Coryphee Base - A make it up as I go adventure.

[WWHSD]

I just picked up a Coryphee box and want to make bases thay allow me to use the same models for the Duet that I do when they are seperate. I saw a really cool base gadget on by Custom Meeple but I’m too impatient and two cheap for the shipping from Europe.

I figured I try to make something similar myself. I’ve got medicore hobby skills, really no specialized tools, and the closet I’ve come to doing anything like this in the past is driving tiny nails into some Steam Arachnids and putting some magnets in green stuff. This isn’t any sort of guide or tutorial and is a work in in progress. I’m putting it here so maybe someone can learn from the mistakes I make.

The first thing I noticed about the Coryphee is that they have dainty little ballet dancer feet that are too small for magnets and that I’d probably destroy if I tried to pin. I figured that some sprue would help me create a more stable connection point and one that could hold a magnet.

I drilled out a hole in some sprue and glued in a magnet.

 

I trimmed down the sprue and used plastic glue to attach it to the feet of the two Coryphee.

 

I superglued some craft sticks to create a framework on the base. I used a piece of sprue to make sure that the spacing was right. I’m think that wood will help give some structure to the green stuff that I am planning on covering the base with.

 

I think the next step is to put some magnets in the bases and use some sprue to create sockets that the models will fit into.

[WWHSD]

I cut some more sprue and glued in some magnets. I was going to drill into the base so that the magnet was flush. I realized that the green stuff is going to add a little height to the top so I skipped the hole drilling. To make sure that I didn’t screw up the polarity, I stuck the magnet to the magnet in the foot of the Coryphee, put a drop of glue on the new magnet and pushed it into place until it set.

 

At this point I’ve got some pretty ugly bases that functionally do what I need I want them to.

 

Next step is to bust out the green stuff and pretty things up.

[WWHSD]

I’m doing the bases one at a time at this point to keep from making the same disastrous mistake on all of them. 

I cover the top of one of the bases woth green stuff and trried to keep it out of the socket as much as possible and then I used my stamp to put a pattern on it. 

Without the lip of the base to constrain the green stuff, the edges came out a little sloppy. I also needed to spend a lot of time cleaning out the socket and shaving the edges of it away with my xacto knife after the green stuff hardened.

 

 

The peg of sprue that I attached to the Coryphee foot doesn’t sit flush with the top of the base. I don’t think it will be very noticable once I get some paint on everything.

 

On the next base I’m going to try filling in the socket with something to reduce the amount of cleanup required.

[WWHSD]

For the next bases I figured that building up the big spaces with green stuff giving it some time to cure and then covering everything with the layer of green stuff that I’d stamp would get rid of some of the issues I had that cause the first base to come out a bit lopsided.

 

I filled the sockets with what was essentially blu-tac that isn’t actially blue. A solid filler might have worked better but this was quick to do, completely filled the gap and was fairly easy to get out after the green stuff hardened.

 

I should have take a picture after I had put on the final layer of green stuff and had it stamped. When stamped the green stuff cover up a lot of my white filler. However, it was easy enough to insert my xacto knife into the spots where the filler was visible and cut away filler and green stuff until I hit the solid bits of the frame work. I think I cleaned out the three remaining sockets in less time than it took me to clean out the one on my first base.

The green stuff came out a little little slopier than I would have liked. I think I over estimated how thick the green stuff was going to be and could have drilled into the base a bit before gluing in the magnet.

The end result seems like it will be functional and while it won’t win any beauty contests it should look okay on the table. I am curious how well the sprue peg on the Coryphee feet will hold up and I suspect I should probably put a couple coats of gloss varnish on the models after I paint them but before I hit them with my matte varnish for the added protect sonce they will probably get handled more than other models.

[lusciousmccabe]

They're looking good. Particularly tbe crouching one shows no signs of being modular.

If you wanted to hide the sprue/magnet a bit more one option is to sculpt a length of plank that slots into either base and stand the mini on that.

Also, good job on fixing the magnets correctly. Any time I try I end up with at least two magnets glued to eachother and/or me.

[Joachim]

Looks good, indeed the edges of the green stuff are a bit sloppy and make the wood seem less like wood.

To get the impression that its floorboard you need very straight and flat surface. I usually use balsa wood strips which I cut to size and scratch with a metal brush.

