Hobby Tip: Basing Before Primer Application

 

 

 

I have seen a lot of painting articles out there that call for basing the model as the last step. For a long time this is how I would base my own models, but I would often dust up my just complete paint job or splatter some base paint on a foot or leg unintentionally. This would cause unnecessary rework and I considered changing up the order of steps. I thought that perhaps basing the model would be more appropriate during the assembly step just prior to the primer. There are a lot of scenic basing techniques that follow this very method. If you are just following this simple process do your basing in this order and see if it improves the time it takes when the model is complete.

 

 

Termites that got the sand bath

1.       Apply a white crafting glue that is dilutable with water (Elmer’s works if you want a cheap solution. Use a standard brush (not your best) to spread in an even layer.

My slightly frayed glue brush

2.       Coat or dip in a sandy medium. I prefer the Citadel brand, but there are plenty of cheap options available. Lightly tap off the excess sand.

3.       Use about a 50/50 mix of glue and water. Lightly dab the mixture onto the sand to create a light sealant over the top. I usually apply this step fairly quickly after shaking off the excess sand because I can relocate grains of sand that ended up on the model back onto the base per my intent.

4.       Allow to completely dry before primer application

 

Hopefully these steps will save time for those of you new to building minis or those who are looking for different techniques.

 

 

The finished termite

 

Flames of War Battle Report Germans vs Soviets (Late War)

Hello Comrades,

I dusted off my Soviets this weekend and played some FOW at my FLGS Panzer Depot in Kirkland. The game size was 2000 points which takes about 3 hours to play at a relaxed pace. My friend Walter was running a late war German Armored list while I fielded a reliable late war Strelkovy army out of the Red Bear book.

This was my set up. The mission required me to place my entire army since I was the attacker and the Germans got to defend with reserves. There were only two objective on the table and they were well defended by his Jagtigers.

On turn one I rushed forward at a normal pace. I thought about moving on the double, but I would incur double shots from the Jagtigers and that would spell the end to my armor in no time.

One objective lay in the open field and that was my best bet for victory since the other object (the Tiger wreck) was too well guarded.

I took a limited air support and it was reliably arriving to deal with the Jagtiger in the open.

The Germans had made a desperate attempt to halt my advance within the first 3 turns. I lost nearly all of my tanks and my Katyushas weren't doing as much damage as I thought they would.

The Germans were inflicting heavy damage to my infantry with their artillery and armor, however I knocked out their only anti air defense mid game which was the first major blow I was able to deal this game.

The turn after the Germans lost their AA I was able to knock out one of the 400 point Jagtigers with my air support. My infantry was still struggling to break through, but the right side of the German defense wasn't going to hold under much pressure.

After two brutal assaults under the iron fist of my commissar I was able to destroy the German infantry hiding in their foxholes and claim the objective. The German reinforcement Stugs arrived too late to alter the course of this battle and the Soviets were able to claim victory.

Emperor's Children Project Progress

Jeremie here giving an update on my Horus Heresy project. So far so good with the Emperor's Children paint scheme. I have been working on these for the last month along with some other projects (Dark Elves and Flames of War Soviets).

I decided to paint the armor with liche purple and highlighted with 50/50 emperor's children and liche purple. The base is done in a charcoal black basecoat followed by a heavy drybrush of graveyard earth and light drybrush of administratum grey. I opted to use decals for ease of not having to do freehand painting. I highly recommend using Microsol when applying decals since it softens them and makes application on curved surfaces much easier.

I expect the rest of the unit of 10 to be completed within 2 weeks which means I painted up 10 marines in a months time which is fairly good pacing for me.