Mud, Dust and Varnish

[Dr Duck]

I'm going to be doing some 'realistic' painted models based on a mud world.

 

I've tried a few thinks and painted bases arnt' working for me as well as my other flock basing has. My current plan is to paint the model then PVA the base and instead of dunking it in flock dunk it in dried mud dust. I will then be applying FW's weathering powder to the models and final 'fixing' the model.

 

however a few questions come forth:

 

1) Has anyone else used mud as mud before, are there any long term effects of using this?

2) What is the recomended way to fix a model such that the mud and weathering powder are safe from being damaged, but also in a matt way that is not in itself visible on the model

[Tanhausen]

I haven't used mud and I'd say you're probably going to face flaking.

 

Dont' remmeber where, but saw a tutorial about this...

 

Mix sand and wood dust (however that's called in English... what you get when you saw a big piece of wood.. besides 2 smaller pieces of wood :lol: ).

 

Mix it with white glue (PVA?) and A BIT of water.

 

Let it dry.

 

Results are pretty good!

 

If I remember I'll try and hunt the tutorial later at night.

 

Hope it helps!

[SCC]

Mix sand and wood dust (however that's called in English... what you get when you saw a big piece of wood.. besides 2 smaller pieces of wood :) ).

I'd imagine 'sawdust' is the word you're looking for...

[winterdyne]

Work up the base groundwork with sand as you normally would and paint before attaching the mini - for most purposes black drybrushed with scorched brown then adding khaki to the mix works pretty well for mud. Next pin the mini on (I usually paint separately from basing). Now the choice is dependant on dry or wet mud:

 

Dry mud - Drybrush the base lightly with a thin buff colour - I like Vallejo Panzer Aces 'Light Mud' for this. Then with the same colour drybrush again, this time catching the lower reaches of the mini (boots, cloak hems etc) as well as where mud / dust would accumulate. For a better effect use an airbrush and gently coat the whole thing, and build up more layers around the feet / floor. This is what I usually do and is well illustrated on the dreadnoughts and sicarius I recently completed.

 

Wet mud - For this mix up some gloss, dark brown. A mix of scorched brown and black, with a touch of khaki and a good amount of gloss varnish (I use Klear floor polish) is what you want. With an old, splayed drybrush stipple this around where mud would 'splash up'. If you want the mud to look semi-dried (more realistic) do a stippling pass with a matt mix with a bit more khaki in it first to represent the drier mud. Once your splashup is done, you can work the ground some more. Mix up a bit of dark brown pastel pigment and sawdust into a paste (about the consistency of yogurt) with a bit of PVA and a glug of gloss. Apply this with an old brush onto the ground into puddles and around the feet or wherever you want really claggy mud.

 

If you want to do splashes, use Woodland Scenics water effects once everythings dried, and tease it into shape with a cocktail stick once it starts to set.

 

I think this about covers what I know about mud effects... :-) Hope it helps.

 

Edit: As far as varnishing goes - you really want to do your gloss work LAST, and put your matt varnish on before doing it. You're not likely to be handling the glossy mud around the base so it's no so much an issue. If you do accidentally do things in the wrong order, simply gloss over where you need to with a fine brush.

[Dr Duck]

Thanks for the update, I tried a mini with ground up mud dust last night sprinkled onto PVA and this in itself seemed to work well.

 

I'll give it a few days to 'age' and should this not work and a problem appear then the painted option is the next port of call.