Saturday, 13 June 2020

Base Texturing


I know most people have their own way of doing this but, as I was texturing the bases on the Beja units this morning, I thought I'd explain my method, with a get out clause for teaching you to suck eggs.

1. Mix up the base texturing gunk in a small batch, otherwise you'll have loads left over:

70% filler (I use stuff called Bartoline Ready To Use Instant Filler, as I've found it to be the best)
20% Artists Acrylic Paste (this helps to bind it together)
10% PVA Wood Glue (go easy but the stickier the better)

If you want, you can also add some cheap earth brown acrylic paint to colour the mix at this stage (a 50:50 combination of raw umber and burnt sienna is a good all round shade to use)


2. Slap it all over the bases, in this case 1p coins, using a plastic spatula thing, which you can get from art shops for use with DAS clay and so on. It's a bit like icing a cake, so work around the base in a circle to cover the edges. Don't forget to cover over the figure base with filler and wipe around the edge of the coin with a finger to wipe off any excess.



3. Dunk the base in a mixture of sand and fine grit, shaking off any excess over the box. I find that a swirling motion in the sand helps to get a good coating over the base. You can give the figure a tap on the inside edge of the box to knock off any loose bits.


4. Using a wooden stick with an angle cut in the top or similar, tamp down the sand and grit into the mixture so that it is firmly bedded in. You can also remove any loose bits of sand or grit that have attached themselves to feet or legs (I have also cleaned up his face!)


5. Put the figure aside to dry. It usually takes about half an hour or so due to the PVA and acrylic paste helping to speed up the process. To be on the safe side, give it an hour before you slap on any paint.

Job done. 

I then spray undercoat the whole figure in a basecoat of Halfords Ultra Matt Camouflage Brown, which is why I haven't bothered to stain the mix with brown acrylic paint this time round.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Labels

Bag The Hun (852) Books (502) AK47 (499) Ironclads (492) Wings at War (415) Pre-Dreadnoughts (243) Back of Beyond (242) Coastal Warfare (225) Napoleonic Naval (200) Britain's Small Wars (199) Bolt Action (175) Victory at Sea (171) What a Tanker (171) Knights of the Sky (164) Target Locked On (163) MiG Alley (160) Chain of Command (149) Old West (147) Find Fix and Strike (138) Bag The MiG (126) Naval Thunder (120) Sandbox Skirmish (119) Naval Command (118) Air War Over Khalkhin Gol (117) Pirates (116) Indo China / Vietnam (114) Fistful of Lead (109) 15mm Sci-Fi / Near Future (95) Darkest Africa (91) VBCW (89) Strength and Honour (86) Continuation War (82) Ancients (81) Shows (79) ACW (77) The Football War (76) Corsairs and Cavaliers (71) Boardgames (67) France's Small Wars (67) Shipwreck! (66) BKC (65) Rapid Fire (63) Saurian Safari (62) Cruel Seas (60) Saga (60) Air War C21 (59) Journals (58) The Men Who Would Be Kings (58) Nimitz (55) Flashpoint Alto Cenepa (53) IABSM (53) International Naval Wargaming Day (53) Gladiators (51) Flashpoint Taiwan (50) Finest Hour (49) Red Actions! (47) Fortifications (46) Scramble for Britain (45) Flashpoint Baltic (42) Duel of Aces (41) War of the Pacific (40) Cold War (39) Flames above the Falklands (38) Thud Ridge (37) SCW (36) Desert Spitfires (35) Death in the Dark Continent (34) RCW (34) One Hour Wargames (33) Algernon Pulls It Off (32) Atlantic Wall (31) English Civil War / Anglo Dutch War Naval (31) Lion Rampant (31) Post Apocalypse (31) Iron Cow (30) Bag the Springbok (29) Mexican Revolution (28) Normandy Firefight (28) Full Thrust (27) Dreadnoughts (26) It Rolls For Ivan (26) 2mm English Civil War (24) Bulldogs Away! (24) Samurai (24) Jet Knights of the Sky (23) 28mm English Civil War (22) Imaginations (22) Achtung Kommando! (21) Arctic Eagles (21) Flashpoint PVO (21) Ancient Naval (20) PITS (20) Galactic Heroes (19) Steamer Wars (19) Strontium Dog (19) Iron Cross (18) Winter War (18) Aeronef (15) Aircraft (15) Imperial Commander (15) Rate of Fire (15) Zulus! (15) Aliens (14) Dragon Rampant (14) Black Ops (13) CY6 Jet Age (13) Congo (13) Mad for War (13) Impetus (12) Wars of Insurgency (12) Flashpoint Fleet Air Arm (11) Gaslands (11) 633 Squadron (10) Franco Thai Air War (10) Get the Goeben! (10) Jungle Green (10) Sharp Practice (10) 28mm Future Wars (9) Bohica (9) Dux Britanniarum (9) Fire in the Sky (9) HYW (9) Merry Xmas Mr Sankara (9) Adventures in Jimland (8) Bombers over Germany (8) Cry Havoc (8) French Indian Wars (8) Renaissance Naval (8) Star Wars Legion (8) Sword and Spear (8) Through The Mud and Blood (8) Air War Angola (7) Frostgrave (7) Target for Tonight (7) A Mighty Fortress (6) AirWar:1918 (6) Five Parsecs From Home (6) French Resistance (6) Check Your Six! (5) Five Men at Kursk (5) Fivecore Skirmish (5) Maurice (5) Seven Days to the River Rhine (5) Three Musketeers (5) What a Cowboy (5) Wings Over Suez (5) Arab Revolt (4) Corvette Command (4) In Her Majesty's Name (4) Infamy Infamy (4) Medieval Naval (4) Never Mind The Billhooks (4) Battletech (3) Gangsters (3) HOTT (3) Hind Commander (3) Lord of the Sea (3) Luft 46 (3) Mourir Pour l'Indochine (3) Sturmovik Commander (3) Whispering Death (3) Blood Red Skies (2) Chincha Islands War (2) Crom (2) Disposable Heroes (2) Fire and Steel (2) Fivecore Company Command (2) Iron Stars (2) Judge Dredd (2) Lethal Skies (2) NUTS! (2) No Go Zone (2) Pulp! (2) Starfighters! (2) War in El Dorado (2) A Billion Suns (1) Air War 1940 (1) Battlegroup (1) Black Powder (1) Convoy (1) Dropzone Commander (1) Falklands War (1) Harpoon (1) If The Lord Spares Us (1) Indo-Pakistan War (1) Lacquered Coffins (1) Load and Return (1) MiG Hunters (1) Missile Threat (1) Missiles at Sea (1) Naval Wargames Society (1) Norway 1940 (1) Oi Navarcoi! (1) Sea Wars Fleet Actions (1) Si Vis Pacem (1) Spanish American War (1) Sunray is Down (1) Ultracombat Normandy (1) Wars of the Roses (1) Xenos Rampant (1)