How I texture figure bases

A few people have expressed an interest in learning how I texture my figure bases. Late last year a couple of people on the Lead Adventure Forum said they would really like to see a blog post on how I do it. So, here it is. This is not how to do it, it is just how I do it. I'm not sure if there is much that is original or different here, but hopefully some readers will find it of interest or useful.

The figures are based on 2mm thick MDF. I tend to use rounds for individual figures or rectangular shapes for weapons teams. The latter I tend to cut by hand from left over MDF and tailor the size to the weapons or figures that are to go on it. I chamfer the edges with a sharp blade, to avoid that distinctive step up for a base. I cover this in an earlier blog post which you can find here.

The figures are attached using PVA glue and, once dry, the figure's own base is blended into the MDF base using Milliput.

Normally, I'll do this before the figure is primed or painted, but if the base requires multiple figures I'll wait to do that once they are painted.

The next thing is to apply texture. In my case, I use a homemade mix of various sands. I live by the coast in Australia, so there are no shortage of beaches. The useful thing about having a dog is that I always have a poo bag handy if I spot an interesting sample of sand.

I keep jars with sands of various coarseness and use these as I need, depending on the project. 

For most basing I have a custom mix of sand, the aim here is to avoid any uniformity in texture. The odd pieces of broken sea shell add to the variety.

The figure base is coated in a thin mix of PVA glue. If the glue is too thick you will lose the texture of the sand, so best to keep it diluted at about 75:25 with water.

The base is then dipped into the sand mix.

Once dry, I then use an old toothbrush to dislodge any loose sand. It's then sealed with a very diluted PVA and water mix (about 9 parts water to 1 part PVA). I find this helps seal the sand in place, but also provides a plastic covering to the sand which makes painting much easier.

If the figures are unpainted, then both figure and base are primed at this stage with my preferred primer for each particular project. Unpainted figures are then painted and varnished before any more work is carried out on the texture. The base is painted according to the terrain the figure will be used in. I will do two coats, normally a darkish brown base coat and then a lighter sandy coloured dry brush to pick out the texture of the sand. For this I tend to use various Dulux household emulsion paints. I buy them in sample pots and then dilute them at about 50:50 with water. This helps the paint flow better and also makes the paint dry with more of a matt finish.

This now brings us to the foliage and grass finish. I do this in two distinct stages. If you look at the natural world there is a great variety in the shades of grasses, even of the same variety. I aim to mimic this with my figures. I do this in two stages. The first layer I use my Base mix. This is an equal mix of Army Painter Battlefield Grass Green and Woodland Scenics Blended Turf (Green Blend).

As you can see, that makes for a good mix of different shades of green.

I use diluted PVA glue and apply it in patches to the base. You don't want to cover the entire base. The idea is to leave the textured sand coming through in various areas.

Try to avoid leaving a bare patch right around the figure's feet, that looks very unnatural. 

I dip the figure in the base mix, shake off any excess and then leave it to dry.

The next layer is the most important in my opinion, as this really adds a very natural dimension to the ground cover. I use static grass. In this case from Noch. 

Once again, I've made up my own custom mix adding variety in colour and in length.

This I apply with an electrostatic applicator. I've found I don't need to buy one of the expensive ones used by railway modellers, but I do need to avoid the very cheapest ones. In terms of power I've found it needs to be powered by at least a 9V battery to work well, anything less is not as satisfactory. Aliexpress or Temu are your friends here.

For this job I use Mod Podge glue. I find it an excellent adhesive for static grass and the matt type dries completely matt and so avoids any unsightly glossy patches on the base.

Once again, the glue is applied in patches. I only apply it where I have the base mix and even then I don't fill the entire area with glue.

Once the static grass has been applied I wait for about 30-60 secs. I then turn the base upside down and strike it once with something fairly heavy like the handle of an old dining knife. This not only gets rid of excess and loose static grass, but I find it helps the grass that is attached to stand upright. With that the basing is finished.

I know for some people this is several stages too many, but I think what enhances so many modelling projects is the depth and layering of paint and other effects. The natural world is filled with colour, shades and variety and if that's reflected in our miniature versions then it adds to the immersion and sense of realism.

