Step-by-step tutorial for making your own paint rack

Here's a quick step-by-step on how to make your own paint rack from foam core or foam card.

First step is to get the dimensions correct.

I mostly use Vallejo and Scale 75 which are similar size dropper bottles. You need to measure the height and width of the dropper bottle. 

Vallejo are 25mm wide and 78mm high. The width of each shelf should include the width of the dropper bottle plus the width of your foam core, the type I have used is 5mm thick so each shelf will be 30mm wide as a minimum. Citadel colours are quite a bit wider so please don't use the measurements for citadel paints.

The height of each shelf is high enough to see most of the bottle so I went for 60mm high, bear in mind that the back board of each shelf sits on top of the 30mm shelf. You can have taller back boards if needed but I like to see most of the dropper bottle label. A higher back board will provide extra security if the paint rack is accidentally knocked too.

I then marked out a stepped design, enough for 5 rows of paint, the first row will stand on the surface of your painting area and will rest against the back of the first step. I then repeated this design for 3 more sections.

The next step is to cut out the shelves and back boards. You'll need 4 shelves at 30mm wide and 5 backboards at 60mm wide. The length of your shelf is entirely up to you but for this rack I measured them at 350mm. This will typically hold 14 dropper bottles on each shelf.

Begin costruction by gluing the shelves onto the stepped sections using a quick drying PVA to speed things up. To hold in place use panel pins or snip some paper clips into straight lengths and use them like nails, pushing through the shelves into the stepped sections. I've spaced the sections at 110mm intervals to even out the load bearing.

Once the shelves have dried, start adding the back boards which rest on the shelves. Glue along the length and also the upright part of the stepped sections. Use pins again to hold in position.

Once all the back boards are glued, leave to dry.

It fits with my exisiting rack so that's good news lol.

I used a rattle can primer and gave the rack a couple of coats. Add your dropper bottles.

As I said earlier the length of the rack is entirely up to you but I'd advise you to work in sections and keep adding to it. As long as you keep a record of the measurements you used, everything should fit together nicely.

Showcase for 2019 part 2

Next up was lot of old metal Bane mercenaries and thugs but I forgot to take some pics so I'll update very soon

King Shark struck me as a surfer so I decided to do something a bit different and made a custom base.
The surf board was made from a pice of foam core and then filled with plaster around the sides and smoothed off. The wave is a piece of acetate heated with a hairdryer into a curve and then I started applying water effects  tinted with thin paint in sections towards the top of the wave.

And on his normal base...

Ravager came with 2 seperate heads. About 90% of this was done with an airbrush.

I seem to be using an airbrush quite a lot lately. All airbrush apart from the facial details and legs. There is a step-by-step available for this under June 2019.

DCU's Martian Manhunter

Another character from the Dark Knight Rises box set, really enjoyed this one.

Next up is an old version of Poison Ivy. I used a green base for the skin and worked up to a flesh tone.

Jared Leto Joker Crew from the Suicide Squad box set.

The updated Heath Ledger Joker from the Dark Knight Rises box set

It's a far superior sculpt from the first version.

I also did a 2 part painting tutorial for him.

Part 1

https://youtu.be/VivTOCWbl0Q

Part 2

 https://youtu.be/bYPH_IOar9M

Board Sections part 3

Once the plaster is dry sand it until you get a relatively smooth surface but don't take too much off the surface as you need some depth for the next stage.
Mark out a paving grid and then score into the lines to create grooves between the paving slabs.

I skipped taking photos of the process of adding the lines to the road but luckily I had pictures from a previous project that used the same process.

If your road surface colour needs a touch up after the plaster stage, do it now.

I made a dotted line stencil using paper, try and keep the lines evenly spaced. If you want a straight line just use masking tape.

I stippled on white paint and was left with a pretty good result after removing the stencil.

The man holes were drilled out using a 30mm drill bit. These are purely for display and will not be active in the game.
 

For straight lines I used masking tape.Apply one strip close to the curb and another running parralel but with about a 5mm gap in between. Stipple in between the strips with yellow being careful not to get any on the road surface and then remove the masking tape.
 

A friend of mine was kind enough to design a manhole cover for me and printed them on 3mm acrylic, 30mm in diameter.

I painted them with Citadel's Warplock Bronze mixed with Mournfang Brown.

Continue around the board until all the lines are done. Using a large 1" brush I drybrushed a light grey over the road surface and then again with some white added and concentrated this layer towards the centre of the road. For added effect I applied a burnt umber pigment to the road either side of the dotted lines and then patches of soot pigment.

Back to the plaster now. I applied a thin coat of light grey to the paving slabs followed by a darker wash to the grooves and cracks.
 

The slabs were then coated with a medium grey, again very thin, then dusted with the same pigments used on the road surface.

I used some course sawdust for debris on the road side. Use watered down PVA amd apply some near the curb and the first yellow line then scatter the sawdust onto the road away from the PVA and then blow or brush it towards the glue. 

Leave to dry.
 

Step-by-step tutorial for big bases

If you have the recent Dark Knight Rises box you'll notice that the Batmobile and Military tumbler's come with large oval bases. If you need more large oval bases Games Workshop just happen to make the same size (120mm x 92mm).

This is a step-by-step guide on how to makke them look cool.

Here's what you will need.

Obviously you can choose your own grey paints but as long as you can make a few different shades, that's fine. I got the textured paint from B&Q (local hardware store). The brush was from Hobbycraft under the decoupage section. The stencil came from Multiverse Gaming but there's nothing stopping you making your own from thin card.

Spray the bases with the textured paint and leave overnight to dry, try to get a nice even coverage.

Prime the bases with you preferred primer. I like using Halfords spray primer.

I painted the base using Vallejo's Dark Bluegrey then marked out the lines using some thin masking tape and stipple on the yellow using the stiff brush.

Remove the masking tape

Using some sponge from an old blister pack I applied a 50/50 mix of Dark Bluegrey anf Heavy Bluegrey and left to dry. Remember to remove the excess paint by dabbing it on a paper towel first. This will give you an idea of what kind of patterns you can create with the sponge so you will know where to dab it on the base.Use the same piece of spong to apply some Heavy Bluegrey to your liking.

The next stage if so wish is to add some pigments and litter. I found a couple of images online of newspapers and shrinked them down then printed them off.

Mix some PVA glue with some water and Agrax Earthshade in a pot or empty blister pack. Cut the newspaper out and leave them soak for about a minute in the PVA mix.

I then used some tweezers to lift them out of the pot and scrunch them up before placing them on the bases.