Flocking Movement Trays (with castle/ruins in mind)?

[Red Geist]

This is more a general advice kind of question, but how would I go about texturing the edges of my movement trays to match castle stonework or just general stone ruins? All of my army is based on custom grey stone bases, many of which are modeled to have damage or rubble of some sort. I tried making stones out of putty, but I'm not sure if that's the answer. I have a movement tray to do for a 50 block of spears, and have no interest to do all that putty work for a look that can better be executed in another manner.

[John Rainbow]

I actually find it better to do the sides of the bases in a contrasting color. My HE have a really original grassy them on their base... lol I painted the base sides black though as it helps the model stand out. I would think about doing the same before simply adding more of the same color to the sides of the base.

[Rexhavoc]

Hey,
I too use themed bases and like to show them off. I use Elven ruins overgrown ivory stone with lots of grass, roots, and moss. I then touch them up with Autumn leaves. I tried building movement trays to match these bases but found that it was a lot of work that I could be spending on models and it distracted from the bases. I eventually went the hidden sheet metal movement tray route and liked it much better. It's very cheap, quick, and easy to turn out trays of any size and shape. your bases become the centerpiece instead of the tray. Another advantage to magnetizing ur models and using metal trays is transport. I put sheet metal at the bottom of my transport bin and the magnets cling to the tray and the bottom of the bin holding everything in place.
As you remove casualties u may not want to see metal so you can paint the tray or if your magnets are strong enough u can cover it in thin stick-on felt of any color. I personally like the stick on felt because it doesn't chip off with use and it covers up and corners or sharp edges of the sheet metal.

John gave good advice and I agree. I find a different color on the sides of the bases makes them pop. The top of my bases are that Ivory stone and grass...etc but the sides are Graveyard Earth (old citadel color. Not sure what the new Equvilent is).

[John Rainbow]

Sorry I kind of missed the question a bit there! You could definitely sculpt some onto trays. I make my trays from a sheet of metal glued to a plasticard base sheet. I then glue some 1/8" balsa wood pieces on all sides of the tray. This could then be sculpted onto pretty easily.

Again though I tend to leave the sides black and only work on the top of the trays/bases.

[Red Geist]

Yeah using movement trays isn't the issue, it's creating the terrain effects on the border of those trays. How would I do it? is sculpting my only option?

[John Rainbow]

I would go for sculpting I think. You could try cutting out some small sections to look like the stones or whatever but I think sculpting is the best way. There are some companies that make trays with sculpted borders like Base X of War and a few others. Try google. You might also find some pre-sculpted bits like stones and bricks from a scenery company too. Model trains are sometimes a good place to look for stuff.