This was my 2006 enthusiasm before adopting a different style of Flock using Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth. I liked it because it reflects the colours of the Med in the sun and Israel specifically.
The method is based on a suggestion for Battle Front: Basing Your Miniatures based on Woodland Scenic Earth Undercoat (C1229).
Unfortunately Chris Harrod calls it my “brown slime”. In truth I was a little erratic with the the washing process and didn’t achieve a consistent look; the dark bits didn’t necessarily correspond to the hollows, etc. And it involves a lot of steps, too many.
Examples
I’ve rebased many of my figures using this technique.
Strathclyde Welsh from Britannia 600 AD
Crossfire bunker
The Method
Materials:
- PVA wood glue
- A pre-mixed plaster filler. I used Multi-purpose Polyfilla.
- Water.
- A trowel. I use a plastic Modelling trowel, but anything long and pointy will do.
- Small pebbles or cat litter.
- White paint.
- Woodland Scenic Earth Undercoat (C1229)
- Grass flock. I originally used a mix of two Woodland Scenics products: 2 parts Green Grass (T45) to 3 parts Earth Blend (T50). This mix gives a browned off look, but I found Burnt Grass (T44) gives a similar effect with less hassle.
- For big features such as the bunker above, I also glued on Woodland Scenics sponge foliage.
Method:
- Glue the figures to the base (in my case they were already glued).
- Spread plaster over the base, being careful to avoid your figures, but plastering up to their base. If necessary use a small amount of water to spread out the plaster; I find dunking my trowel into a class of water provides enough lubrication.
- Glue cat litter to the base.
- Allow to dry.
- Paint the plaster and cat litter white. Cat litter needs this otherwise it will soak up the Earth Undercoat to come, but I find it gives a better effect on the plaster as well.
- Allow to dry.
- Paint the plaster and cat litter with Earth Undercoat. Undiluted Earth Undercoat is quite dark, so I use it slightly diluted version thus allowing more white to show through – this seems to look more “parched” to me.
- Allow to dry.
- Optionally glue grass flock to parts of the base. I did this for my armies originating in Spain, but not for those originating in North Africa.
- Allow to dry.
In the case of the Spanish Civil War figures above, I’d previous glued a identifying label on the stand before I started the flocking above. When I painted on the Earth Undercoat I also washed over the label, making the labels more discrete on the table top.