Build & Paint a sci-fi wargaming base for Warhammer 40K | Star Wars | Heresy | Duncan Rhodes

In this fun tutorial, we show you how to build and then paint a wargaming base old-school style! No resin or 3D printed bases here, just some good ol' fashioned modeling. We start off by showing how to construct it using various plastic cards and mesh and then we move on to painting! This gaming base can be used for a wide variety of your favourie tabletop wargames games such as Warhammer 40,000, Star Wars Legion, Fallout, Horus Heresy and many more!
If you enjoyed this video feel free to leave a Like and a Comment as well as Subscribe to the channel for more painting and hobby related videos. 😊
Duncan Rhodes
Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy
Warhammer Painting
Join the Academy: www.duncanrhodes.com/
Instagram: duncanjrhod...
Facebook: / twothincoats
Paints used:
Chaos Black Spray (Citadel)
Dungeon Stone (TTC) or Mechanicus Standard Grey (Citadel)
Iron Warrior (Citadel)
Dark Sun Yellow (TTC) or Averland Sunset (Citadel)
Doom Death Black (TTC) or Abbadon Black (Citadel)
Oblivion Black (TTC) or Nuln Oil (Citadel)
Battle Mud (TTC) or Agrax Earthshade (Citadel)
Necron Compound (Citadel)
Carcharadon Grey (TTC) or Administratum Grey (Citadel)
Typhus Corrosion (Citadel)
#duncanrhodes
#paintingwarhammer
#wargaming

[@RevanR]

Wow this really step up from painting tutorial, in few moments Duncan will upload on how scratch build entire scenery

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

We like to mix it up now and then 😊 It's all part of the hobby

[@horatio_]

He’s only now warming up his foam wire cutter !

[@darinhalvorsen]

Great job and thank you. I like how you are one of the premier known painters yet you use janky ass plastic tools. Get a good compass, you will have it forever and you would be supporting good tool makers. Hell, good endorsement opp.

[@drsnake10]

When you need a base that says both "watch your step" and "glory to the void knights". Great ideas to make visual interest on bases when grass tufts don't make sense!

[@NickMK]

I love building a sci-fi. I will build so many sci-fis!

[@cams.2083]

As a seasoned hobbyist I really appreciate you're safety tips! I have a son who does things without my watchful eye and he can't hear these things enough. Dull hobby knifes leave reminders on you're fingers forever! *Poor hands* 😩

[@besaidblitzboi3430]

Same! A lot of other hobbyists on YT are very nonchalant with safety, but not Duncan!

[@lyubit9841]

I have a scar going right through the edge of my left hand because I ignored knife safety AND used a dull blade. Just because you're cutting away from yourself doesn't mean you're always safe, please cut downward onto a suitable surface if you can immediately feel resistance to the blade.

[@emeraldanvil]

Please do more projects like this. I love making custom stuff for my army. It helps tie the narrative together and it feels good to make something from scratch. Excellent job!

[@galan8115]

Zip-ties backwards (with the ridge thing looking up) are a cool texture to add to. There are also mosquito nets in plasti if you want to avoid metal materials.

[@Totema1]

You can also use cross stitching mesh, it's very cheap and comes in various sizes!

[@kaygolob8639]

`Now this doesn´t have to be perfect...` -Proceeds to paint the most perfect hazard stripes I have ever seen. Amazing work! I am building a small Traitor Guard Force. I would love to see you do some conversions for that, tanks or Chaos Ogyns etc :D

[@benrichardson5662]

Perfect for Kill Team. It's a bit more time investment than is really feasible for most armies (except for very elite armies) but it's wonderfully atmospheric for something like Kill Team.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Agreed, but it sure was fun to do

[@the98themperoroftheholybri33]

Thanks, this is perfect timing for me, I'm just starting a stargrave crew and these would be the perfect bases for a space faring crew

[@DismemberTheAlamo]

Tamiya also sells "textured" diorama sheets that can be used for this. Granted its a limited selection, you can get some pretty nice easy cobblestone patterns from them.

