Basing my Lizardmen

 I wanted to have a tropical feel with a rich grass base with pools of water and spikey plants.

I usually base my models by placing them on the wet filler, a plastic based filler needs no glue and is almost instant, a sand based filler needs a little Copydex and left overnight to dry. 

The pools of water are rather simple. 

I left areas with no filler or scrapped it off, painted the flat area white, then some Ice Blue, any light blue will do, then Aethermatic Blue as a patchy finish, looking for a patchy algae bloom. 

Finally PVA glue twice, sometimes a with a 2nd coat of Aethermatic Blue between the PVA layers. I then painted the earth a medium brown as I intended to cover most of it I didn't do my usual Iraqi Sand dry brush.

I couldn't make my mind up if I was going to flock before or after I added the plants, in the end I did both but preferred the before. 

If you flock after doing the plants you may end up flocking the plastic and or leave bare earth under them. In temperate basing I think bare earth works, I didn't want it in my jungle bases I wanted rampant growth, but for the swampy light infantry units I wanted a little earth showing

Doing the plants - for sources look at Using plastic plants, sources and application

My spikes were made using elements from a Topiary ball, 

I used either elements 1 or 2 cutting off one part (3) then cut that in to three parts (4) or sometimes 2 by not cutting at 'a' to give me a taller piece.

I drilled 1mm holes to plant them, especially for the long pieces (at the back right in image).

However, if I wanted to achieve the short stubby spikey bits I had to drill 2mm and even 3mm holes to pull through all the stems so I only had the leaves. (Front and sides in the image.) 

Be very careful when drilling, especially with brittle 3D prints, fortunately the glue back together well.

I'd often start with a small size to lead the way, then use larger bits, testing the piece I wanted to pull through using large bits up to 3mm and usually using pliers to pull them through.

When I had the right size hole I'd use loads of superglue gel locating it amongst the leaves where they'd be squeezed together, look at the last image see all the plastic. Before I started doing this excess glue the elements were falling out.

When it was set, I'd cut off the pulled through excess and push in more super glue.

You'll be picking superglue off your fingers for a while, frequent washing during the process helps. 

Be very careful your gluey finger doesn't touch the painted model. I tended to do this a little at a time wondering if it was worth the effort.

Scenery using plastic plants, sources and application

My gaming skills are OK, dice rolls lucky, painting adequate, but I do get compliments for my scenery. It's not world class but in my peer group often complimented.

I've been asked how I make my scenery so I thought I'd show how I source and use the materials.

I use all the plastic plant material I can find but there are three basic targeted sources.

First - Aquarium shops/Plants where you can get special flooring/breeding plants that are placed on the bottom of the tank with a little grit to hide the structure.

On the right is a perfect example of this and you can see the plastic grid/frame (Red ring) to which the individual pieces/elements are attached together. 

In this instance the peg is the same width as a cocktail stick and you can just push the element on. Sometimes the element is the width of a wooden kebab skewer, so no real sourcing issues for the supports. Paint the wood before pushing on the element, glue if required (any).

As you can see it would make a palm tree or a fern depending on the scale.

Look around for suitable plants and as you can see they'll fit almost any scale. if you thread a second element it will double the canopy or make the bush bigger.

Second - Artificial Topiary balls, these are a magnificent supply and the bigger the ball the more elements you get. I find these in Pound Shops, I assume Dollar Stores would hold similar stock. Look for the right foliage for your scheme, though to be honest even mistakes can work. 

Here is a selection showing size variants, foliage variants and as you can see it's assembled the same way, elements on a frame. 

This composite image shows just a few of the possibilities.

These pegs are usually cocktail stick width too. Here is as example using the top left Boxwood topiary ball.

Third - Plants for train sets  I pick up complete mini plants, often with plastic pegs on the bottom, drill the right hole in your base and glue it in, cutting of the excess. 

I buy different sizes of Palm trees and grass bushes from Etsy and eBay, sellers are often on both and prices can vary. 

In fact I can get the Topiary ball there as well as the Aquarium plants, but I prefer to see before I buy those.

NOTE - The topiary balls and aquarium plant can be further broken up and planted individually using a 1mm or smaller bit. 

The three elements on the left consist of a ring for the securing it and four branches, these can be cut off and used individually, drill into a planted area and add a single stand for added texture.

