Hobby Basics: Army Painter Basing

Mid May I decided to try my hand at a more traditional basing scheme with hobby ballast and static grass and such. I picked up some stuff from Army Painter (Brown Battleground, Static Grass, and more tufts), and set to work. After a week or so of fuddling around, I felt I largely the hang of it.

In no particular order, I'd recommend using:

• Hobby Ballast (little rocks, etc)
• PVA Glue
• Static Grass (Army Painter)
• Tuft Grass (Army Painter)
• Bases of your choice
• Gel Super Glue
• Hobby knife
• Old Brush
• Spoon
• Popsicle stick
• Tweezers (for applying tufts)
• Paper Plate

With the above in-hand, here is a step-by-step method of application.

Step 1: Prepare the base

I really like cork board rocks, and always prime them, so adding those elements is my step 1. If you don’t like the look, ignore the rocks simply score your base a little with a hobby knife to get things started. The scoring is optional, but it did seem to help me a lot in my trials (if you don't score, you risk giving the glue not enough to grab onto with the base, and peeling all your basing materials right off of the base).

Bases, ready to go!

Step 2: Add Glue***

I experimented with different levels of diluted glue, and nothing worked well for me. I eventually squirted full strength PVA glue onto the base, and then smoothed it out with a tongue depressor, toothpick, or popsicle stick. That worked for me, so it's the level of glue dilution I'd recommend.

Step 3: Add the Ballast

Over a paper plate, spoon out the ballast, and dump it over the base. Be generous, as you don’t want bald patches on your base! Once covered, let your glue harden for a few hours, and use the paper plate to funnel any excess ballast back into its container.

On the right, the glue has been spread around, and the ballast applied on a few bases. Note the paper plate, used to catch a lot of the extra ballast!

Step 4: Add the Static Grass

Grab some more glue. You can either squirt it full strength onto the dried base, or dilute it a bit with water. Take an old brush, wet it, and spread the glue around a bit on the base. If you do have bald spots from Step 3, they are a great place for grass! Then, over a paper plate, take pinches of the static grass and sprinkle it onto the base.

Adding static grass!

Step 5: Add tufts

These tufts are great! They have a bit of adhesive on the bottom, but extra glue helps them stick and last. Simply put a dot of PVA glue or super glue on the bottom, and then place. You can use fingers to apply, or tweezers, if you’d rather.

Step 6: Add minis

I’m working with old GW Empire minis, which don’t have any stands or extra bits around their feet. So, with the base done, a dot of gel super glue on each foot is all you need. Hold in place for a few seconds, and then move onto the next one.

I would avoid PVA glue for this step, as it doesn’t set fast enough. I’d also avoid liquid super glue, as being more liquid, will likely get places you don’t want it to go during this step. The gel style super glue is designed to stay where you put it, and that can be very helpful when trying to orient minis.

Ta-da! Static grass and tufts and everything!

Step 7: Touchups!

Grass and tufts can help hide mistakes. If you used a little too much glue to base the minis, sprinkle a little more static grass!

*** If your minis come with stands, and you’re attempting this basing approach, I’d suggest painting them first, and then gluing them to the base as part of Step 1. When applying the PVA glue in Step 2, I’d recommend using a brush to apply the glue, as it is far more dexterous than a popsicle stick, and you don’t want to get glue on the model’s feet.

If the model is tricky, do the above in stages. Add a rank of minis, add the glue and ballast around their feet, and wait for it to set. Then move on to the next rank. It’s more time consuming, but it could be far less frustrating!