Quick question about basing

[oistene]

Hi,

As I mentioned in my intro-post, I'm getting back to painting after over a decade of not-painting. Back then, I used to paint the mini, glue on basing (usually simple sand) and finally paint the base (usually green with some highlights). However, it struck me that this might not be the best way for what I am going to do now.

I'm about to paint Zombicide minis, they come with attached bases, so I have been thinking that gluing on sand before priming would be better. After all, I want them black to get an asphalt look in the end.

And thoughts on this?

(cutting off the bases to attach "better" bases is TOTALLY out of the question, btw. Been there, done that.)

 

[Ritual]

You could, instad of gluing on sand, use a modelling product from Vallejo (I am sure there are similar products from other brands) called Sandy Paste. It's a thick, textured paste that you can smear on with some tool or an old brush. It sticks to most things and will probably be quicker to use than glue and sand. Also, you will not have the problem of sand falling of while painting. The texture is also slightly finer than most sands you'll be able to get hold of, so might be better to give an asphalt texture.

 

[oistene]

I saw that, but I couldn't get it locally. I'll definitely order some for later use, but right now, I'll have to use the old-fashioned way. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Bailey03]

Here's what I did for one of my zombicide bases. In a post apocalyptic world I figure there's going to be a lot of junk and rubble on the street, so I made a messy base. I used some broken bits of balsa wood (can get cheaply at your local arts and crafts store), some bricks (can sometimes find there too or order online), some tissue soaked in glue, and a bit of etched brass for a torn bit of fencing. Then I hit the whole thing with some pigments to give it that really dirty look.

Another fun idea would be to create some newspapers with headlines about the zombie outbreak. Print them out, wet them to give that crumbled look, and add them to the base (a bit of varnish to fix them in place). There was a tutorial on this over at MassiveVoodoo
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2010/08/tutorial-making-posters.html

Of course all of that is a bit more work, so it might be more than you want for all those bases. Still, a few extra details here and there can be neat.

 

[Ritual]

Another quick method for doing asphalt or similar texture, that just occurred to me (I used it on a miniature years and years ago, with quite good results), is to put a thin, quite smooth layer of milliput (or similar putty) on to the base. Then press on texture by using sand paper of appropriate grit level. Very easy! I think you'd get best results if you let the putty cure for about 20-30 minutes before pressing on the texture, but that might also depend on what type of putty you're using. I wouldn't recommend a rubbery type of putty, like green stuff, as I think the texture would be too soft.

 

[Wyrmypops]

GW have a product line similar to the Sandy Paste. Amongst their "technical" paints are a bunch of coloured textured paints. Saves going to go then sand then paint, all that in one go.

For my zombicide minis I glopped 4 different of those paints on the base, blurred the edges a little while wet - once dry slathered on some brown wash, then some darker ink towards the edge followed by some pure black paint around the rim.

Since the toxic and berserk zombies came along it became clear the bases needed something extra to tell them apart. Mine were already painted so I kept it simple by going over the rims with green and red to newer zombie bases. In hindsight I may have tinted the whole base at the inking stage.

 

[MAXXxxx]

traditional way of doing asphalt for minis is a low-grade sandpaper. Basically you pick how fine the grain should be and glue a small piece to the base. After that all it needs is a light drybrush from a VERY OLD/BAD brush. drybrush kills brushes anyway, sandpaper just makes it happen faster.

I did this for the diorama I painted a while ago (the one with the hasslefree dog + girl).

 

[Stewsayer]

Sand and PVA prior priming is probably the way to go with the Zombicide figures and their integrated bases. To help secure the sand better I use a few drops of Thin (very thin, very runny) fast drying superglue, applied once the PVA glue has dried.

 

[oistene]

Lots of great ideas here.

Bailey, what you describe looks great, but it is too much effort and will take too much time - also, experience show that this will mean more things that can fall apart on the mini during storage or play. But I am definitely considering something like this for the heroes.

Wyrmypops - I'll got to take a look at those. GWs 'technical' line is new to me, but it seems like there is some cool stuff there.

I've ordered a jar of Black Lava Pumice off Ebay, so I'm hoping that arrives soon. For the first batch, I've simply used sand and glue, will prime them tonight - and then we can finally start painting!