Basing day for the regiment

My basing process for these English Civil War chaps is fast and simple but effective. I want to give the impression of rutted earth that has seen a lot of heavy feet and hooves churn over it.

I’m still trying new stuff and adding a tiny amount of stones to the process is a case in point. I think they help with the realistic look. Right so here’s how I start; 

First I cover the base with wood glue which is strong PVA. Onto this I sprinkle a tiny amount of grit/ stones. These should pop up between the other layers and look good.

The first real covering layer is dark brown flock, this acts as the newly turned over earth and mud. Mine is called Dark earth.

Next I dot blobs of wood glue around in patches. Then light brown flock is then added. This sticks to the random patches and starts to add a shading to the base.

Again small patches of glue are added on top of the others layers and this time a green static grass is applied . Mine is called Summer Meadow. I have used this for years and it’s my go to grass. It has tiny flecks in it of purples etc. I imagine they are meant to be tiny flowers.

Lastly come the various flower and grass tufts. They really help to contour the base and make it less flat. These can be picked up easily on eBay as can the shades of flock.

Building up the layers of flock is another way of creating contouring within the base, leaving gaps where the dark brown can be seen. These look like foot prints or rutted holes in the ground.

More than anything though, this technique is really quick to buzz through. There’s no painting sand or anything like that, getting the glue in between all those pikemen is tricky enough without imagining painting in there. However once the first tricky job of painting the glue in there is done, the tiny patches of glue are very easy to do, no matter how crowded your base. I hope this helps.