SCW Terrain - Vineyards Finished

Evening all,

It's been quiet around here, but I've been beavering away on various bits and pieces. First to completion has been these vineyards, built in anticipation of some 28mm Chain if Command Espana games this year. I made eight strips to give me a decent field of blocking terrain.

They were fairly simple if a little time-consuming to make - I used an up scaled and tweaked method that I found on someone's blog: http://empireofghosts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/tutorial-vineyards.html

For the build I used:

• Bases: fat lolly sticks from Hobbycraft.  The same that I used for my recent 15mm hedgerows
• Trees: Woodland Scenice tree armatures - from a bag of 114 deciduous  sized between 3/4" and 2" that I bought as 15mm scale trees. I used less than 20 of them because I cut a few larger armatures into two or individual stems.
• End posts: a bag of cocktail sticks from Lakeland, chopped to length with a support piece cut to 45 degrees. I got some with a few grooves cut in them which helled when adding the twine. 
• Twine:  black cotton thread liberated from the wife's sewing up box. 
• Foliage: Woodland Scenics 'Olive green' bushes and 'Light green' clump foliage
• Groundwork: Wilko cheap wood filler, sand and flock using my usual method. 

The step-by-step process, in brief as I didn't take any photos during the process (you may wish to consult my basing tutorial too).

• Take lolly sticks, discarding any warped ones
• Tidy up a selection of tree armatures - I trim the mold lines off (force of habit and pickiness for me  -  you many consider this optional)
• Superglue four armatures fairly evenly along the length, keeping them fairly parallel with the base.  Cut larger armatures to desired size.These didn't have a base, so I drilled a hole carefully in the lolly stick and glued the stem into the hole for extra support. 
• Carefully drill holes for the end posts using a suitable bit - some of mine split as I was doing it but I thought it worth pinning them in rather than just gluing on top. 
• Cut cocktail sticks to desired length. Stick into the drilled holes with pva. Cut short supports to length, trim to 45 degrees (approximate). Glue supports on. Leave to dry. 
• Bend armatures into suitable shapes. 
• Slap on wood filler to disguise the bases for the armatures 
• Wrap cotton thread around the groove of the cocktail stick, add a blob of superglue to hold. Bring along the length to the other end post, wrap and glue. Repeat so you have two runs of twine along each base. 
• At this point I put a quick burst of black spray onto each side of the end posts so I wouldn't have to worry about coverage when painting. 
• Add the ground texture - I apply pva then talus, sand and rocks to suit - I keep varying grades in separate tupperwares. I the. Used bulldog clips to pin each strip onto a baking tray - this (may?) minimise warping of the lolly stick base as the pva dries. 
• I usually add a second layer of texture to cover anything I've missed (optional)
• Leave to dry well, knock off any excess. 
• Dropper on Woodland Scenics scenic cement to bind and seal the sand (optional)
• Paint the groundwork, then the end posts and armatures to suit. 
• Hot glue gun on the foliage. I started with an Olive green central clump then added Light green to the higher branches. Try to keep each bush fairly slim with definition between them. I think the smaller bushes look better than larger but ended up with a variety sizes. 
• Pick off any excess foliage, tweaking the shape of the each row to suit
• Trim off any dried glue on show or hide with more foliage
• Dropper or spray on scenic cement to bind the foliage (optional)
• Add flock and tufts to taste
• Done!

I'm quite pleased with them - they fill a hole in the Spanish terrain collection and rather nicely evoke the region - much more so than wheat fields or ordinary woods.

Basing the Phyllion Way 2 - Custom Sabot Trays

I recently wrote up how I do my basing, but I've also been working away on some customs sabot trays. I've previously just bought Warbases sabot trays to vase my uhits up , as they are well priced and do the job perfectly well. But they don't do any 'mob trays' of a standard, square size. No doubt hey could do me some custom me ones, but inspired by a Captain Blood's fine work over on LAF, I thought I could make my own up.


Captain Blood's test piece - image used without permission from his post on Lead Adventure Forum

Despite following such a tough act , I think mine came out rather well:

To save me cutting the core bases, I turned back to Warbases and the largest size of their round cornered bases. For the holes, I turned to Jimbibbly of LAF (fine proprietor of Oshiro Modelterrain). He was only too happy to cut me some custom Perspex holes. Until I told him I wanted 120. But like a trooper, he delivered me these:

Then a flash of inspiration - My Mahdists are all bases on 2ps, many* of which are magnetic. With great foresight, I had also pilfered the spare 'save the date' fridge magnets that we sent out for my wedding last year. Magnetised trays it would be!



Cut to size:

Then just superglue the Perspex rings on: 10 to a base in as random a formation as I could make with the space. The white bits are off cuts of card, just to make the filler less thick on larger areas.

After that I just followed the same process as for basing my troops, starting with wood filler to smooth it all out.

