Malifaux Pigpen bases

A few months back I was getting ready to make a lore video about Ulix, but I needed to put together bases for the crew to make them look presentable. I had already based Ms. Gracie in a busted up pig pen style base, so I decided to make a whole crew to match that.

I got together all of the bases I need to do the whole crew… it’s quite a lot.

I wanted to have a mix of things you might find in a pig pen, broken wooden fence and/or signs, and some chicken wire type fences. All of which should look broken and haphazard, the pigs in Malifaux are not known for their calm demeanors.

So I got together some of the random stuff I have laying around for such projects. Lolipop sticks, tongue depressors, coffee stirrers, some wire mesh that im not sure that its actually meant for, and some plastic tubes and rods.

I started sticking together pieces of wood in different configurations. The nice thing about working with the bayou is that nothing should look nice or neat. Plank of wood hanging off the fence? No surprise. Giant pig sat on the fence and crushed it? That figures. Horrible demi god possessed your favorite piglet and caused it to burn with hellfire? Just a typical Saturday in Malifaux.

Ive never been to a pig farm, but in my head there’s some wire mesh fences, but also some of it sitting in bundles. I but the mesh into a size that seemed to make sense for the scale, and glued plastic bars on to make it look like supports. I then rolled some of it up in a bundle, and took a few off cuts and mangled them a bit. After all, if old major gets his tusks on a bit of metal, it will likely be much worse for wear when hes finished with it.

I decided that there wasn’t enough variety considering how many bases I need to cover, so I set out to add some accessories into the mix. I started looking at pictures of pig pens on google, and got a few ideas.

First, I started by cutting a styrene tube lengthwise, so that I had two C shaped channels. Then I covered the ends in card, and trimmed it down to size.

I was left with two enclosed channels, which make pretty decent looking feeding troughs for the piglets.

Big I hear you asking “But Mr. DD, how does the slop get to these troughs?” Well my friend, in the world of Malifaux they have a wonderful technology, brought to them by the wise mages of yore. They are known by many names, but most people like to simply call them: buckets.

Theres probably an easier way to make a tiny bucket, but I was in a hurry so I just decided to wing it. I cut some pieces of balsa wood into small slivers that would make up the slats of a wooden bucket. I then used blue tack to stick the slats down, making sure to keep them at an inward angle so that the bucket would widen at the top. I glued all of these slats together, and then stuck some card on the bottom.

Would these buckets hold water? Almost certainly not. Would the gremlins notice or care? Almost certainly not. Mission success.

I was going to try to figure out how to make a handle for the buckets, but then I remembered that my Ulix actually broke the handles off his buckets after he got into a fight with his cousin over some bacon bits. Thats definitely what happened. I didn’t just make that up so I wouldn’t have to fiddle with little wires and try to attach them to a 5mm tall piece of wood. Nope.

Also I made a half bucket that will look like its sunken into the mud. Same steps as above, except half the slats.

My favorite part of projects like this, putting everything together. Right now it just looks like a bunch of crap on black bases, but if you squint a little and have had a few shots of your best gremlin shine, then you can probably see where we are going. Of maybe you’re too busy running away from the bayou gators… thats understandable.

You know that scene in the Matric where neo says “Guns, lots of guns” and then all the guns whoosh by him? Well the Gremlin version of that is “Boomsticks, lots of boomsticks” and then a bunch of much shittier guns fly past them. But it would be much funnier if they said “Mud, lots of mud” and then a bunch of mud splashed down all over everything.

I guess what im trying to say is that these bases been mud. So i grabbed some Vallejo mud texture paste, but its too orange and not gritty enough, so I added some medium sized sand, and some dark brown paint. After mixing, it looks pretty gross. Perfect for Gremlins.

Splash it on the bases. Not carefully. I channeled my inner kindergartener with finger paints.

Except for the base rims, don’t get stuff on the base rims. Thats a big pet peeve of mine.

After the paste dried, I hit all of the mud with a dark brown wash to make it look juicy. Then I did a light drybrush with a medium brown. It’s important not to go over board with the drybrush or it will make the mud look dry. Which is no good. Cuz its mud… should be wet.

I hit all of the wood with a lighter brown so it stands out from the mud, and then covered in a wash as well. The troughs got a gray base and a light gray drybrush. I wasn’t sure what they should be made out of so I decided to paint them up like stone. I don’t know how the gremlins would have shaped a stone like that, but there’s a lot we don’t know about their culture.

Then I added a few little details, like this sign.

You see its funny, because Ulix has a dog. While I wouldn’t want to fight Penelope (shes a good girl) he also breeds giant war pigs that are as big as a horse and have huge tasks and a very bad attitude.

But beware of dog.

You see jokes are always funnier if you explain them in minute detail…

And for my last trick, I stuck all the models down on the fresh bases. Not my fanciest looking crew, but for the amount of time it took be to get it all done, im pretty happy with it.

It can be pretty tricky to make sure the models fit on the bases when you put so much stuff on them. I might recommend planning things out a little before you just slap it all down and start painting.

Note for Gerry: I know there are significant gaps in the joins on some of the pigs. Im going to go back and fix it after, but I left them there for the pictures just for you 🙂

And all of this was in service of making a lore video for Mr. Ulix. He’s one of the more interesting Gremlin characters, he’s kind of a grumpy old man who cares more about his pets than other people. Now he might be getting more into the mix of the larger story now that the Burning Man has shown up.

Turns out, Wyrd had plans for some new piggies to go in the Ulix crew, in the form of the new title box. It comes with some Ulix cavalry, he riding his very own demon style porker, and a furry skelley pig that shares a keyword with Titania. I obviously need matching bases for these models, but luckily I anticipated this conundrum and made the necessary extras when I did the set. Now ill just have to paint these friends up and take some new family photos.

I had some time over the weekend, so I decided to finish these boys up. I love Ulix riding his burning man tainted pig Honey. Really cool model. And the Boar is a good one too. Who wouldn’t love a pig skelly chia pet?

I have to fix a few of the other pigs, and then Ill get them all out for another family portrait.