hey guys, thanks for all the replies!
as for the questions, the first one is easy, about the bases of my dreamer crew:
here is a WIP pic of lord chompybitz and his base, with an explanation following
so what I did here was use Industrial Design model making foam. of the Tan variety. ( the different colors of foam had different densities and also diff $ amounts too. Tan is denser than yellow, and still pretty inexpensive. Don't know where to get it ATM, but try art supply and college book stores that sell materials...
I just looked at my hand and cut out the shapes in the foam with my xacto, and built the base from the palm up, with the finger joints as separate pieces. After shaping with the knife, i gave the pieces a light sand with an emery board, and then sealed the foam with zap-a-gap, brushing the excess glue off the modeling foam with a pluck foam square from my transport case. (pluck foam is a great super-glue sponge, just don't let it linger, keep it moving) The "water" is done with green stuff that i pressed a dremel tool into to get the wave effect.
as for the yellow, i built up to yellow with Vermin Brown, then Vomit Brown, then Bleached Bone, then Golden Yellow, then some brief striations with some silver(Boltgun Metal) and finally a light black wash to tie it all together. also, the successive layers of color are thin and inconsistent. I find that allowing the darker layers to show through a little ads to the depth of the final color and gives it a weathered feel.
sorry for all the words, off to think about which of my unpainted crews to finish next!
later,
pryme