It gives a great effect. You need to use watered down wood glue to seal the wood though, in order to paint it. The only disadvantage is that it is more fragile, but I don't see any issues if it is just used like you would. 

I made a base for a cyclops where he is crushing a wooding path and planks are flying everywhere, it looks good, but it's quite difficult to transport.

Greetings, Joachim. 

[WWHSD]

Getting a little bit of paint on the bases seems to help with the slopiness, at least from arm’s length.

[WWHSD]

Something to file in the "Common sense isn't common" file: When putting magnets under the base that I use for my case, the magnets really, really, wanted to go directly underneath the magnets that were used to attach the Coryphee. I had to cut away the plastic underneath the base to place the magnet. I did notice that the hold on the model seems to be stronger with the larger magnet lined up underneath. 


 

[lusciousmccabe]

Starting to look real nice with some paint on.

How did you make the bases by the way? One of those putty rollers from Greenstuffworld?

[WWHSD]

1 hour ago, lusciousmccabe said:

Starting to look real nice with some paint on.

How did you make the bases by the way? One of those putty rollers from Greenstuffworld?

Thanks. 

I use stamps from Happy Seppuku. 

[lusciousmccabe]

Ah, the transatlantic equivalent.

If you want to avoid the shallow texture around the edge of the base next time just trim it a bit tighter to the recess in the base or stamp it on a flat surface and then cut it to size. It tends to happen with rollers (and I'd imagine stamps) when there isn't something firm to press against (because the lip of the base drops off) and the putty bends down instead of getting impressed upon.

What's your plan for painting? I actually really like their monochromatic look right now and how it highlights all the stitching/laces. Are you going to keep any of that in the finished model or use it all for undershading?

[WWHSD]

1 hour ago, lusciousmccabe said:

Ah, the transatlantic equivalent.

If you want to avoid the shallow texture around the edge of the base next time just trim it a bit tighter to the recess in the base or stamp it on a flat surface and then cut it to size. It tends to happen with rollers (and I'd imagine stamps) when there isn't something firm to press against (because the lip of the base drops off) and the putty bends down instead of getting impressed upon.

What's your plan for painting? I actually really like their monochromatic look right now and how it highlights all the stitching/laces. Are you going to keep any of that in the finished model or use it all for undershading?

I usually use the lip on the base to keep it clean but since I built the base up it was higher than the lip since I I had nothing to constrain it.

I prime in black and drybrush in bone before I paint and that's where these models are now. I know the super pro-technique is zenithal priming but I find that the dry brushing makes it easier for me to pick out the details and I don't paint well enough to be bothered with trying to paint a consistent and realistic lighting source. It's funny that you mentioned that you liked them, I was excited to try them out so took them to my FLGS last night and someone in our Malifaux group mentioned that he like the paint job. I might be misquoting him but he said they looked like "some sort of creepy toy someone uncovered in an old attic". 

It almost makes me want to do an entire Collidi (or maybe Dreamer) crew that looks like this.

Most of my Colette crew isn't finished. They are taking me forever to paint. I'm not used to doing brighter colors that I don't want to look grimy. I still need to finish the highlights and picking out some of the details on these models, but I was planning on doing the Coryphee to fit in with these. I was thinking maybe a vibrant blue on one and green on the other. Cassandra's in red, Colette is in purple, and Angelica is in red with a purple boa.

  

 

After hearing the same thing from you and a player in my local group., I'm tempted to just leave the Coryphee as they are. Maybe try to give their claws a bit of a metallic gleam. I might try priming something white and dry brushing with black to see if it gives a similar effect. Have one light Coryphee and one dark. 

[lusciousmccabe]

Crew look nice. Bright colours came out well and all the details are picked out very tidily, so I'd say your method worked. 😀

Zenithal priming is about as professional as a buying a second can of €2 spray paint and missing most of the model with it. 😀 It's essentially the same as what you're doing with the drybrush using a different method. It can help with lighter colours since some of the model is white or grey, but it'll only get you so far in terms of directional lighting in my experience.

I'd say with the coryphee you could nearly do a light glaze of a spot colour (maybe a dark blue), put on the metallics and call it a day. They look pretty striking as they are but monochrome often looks better with some hint of colour included and the rest of the crew is quite colourful.

I'm not sure how black over white drubrushing would work. Never seen it done so would be interested to see how it turns out!