[@DickWindu]

Evergreen does a diamond plate plasticard sheet that looks like old metal decking

[@DismemberTheAlamo]

@@DickWindu - yea ive seen them also. I might bring some in for my store if people want them, although there isnt a huge demand for it currently

[@DickWindu]

@@DismemberTheAlamo I used some to make krieg bases, half diamond plate, half rubble. They work pretty well, shame there isn't much demand

[@Linken062478]

Such a great video. You've always got such a wonderful way of approaching these projects.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you so much!

[@demcrusher7086]

I think Duncan was born of divine origin. The man can make anything! 😆 Excellent as always brother 👍

[@Basilisk63]

Awesome. Uploaded as I'm creating swampy nurgle bases for a side project 😃 have a good weekend lads!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Awesome! And you have a great weekend too 😀

[@Smilomaniac]

It should be noted that instead of cutting the disc into lines to make grooves, you can get scribing tools (gunprimer and vallejo make some) which are small chisels specifically made for cutting lines or chiseling grooves in plasticard, typically for gunpla (Gundam Plastic model kits). No slippy knives needed :) Great tutorial and result!

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , DRPA . 🐺

[@joakimhansen7733]

I'll full admit I'm really bad at "forgetting" about the base for my minis, but this was very cool.

[@MekBoooooi]

I use plastic card however the one I found is grided. It folds apart easily and has a cool tile look! I also use Granny grate and small rail loads.

[@darrengamer8189]

A great tutorial. I think I would have pre-painted the pipes primary colours though before gluing them in place, so the coloured pipes showed better through the mesh above them.

[@Lysosor]

Also awesome paint scheme and guide for just using it on the infinity presculpted bases

[@makenshi664]

I read the title of the video and thought this was going to be the equivalent of Duncan making Tracy Island on Blue Peter. Definitely using this for my Kill team though

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

😂

[@DickWindu]

You wonderful madman, this is incredible

[@monkeyhammer]

i think i would always cut the panels as rectangles that go over the edge and then trim off the excess following the angle of the base. you can also cut this thin plasticard with scissors which is a bit faster and safer in some cases

[@edeigor]

Love this and perfect for necromunda

[@anthonybrown3480]

Fantastic will definitely try this

[@soigothazed]

Extremely impressive

[@chaosgrunt9554]

A very good tutorial, as always! One comment: Plasticard is actually ABS and will glue to the base (also made from ABS) with plastic glue, it will probably make the base a lot more sturdy.

[@lordofarda]

Better way than cutting all the way through is to score and snap. Just need a light pass once to score the styrene/plasticard then it will snap easily along the score. I find it is less prone to error of multiple passes that way. Especially when cutting out the circles.

[@kratcliffe5680]

Spot on. Would of been nice to see a space marine mounted to it

[@joelcollicott5612]

That cutter tools is fantastic

[@KabinMiniatures]

Looks incredible!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thanks 👍

[@edwindrood2816]

Great stuff as always

[@itsthequenchiest3270]

Love this! Please continue basing videos!!!

[@BarokaiRein]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone build a base and measure everything like this. Most people just eyeball it and then run a sharp knife around the edge of the base lip to make everything flush, assuming they don't actually prefer to have some overhang.

[@blackguard5134]

Nice! This will kick ass for my space crusade bases

[@jaysunbodaysun3302]

You're such a professional. You know your trade. Knowing different companies' paint ranges attests to that. A true educator. Keep up the good work and you have my full support.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you so much 😀

[@stefanosiclari]

Very interesting video. I did something similar about a year ago, same mesh and everything, the result is great and it's very inexpensive. I like your yellows, but I want to share my own recipe: sticking to Citadel paints, I usually begin with a coat of Dawnstone (skip this one if you're starting from a grey primer), then cover it in Corax White, then add one layer of thinned down Flash Gitz Yellow. It's fast enough and it gives out a nice, bright yellow.

