To be forthright: I’m one of those dirty heretics who thinks Return of the Jedi is the best of the Original Trilogy. I know, I know, it introduced the Ewoks and I know, I know, if you really think about the Jabba’s Palace scene it appears that absolutely none of the main characters had any idea what they were doing. But that’s not important!

Leia and Han’s assault on the shield generator is one of my all-time favorite set pieces, so even I’m a little surprised it took me so long to post a quick primer on creating an Endor base.

Without further ado, here’s what you’ll need:

Vallejo Earth Texture

Citadel Agrax Earthshade

Grass flocking

Shrubbery

Super Glue

Craft Glue

(Optional) Twigs and rocks from actual Earth

(Optional) A knife

1) Creating the Foundation

As always, we’ll begin with a prime. The color doesn’t matter. Once that’s dry, put a generous helping of the Vallejo Earth Texture (or your personal favorite) over the entirety of the base’s top. We want this to be thick and amorphous.

Chop a good chunk off your twig first – mine was about a quarter inch across (roughly a foot in 1:44 scale). Stick it in the still-wet texture, and perhaps scatter a few tiny pebbles nearby as well.

As the texture is halfway done drying, you can take your Stormtrooper or Rebel Trooper’s foot and press it in firmly to create footprints for a small path.

Once the texture is fully dry, coat the texture in Agrax Earthshade to give it that good muddy look.

As a final little touch, I used a knife to split the twig down the middle, as if it had been hit by AT-ST blaster fire. I love dynamic bases (like with my Scarif ones) and I think this is exactly the kind of touch that will make your minis stand out on the table.

2) Accessorizing

There are a few final things we can do to make the base actually feel like Endor now.

First, let’s take care of the greenery. Water down some craft glue and use an old, thick brush to lay it down on the earth texture where you want the grass to go. As you can see, I created a small footpath and didn’t cover the whole base in flocking. Once the glue is down, sprinkle the grass on and then tap gently on a surface to get the excess off, then let it dry.

I’m a big fan of Gale Force Nine and Army Painter scenics, but use whatever you’re most comfortable with! We’re not going for extreme accuracy here.

Next you’ll want to take some of your shrubbery and place it next to the twig and around the edges to mimic the overgrown Endor forest. This will give a bit of height to your base as well, making it look even better.

Finally, I did some light painting on the twig to sell the idea that it had been hit by an AT-ST. I did an initial coat of red and yellow on the top, splintered parts, then did a heavy black drybrush around the edges and on top of the red and yellow to sell a scorched, still smoldering feel.

And there you have it! A dynamic, colorful base for your Endor troops to relive Return of the Jedi.

Happy painting, Commanders!