Base Groundwork Help Needed

[Jagdtiger46]

As the title implies, I’m lousy at groundwork, a complete novice, so any advice (from, “well, first buy a piece of wood”), to the more generic or exotic methods of adding earth itself, rocks, water, and so on. Snow, autumn appearance, desert, etc., any and all particulars would be gratefully received. In addition to wanting to improve on my figures, I also do other models that could really benefit from some decent groundwork.

 

[Ferris]

Hi Kevin,

Well, the best way forward would be to browse the forum a bit as I am sure there are plenty of references to be found.

Overall, groundwork is easy to do. some general advice: you could use some wall filler plaster, the stuff used to fill bigger holes in walls. It mixes with water to a dough-like consistency which you can use to cteate some body to your groundwork. If you mix in some PVA glue, wood glue, it dries rock hard. You can sprinkle/press some sand and small rocks to/in the groundwork While it is still soft (not wet). Don't forget to also pish in the figure at this time, so that it sits nicely and does not hover over the ground.
When dry I suggest to paint the base a dark brown shade and you can aply some PVA glue thinned with a bit of water to selected places and sprinkle on some static grass (google it and you see what I mean). Or you can use grass clumps, like these http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=59662. You can also paint everything dark brown after applying the grass.
Then you can go wild with drybrushing or airbrushing all sort of brown, green or whatever colour you like to get the finish you want.

Just give it a try, it's not hard and a lot of fun. Feel free to ask questions any time.

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[billyturnip]

PF member Jim Patrick wrote a good article on groundwork but I can't find it now, perhaps Jim or someone else who remembers can help.

Roger.

 

[Helm]

Don't over clutter it. A lot of bases have too much stuff you forget there is a figure there!
Steve

 

[Pepperpot]

Massive Voodoo has lots of nice tutorials and ideas, this website is really worth checking out. Here is a link to their basing tutorials:
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.de/2009/10/tutorial-overview.html#basing

 

[Tecumsea]

I can recommend two books,
1) Terrain Modelling by Richard Windrow
2) Lets Build a Diorama II Terrain and Vegetation by Laszlo Adoba

I have others but these would give you pretty much everything you need............the first one might take a bit of finding, have a look on Abe Books , the second is available from book sellers and some modelling shops. If you have any problems PM me .....Keith

 

[Jagdtiger46]

Great info, thanks a lot fellas. I'll be digging into one of my first serious figures soon, and I certainly want it displayed well, or as good as I can make it anyway.

 

[chippy]

Most of the stuff I use for ground work comes out of the back of my van , I find building materials pretty useful . Undercoat plaster gives a nice muddy field look , one coat plaster makes nice rocks, but the best thing is floor tile grout which can be applied over a surface up to 5mm thick and after 15 minutes you can start to carve rocks or landscapes into it , at this point if your not happy you can add a bit of water smooth it out and start again . Pop down to your local tile shop a small bag cost very little and it's worth playing around with . see the image ,this wall was built using polysterene and then coated with tile grout and carved into stone and Adobe walling
chippy

 

[Dave - LastCav]

Kevin - I just posted a groundwork and water effects video tutorial on You Tube - maybe it will be of some assistance. You can see it here: http://shop.lastcavalry.com/lctv/

 

[John Bowery]

Guy posted two articles here in the SBS section.
Cheers
John

 

[Einion]

Since you're a complete novice Kevin one thing I'd recommend you do initially is do some groundwork, just groundwork, on a couple of bases - better than only getting practice when you're doing each project.

The simplest groundwork option is just a patch of bare earth, start there and work up. Even something as simple as this can look good (if a bit boring) if painted well, and it's easily enlivened with just a few small rocks and pebbles painted in a contrasting colour.

My groundwork article from years back is still up on Armorama if you want a bit of a read, here:
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=37

The article index on CMON is worth perusing:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/5760-Articles-Index
You want the terrain section specifically but also search for the word base in titles as there are a few others which touch on basework.

