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| Snow Basing Tutorial |
Howdy folks. I thought I would do a quick tutorial on how I make my snowy bases. I like my method as it can make fluffy fresh snow, or more icy frozen snow without having to use expensive crushed glass and such like, is fairly quick and simple to create, and looks good to boot :)
First thing to do is base your miniature with sand ect and get that painted ready for the flock. I paint mine grey as I like the contrast between the white snow and the dark slate and rubble, but you can use any colour you choose to do this And it will still look good.
Next you will need a pot of Gale force nine snow flock (I think Woodland scenics also do a similar product), a spatula of some sort, pva glue (Elmers glue is apparently the same stuff for you lot over the pond :) ), and a mixing surface. I do not use the GW stuff to create my snow as it is more like a static grass than a flock, and I do not think it will work as well, but you could give it a try on a spare base and see if that is all you can get.
Blob a large amount of pva glue onto your palette and slowly add the flock and mix it all together until you have a sloppy mixture. How much or little you add of the flock depends on what you want your snow to look like. The sloppier the mixture the more icy your snow will look, whereas if you want your snow to be nice and fluffy you will want the mix to be alot drier (but not too dry).
Once this is mixed add pva glue to the base of your model where you want the snow to sit. This creates a better bond to the base for your mixture, but also creates a nice graduating effect on the snow when you get to the final stage.
Spatula your snow mixture onto the base where you have added the pva glue patches and spread around as needed (this is where you create the hight and depth of your snow mounds, so pile it up high if you want nice big drifts or spread it thin if you want a more flat blob of snow).
While the snow mixture is still wet we add the final dusting of snow on the top. Sprinkle a healthy amount of flock onto the top of the mounds of snow you have created, and then shake it back off. The flock will stick to the parts you have mixed and glued, creating the final snow effect (this is where adding the pva glue to the base has an effect, as it created a nice graduation to your mound of snow and makes it look more realisitc).
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| After application |
Let it all dry and hey presto! A good looking snowy base :). You can choose how much or little snow you add to your bases, and this method will still work fantastically well, even if you want the whole base to be covered by snow.
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| After drying |
And thats a wrap :) let me know what you think of this tutorial. Any feedback is much appreciated.
NafNaf out!
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I do the exact same thing except I bought Woodland Scenics snow flock so I have more than I'll ever need for the same cost as the GaleForce flock.
ReplyDeleteGood tutorial.
Thanks Thor :) it is nice and easy to do but the results work very well for something so simple.
DeleteI will probably pick up some of the woodland scenically stuff when my GF9 runs out as their range usually comes in massive tubs too.
Agreed. For how simple it is to do the results are great. When you have a whole army to do then you can't argue with this technique. I mix in some ice effects and stuff on larger bases or cooler models (no pun intended), to break things up a bit as well.
DeleteI have never seen ice effects before. Do you have any pics or some links I could have a look at? sounds interesting.
DeleteI was thinking of doing icicles and stuff for bigger models, but not too sure how to achieve a nice effect without tons of effort.
supposedly spare flying stands (like those on land speeders and jetbikes) make pretty good icicles when shaved down with a craft knife to create a random surface.
DeleteThat is a good idea. With a bit of gloss varnish they could look pretty good. I will give that a try :)
DeleteI have a tutorial here: http://creativetwilight.com/tutorial-creating-ice-effects-on-bases/
ReplyDeleteI had terrible lighting in the shots but you can see the better end result in the link at the end there for my Helbrute showcase: http://creativetwilight.com/showcase-helbrute-complete/
The Still Water I use can be used to create icicles easily, though I didn't do that in the tutorial. If you pour Still Water onto a surface and let it dry then you can peel it up once dried and cut it into shapes, like icicles. It's a pretty robust product.
Awesome thanks Thor. I will definately be using that to make some ice effects on my bases
DeleteLooks good NafNaf the snow really contrasts well with the dark ground. You make the process look really simple
ReplyDeleteThankyou Joe. Glad you enjoyed it :). It is my first one so I am pleased I did not make it too convoluted or difficult to understand
DeleteBah I wish I had seen this before I started my Blood Angels... I'm loathe to try and pull them off their bases but I may well have too! Always struggled with bases, partly due to being lazy but we'll skip over that!
ReplyDeleteReally nice tutorial very easy to follow, good job naf :)
Cheers dude :). You could put the snow mixture over your current bases without having to rip them off possibly? It hides what's underneath pretty well
DeleteGreat tutorial. I really love seeing how everyone gets these effects, as you can tweak and take from each one and come up with your own little modified methods.
ReplyDeleteThanks Greg. Trial and error is how sometimes the best effects are achieved, adding a little info here and there until you get a result you are happy with. I am doing that with weathering at the moment, but am still on the gathering info stage :)
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