I’ve been going back through the collection to find things of interest to photograph, and I thought I would quickly document the changes in my basing technique. Pretty much all my fantasy models are based like one of the samples below.
Evolving basing technique
Technique 1 (1986-1987) – On the far left we have the very first basing technique – crunched up Oasis (that’s the green foam blocks for flower arranging). It looked better when it was fresh, but it crumbles away leaving a very thin layer stuck to the base, and has also turned brown.
Technique 2 (1987 – 1991) – The next ‘standard’ method is ‘sharp’ builder’s sand on PVA, painted black, then drybrushed with Goblin Green (incidentally Foundry’s French Gun Olive Green 109B is an exact match for this), and then with a final top drybrush of Bilious Green. The edge of the base is black.
Technique 3 (1992-1993) – Technique 2 was OK, but a little primitive. This became refined by adding areas of brown (Bestial Brown), highlighted with a mixture of that and Bleached Bone. The edge of the base has been lightened, I think generally this was a mix of black and Striking Scorpion Green.
Technique 4 (1993+) – Generally the basing technique evolved because I did a little extra on a special model, and then liked it so much that I adopted it as standard. This is technique 3 with more stones (kept in a separate pot to the sand and sprinkled on first) – painted grey mixed from black and white. I also found the ‘foam’ flock for the first time. Prior to that all the flocks in model shops were ‘wood chipping’ style – they looked like tiny sharp green stones. For the first time you could get something mossy looking, so this has a few thin patches of foam flock added on at the end. This gives a softer and more natural feel to it.
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