"How I add grass to my figure bases" Topic

A few people commented on one of my threads in the Second World War forum asking how I applied grass and other texture to my figure's bases. They suggested it would make a good blog post, so in response, I've put one together with a step-by-step tutorial. Not sure if I'm doing anything particularly original but hopefully it's of use or interest to some. You'll find the blog post here: link

Magic!

I really wish TMP had more of these extremely useful modelling threads.

Excellent. One of the only times that I have seen static grass used effectively..

I employ a similar process. Instead of Miliput I use autobody scratch filler to blend the figure stand to a washer base. Sand works great but as an overall ground cover is too course. I sift my sand first with a spaghetti colander to remove pebbles which I apply sparingly. What goes through the colander is used just to fill around the pebbles. The rest of the sand is sifted through a 80 mesh screen that I got through a jewelry enameling supply co. (Riogrande.com). This is fine enough to simulate bare ground. I then paint the base with craft paint using 2-3 shades. I've never been satisfied with applying static grass directly to a base even with an applicator. Instead I make my own tufts on parchment paper and glue these to the base with CA glue in areas not covered by sand. This all takes some time, but works for me.

Excellent tutorial! Thank you

Mine is simpler.
Paint the base up to the feet with White Glue (Elmer's etc) or Wood glue.
I have an old Tupperware dish with various grades of model railroad "ballast", small pebbles, etc. I dribble them over the wet glue.
Then I place the base in another container with different colors and textures of flocking, model grass, etc.
my intent is NOT to "simulate" the Super Bowl, but the Great Outdoors.
Well, *I* like the look.
I'll disguise the metal sprue going from the ground to a raised horse's leg with moss or similar. Sometimes it looks good. Sometimes not.

Thanks for sharing. Very inspiring work on your site. I just learned several new techniques.

Great tutorial; thanks. Way too much work for me but the results are quite nice.

Joe

Lotta steps, yes, but looks good!

diluted at about 75:25 with water

Is that metric for "3 to 1"?

(about 9 parts water to 1 part PVA

Don't you mean "90:10", just to be consistent. All of this math and system conversions are a bit much for a hobby.

Teasing aside, thanks for a great tutorial!

I like the small barren patches; too often, I see figure bases with more sand showing than "grass."

Some of the bases with lots of sand, end up looking more like the Jornada del Muerto in New Mexico than Northwest Europe or central Virginia.

Grelber

Don't you mean "90:10", just to be consistent. All of this math and system conversions are a bit much for a hobby.

Teasing aside, thanks for a great tutorial!

Funny you should mention that, as I never (as in never, ever) measure out the proportions, I just do it by eye, but if you put that in a blog post or a tutorial, you invariably get people asking for specific mixing quantities.

Thanks for the tutorial. My technique has been more along the lines of the OFM, but I work mostly in 15mm. I think I'll try something like this on my next round of 25s.