Sunday, 1 February 2009

Confessions of a Basing Nazi Part 3

The next step is to paint the bases. I use a pot of paint I mix up from cheap tubes of acrylic- lots of Raw Umber, and some tan colour and a little Buff Titanium. I roughly drybrush this over the brown of the base, and then drybrush successive coats with the mix diluted with more Buff Titanium until I achieve a fairly light colour.

Here we have a comparison shot that shows that the base colour is much lighter than when I started (bottom left base). The bottom right base is one of the templates from earlier, that I've used to check that the colour is roughly correct.


After this I seal with Testors Lacquer, into which I mix a tiny bit of brown oil paint, which helps tie the colours of the base together, seal it against water damage, and above all make it very matt.


So here is my discovery of the month; Silflor tufts. These come ready made and one can quickly stick them into place. They will replace the tufts you can see on the archers (below) which I laboriously cut and trim from hair, dyed green, and which can take a whole evening to do for a couple of units.


The archers above have been "dressed" with some Silflor, static grass, a twig and some of the hair tufts (which still need to be trimmed).


Finally, here are the BTD legionaries, which I am really pleased with, because they will bring a little variety to my Saleh EIR army. I've replaced all the legionaries' shields with Foundry shields. I'm especially pleased with the Optio who is lightly converted from a Praetorian...

Saturday, 31 January 2009

Confessions of a Basing Nazi Part 2

Before basing, it is really beneficial to paint the metal bases of the figures to match the eventual colour of the base; saves time and reduces the probability of needing to repaint the feet.

I make the bases in big batches and will cover this in another post, later; they are magnetic on the underside, and sealed with spraypaint on the top and sides.


So above, we have the basing mix; roughly 1/3 wood glue, 1/3 water and 1/3 dry mix as per the last post. Stir it up with the palette knife, then apply to the base, as below. Can anyone guess why there is an arrow, cut into the square base with the archers on?


Finally, it is essential to let the base dry on a magnetic surface (as below); or it will warp! I use an old baking tray. Make sure that the surface and the underside of the base are clean.

Laager Break


This is my expanding Celtic baggage park. I've decided that 12 carts and wagons aren't quite enough, though; I plan to order a couple more of the very nice Front Rank ones (front right).

Friday, 30 January 2009

Confessions of a Basing Nazi Part 1

Greg of Gloranthan Army has asked me to describe how I do my basing.

Now I'm liberal in very many ways, but politically just to the right of Genghis Khan in terms of my approach to basing. My bases must all be exactly the right size, a standard colour and finish, matt varnished, substantially waterproof and without a hint of warping. Any figures I buy are rebased to my standard, as are most figures I sell.

In this first post I shall list the main tools I use:-


This big box of gunk largely consists of plaster and sand/small grit, but I also add a pigment to save on painting time. I also use a strong Wood Glue and a good springy palette knife that comes to a fairly fine point.


This is my static grass, and trusty Noch puffer bottle.


And this is a colour guide I made a couple of years ago, that shows the stages in the process, which I'll describe in the next post. I use it to check that my different armies are based on similar colour bases.

The 8 stages are terribly time consuming, and there must be quicker ways of achieving the same result; nonetheless this is my way, and the ONLY TRUE WAY. n.b. the colour have been a little washed out by the lighting.

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

Dum de dum

Nothing very much to report. I'm trying to finish off a few odds and ends, namely:-

3 legionaries to complete a group of 8
2 ballistae and crews to feed the maw of eBay
A solitary middle Imperial Roman, kindly donated by Greg, who I need to finish my first MIR unit
3 celtic archers to complete the final 4th archer unit of my gallic army (at least 3 units of archers too many, but I had the painted figures)
3 Pictish flags for the 3 units I recently based

Finally, I need to finish a beautiful Thracian standard bearer, that I originally primed at least 2 years ago. He's such a lovely mini (and very complex to paint), that I've shied away from painting him all this time!


My intention is to finish off these odds and sods, to clear my painting table for Greg's gladiators. These lovely minis need basing, and I'll probably add a few highlights to the helmets and swords to make them shinier; I believe that helmets should be really bright. I hope you won't mind, Greg?

Thursday, 22 January 2009

Roman Artillery


These are cart-mounted Ballistae that, whilst strictly part of my EIR Army, I sometimes use with the Caesarians. They were surprisingly time-consuming to assemble...

Tonight I have been basing my final Pictish unit and rebasing some Pictish and Viking archers, and sticking more bits of yet more carts together.

Saturday, 17 January 2009

Coh. I Batavorum Eq.


This is the unit of Auxilia I finished in December; I'm really pleased with them. I'd been planning them for at least 3 years! Mostly Foundry Salehs, but some Copplestones and a couple of Black Tree minis, too. Oh, and a Crusader Centurion!



LAter on, I'll talk more about my plans for the other Auxilia Cohorts.