"Sealing bases" Topic

So what is the best method for sealing a base after it has been flocked? Another spray of matt finish or a varnish layer followed by the finish.

Without putting something, other than glue, onto the base flocking, I know bits and bases of flocking are going to come loose till its all gone eventually.

I paint the base sprinkle the flock on.
Then when dry I use a watered down PVA solution with a drop of fairy liquid in it to seal.
This is applied with an eye dropper.

Actually . . . losing a little here and there is OK. Actually improves the look

But I don't flock the entire base. I use white glue and affix figures and parakeet gravel with maybe some leaf litter and very small pebbles. Then I paint the entire base in a yellow/brown. Lastly I strategically daub white glue here and there and apply static grass or similar products. You can also add some black RR ballast for contrast in places. But . . . I never seal the basing stuff. Let it wear as it will. Unless you actually wear through to the base, there's enough stuff to keep it looking good even if you lose a little here and there.

mjc

Well, I flock the entire base (some railroad ballast, a little brown flock, then static grass). I paint the base olive green and lay down the flock while the paint is still wet. Then I spray the whole base (miniatures and base) with Testors Dullcoate to seal it all in.

Well this is what I have done so far.

I have 6 stands of 10mm Pendraken Union troops. I based them on dark tan poster boards cut to proper size.

On my first attempt, I used a stick to stir on Elmers Glue-All between the various figures. The figures are mounted very close together. Then I took some gray, very fine dirt I collected out in the woods and sprinkled it on the bases. Then I sprinkled some light grey/whitish cat litter for rocks. Let dry a bit. Then spread more glue in open areas and sprinkled blended green turf. Worked but not great. In particular, sprinkling the dirt over the figures left them heavily dusty. Not too much of a problem with Union troops but maybe not so good for other types.

Next stand, I put a solid layer of cat litter on first, then dirt and finally the green flock. A little better results but the dirt has to go.

Next stand, a solid layer of cat litter, let dry and then apply patchs of green flock. Much better and troops are still clean.

This next stand, I am using the last method but going to paint some of the open area cat litter with Americana Mississippi Mud.

One thing I am noticing is that as the glue dries, it shrinks up leaving gaps exposing the dark tan base. I would rather have better coverage.

Paint, seal, then glue the flock onto the base.

miscmini, has it, any other way and, particularily with static grass, fibres will be sealed onto the figures(s) no matter how much they are brushed down. In my experience anyway.

I paint the base first then using watered down PVA glue I press the flock into the glue and wait a short while.

After five or so minutes I will lightly shake the base to dislodge any loose bits and then let it dry. Once dry I use a small brush to dislodge the rest of the loose hairs and then coat with Woodland scenics scenic cement spray – this is like very watered PVA in colour but smells different and separates over time.

Once this is dry a simple varnish to finish the figure and I'm done.

Andrew
blog.kings-sleep.me.uk

I don't varnish the figure until the base is finished, which includes static grass and/or flock attached with thinned PVA glue.

I give it 2 spray coats gloss varnish, then spray a layer of Testors Dullcote, then with a brush, spot paint gloss varnish on any areas that need to be shiny, like metallics, water, sometimes eyes or inside of the mouth.

This isn't perfect but is pretty good at keeping the static grass on the base. These days I most often paint my bases brown and apply the static grass in patches, so if a little comes off, the base looks fine.

I've experimented with adding a second layer of diluted PVA on top of the flock but can't work out a method I like for static grass. I do it for scale gravel and scale rocks (e.g., model railroad ballast), and they never come off any more.

I don't seal the static grass, some comes off but I don't think it matters. I doubt I'd ever get anything finished if I worried about it too much either.

Well I think I have the results I was hoping for. With my final batch of Union troops, I did the standard white cat litter as the base and allowed to dry. Then I went very heavy with the glue and poured on the blended grass turf. The heavy clumps of glue seems to have resulted in clumps which when coated with the blended grass turf produces a very nice result. A fair amount of the white cat litter is still exposed as white rocks. Looks pretty good. I will look at again tomorrow and if still good, I will start basing some Saxons and my AWI troops.

One aggravation with the heavy Elmers glue is that it tends to run. Running is a partial benefit because I can rotate the bases to move the glue into hard to get spots. But the negative is that it is a real mess and will drop off the base onto my table. Heavy globs of Elmers glue runs a little too easily. Are there any substitute glues which tend to run less than Elmers glue?

The next good, low humidity day, I am going to dry sealing the entire base, troops and flocking with Krlyon Matt Finish. Hopefully, that finish will add a final sticking cohesion to the flocking.

Some people use superglue to apply flock, though I hate the stuff so I don't recommend that method.

I generally thin the glue I use for flocking; I start with a 50/50 mix water/glue but keep it pre-mixed in a squeeze bottle so it probably varies some over time.

I apply it with an old brush; usually I can get it exactly where I want it.