As a general tip I'd recommend you do the groundwork first, before the main model is painted, that way once the fun stuff is done you can pretty much glue the figure into place and you're done. Nothing's worse than having the figure out of the way and then having to face doing groundwork if you don't enjoy it much. Also less likely to scrape or rub paint from the figure/vehicle working in this order.

Einion

 

[Helm]

One thing I forgot to mention is pick a base that suits the figure size as well, also one that "fits" the figure's theme or appearance

 

[Figurenfreund66]

Hi Kevin

Go with open eyes in nature, it is the best advisor!

There you will find small stones, twigs and moss, you can use that.
In addition, I also dried coffee grounds, tea and spices rubbed on the floor design.
A dried Bonsai is very good.
Ready grasses and paper plant - the company Fredericus Rex, or other-can live your vignette.


Cheers

Hendryk

 

[Bailey]

Kevin,

I feel like ground work has been a weakness of mine as well. I recently watched the Miniature Mentor tutorial on ground work and found a lot of great ideas. And I agree with Sebastian that Massive Voodoo has a lot of great tutorials too. Both of these sources are geared more towards the fantasy/sci-fi painter... but there are plenty of tips that apply to historical figures as well.

Here are a couple ideas I've found useful:
- Corkboard can be great for interesting shapes and terrain features. You can find it at an arts and crafts store usually near their bulletin board stuff. Tear it to create some neat shapes, you can also cut it or layer it to create hills, etc. If you place pins in your figures feet it's easy to just push them into the ground. The board can be flimsy but coat it with thin super glue (just soaks right in) and it will become nice and stiff.
- To give the top more texture paint it with watered down white (pva) glue. Then sprinkle sand (pet store sand for bird cages or fish tanks works great... gives you a variety of sizes, stay away from stuff that is too uniform) or baking soda on top of it. Baking soda is much finer, so if you want to recreate miniature sand use that instead.
- For easy painting, begin by thoroughly covering the ground work with a black primer. Once that drys, lightly hit it with a white primer from directly above. You should see some nice black and white shadows. If you're doing regular dirt, take a brown wash and start painting the base. The white and black will show through the more transparent wash and a lot of your shading work will be done for you. You can then layer different washes and do some dry brushing to complete the look.
- Finally add static grass or grass clumps. There are plenty of youtube videos with advice on this.
- For snow I'd recommend getting an actual snow effects product. Some people say baking soda is fine... but I've heard it can turn yellow over time, so that's why I stay away from it for snow. I've used woodland scenics snow and have been happy with it. You can mix with white glue and then paint on. Massive Voodoo suggests mixing the snow with matte varnish instead to get some different effects. They also mention using crushed glass on top of it (read their article... it's more complicated) to give it a real nice end look.

At arts and crafts stores you can often find small blocks of wood of various sizes for less than a buck. These are great for making practice bases.

 

[Jagdtiger46]

Again, some great ideas here fellas, thanks. If my stuff doesn't come out too lousy, I'll try to post some images later.

 

[Helm]

They used to use Andrews liver salts ( Yeah I really am that old) back in the day for snow but I have no idea if these even exist these days​

 

[Jagdtiger46]

I've read somewhere that baking soda and micro balloons work well, but haven't really tried it yet.

 

[Figurenfreund66]

Baking powder is allowed, but never get wet, otherwise it is green!

Cheers

Hendryk

 

[Einion]

For snow I'd recommend getting an actual snow effects product. Some people say baking soda is fine... but I've heard it can turn yellow over time, so that's why I stay away from it for snow. .

It won't. The glue used can discolour, but no danger of sodium bicarb itself going yellow.

Alum is a good option if you can get it where you are (unobtainium here sadly).

If there's an alternative I like to steer clear of anything made (or just packaged) specifically for the hobby as it's sure to be overpriced. Many snow kits simply include small packets of microballoons or something similar, which can be bought ridiculously cheaply from other sources in large volumes.

Einion

 

[housecarl]

If anyone wants it, alum is available on e Bay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=Alum&_sacat=0
Carl.