US Marines

[dodge]

Been Playing around with these for too long now,

I'm fairly pleased,

what do you think,

photo's aren't great light was failing,








And here are 7 cossacks I have finished sorry about these pics they are bad 




Hope you like them and thanks for looking 

[Westfalia Chris]

Surely you mean "Marines"? In that case, nice. I´m not too fond of that style of basing, but I like the contrast between the dark jackets and the light pants.

If you meant to do "Matinées", then, however, you failed miserably, old chap. 

And those cossacks are pretty spiffingskoye, too.

[Galman]

Really good job on the Devil Dogs!  I love the look of the Pulp Figures and you did a really good job on them.  Nice contrasting in the uniforms.

I ordered a set of these with the Montana style hats, cant wait for them to arrive!

[dodge]

Sorry can't spell at all , amended now 

Cheers guys, I appreciate the good comments,

Chris how would you have based them?

I have just based mine asI always do so that they can fit in a BOB game at some point, always interested in your point of view

Galman you won't be disapointed in  them I'm not 

Dodge

[former user]

cossacks are grand

[Westfalia Chris]

Sorry can't spell at all , amended now 

Cheers guys, I appreciate the good comments,

Chris how would you have based them?

I have just based mine asI always do so that they can fit in a BOB game at some point, always interested in your point of view

Galman you won't be disapointed in  them I'm not 

Dodge

I´m just not too fond of those unpainted gravel bases anymore, used to do this some years ago (and really liked it at the time, mind you!). I feel it looks a bit haphazard and out of scale unless doing a "fantasy" or "scifi" setting. Nowadays, I use a mix of 3-4 grains of sand and fine gravel on a layer of white glue, into which I place larger gravel pieces (2-3mm) prior to applying the main mix. Finally, paint and drybrush, to give it a less "unfinished" look.

Now, if you like it, don´t change it. I wouldn´t mind playing against those. A simple improvement might be procuring some sand or gravel of a finer grade than the current stuff, but of the same or similar colour, and make a mix featuring various grades. It might look more "balanced" while retaining a kind of "rocky erg" look.

[Mancha]

Nice paintjob, but you really should remove moldlines.  I don't think a paintjob is "complete" unless it starts with a thorough figure preparation, including removing moldlines.  I think I told someone that in the LPL and was invited to send a set of files.  Was that you?

Wow, sometimes I don't realize how obnoxious I sound until a later read.  I'm now adding a completely necessary smiley:    My apologies.

[Helen]

Nice work Dodge on the US Marines and Cossacks.

Helen

[dodge]

Nice paintjob, but you really should remove moldlines.  I don't think a paintjob is "complete" unless it starts with a thorough figure preparation, including removing moldlines.  I think I told someone that in the LPL and was invited to send a set of files.  Was that you?

Wow, sometimes I don't realize how obnoxious I sound until a later read.  I'm now adding a completely necessary smiley:    My apologies.

I know what you mean, I didn't really see those but they do stand out,

Thankfully it wasn't me , I do generally have a good scrape round but missed some there.

Its fine you are entitled to your view 

Chris I will look at reducing the size of the gravel and look for some sand, you make an excellent point.

Helen - thanks for your comments I just wish my photography was alot better this time 

[former user]

bases....

now I get the point about the need to have a mixture of sand/fine gravel/coarse gravel cause it looks more natural

but why painting it?
it would look all "same colour" then, which is quite unnatural

what I do is mix the stuff but adding different colour gravels and sometimes some different colours of grass
then I fine tune with wash for the rain patina and a little bit of drybrush for dust weathering, but never all-over

with the right flair you get a pretty good natural look
my point is that with same colour painted or unpainted gravel, you get a big surface of the same colour which distracts from the model (unless you paint different colours ar add some grass, )

[Malamute]

bases....

now I get the point about the need to have a mixture of sand/fine gravel/coarse gravel cause it looks more natural

but why painting it?
it would look all "same colour" then, which is quite unnatural

what I do is mix the stuff but adding different colour gravels and sometimes some different colours of grass
then I fine tune with wash for the rain patina and a little bit of drybrush for dust weathering, but never all-over

with the right flair you get a pretty good natural look
my point is that with same colour painted or unpainted gravel, you get a big surface of the same colour which distracts from the model (unless you paint different colours ar add some grass, )

Can we see some of your examples please?

[Malamute]

Dodge Old Boy,

They are looking good, I like the colours on the Marines and the Cossacks.

I tend to agree with Chris about the basing though.

Perhaps if you don't want to move away from the natural look, perhaps a ink wash over the gravel would tone it down a bit and give it some contrast or go and paint it then drybrush over the top.

Or buy some sand as suggested. But hey they are your figures go with what you feel appropriate and I would happily play a game with you using them.

[former user]

Can we see some of your examples please?

sure
but you will have to be patient, since I don't own a camera...
I have to borrow one

[Plynkes]

Smashin' Dodger. Good to see you've got back on the horse and haven't let your painting slump defeat you. Diggin' the Marines and the Cossacks.


For what it's worth I come down on the side of painting all the groundwork on a base. Drybrush and wash and then add a bit of grass to taste. It's personal choice obviously but myself I think it looks better than leaving it unpainted (which is what I used to do).

[Lowtardog]

Smashin' Dodger. Good to see you've got back on the horse and haven't let your painting slump defeat you. Diggin' the Marines and the Cossacks.


For what it's worth I come down on the side of painting all the groundwork on a base. Drybrush and wash and then add a bit of grass to taste. It's personal choice obviously but myself I think it looks better than leaving it unpainted (which is what I used to do).

Thats basically what I do, mix your sand, bird seed etc small grains with paint over and a wash and drybrush gove a good look. For large rocks add them afterwards to taste alongside grass.flock etc