[@Nicholas1994]

That's amazing. It looks so good. Now I want to base all my iron hands up like that. Like they're raiding a space hulk or something.

[@invader_guy1171]

I've wanted to make something like this for so long lol thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[@geoffok]

Everyone says he's the new Bob Ross, but the editing is exactly like the old episodes of This Old House with Bob Villa

[@BlackHoleEye]

You know, if you wanted those pipes to look like power cables, you could just stick some brass rod in the ends, or give them a little green stuff plug and paint it copper.

[@gavinwilkinson_eggy]

I find I go through wired headphones quite rapidly. Every time I retire a pair I cut off all the connectors and stuff and throw the cables in my bits box. Then I can use actual cables for stuff like this. For the grating you can use bonsai filters, much cheaper than actual metal grids.

[@MarkCMG]

Excellent base! Thanks for the video!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

No problem 👍

[@maxbrandt6]

It's fun and easy and you can do it home yourself!

[@wargamecreations]

Love your videos! Youre the man, Ive used so many of your tips and hope to be half as good as you someday!

[@inquisitor_snake]

Love it

[@RobzterGames]

i thought i was happy with my iron warriors bases, then i see this video, time to rebase xD

[@alphaleigpyne]

The sprues are useful for basings terrains and some kitbashing. I may do this for some new models coming later this year, this woukd help me in advance before I get some of them.

[@cerethpainting6606]

First!!! Love your vids man!!!

[@FairieSword]

This is pretty great Im definitely going to have to give something like this a try for my Infinity stuff at some point. Operation Blackwind did just come out after all

[@thedni]

You mention about using these techniques for Adeptus Titanicus and Battletech too. Any tips to help sell the difference in scale?

[@briandowling8412]

I desperately wanted this to be your take on Tracy Island. Oh well.

[@horatio_]

Scratch builds eyyyyy Duncan

[@superspecky4eyes]

If you don't have any plastic-card, use old plastic takeaway tupperware containers to make bases. They work brilliantly as tiles/grates/flagstones but they are a little trickier to cut because the plastic is quite cheap and brittle.

[@smoketinytom]

Well, I know what base I'm gonna be using for my camo Marines.

[@Dummythxc]

19:52 two thin coats creates Ts when it touches water. That’s how you differentiate between it and citadel

[@user-sb5bw8gr9u]

live up to your name!

[@madmerlinsart]

I've been brainstorming a "make a custom base" video for my Get Started 40k series and this has really helped me out. Given me a few ideas and I think I need to raid my terrain box for some materials. Great video and amazing work as always!

[@Skud0rz]

In the forty first millennium There are only trip hazards

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Agreed lol

[@Hobbyrepubliken]

Please do terrainbuilding too!

[@testorbeta3617]

Rather cutting the panels, why not try scribing tools? They come in different widths as well. I think they use this a lot in Gundam/military model building. Just a thought.

[@Mighty_Average]

fyi, you can use plastic glue with Styrene plasticard

[@MangyForestCat]

Please show us how you would approach building, assembling, and painting a Gundam from Bandai. If you need recommendations on which one to try I have several which fulfill different criteria from beginner friendly to more complicated, from 1/144th to 1/100 to 1/60th scale.

[@TheStormingmonkey]

I really like this! And totally could of used it like 8 years ago! could we get something in the same vein on greenstuff/miliput?

[@Jimothyjohns]

Will you do a painting tutorial for Raven Guard? Trying to create an army but don’t know which are the best colors

[@Teeleer]

This will be perfect for the new bording patrol, my only issue is i use Tau and our fire warriors use 25mm bases

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

That's no problem, just make it for the base size you are using, you can even use this on your tau battle suite bases (60mm I think) 😊

[@AshMD]

“If you’re a youngster, get an Eldar to do it for you”. Heresy!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Nice 🤣

[@will4127]

This video is pretty based.

