BUILDING A HERDSTONE

MATERIALS LIST:
1" thick polystyrene
Textured paint
Ready-mixed Polyfilla
Sand, Gravel
Flock
Thick card
Cocktail sticks
TOOL LIST:
Modeling knife
Large Bladed knife
Steel ruler
Pen or Pencil
Cutting Mat
Large Brushes
White glue
The herdstone is at the heart of Beastmen culture, forming a focus for gatherings of the tribe. As
such, it makes a great piece of terrain to add to your collection if you have a Beastmen army. We
asked Mark Jones, who built the herdstone for the Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos book, to tell
us how he made it.
Starting Out

Mark out three rectangles on the sheet of polystyrene, each measuring 8cm wide and 20cm high.
Cut them out with the long bladed craft knife, making sure to cut away from yourself to avoid
accidents. Before you glue the rectangles together, insert three cocktail sticks into the middle
rectangle, and then through each rectangle as you glue them on. This will help hold them in place
while the glue is drying. When glued together, the three rectangles will form a single block, about
8cm square.

The Basic Shape
With the herdstone taking shape, you can begin to add the worn ledges that cover its surface. Start
making some roughly horizontal cuts.

Then carefully cut downwards to meet the horizontal incisions. To produce a more chiseled look to
the ledges, dont cut the line exactly vertical. Allow it to go deeper into the face of the stone. Repeat
this over the surface of the herdstone, to give it the appearance of being roughly hewn.

Detailing the Herdstone
The herdstone itself has a few additional details, such as Chaos star symbols and alcoves that
contain the herds war trophies. To cut Chaos symbols and signs into the surface of the
herdstone, start by drawing on the symbol with a pencil, then deepen and widen the design
with a small craft knife, so that the detail isnt lost when you apply the textured paint later on.
To make the alcoves, begin by drawing the shape of the alcove on the herdstone, then slowly
pick away the polystyrene with a small craft knife.

Making the Base
The alcoves are now complete, ready to accept the trophies of the herd. Carving of the stone
complete, its time to move on to the base.
Cut a base for the model from the thick card. The base should be slightly larger than the
width of the herdstone itself. Glue the stone to its base with white glue. When the glue is dry,
fill any gaps with Polyfilla. Once the filler has had time to dry, paint the herdstone and base
with textured paint to give it a rough, stone-like surface. Finally, paint the base of the
herdstone with white glue and sprinkle sand and gravel to give the base a rougher texture.

Painting the Herdstone
Undercoat the model with Chaos Black spray, then paint the entire model with Dark Flesh
paint. The Dark Flesh layer will give a slightly more natural feel to the rock as later layers are
added. With the first layer dry, begin to lighten the colour of the stone by drybrushing it with
Codex Grey. Add some Bleached Bone to the Codex Grey for the next stage. Apply the paint
like the last layer but, this time, avoid painting into recesses and shadowed areas.
Mix in a little Skull White for the final highlight, and then its time to define the ledges a
little more. Use a mix of Chaos Black and a small amount of Dark Flesh drybrushed into the
recesses of the shelves to add shade. Finally, streak the edges of the ledges with Skull White
to give it the appearance of a rock.
Finishing Up
With the stone painted, feel free to cover the base of the herdstone with Chaotic runes and fill
the alcoves with skulls. Paint the base of the model and glue flock to the edges with white
glue to suit your gaming table.
When youve finished building your own herdstone, you could just add it to your gaming
table as normal, but as a Beastmen general theres no reason why that should be the end of it.
The Beastmen decorate their herdstones with trophies from their defeated enemies, so why
not do the same? Simply glue on a new trophy from your defeated enemies to commemorate
battles fought during a campaign.