer color doesn’t really matter, but you must paint it black for this to work.
First, you take an old brush or your favorite drybrush, and you use one of my favorite colors of all time. ProAcryl White Blue. You can technically use any color that is close to this, but I just love the brightness of their paint line! This is one of the few paints that I have probably used 2-3 bottles of the stuff since it came out a year or two ago. It's incredible and makes painting so many things a breeze.
You take this color and do a brisk drybrush on the base and the base topper. I recommend you don’t completely cover the base since it will remove the delicious dark tones that exist in concrete and asphalt. It is a true case of less is more in a lot of ways.
I took the pictures a little out of order here, but this is what I did. First, I did a very light drybrush of ProAcryl Titanium White over those same areas to bring up the color a little more. You want to make sure it is subtle so that the pavement doesn’t look “pristine.” Then I used Burnt Orange to do the curb side of the sidewalk. This helps break up the light grey color and makes everything pop out.
I used the expert artist line because I feel like it is complementing me every time I look at the tube. That, and I appreciate the thicker paint for dry brushing. You can use any white you want, but just make sure it is not too watery.
I also used a little pure ProAcryl White Blue to draw a little traffic line next to the curb. You see stuff like this in real life, and it really helps sell the illusion. I brighten that up with some Titanium white as well.
Then I use some Proacryl Warm Yellow and GW Phalanx Yellow to brighten up the yellow on the curb.
If you did this alone, I think you would have some incredible-looking models, but we don’t stop here in the land of Dr.D! We're gonna keep it going!
First, I use some Typhus Corrosion to dirty up the base very lightly and Nurgle’s Rot if I want to add sewage or spillage of some kind. I did not use any Nurgle’s Rot on this base, but it is very common that I do so, I figured I would mention it.
Next, I pull out my sheet of magazine covers and posters. I printed this big DC-themed sheet a couple of years ago, and it has served me well. You can find all kinds of stuff to use, like police tape and newspapers, online.
We will do the crumpled-up method and the laying flat method just so you can switch it up and get some variety.
Pick out whichever poster you would like. Honestly, what is on the poster doesn’t matter a whole lot since it will get pretty obscured with everything going on. It’s a fun way to put in little references without overpowering the model. Since this is a bozo, I went with a clown to keep the theme tight.
I then cut it in half so that it isn’t too big for the model and so we can do different things with it.
For the laying flat method, you take the piece you want to use and find a spot on the base that you like. Put some glue on it and plop it in place. I personally love to put it in spots where you can push it into gutters or up against corners, since it gives it a more lived-in look. It makes it look like it has been there for a while and has been soaked in the rain or left to fester.
Take a hobby knife and really just push it in there. You don’t need to be gentle, since any damage will just make it look like “weathering.” I even folded the corner so that it didn’t escape the base and, again, makes it look like a bit of refuse that has been there a while.
Ok, the next method I learned from Sorastro’s YouTube tutorials. You take the other half of that poster and you are going to “ball it up” to look like it is rolling down the road. You put some glue on the back of the poster to keep it still and then just ball it up!
Again, no need to be gentle.
Once you are satisfied with it, glue it to the base. A key I have found is if you glue it on a sharp edge and not on a long flat piece, it looks like it is blowing in the wind.
BAM! That's how you do it, the Dr.D way. My explanations are likely overwinded and needlessly complicated, but it works for me, and people keep telling me it looks good. The powerful adage of Bases and Faces applies as always. If you work hard on your bases, it will significantly improve the image of the overall model. Take some time and really think about some cool ways to theme your models, and I guarantee people will notice.
Where to Find MOAR Dr.D AND Cyberpunk RED: Combat Zone coverage?
Arachne: An Infinity Game Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
professionalcasualnetwork - Twitch