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

Nice technique. I prefer drywall tape for grating - takes paint well & doesn’t have sharp edges like the metal. I’m thinking of using the Imperial Navy Breacher team in Kill Team: Into the Dark to do a diorama set on a spaceship, so this is very timely.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Dry wall tape is a great idea!

[@cams.2083]

Drywall tape... That's a great idea! 🤯 I love ideas like this considering I've over looked my dry wall tape a dozen times while raiding my shed/garage!

[@nobleclonetrooper]

Hey Duncan, I was curious how to approach miniatures at 40mm scale with costume details that are very intricate and maybe inefficient to manually highlight. I got a character with chest armor that has an incredible amount of detail but trying to manually highlight those tiny details has always muddied them and had the opposite result that I wanted. What would you suggest in that situation to retain the beautiful detail but not just give it a wash and call it done?

[@doc_eyebrow]

Still waiting for Goblin Green bases to make their triumphant return 💚

[@Thorn16]

I was just thinking of making bases for my Tau! Do you have any advice for safely removing models already glued on to bases?

[@carstengreenowich9604]

Hey Duncan. When will we be able to purchase your paint series if we didn't back it?

[@mazeofmystery]

Can that compass use any sort of hobby knife blade? I found the same compass on amazon, but couldnt find the answer to my question.

[@mityakiselev]

"Just carry on until you're happy" instructions unclear, I've wasted like 30 sheets of plastic and about 4 pencils but haven't felt happy yet T_T

[@beng6149]

You released this because we got the new kill team box reveal! lol

[@danii_boy6831]

I wish I had seen this before I had bought bases off of etsy

[@MalfunctioningAndroid]

I use cardboard, and mosquito net.

[@johnnycooper7019]

Dear Duncan, Great tutorial! Any news updates on two thin coats? Best Wishes Johnny

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Sure! The paints have been shipped to Australia/NZ and Asia, Canada and Non-EU countries. Next up is the USA then the EU and UK. Final address details via KS will be asked for soon. 😊

[@johnnycooper7019]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA Duncan, Many thanks for your prompt reply. Please have a good and safe weekend.

[@dannyboy5514]

Man how did you guys know I just bought some Infinity Miniatures?

[@steppeone]

Next up: How to sculpt your own minis from Green Stuff.

[@tombrand236]

Duncan are your paints available now? I can’t find them anywhere. Thanks

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Not quite yet. As soon as the final Kickstarter order has been sent out, the team at TAG will start getting them into stores. 😊

[@Scissorf4ce]

Thought he said beyblade transfer sheet lol

[@johnhanley5546]

or Space Hulk?

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

or Space Hulk for sure! Good call.

[@robertjensen1438]

Just a comment for the algorithm.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you

[@robertjensen1438]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA your welcome

[@inquisitor_snake]

Do you sell merch?

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

We sure do in the merch section of this channel.😊 If you would like to support us then check out our Academy website (www.duncanrhodes.com)

[@inquisitor_snake]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA I'll make sure to check it out. I saw your t-shirt in the video and I want one

[@xekon14]

I think the title is missing a "Base"

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thanks, sorted it out now! It's been a busy week! 😅

[@xekon14]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA Get yourself a coffee ☕️😉

[@kimmipops5143]

Technically everything in this video is base layering…🤪🤪

[@smokejaguarsix7757]

Good stuff. However, you are speaking way too fast such that you are not clearly annunciating your words in the middle of sentences. Ive lived in the UK for quite a while and traveled extensively throughout great Britain and Ireland so its not the accent thats the problem. You're sliding through words rather than defining them clearly. Sure, I get the gist of what youre saying much of the time but often I am finding it difficult to understand you, especially when you start running out of breath. Slow down, please. You don't have to rush especially when covering details. Thats the part I'm listening for the most so if you rush through it and I cant understand you then what's the point? Otherwise, good video.