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Author Topic: Basing pastes and similar materials  (Read 1709 times)

Offline Robosmith

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 123
Basing pastes and similar materials
« on: March 02, 2021, 05:06:29 PM »
My usual dirt paste from AK is drying up and it's about time I got a new one, so I'm wondering what brands have risen to the top since I picked it up a few years ago. For really fine basing materials I like using rough filler, it's much finer than sand and most basing pastes so it works great for urban and sand basing. It's not quite got the texture for dirt so I'm looking for a decent one for that. Does any one have any recommendations?

Offline SteveBurt

  • Mastermind
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Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2021, 08:07:48 PM »
Artist's acrylic texture paste - the coarse pumice gel, mixed with tube acrylic paint. Stays slightly flexible.

Offline Mammoth miniatures

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 565
Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2021, 08:18:56 PM »
What steve said - acrylic artists texture mediums.

Flyingtiger had some a while ago on sale, I bought 10 pots and that's done me for the last 4 years.
it's far cheaper than buying wargame specific stuff and generally comes in greater quantities with more variety.

Offline Misneach

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Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2021, 09:44:32 PM »
I can really recommend the homemade variety. Luke's APS used to have a video on the subject on YouTube but I can't find it now. You need :

Filler (I like Dealz/Poundland pre mixed)
Sand
PVA
Acrylic or house paint of whatever colour you'd like your paste to be.

Add plenty of sand, PVA and paint to the filler in the pot and stir really well. The result is super strong, customisable and very cheap in comparison to the commercial kinds. You can make a lot of it with little cost and few materials.

Offline pixelgeek

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Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2021, 11:07:39 PM »
Add plenty of sand, PVA and paint to the filler in the pot and stir really well. The result is super strong, customisable and very cheap in comparison to the commercial kinds. You can make a lot of it with little cost and few materials.

Luke APS is very sloppy with his materials and I doubt that he could replicate the same material twice using his methods. I stopped even watching him when he prefaced one of his videos on washes by stating that his previous video on the subject didn't actually work.

I'd rather buy a commercial product and save my hobby time for painting


Offline Wellington

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A life without Samurai is possible, but not desirable!

Offline Robosmith

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  • Posts: 123
Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2021, 12:26:32 AM »
What texture mediums mimic each type of terrain? Which would be suitable for dirt and which is more suited to a rocky terrain?

Thank you

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #7 on: March 03, 2021, 11:04:59 AM »
I've posted testimonials to the virtues of homemade basing paste (AKA 'gloop') so many times on LAF over the last 15 years, that I must sound like an incredibly irritating stuck record. Sorry about that.
But once more unto the breach, dear friends...  ;)

I cannot believe people are still willing to shell out (proportionately) ridiculous sums of money on little branded bottles of mixed paint, PVA and aggregate - which is all they are - when you can make your own for a tiny fraction of the price, and in about five minutes flat.

I'd rather buy a commercial product and save my hobby time for painting

Each to their own, and hey, if you have the money but not the time, fair enough... Hopefully you get plenty of painting done in the five minutes it would take to mix your own 'product' ;)

For those who can spare five minutes on the other hand...

Get a jar or airtight tub or box.
Put some sand into it.
Add some paint.
Add a splosh of PVA.
Mix.
Use.

Not too difficult? Although you can, of course, play endlessly with the relative proportions of the ingredients to achieve exactly the consistency, colour and texture you want.
But it's broadly (by volume) around 60% sand : 30% paint : 10% PVA.

In a little more detail:

Paint. Paint provides the colour and the liquid content. Everyone already owns paint. Any old water-based household emulsion or craft acrylic paint will do. You don't need much of it, and you don't need to buy new - although you can of course choose to do so, in exactly your own colour, if you want a ready-coloured basing paste that you don't need to overpaint once dry.

Sand or other aggregate. To provide bulk and texture. I use soft 'builders' sand, but if you want a lot more gritty texture, you can use 'sharp' sand, or indeed any aggregate you like really, from talcum powder (for a ultra-smooth finish) through to assorted grades of railway grit or 'Talus' and crushed pumice. Or you can add combinations of these. But sand is really all you need - and most people have access to cheap or free sand. You only need a cupful. Go to the beach. Raid a play-pit or golf bunker. Alternatively (in the UK anyway), you can buy a 25kg poly bag of sand from B&Q etc for as little as two pounds. Yes, that's TWO POUNDS lol  That's enough to last you many, many lifetimes of figure basing and terrain making. Essentially it costs NOTHING.