Then slather with pva and sprinkle sand, allow to dry and repeat. To avoid the warping the thinner wooden bases warping as the pva dries, I clipped two back to back while drying - theory being the force on each should be pretty much the same so neither should wrap significantly. It seems to work (at other times I use the 'pile of books on too' technique - usually the wife's cookbooks!)

Coming along nicely

The first batch of nine after a good coating of scenic cement.


I'll explain the blank ones later. 

I've still got to paint them up, but I've run out of may 'terraining' emulsion colour of choice. They are perfectly useable for now.

All told, these took no longer than the work I already did on improving the standard Warbases sabots trays - sanding off the harsh edges, pva and sand, paint them up and flock/tuft. They are to my own specification, look a little less obtrusive being just a single layer of mdf and are magnetised to boot! Not a bad for few evenings of work over the World Cup, if I do say so myself. 

*only 2 pence pieces from the early 90s onwards are magnetic. It turns out a fair of my Mahdists are actually based on older ones - ah well! 

Basing the Phyllion way - a Step by Step

A couple of people have commented on my basing for my Sudan collection and Belgian over on LAF asked if I could whip up a tutorial. I claim absolutely no expertise in the myriad ways that one might base miniatures - my method has evolved from very basic goblin green and flock of the 1990s into a rather  time-consuming process. But it works for me. 

First things, I always paint the bases first. I just cannot get on with doing things the other way around - I inevitably splatter the painted miniature in sand/glue/paint and get frustrated that they need a touch-up. I do acknowledge that others do wonderful things painting minis first and then basing them, particularly multi-based figures, vignettes or Impetus stands. I'll do it for gun crews or anything else where painting the miniatures unbased is a no-brainer, but not for the rank and file. This is one of the main reasons I use single basing and sabot trays for most of my forces.

This is my process, using some bases of animals to illustrate. Optional steps are marked with a '*'. 

Step 1 - Stick mini to the base

A bit of an obvious one. I use pva glue rather than superglue now, partly on Simon Miller's 'recommendation' and partly as my base sizes and shapes have evolved over the years, so the chances of me wanting to re-base things is fairly high. Superglue is the bane of rebasing. In fact, this chap is being requisitioned as a goatherd so is being re-based with his flock.

Wait a good few hours for the white glue to dry. 

Step 2 - A bit of filler*

I often lay down some filler to make a smoother gradient between the plastic/mdf base and miniatures' integral base. I've found this is particularly important when:

-the miniature has a particularly thick integral base

-I'm using a finer grade of sand, which I do for desert bases

-I've made a scenic or multi-layered base

This doesn't take long and if the miniature isn't painted, you don't need to worry too much about neatness - errors can just be nudged off with a scalpel. 

Leave to dry a few hours. 

Step 3 - Choose your sand

As well as using different base colours and foliage for different forces/collections and to represent different regions, I don't always use the same grade of sand. My current repertoire has two main mixed grades: 

-sieved sharp sand, dried out in the oven, with some small rocks from the sieved sand added (lower left)

-a medium hobby talus with some of the same small rocks added

My Sudan miniatures use a sprinkling of the medium talus but mostly the fine sand. For a temperate climate, I usually use the talus with just a little sand. 

I've also got a box of small rocks and a box of small pieces of washed garden slate, so I can manually add different kinds of rocks. 

Step 4 - Rocks and sprinkled talus 

Slather the base in white glue. Place rocks small or larger as  appropriate - I try to make sure 1 in 3 infantrymen and most larger bases have some on to add interest. Then take a pinch of the talus and sprinkle it on. I find this adds greater texture than just using sand and doing it in two stages ensures a good distribution. Just mixing the grades of sand would make the tub settle into layers and you wouldn't get the same end result.

Step 5 - Give it a dunk

Immediately after and while the white glue is still wet, dunk the base into the sand. Leave it in the tub for a few minutes so the glue can set a little. Then fish the base out and brush off any offending sand from the miniatures' feet and legs (the back of a scalpel is good for this) and run a finger around the base edge to give a nice even finish. Leave to dry fully.

Step 6 - Dunk it again*

Repeat step 5, particularly if here are any bare areas, or you skipped step 2 and the integral base is noticeable. Leave to dry.

Step 7 - Scenic cement*

This stuff has its critics, but I quite like it. I drop it on using a pipette to seal the sand together. I've found it works wonders at minimising the amount lost while painting. What I found infuriating before I added this stage was that if I was basing and painting something at the same time, my work area would get covered in loose sand. Using scenic cement means almost none comes off.

I've marked it optional as  you could just hide any bare areas with flock or tufts. 

Step 8 - Basecoat

The edges get a coat of white (an old GW Basecoat paint that I use for almost nothing else), particularly for minis based on 2ps. Then I do two coats of watered Vallejo Earth. Watering it down is essential to let it run into the crevices and two coats means you get a more consistent colour. These take a while to dry out fully

Step 9 - Highlights


After two highlights


Fully highlighted - alas the feet!

