Nice and easy snowy bases

The next model on my painting list is a Chaos lord so I wanted to give him a slightly more elaborate base. Nothing too fancy, he has to fit in with the rest of the army, but I didn't want to leave it to the end, like I do with regiments.

I didn't take step by step photos, but here's a brief description of the process. I took some cork (from wine bottles) and made slices. Three of these were cut to size and glued on to the base at positions where pins would be inserted. The rest of the rocks are pieces of slate from my garden. There is a mix of slate and cork purely because the latter is very easy to drill through to hold the pins.

The earth I make by mixing pva glue and sand together into a paste, a bit more fluid than toothpaste is the best way I can describe it. Smear this on with an old brush. Let the whole thing dry.

The rocks are painted with greys, gradually adding in whites and drybrushing lightly to pick out the textures. Then I dot on some greens and browns, to break up the mass of grey and give a more realistic finish. The earth is painted with a dark brown and lightly dry brushed with a mid brown. Nothing too fancy is required here because most of the earth is covered with snow.

When that's dry it's time to add the white stuff. I have found that adding water effect to snow flock gives a nice icey finish. Again, I mix it up into a paste, then smear it on with an old brush, then sprinkle on some fresh (unmixed) snow flock for a little sparkle.

That's all there is to it. Like I said, nice and easy, the way I like things to be.