Aristo | 20 Nov 2015 8:14 p.m. PST |
Just about every basing guide tells you to slip some craft/PVA glue on and dip the base in some sand, or ballast, or whatever you might be using. Easy-peasy, right? I must be unlucky because I always have grains that like to fall off, even after tapping off the excess. There's nothing more hair-splitting then getting set to drybrush the gravel on a base and the bristles jostle bits of sand off. How do you abuse-proof your bases? Ideally, everything will hold after a good coat of primer and basecoat, but sometimes that's not the case. |
tberry7403 | 20 Nov 2015 8:31 p.m. PST |
I use extremely thin white glue and water (sometimes with paint for coloring) and over load a large brush and gently dab it on the gravel. Once it dries it's rock hard. |
PaulCollins | 20 Nov 2015 8:39 p.m. PST |
Yeah, I give it a diluted glue coat too. It does the trick. |
Pedrobear | 20 Nov 2015 9:28 p.m. PST |
I brush Vallejo Red Brown Surface Primer over the sand. It forms a thin layer of plastic over it and is the right base colour. |
Ran The Cid | 20 Nov 2015 9:37 p.m. PST |
Paint the base and apply the sand. When dry, flood the sand with ink. I used to use GW inks, but these days its a mix of Future floor polish and paint. I avoid white glue after trouble with chipping. |
Ivan DBA | 20 Nov 2015 11:52 p.m. PST |
You guys are making this way too complicated. After the glue is dry, tap off the excess. Then paint the entire base with craft paint. You can make it faster/easier by diluting the paint, ideally with acrylic thinner, but water will do too. Then do the drybrushing. Done. Also, this looks much better than just drybrushing over the naked sand & paint. Aristo: go look at the painting guides you've seen again. I suspect most advise exactly what I do. |
Bashytubits | 20 Nov 2015 11:55 p.m. PST |
I use Ivan's method and it is as easy as he claims. |
Extra Crispy | 21 Nov 2015 12:20 a.m. PST |
I use Ivan's method but with an ink wash instead of the craft paint. I get an occasional loose crystal every now and again but nothing to get your panties in a bunch over. |
Grunt1861 | 21 Nov 2015 12:39 a.m. PST |
Watered down matte medium with a drop of dish soap and a bit of whatever ground color paint you want, flooded over the base will turn it into a concrete like substance. The color also fills up the crevices. This also has the advantage of giving dry brushing a bit more contrast and pop. |
Flashman14 | 21 Nov 2015 2:53 a.m. PST |
I simply white glue the ballast down before I prime the figure. Once I'm done painting the miniature I try to minimize time handling it to do the base. Plus the primer locks it all in nicely. |
GildasFacit | 21 Nov 2015 3:35 a.m. PST |
Add flow improver to the PVA and water it down to the consistency of skimmed milk. Apply generously and then add the sand, put loads on and leave it for a minute or two – that gives time for the PVA to coat the sand properly. Once dry I use a brush to remove the excess (quite a soft one) and a coat of dark brown, thinned craft paint plus flow improver again. Wicks easily into the crevices and coats the sand grains well. All sounds long winded but it goes on faster than you'd think and no worries about touching up or losing grains too often (always a few come off, can't be avoided). |
Hlaven | 21 Nov 2015 6:42 a.m. PST |
I use plumbers caulk applied with an old paint brush with no bristles left. Put my fig or figs bases in my ballast(either fine or course or a mixture) press it all into the base. Let dry. Cover in a dark base coat (watered down a bit) whatever color you choose. Let dry. Dry brush. Add grasses,foliage,or whatever to finish |
The Tin Dictator | 21 Nov 2015 8:07 a.m. PST |
Once the figure is painted and the base is flocked, I give it a generous coat of MinWax polyeurothane spray seal. Once that's dry nothing comes loose. |
Big Red | 21 Nov 2015 8:45 a.m. PST |
Mod Podge Matt is your friend. Already thinned and holds like, well, glue. |
Carpet General | 21 Nov 2015 9:37 a.m. PST |
I often use a white wall filler (Polyfiller in the UK) on my bases. Gives a nice textured paint ready finish. |
DyeHard | 21 Nov 2015 11:41 a.m. PST |
People have covered it pretty well. My solution is similar. Once dry, cover base with a sealer. For mass production you can fill a small container with the solution you will use to seal the base and lower the figure into it so that it just covers the base. You could just dip the entire figure in, but that risks getting flock, or sand, or whatever you used, stuck in odd places. Once dipped, place them on waxed-paper or a screen or similar to dry. My links are to Amazon just for ease of finding (not a recommendation as a source) For low cost sealing solution I suggest good old Future Floor Finish (Acrylic media with a flow agent built in). Now called Johnson Floor Care (in the US): link An alternative is to dilute Mod Podge (say 6 to 1) link And add some flow agent, the lowest cost is Jet Dry: link These same solutions can also be added drop-wise from above to a base. But expect some to overflow onto your work surface. |
Peithetairos | 22 Nov 2015 7:39 p.m. PST |
I propose an even simpler method: Get some sand from the garden and lighter pigments. Sieve the garden sand so that only the finest of sand remains. Heat in the oven to kill anything dwelling in it. Mix three different shades of sand. Apply the dry sand on your base, sprinkle with the other shades, add bigger stones here and there and then use Ak Gravel and Sand fixer (or your equivalent fixative)with a dropper bottle or syringe to fix it. When dry it is stone hard, still looks excatly how you applied it and does not require painting. Example of the look:
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