German Farm Buildings

Despite having played Chain of Command campaigns set in many different parts of Germany, one thing has remained consistent. Whether it's been East Prussia or on the road to Bremen, I've fudged the terrain. It's always looked a lot more like Normandy than Germany. So this is a project that is well overdue.

More recently, I introduced a friend to Chain of Command and we are about to embark on the Westwind Konigsberg campaign. It's my second playing, but this time around I'm determined to make the tables look a little more 'German'. To be honest though, if I was really aiming for East Prussia in February 1945 I'd be making terrain for a snow covered table, but let's not go down that rabbit hole. Not yet, anyway. 

I thought I would start with a couple of half timber farmhouses and barns, so I ordered a few MDF kits from the 20mm Sarissa Precision range. As is my usual practice, I've made a few additions and alterations.

To start with, the roofs tend to have a few very distinctive features that seem to be the hallmark of all MDF kits. Concealing those feature, or at least embellishing them, is always a priority. Anything that can hide the joining lugs or the sharp laser-cut angles on the MDF can make a big difference. For the farmhouse I began by wrapping the chimney breast with wallpaper embossed with a brick effect.

Not only does it give a suitable brick effect, but it immediately softens the sharp angles.

For a similar effect, I lightly sand the corners of the top of the chimney. Once again, the aim is to give a softer, rounder edge.

The chimney pots, if you could call them that, are rather sad looking lumps of MDF. They were the next thing that needed addressing.

I cut them off and replaced them with a pair of metal chimney pots that I bought as part of a set of a dozen from a model railway supplier.

That was a marked improvement already.

The laser etched roof tiles were replaced with laser cut card ones from Charlie Foxtrot Models. They come in strips and are easy to apply using PVA glue. You cut them to the lengths you need and there is literally no wastage. They are very versatile. For the farmhouses I wanted to feature the distinctive curved tiles that seem a popular feature of East Prussian buildings.

My plan was to paint all the tiled roofs in the distinctive terracotta colour associated with certain parts of Germany, but particularly East Prussia.

I thought I'd vary the roofs of the barns and give one a thatch. I made that very simply by using a scouring pad and a strip of old towel, soaked in diluted PVA. The scouring pad is very quick to apply. Just cut it to the size you want and glue it to the existing MDF roof.

A piece of towel was cut to the width I wanted, dunked into a pot of diluted PVA glue and then placed over the join between the two sections of the scouring pad.

I added a few small features such as hinges and handles to the doors. The hinges were pieces of plastic rod and the handles were made by bending and shaping pieces of wire.

These may be only small additions, but they do a very good job of adding depth to the otherwise rather flat face of the buildings.

Given the relative lack of depth to the walls, you have two options. One, is to add additional material like strips of card or balsa to create the timber beams. The other, is to try to give the impression of more depth by painting. Call me lazy, but I went with the latter. The key is to create a three dimensional effect by layering the paint, this gives the impression of depth.

Most of that is simply starting with a darker base colour and then dry brushing with progressively lighter shades.

As with many Sarissa kits, some of the features are laser cut from grey board, including things like window shutters. I find it easier to paint these separately and then glue them in place.

The final bit of detail was to add a small amount of flock around the base of each building. With that, they were done. The two barns are identical kits, the only difference is one has a tiled roof, while the other is thatched.

While the two farmhouses both have the same style of roof tiles, I've added a bit of variety by painting the window frames, shutters and doors in different colours.

I think I prefer the grey colour, it's more muted and blends in well with the rest of the building.

So, that's given me four new buildings for Germany. Naturally, it's never enough. Buildings are like trees, it seems you can never have too many.

While I said that I had no suitable buildings for Germany, that was not completely true. I have had the one below for some time, in fact for so long, I can't recall who the manufacturer was. It has a very different style to the Sarissa buildings, with the timber beams in the walls much more prominent. I thought I could try to tie it in with the new buildings by applying some of the Charlie Foxtrot roof tiles.

Here's a few photos of the Sarissa buildings with 20mm vehicles for scale.