A Base Question II

[tallghost]

O.K. I've ben won over, and decided that it would be best to spice up the base for my competition mini. I think it's going to look pretty cool. But I have a question. I see a lot of refrences to "Static grass" for basing, but when I went to get some, the only grass stuff I could find was reaaly long (it looks kind of like a patch of FunFur in a baggie.) I also picked up a couple of baggies of something just called "turf".
This is all from a company called "Woodland Scenics".

My question is, has anyone here ever used this turf stuff for grass before? does it do the job?

[Hinton]

I haven't, but I know a lot of people swear by Woodland Scenics for their basing. The static grass I use is from Gale Force Nine, but it seems that they're not selling it anymore.

[green stuff]

The important thing is not to over do it (otherwise you'll get the golf field effect ;)). Try alterning grass, earth, rocks, ... areas.

[eastman]

I've used a number of the Woodland Scenics products for basing.

The long strands are product called Field Grass. They are some kind of hair dyed to the color in the pack. They are great for tall grasses and the straw colored ones make good water / swamp grasses and weeds (like cattails, etc).

Static Grass (from WS) is sold in 1 qt jars, they haven't started selling small bags of it. I have mixes of different colors of static grass to give some variety, but I still go in with a brush and add some highlight color. Some painters will completely paint the static grass. Both the Citadel and GF9 pre-mixed static grass contains red fibers, which I personally hate the look of.

my $0.02

[callumrice]

Im afraid I only use GW basing prods, mixed with what I can find around the house. Slate/stones/cork etc.

[matty1001]

I only use GW stuff aswell, but for £5 you get a tub which lasts...well...it's never run out for me.

It may be a little more pricey, but its convenient.

[Highbulp Billy]

I'm a GW baser too but that includes the dead grass from the Hero Basing kit they did a little while back which adds a bit more depth to the coour options. I think they do a bit more of a range of coloured grasses now but haven't seen them to judge. I'd be interested if the Woddland Scenics stuff is as good as some people say and , if it is, where it's available in UK.

[tallghost]

Well, I've gone ahead and used the WS turff as my grass, and I think it looks o.k.
I had to break it up until it was super small (it comes out of the bag kind of clumpy) but since there no other kind of grass on the base to compare it with, it looks looks enough like grass to do the job.

I'll post a pic or two as soon as I get my new digital camera.

On a positive note, large clumps of this turf stuff would make awesome moss.

[thecadian]

oh i know im abit late but you could try adding thisgs from your garden onto your bases.

things like moss, sticks etc.

[green stuff]

For playable minis, I would refrain from using moss as it doesn't resist very well through time.

[DeafNala]

Hey Tallghost,

You can get Woodland Scenics at www.walthers.com (http://www.walthers.com) , they are The Model Railroad shop. Woodland Scenics is exactly the same stuff you can get from G.W. only at 1/4 the price. Another source for Woodland Scenis is www.micromark.com (http://www.micromark.com) ;they are a great source of just about any tool that is specifically tailored for minature work; everything from tweezers to milling machines.

Hudson & Allen make some really great ground effects that are specifically tailored to the diorama/military modeler, but I don't have a ready source for their stuff, although I think CMon has a limited selection [they are a little on the expensive side, H&A that is].

Doing a bit of scenery on you bases opens up a whole new dimension to the beast. Enjoy.

[Skullcrafts]

I've heard that SKULLCRAFTS (http://www.skullcrafts.com) makes some pretty mean static grass (among other items). Check out the kits and see if they fit your needs. Heh.

Also, DARK TOWER HOBBIES (http://www.darktowerhobbies.com) has some WS-like basing kits too...though obviously I prefer the Skullcrafts kits...go figure.

[lizcam]

I use GW static grass most of the time but I have some GF9 stuff as well. The grass on this is static grass in the spring mix. I like the look of it in patches and have used it on full bases for cartoony stuff with little yellow flowers in it. The rest of this base is found objects and stuff I made up as I went along. Then big thing is to paint most of the stuff or it looks out of scale. This base is only 40mm and the stone were yellow limestone. Paint makes all the difference and on most bases you can get away with really simple techniques like sponging and dry brushing.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t245/purrella86/Works%20in%20progress/Billy%20ogre/fullstrip002.jpg

[DeafNala]

Hey Lizcam,
That is a simply beautiful base. I really like the flowers, the little mushrooms, & the placement of the "grass". Very Well Done.
I also dry brush the static grass to give it a bit more definition. I found this works best after I've applied a matte spray finish. I'm sure there's a reason for this, but it's quitte beyond my febble old mind why.
The dry brush can also change the seasonal feel of the "grass"; eg., a light yellow dry brush over a dark green "grass" gives a Spring like feel of new grass, pale green over dark green has a Fall feel to it. I'm doing a fair number of living impaired pieces right now: the "grass" is I'm using is burnt grass with a desert sand dry brush for a dead grass feel. This works for a Summer feel also.

[lizcam]

Thanks! I'm soon to do a tutorial (this weekend) on how I made the flowers. You can use the same technique for cattails and other things as well. I like the way it turned out and LOVE doing bases!

[Hinton]

Thanks! I'm soon to do a tutorial (this weekend) on how I made the flowers. You can use the same technique for cattails and other things as well. I like the way it turned out and LOVE doing bases!

I'd certainly like to see that. My basing still needs so much work.

[DeafNala]

Hey Lizcam,
We are definitely on the same page with bases. I'd LOVE to find out how you do those cool flowers. With all the soil enriching nutrients walking about in my latest project, flowers would really enhance the scene.
Thanks for the inspiration.

Hey Tallghost,
See how bases can take over your life. Enjoy the experience.

[Skullcrafts]

lizcam, great work on the base!

Here's some of mine:

http://www.skullcrafts.com/images/50mm001.jpg

http://www.skullcrafts.com/images/50mm002.jpg

http://www.skullcrafts.com/images/50mm003.jpg

http://www.skullcrafts.com/images/50mm004.jpg

http://www.skullcrafts.com/images/50mm005.jpg

http://www.skullcrafts.com/images/50mm006.jpg

:coolpics:

[lizcam]

Ok, don't laugh at my spelling errors. I was tired and had to fight my husband for my work /computer table while I was trying to do this one so didn't spell check it before I added the words to the pictures and you can't go back and change things in photobucket once you've saved. But anyway, here's a link to my tutorial for the flowers and catails.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/678

[The_Brain]

Very nice tutorial, i will give this a try as soon as i got another mini finished.

[Wren]

Thanks so much for sharing this with us, I'd been wondering how you were doing some of your lovely base accents!

[lizcam]

The best thing is now Delirium Productions has tons of colors of foam flock that is super fine and stable and perfect for these flowers. Here's a link to their site so you can see the range of colors.
http://www.deliriumproductions.com/foamflock.html

[Nathan Caroland]

Nicely done Liz.

[DeafNala]

Thanks Liz; the tutorial was excellent [normally instructions & rules put me in nap mode]. I've got a bunch of flowers done up now that will be brightening up a crypt piece [pushing up the daiseys literally].