Basing techniques

[oldskoolrebel]

When I see some people's miniatures I am always impressed by the finish touches they put on their bases. They always look very impressive compared to mine.

I base my miniatures on 2 pence coins or washers, and I use Captian Blood's Gloop mix (TM). However I can never seem to get the base to look as effective as others. I'm certain that the colours I use don't contrast enough.

I've also never gotten around to adding any vegetation to any of my bases. With som many products on the market I don't know what to use silfor, static grass, flock, turf?

An helps, tips or tutorials would be fantastic.


The front left is an example of my 'normal' basing technique.

Cheers
Andy

[Blue in vt]

I looks like  you are off to a good start...here is a link to the basing system that I employ...perhaps you get some useful info from it.  I can't claim credit for creating it completely...like you I scrounged bits and pieces of others works that I like and incorporated them into my "system"

Link: http://bluesmarauders.blogspot.com/search/label/basing

Cheers,

Blue 

[Malamute]

My technique is similar to that in the link above.

Glue figure to washer/coin/etc
Add Polyfilla or similar around figure base.
Add PVA followed by sand/small stones/grit.
Wash on base coat of desired earth/sand colour paint.
Then follow with two drybrushes of lighter earth/sand tone.
Add static grass and or grass tufts etc to decorate the base.

 Looking at what you have done they look fine, perhaps yes a higher contrast of the base coat and drybrush. But if you just add some static grass or the odd grass tuft to your bases you will be amazed at how it will change them. The grass adds another texture, it draws the eye and creates interest.
Also add some small rocks again to break up the base a bit. They look a little flat as they are. I think you are 99% there already.

[necrocannibal]

I do things only a little differently.
I use very cheap water dilutable PVA glue to cover the entire base.
Add the biggest rocks and logs or treetrunks, followed by sand and I let everything dry thoroughly.
When the base has dried I cover the sand and rocks with watered down PVA and let it dry again (add another layer of protection to make it virtually indestructible).
I prime the base black with a brush.
Paint the base in a dark brown, wash with black.
Drybrush with a lighter brown and drybrush again with an even lighter brown.
Then I paint the wood in approriate colors and do the same with the rocks (I use four shades of grey).
After the paint has dried I add PVA glue to the places where I want grass, add the grass, hold the  model upside down and tap the base so the grass stands up.
Add some more spots of PVA glue where I want tufts or other vegetation, add everything and let the PVA dry.

You'll get something like this...sometimes I add tufts, logs or water:



As for what static grass to use, just buy the color you like the most or that fits best with you scenery or model...I guess any brand will do.

[Mahwell skel]

For the tufts the ones i use are individual tufts on a plastic sheet. To put the tufts on put a blob of pva where you want the tuft and take some tweezers pull off a suitable tuft and put it in place. Its really that simple and looks fantastic. its well worth the (little) effort.

[Andym]

The thing is, your bases look fine the way they are. There supposed to be on sand anyway. If you want to add a wee bit of interest, maybe a couple of small pebbles before you apply your gloop! Otherwise if you just want higher contrast on what you've got, do a dark brown ink wash, let it dry and reapply your top highlight.

Carronade next week bud?

[ilikepaintinglead]

I think your bases look pretty good but like Andym said maybe add a couple of bigger 'stones' to make them a bit more interesting.

What I do for my bases is similar to what a lot of people here seem to be doing, PVA sand and a mix of larger 'stones' (cork, train-set ballast, etc), you can get a lot of different finishes by varying the mix and paint job:






I also try and save up all the little bits of crap from my work area, lead flash, broken bases, excess green stuff, little bits of plastic etc, chop it all up to the size you need and add it all to the mix for some variety.