Speed Basing the American Civil War

As I have hundreds of bases to rebase and knowing that after about a week or so I will probably go on to something else, I thought it important to speed up the process of basing to give myself a chance of completing anything.

The rebasing also gives me the chance to touch up the very old paint jobs on my Civil War figures. I have found that by highlighting the nose and cheek bones, the old black ink shaded skin makes a great stubble colour.
It also gives me a chance to update all the old repro flags for new beautiful versions. Things have really moved on from when I collected my ACW forces back in 1997 and they are all crying out for an up date.

 

Dixon, Foundry and Redoubt miniatures are mixed to add variety on the bases. Dixon figures get a bad press but I like the character they bring when added to the mix. Also, they can be ordered separately from the website, which is a god send when ordering certain poses.

Above is a base of large Renegade miniatures I based earlier in the year, their base was done the long way. Sticking sand to the base by PVA glue, then painting highlights on to it, then flocking with grass flock.
This is a very popular method but for me with my armies of new bases, it would take me forever to get regiments completed. So I came up with a quicker method by using just flock of different shades.

After studying the American grass and undergrowth colours while out there, I found a yellowish looking flock colour, this works great for dead or dry grass and it would form the base layer.

On top of this yellowish base layer I added spots of green grass and patches of light stones. Finally long grass tufts were added and dry brushed yellow so they looked dried out. This may sound like a long process but It's not.

The only worry at first is that the first layer is quite thin and the figures bases can still be made out clearly. However, If you see a base edge you have two more layers of flock to cover it after the first layer has dried.

On some bases I spent a little extra time and stuck small slithers of flint on them, this looked good when coloured up with granite coloured paint. I looked at a lot of Gettysburg illustrations to get inspiration. So the two bases above look the same, but one was done in a fraction of the time of the other.

A mistake with the camera lead to a period Civil war photo.

It's nice to see all my old figures, who I had many fond memories of finally getting a revamp. Nice new bases, highlights on the skin and clothes and brand new standards as well from GMB Design.