Its a great time, but yeah it unfortunately takes a bit of money. There is a lot of people out there trying to seperate you from your cash though with snake oil of little value. A lot can be done on a budget, but yeah you will probably be disapointed if you dont have the budget you want.

This base is actually just sawdust mixed with housepaint (you can usually get test pots for a couple bucks), and 3d printed gems (very cheap if you already have the equipment, but not exactly cheap to source otherwise)

good luck