UMS "Agram" : Making a custom cave display base < Articles < Hobby

Making a custom cave display base

Marko Paunović, 1nd October 2020

In this article, Matija Koružnjak, a member of the FB group Miniature Painters Croatia, describes the creation of simple display base for warband Zarbag's Gitz, a set of miniatures for the Warhammer Underworlds by Games Workshop.

We start the base with a foam board surface on which we have already drawn the desired position of the miniatures on the base and determined the relative size of the surface. I cut openings for the bases with a scalpel.

I then glued the foamboard to 15 mm thick HD styrofoam with PVA glue.

I covered the entire base with electric plaster. Easy to coat, and dry within 5 min. Used to fill and erase textures.

The base for the base is made of 5mm thick balsa wood.

I wasn’t happy with the final layer of the base and decided to line the edges with thin plasticized cardboard cut from a box of socks. Eventually, everything was taped with masking tape.

Considering the "cave" bases of miniatures, it was logical to present the base as a cave and simply conjure it up with stalagmite terrain.

I shaped the stalagmites with my fingers using Fimo air, and sanded all the shortcomings and filled them with liquid greenstuff. I did not touch the irregularities that added to the impression of stalagmites.

Everything was then coated with a mixture of fine sand and PVA glue, with a higher ratio of glue to get a smooth "eroded" surface.

For the puddles, I simply cut out the plastic of the document liner and pressed it into the glue. For a better impression you can paint the substrate and then imprint a piece of plastic, I just wanted a smooth surface to paint later.

For an extra detail, you can add a few homemade mushrooms or some leftover stray dwarf.

And that's it!

Paint it as you like.

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	SEB: „U proteklom tjednu nastavio sam rad na konverziji topovskog Snail Knighta.

	  

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	Vojska će se sastojati od Toffa (vođa), 2 snail knighta, 4 cheffa i 1 jedinice Brutesa od 6 komada. Danas sam počeo rad na drugom snail knightu koji će zapravo biti top.“

	  

	 
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Marko Paunović, 17th April 2025

CSSR 1986 Diorama part 7

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	In the box with the bits I also found a barrel in good scale so I assembled that too.

	  

	Finally, there was corrosion on the door. First, I thinned the holes in the gate panels using a drill.

	  

	Then I added hinges to the door and gate. I made them out of paper clips.

	  

	I also added a lamp above the entrance to the substation. Given the thin rod it hangs from, I drilled a hole in the substation wall and pinned the lamp that way.

	  

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	Onda sam dodao i šarke na vrata i kapiju. Njih sam napravio od spajalice.

	  

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	Time završava rad na ovoj diorami. Sad je na redu bojanje i vegetacija.

	  
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Marko Paunović, 10th April 2025

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