For my Lizard men I got extreme and in these based command units I have used parts of the plant as shown in bottom right of above picture cut them into short lengths.

You can also see the single yellow flower element.

 Go to Lizardmen basing to see how i did the bases.

Final piece of advice is to mix the different pieces in together.

Different palm trees and grass bush sizes, as well as pieces from three different topiary balls.

Glue, generally  a little PVA to hold the cocktail stick into the base and a little of the same or Copydex to hold the plant.

Where you are gluing the plastic peg into the base, or small elements then I use Superglue Gel. 

Your fingers will get covered, work with care!

Read the "Alien Trees 2 6mm-15mm or 28mm Scrub" on how to paint the plastic

Index

Below are some links to my Scenery making blogs. I'll try to remember to add other links as I create them.

Alien Trees 28 mm
Alien Trees 2 6mm-15mm or 28mm Scrub - Talks about spray painting the plastic foliage
Cedar of Lebanon 28 mm - Home made giant tree for 28mm
Epic buildings from Blotz
Giant Cactus 28 mm
Industrial Scenery 28 mm

Jungle Terrain 10mm for the Lizardmen Army

Lizardmen basing
Jungle Terrain 28 mm

KandM Trees s8mm LOTR
Mechanoid Domes

If I forget to add them above you may find them in the Index Page under the heading Scenery 

Warg Riders - Removable Riders and with arrows.

Recently got into this old game again, I say old as I played it when it first came out in 2001 but I wasn't overwhelmed at the time even though I'd read all the books in the 1970 and many times since and even The Silmarillion twice.

Either the rules or I have changed sufficiently for me to pick it up and play and I've gone down the inevitable route of buying units to make a fighting force with a little extra so I can tweak for variety.

Having played a few games with friends and using proxy pieces, as well as original unpainted plastics I'd bought in 2001. (Is it really 23 years ago!😰) I decided I needed to assemble some forces, Minas Tirith and Mordor were obvious starters as I had the original ancient plastics.
I then purchased the Mordor  Battlehost box and started to assemble the wargs as a newbie player I'd managed a few game with proxy pieces before assembling my wargs. and learnt that either the rider or mount could continue alone and this is reflected in my assembly. 

I assembled the Wargs enlarging the hole to glue in a small magnet and painted them up.

Wargs undercoated and prepped with magnets 

Painting position

Then I painted the riders with their feet still on the sprue using Blu-Tack to attach them to my dowel stand.

When I'd finished I removed the sprue and tag that slots into the Warg, drilled a hole at that point glued in the top of a panel pin and voila, separateable riders and mounts, no need to buy spare Wargs.

Drilled a hole with a small 0.6mm bit using it to locate the position as I find I have more control and it gives the larger bit something to fix on. Also if it's not quite right you can alter the point of entry with the larger bit.

The panel pins I used have a 1mm shaft, a 2mm head slightly bevelled at the top. Using a 1mm bit I drilled into the prepared position and when that was deep enough a short way with the 2mm bit. As nothing is ever exact I used a 3mm bit to help counter sink the panel pin's head. I did this just using the bit with my fingers, a single turn is enough. Why not fix it in the drill? I feel it gave me more control, slowed me down and stopped it going too deep.

Ready for the panel pin.

Why a panel pin + magnet rather than 2 magnets? Well the pin will fit anywhere on the magnet, so you can choose the position of the model. A magnet would over-ride your choice and place it where it wants it. Oh and get the magnets the wrong way around and the opposite poles will reject any idea of placing them together.

Tools for the job

I also have a thing about Arrows, some models call out for them.

I used the small drill bit 0.6mm as my pins are 0.5mm wide I drill into the hand to create a hole for the arrow/pin.

I then push the sharp end into the hand, align it with the bow and cut off at the required length. This leaves you with a nice sharp arrow.

Remove the pin push the sharp end into BluTack paint twice. 

Apply glue to blunt end use that to dab glue on bow above fist then push blunt end into hole you drilled and push home with a block of wood, against the sharp end of the wood. I don't recommend pushing in with your fingers.

When secure paint the end of the pin with bolt gun or whatever your metal choice is.

If you look closely you might notice I have four types of Warg positions. In the box you only get two variants 'A' and 'B' did you know you could glue Left 'A' to right 'B' and Left 'B' to right 'A' swopping the sides?