Some time ago I bought a kit and a pretty large variety of the other *pots* of scenic supplies from Basecraft and wow! Opening the box and checking out all the cool new goodies really was quite a good time! That was a lot of fun, but just wait until you actually USE these products.

I am VERY impressed! Some of these things I was *more or less* managing to duplicate on my own bases and scenery, but not only has Basecrafts taken all the drudge-work out of it for me — they’ve managed to GREATLY expand on the limited amount of scenery effects I was managing — and best of all, the prices (even with Royal Airmail to the ‘States fees) are QUITE good. I really can not say enough good things about these products. They are just INCREDIBLY great, and turning out bases and scenic terrain (something I enjoyed already) now is far and away one of my favorite parts of the hobby! These are absolutely incredible products I would enthusiastically recommend to any miniature hobbyist!

Here’s an example of my own madness, er, method of, in this case, creating bases for 25-30mm figures. If interested, read on:

Grab a solid base (or fill the tab opening with glue (CA or PVA), paper, bits of matchsticks, cotton swab sticks … whatever works for you). [I really am looking forward to the laser-cut HDF bases soon-to-come -- Bubba]

Ok, let’s get started. Paint the entire base with watered down PVA.

I have just about all of the sand/talus/rock and other ground scatter products Basecraft produces by now, so cover the base with your choice. Personally, I like to mix very fine products with a piece here and there of something of a different size and shape — nothing fancy. If you start off with, for example, a bit of forest scatter and mix in some sand/rock and other small bits (especially of different colors and textures), you can be done right here — set aside to dry and no more work is necessary!).

Myself? I like to keep on going. Pardon all the bad puns, but basically, I now have created a basic base ready for (in this example) painting with a brown color representing a tiny bit of slightly rugged *earth*. Depending on your own tastes, a few drybrushes with other browns/tans/etc. with maybe a dark wash thrown in to really bring out the texture at this point really works nicely (and again, here you can decide you are done, or keep going — it’s your base).

Continuing on, I now select and ready a few different colors of fine turf *grass* for use.

Paint a few low or not heavily covered by *earth* spots of the base with the watered down PVA (how about we just start calling it WDPVA?) and apply some of the different turf colors (all mixed up or one color here, another there, etc.). I often work on more than one base at a time so if possible, setting this base aside to dry and settle for a short while (15-30 minutes is plenty of time) when finished is a good idea (although one -can- just forge ahead if careful).

When you come back to your base, now you can choose to apply one or more colors of static grass (I apply mine in small clumps using a tweezer to areas dotted with straight PVA). I usually use the areas already covered by fine turf with a little random deviation here and there, still leaving a bit of my original ground work visible. Careful not to squash it or drop it, and after application of each color, be sure to turn the base over after a few seconds and tap the excess off (also letting gravity help static electricity make the little *grasses* stand up). Hmm. We are REALLY getting somewhere now. A VERY nice base indeed!

Ah, but for those final touches that really give you a unique and quite realistic look, let’s go a little further. Now give the whole base a spritz or two of heavily WDPVA from a sprayer (pre-mixed solution and sprayers are available from Woodland Scenics, or you should be able to clean out and use an empty pump-spray bottle from around your home you then can fill with your own liquified PVA mixture).

Now, using some of the MANY other great Basecrafts products all together: With a tweezer place a few tiny stones here and there of different colors, drop a tiny bit of coarse turf of different colors around randomly, place a few small (chopped up) bits of leaf litter here and there, maybe apply a small stump … when done with the ground cover, now apply any grass tufts you like (put a dab of PVA on the back of the tuft and be sure to press it firmly into your chosen spot on the base) and viola! What a miniature work of art (hopefully you’ve managed still to leave SOME room on it for the figure it will eventually hold (I usually pin the figure to the base through one foot using CA glue)). Seriously, once you get the hang of it, using these products allows just about anyone to fairly easily produce pretty incredible-looking bases in a very short amount of time.

For some of you, I can hear you thinking: “This sure sounds like an awful lot of stuff to put onto a small base (the method just described probably would not work on anything smaller than 20mm scale)! Well, it is, so remember: a little of pretty much anything goes a LONG way. Don’t worry though: you will get the hang of it in no time (I experimented on a few off-cuts of foam-card for my first tries). Also …

Vary the look between bases (leave some maybe just earth, or earth and: a bit of fine turf, or a grass tuft, or fine turf with a small sprinkle of some coarse turf and some chopped up leaves (I find the leaves as they are a bit too large for my taste — if dried a bit, they easily can be roughed up in the palm of your hand to make smaller bits, or rub against some small wire or a sieve or — you get the idea). How easy (and fun!) now to build a VERY wide-range of base-types for not-too-much-ca$h.

THANK YOU BASECRAFT, and happy Basecrafting everyone!

PS: don’t forget — these products work just as well on individual (portable) terrain projects and/or your entire wargaming table! Fence (or hedge) rows, a copse of trees,
Rocky and/or mountainous terrain. A small *foxhole* (or a heavy weapon emplacement) or other prepared position. Let your creative id go wild — assuming it (or you) are not already in such a state!

Again, please enjoy these products I wholeheartedly recommend, have fun, and cheers from Bubba in scenic downtown Manassas, USA!