Sunday, February 21, 2010

Basing the SG teams

For those who are interested, here's a quick walkthrough of how I am basing the SG teams.  The bases themselves are 3/4" fender washers.  I filled the hole with wood putty then glued a figure on it with white glue.  Once that was dry, I built up around the figures' cast on bases with Golden's "Light Modeling Paste".  The paste dries white, so I painted it brown.

To texture the surface, I used white glue and Woodland Scenics railroad ballast and earthblend turf.


I put together a magnetic stand that I used while painting the bases and putting on the ground cover.  It's simply a small wooden spool I got from Michaels, with two holes drilled in it and two magnets glued in the holes.  It holds the figures firmly while I'm working, and I can move the figure around however I need without worrying about getting my fingers into the areas I'm working.


First, I paint the base with undiluted white glue.  I do my best to not get any on the figure (I think I failed in this photo); if I do, I clean it up with a clean wet brush.


Next, using the scoop end of a sculpting tool I pick up some of the ballast and sprinkle it onto the base.


I'm not going for thick coverage, just a scattering of rocks on the base.


Once the rocks are in place, I drag the base through the turf flock.


Then I turn it sideways and firmly tap on the bottom of the base a few times to knock all the loose flock off, and I'm done.


The process goes pretty quickly, maybe a minute or two per base.

3 comments:

ColCampbell50 said...

Bill,

These look great!! So when is our first game with them?

Jim

Bill said...

I need to get some opposition for them finished. Then a scenario, terrain, some special rules, more terrain...

Probably June 27, 2050. :p

Peaceful warrior said...

Excellent tutorial! Exactly what I've been looking for. I'll have a go at it this weekend. Great stuff!