"can you drill through vallejo pumice? also corn field help " Topic

Hey folks!

Short version: can you drill through (like with a hand drill) Vallejo ground pumice (or similar product)? I want to cover a base with it and then drill holes into it, mainly because the other way around is too fiddley.

Long version:

I'm about to embark on making some cornfield bases using the ‘cut the christmas pine stem and put it into a base with predrilled holes' method. The name needs work. : )

Seems most people do this with square bases, and put large amounts together to form fields that soldiers can walk through by pulling up the bases in the right spot. My plan is little different; I'll use circle bases and just have enough to give the impression of a field on a ‘field like' ground section. Much like for forests; have a large bean shape the color of the forest floor with a bunch of free standing trees on it that can be moved as desired.

My plan is to use large circle bases from litko, (because I'm not able to cut the wood myself), probably 40 or 50mm. I have the pine stems / corn stalks.

BTW: at first I got 20mm diameter pine stems from HobbyLobby but these look too big around, so I was going to trim them but then I read online that there were 12mm diameter ones, so I ordered some of those. Have yet to arrive but I think that was a good call.

I was gonna cover the bases with the ground texture and then drill the holes, because it sounds too complicated to drill the holes first and then put texture around them but! I use concrete patch for my miniature bases because I like the grit, it's cheap, and it gives weight to the bottom of the model, but does not look like I can drill through it. It's very hard (it's like concrete!).

So I need something else for ground cover and I was gonna invest in some Vallejo ground pumice but had the same concern. So I need some specialized knowledge please that only TMP can provide; Anyone know if Vallejo ground pumice is too hard to drill through?

And any other hints and tips about making cornfields is appreciated.

It is not to hard to drill through, but be aware that it may 'chip' when you drill through. And it's a tedious project to drill all those holes.

My suggestion, for what it's worth is to drill multiple at a time and then pumice the base. When the pumice is just about dry, poke the holes clear of pumice with a piece of wire or the likes.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes!
Rob

Hi

do you have a drill press/ If you do you can drill a whole stack of bases at once. Also if you dont have a drill press. Check you local area for a wood working shop and they may be able to point you to a local club with one.

I did this with square bases-so admittedly different. I'm not sure I see the purpose to the pumice, which adds a step and may look cool, but definitely is a complication that nobody is likely to notice.

Other material you might consider would be Liquitex modeling paste, the plain stuff, which you may find to be cheaper than the Vallejo stuff. Available at Michaels, not terribly expensive with a coupon. Liquitex also has a pumice material, which is likely to be cheaper in a larger quantity than Vallejo. The Liquitex material is acrylic and dries quickly.

Skip the pumice/grit/sand. Just put the corn close together and paint the base dark brown. You can do the edges that show. Much easier and no one will ever notice the interiors either way.

i hear the wisdom and i agree. I'll skip that step.

i don't have a drill press, more's the pity. i'm gonna have to clamp each one and just drill the holes, i was thinking in a random pattern. it a project i'm thinking might take awhile….

thanks for the advice everyone.

-Stew

Corn was planted in rows, so don't worry about trying for random placement, just make a rough paper template, stack up a few bases and drill through the lot. Repeat as needed.

as I didn't have to worry about the extra step, I went ahead and ordered the bases for Litko, I went with 50mm rounds that are 3mm thick as that will match my troop bases (that are also 3mm thick) and give me enough depth to drill.

nice idea about the paper template.

thanks again. I'll be sure to report back with pictures.
I know everyone says that but I actually will.

-Stew

Mmmmm…cornfields. Well A completely different idea, not mine of course, but I got an indoor/outdoor rubber mat with some very dark material on it and it had nice looking grooves to simulate the straight/linear mounds where the corn would have been planted/grow. Got that from Ace Hardware. I cut out say 6" x 6" squares, drill a bunch of holes in the mounds and then plant my corn stocks. I use the same method of an old Christmas wreath cut down and trimmed to simulate the corn stock. When troops move through the field, the gamer would simply remove/pull out the stocks and lay down or remove…very simple, cheap to make and easy to store.

Works perfect for my F&IW games and the like.

Good luck!

P.

interesting idea..

I've been trying to find something suitable 'groovy' to make into plowed fields and am having a lot of trouble which surprises me.

I haven't been able to find a door mat that had small enough grooves for 15/18mm troops… they're all way to deep or the mat is too thick.

corrugated cardboard I can't get to work, I'm never able to peel off the top layer without ruining it.

carpet with ridges; too small, wrong color, tried to paint but didn't rally work.

corduroy; let me tell you of the trials I've had with corduroy. first went to every local place that sells fabric (Joanne's, Hobby Lobby).. and nothing there. so ordered some online. learned from that '14 wale' is not the right size and you can't even see the ridges and what you need is wide wale corduroy. tried to spray paint and then dry brush the ridges but it was all too soft. so just got my order for 6 wale mocha (as brown wasn't available) corduroy and the mocha is more like a tan, and still doesn't look right. might try painting again as the 'ridges' are indeed larger and more to scale.

plus the fabric is a little shinny, but I'm hoping some dulcote spray fix that.

however, I think what I'll end up doing is the ol' tested and true method of having some dark fabric, laying down rows of glue and sprinkling on flock.

while I was moaning there, I actually like making terrain, even prefer it to painting figures. it's all in the effort of making my ACW games look juuuust that much better.

but that's part of the reason why I'm moving onto the cornfields, as I've had enough of plowed fields for awhile.

: )

Cornfield progress!
So over the last week or so I've been chipping away at this project. Thanks again for input so here is a little update on how it's going.

Got the 12mm pine stems from Ebay for about $6. USD Starting cutting them about an inch long. Seemed a little short so it slowly crept up but as long as it was around an inch I didn't mind too much. I got 45 stems, each was a foot long. Lets say I got 11 out of each stem so that's 495 stalks.

It'd looked cooler if it was all in a pile but that was messy so I put them in ziplock sandwich bags.

When my order from Litko finally arrived I broke out the 50mm circle bases. I played around with some configurations of the corn stalks, and arrived that 14 per base looks about right. In rows of 3-4-4-3.
So before going all gung ho into mass production I put together a test piece. Drilled the holes in the base (it's much easier by the way to drill all the way through the base then to try to drill half way).
Spray painted it brown and glued in the stalkes, and it looks like this…

Not too shabby. Looks to be about the right height, maybe a little too long but then it'll be a good medium height between my 15/18mm and 28mm figures.

Now, when I think of a corn field, the colors that come to mind are yellow and green. So I had planned to use a yellow – brown moss mat for the base of my corn fields, as pictured below…

Something was jarring, not setting right. And to be honest, I don't like the dark brown base of the corn stalks on the yellowish mat. I tried my other shade of brown on another base as well which is also too dark. They look good on a dark brown fabric base, but that's not what I was planning. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS eh? I think I'll go back to the hardware store and get some yellow brown / tan / khaki spray paint for the bases and knock out another test, but I have a feeling that will make it come together. I also might tip the tops with some yellow paint.

Glad I put together a test piece. So with 495 stalks and 14 per base I should have enough for 35 bases. I order 50, so if I need more I can just order more stems (so far the cheapest component).
I would call this labor intensive in that it'll take time and effort, but not intense labor. Though it was sometimes hard to cut through the wire stalk…
But time and effort are often rewarding.

More updates to come, but I'll be posting over on my ‘what I did this week' thread over yonder.

TMP link

just to complete this thread, this is how they came out…

(looks better from father away….)

thanks again everyone for the advice!