PVA. You need some plastic adhesive in there to act as a binder, a hardener and a preservative. Again, you don't need much of it. And again you've probably already got a bottle or tub of PVA sitting around in the house. But once again, even if you have to buy it, it's absurdly cheap. My local craft shop sells 1L bottles of 'craft PVA' for about one pound.

In short, you probably already own the three things you need to make your own basing paste. And if you don't, then you can buy all of them in enough quantity to last you many, many years, for way less than the cost of a couple of small pots of branded 'basing compounds'.

To recap:

- You can vary the texture to your needs / preference, adding more granularity (or less, by bulking up with a finer aggregate)
- You can stiffen or liquify the paste to your own preference for ease of application, simply by adding a bit more aggregate or a bit more paint / PVA
- On a typical miniatures base, it dries in about an hour, and sets rock hard thanks to the plasticising properties of the PVA
- You can choose exactly your own colour - and if you want to vary the colour you can do so by adding different coloured paints.
- You can also overpaint it straightaway if preferred.
- You can embed larger 'rocks', twigs, etc into the paste whilst wet, and it will grip these for eternity once dry.
- Provided it is kept in an airtight container it will keep indefinitely, and will not deteriorate or 'go off'.
- You can make it in whatever quantities you want. I keep a small tub of it for figure basing, and a bucket-sized sealed tub for terrain projects.
- It costs - proportionate to the quantities you will ever need or use - a few pence / cents to make, and takes about five minutes. Get your ingredients, sling them together, stir with a stick or whatever, adjust to your desired colour / consistency. Job done. It's ready to use.

Why not give it a try? :)

 



Offline Wellington

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 292
Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2021, 11:21:48 AM »
@Captain Blood
I use the vajello stuff because it saves me time and looks better then using sand and glue.

@Robosmith
I use only the grey pumice. The texture is like sand.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2021, 03:09:02 PM by Wellington »

Offline pixelgeek

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2026
    • Zac's Gaming Blog
Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2021, 02:22:30 PM »
I've posted testimonials to the virtues of homemade basing paste (AKA 'gloop') so many times on LAF over the last 15 years, that I must sound like an incredibly irritating stuck record. Sorry about that.

I don't know why people who like to make their own hobby supplies just can't accept that other people don't. It sometimes comes off as door-to-door religious proselytising.

It makes you happy. Yay. Some people couldn't be bothered. Yay for them. We can all really do without the smug comments though. No need to put other people down just because they don't share your joy in making glop

Offline Captain Blood

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  • Elder God
  • Posts: 19308
Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2021, 03:07:34 PM »
I don't know why people who like to make their own hobby supplies just can't accept that other people don't. It sometimes comes off as door-to-door religious proselytising.

It makes you happy. Yay. Some people couldn't be bothered. Yay for them. We can all really do without the smug comments though. No need to put other people down just because they don't share your joy in making glop

lol

Putting other people down, eh? Whereas you were so polite and constructive in your charming comment:

Luke APS is very sloppy with his materials and I doubt that he could replicate the same material twice using his methods.

What we could probably all do without, is no-holds-barred comments dissing a fellow hobbyist's work so aggressively. (I don't know who Luke APS is, BTW).

I'd rather buy a commercial product and save my hobby time for painting

I don't know why people who prefer to buy hobby supplies rather than making them just can't accept that other people might want to know there are cheaper, better solutions available. Particularly if they mislead people by erroneously implying something is time-consuming to do, when in fact, as described, it's the work of literally a few minutes.




Offline pixelgeek

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  • Posts: 2026
    • Zac's Gaming Blog
Re: Basing pastes and similar materials
« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2021, 04:10:22 PM »
What texture mediums mimic each type of terrain? Which would be suitable for dirt and which is more suited to a rocky terrain?

Are you  going to be buying locally or online?

In either case find a manufacturer you can purchase from and then check out their website. Most of them have sample shots. I have found that people's expectations about what looks 'rocky' or 'sandy' can differ.

I had someone recommended Vallejo texture paste for some bases and their idea of sandy was closer to desert dunes than my understanding. YMMV so check them out.

 

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