Finished! Sorta...

I believe I've finally finished the three test levy!!!

It's amazing what something as simple as painting the edges of the base does to make the whole figure feel finished.

 I'm not too fussed about the AP Battlefield Rocks. They make better sticks than rocks. I'll stick to the Woodland Scenics talus from now on. The one broken-off piece of talus I used on the levy in the green tunic's base (above) just painted up so much better. I may also try play sand instead of the AP flock too.

I went a little too sparse with the watered down PVA while applying my AP Battleground ash grey flock and kitty litter mix. It seems my old eyes were having trouble distinguishing the glue from the semi-transparent Lumina clay. This left some shiny, bald spots. Which wasn't too big of a deal as that just helped determine where to glue down the AP static Field Grass. A few of their Winter Tufts finished things off nicely. I still need to play around with how much of the base gets grass and how to make the shape of it look more natural.

Overall, I'm very please with the way everything came out. I'm still not entirely happy with the highlighting. Probably because I did next to none! I'll play around with that more with next batch of levy. Feels great to have these three in the can though!  =]

Now on to the other thirty-four little men...

First Base

No, I'm not holding hands with Christine Anderson during recess. I've gooped, sandified, and painted my first bases.

Even thought I bought some Vallejo White Pumice, it seemed so messy that I decided to use Gareson's method which he kindly demonstrates on his blog. This calls for using Lumina Air Dry Polymer Clay which is much tidier than the pumice. I'll use the pumice for some wattle buildings or something.

He also suggests using sand and kitty litter as basing materials. I had already purchased (a recurring theme!) some Army Painter basing stuffs (battleground basing and battefield rocks) so I figured I should try to use those. I ended up mixing some clumping cat litter I had hanging around in with the battleground basing. I considering using play sand, but mine seemed too fine (and also too moist).  I ended up cutting the battlefield 'rocks' up a bit. They look a bit big and too wood-like for my taste. I also experimented using for Woodland Scenics talus to make a larger rock.

After gluing on the basing, cat litter, and 'rock' mixture, I applied a mixture of equal parts water, PVA, and cheap craft store burnt umber paint. Then I dry brushed with a tan and beige that I mixed up from burnt umber and some light ivory craft acrylics. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. It was a bit laborious, so I may try to find ways to optimize (mix burnt umber paint into the Lumina clay?).

Next stop, static grass and tufts...