Highlights are Vallejo Earth mixed with Vallejo Buff - about 3 highlights all the way to buff. Dry brush these on, being sure to highlight between the minis' legs (no worries about mistakes - they usually aren't painted yet). I keep the lightest highlights around the edge of the base, to give a shadow effect under the miniatures. The grade of sand will be significant for the result - with finer sand you get a much lighter effect as the highlights are more prominent.

The final highlight, usually done last after the miniature is painted is buff with a touch of white added - doing it last tidies up any mistakes from painting the miniature.

Step 10 - Paint the miniature

Not covered by this tutorial!

Step 11 - Flock and Tufts



This is the go-to selection for my Sudan miniatures - three MiniNatur tufts in two sizes and three colours, plus some 'African grass' static grass from an eBay seller. The latter is a bit more savannah than dead grass that I wanted but adds a bit of colour so I've stuck with it.

Sudan being quite arid, I probably use too much static grass and tufts on the bases. But I find each minis needs something to set the base off. I tend to put 1-2 patches on each base, using a mixture of the above. I quite like adding tufts beside or on top of the static grass areas to soften them or use pairs of tufts together. Placement-wise, look for areas where there are mistakes (not enough sand or over-heavy highlights), or where plants might naturally grow - coming out beside rocks and crevices etc. Cavalry and other larger bases usually get 3 larger areas, each made up of multiple tufts or tufts on the static grass.

The Final Result

Here we are - a native goatherd and his flock:

Hopefully some of you have found this useful!

Tiny Worlds Stone Walls: Painting part 2

Continuing from my last post, the walls needed some foliage, of course. First up, static grass in two colours. Spring green and some 'African Grass' which has a nice scorched grass colour. Notice the hedgerow now ncludes bushes - two small lumps I had spare from the AoW hedgerows set.

Finally, of course I had to add a scattering of Mininatur Tufts - early fall and late fall. These make an appearance on most things these days, i tried to drop them into the crevices where i imagine bushes and weeds will grow from. And with that, I declare them finished!

Here's a shot of the hedgerow connector. Not bad except the flocks are slightly different since I did the hedgerows.

And to finish off, some Perry plastic Redcoats making use of the cover, to show them in action and the scale.

And there you have it - I hope you I enjoyed my first two-part review and tutorial!

Tiny Worlds Stone Walls: Review and Painting part 1

I spent ages towards the start of the year looking for some decent stone walling in 28mm scale. Everything I found was either a ghastly pile of kitty litter, or way over the price I was happy to pay. The nicest I found was from Architects of War, while I really like their hedgerows set, I couldn't quite justify the cost - the walls cost the same as the hedgerows but seem worse value for money to me - no foliage and only 34" of wall, as opposed to 40" of hedge.

Eventually, eBay came up trumps: these resin casts from eBay store'Tiny Worlds'. I bought two sets a four and a six pack. I think together they a bargain price of £16 including postage.

So they score highly on value for money as there is over 45 inches of wall here. The arrived well packed and surprisingly nicely sculpted, including good variation - two sculpts of the long 6" lengths, as well as a ruined section. Then there are two sculpts of a shorter section of 3" and a ruined one of that length, plus two end-pieces. I like the mix of lengths, should be able to snake them around the board a bit more naturally.

I've two relatively minor gripes:
-the casts had a lot of small air bubbles and needed quite a bit of tidying with a knife. I had to do a fair bit of work filling the bubbles - you am be able to make out the darker spots above, where I'd green-stuffed them. And of course I haven't caught them all.
- they are perhaps a little bit low - 20-22mm including the base. I did consider mounting each piece on 3mm board to add a little height, but decided it was far too much faff. I'll post a shot with some 28mm minis in my next post.

Other than that, I'm really happy with them for the price. Overall a solid 8/10.

I dint normally post painting tutorials, mostly as I wouldn't presume to have that many original techniques to share, especially with terrain. I think my style is too clean to lend itself well to making decent terrain. But I remembered to take photos at each stage for once, so I will use them.

After the prep and a burst of white undercoat, I thought I'd save on using modelling acrylics for the a decorating by buying some decent emulsion - Little Greene Stone Dark Warm seemed a nice start. This is how they looked after two coats.

Next up, some washes, on the earth banks rather than the walls: two washes of Watered Vallejo 'Earth'. Then, a wash of watered Vallejo 'Charred Brown'. Finally, some sparing use of precious Devlan Mud, in the very deepest recesses. Each stage was quick, but all these layers meant they took the most part of a week of evenings to paint as I'd have to wait for each stage to dry. But doing them between other projects meant this wasn't much of a problem.

You may note one end has no wall and was sprayed black. This is to make a piece which merges into the AoW hedgerows I mentioned earlier. I knocked this up by mounting a short piece onto Foamed PVC (great stuff!), building it up with wood filler then some sand for texture. It'll get foliage later.

Next up: drybrushing of course! Vallejo Earth plus some GW Bleached bone, highlighted to bleached bone on the earth. The wall being lighter, I started with bleached bone and did a couple of highlights with white. And here we are, looking pretty good, but not quite finished...