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Painting Terrain Warhammer

KOW Movement Trays – My Conversion to diorama bases – prt 2

Before getting too much farther ahead, I wanted to get some soil down on a tray to get a feel of how easy the process is.  Getting paint, glue and soil between all the mini’s might be tough (it’s a little tricky in areas) and could affect my density of minis going forward.

First a base coat.  The sculptamold soaks thin paints like a stain on wood, but that leaves the high points a little lighter colored.  I’ve tried to find a color that would match the soil, but even a mottled look should be ok.

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Having done a lot of reading on high end terrain/diorama artists I’ve consistently seem them use fine soil (actual soil) for their basing.  The scale is much more appropriate and depending on the look desired, it comes pre-colored.  (You can add pigments to it if you want to alter the color.)

Since this will be my technique for all my future terrain work, this is a great time to start practicing.  I dried a cupful of soil from my garden and then sifted it, and sifted it again, and then made my own ultrafine mesh to get the particle size small enough.  I punched hundreds of very small holes (~.5mm or so) in a sheet of copper screen for crafts.  Sifting was too slow so I punched another hundred or so.

Between making the screen and all the sifting, it took a little while.  IMG_9042

It took two applications to get good coverage.  Using thin glue, it didn’t cover the high points very well (similar to the paint).  Extra challenge – get it all covered before areas start drying.  I want to get this down to a single application if I can.

First layer was soaked with dilute pva and before it was dry I sprinkled on the second layer.  Second layer was much faster as a result and I might adopt the technique for the first layer using a syringe.

This photo shows the color pretty well but it’s not exactly right.  I’ll need to white balance my camera for the next shots.

IMG_9043

I really, really like the effect.  So much more natural and realistic.  If you soak the second layer to lock it down the color darkens a lot.  Looks like damp soil.  I though it was too dark for my tastes so I left the soil as is on the trays.  It seems to be bonded pretty well once the loose bits are brushed off.  IMG_9041

Styrene strips have arrived so tray assembly ‘should’ go quicker now.

One reply on “KOW Movement Trays – My Conversion to diorama bases – prt 2”

Intriguing… I usually scoff at the idea of using natural products for basing, but the soil does look good.

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