Welcome, today we are going to be rebasing my entire Ogre army. The current basing is inconsistent across units. This is completely my own fault. The original basing I did in the dark days before I put any effort into basing whatsoever. Some of the units still had this original scheme, others had various different schemes but I couldn't settle on a single one. I settled in and did some research into an effective but low effort basing for them.
Before I could get into the new scheme I had to remove the previous basing. Fortunately PVA can be reactivated by soaking it in water. Acrylic paints are unaffected by water which is great as I marinated my Ogres in a baking tray for roughly 60 minutes.
Once properly soaked you can see the PVA turn white again. This means it is ready to be removed.
Removal was nice and easy. First step is to simply scrape away the old static grass and tufts and what-have-yous. I used an old, blunt hobby blade and carefully just scraped it away trying to avoid damaging the model or the texture paint underneath. I wanted to keep that there.
Next I took out my favourite old toothbrush and went to town to scrub away the last of the PVA and static grass. This process is messy so please don't it over your laptop or you WILL spend the next few days pulling out static grass lumps from your keyboard.
Finally give it one last swish around in the water to clean up and loose bits that are clinging on and you have the base all stripped. Just put them aside to dry and move on to the next one. Repeat until you have stripped every last single one of your models.
Once everything is properly dry we can set about rebasing. I opted to create a mix of materials that I can simply stick onto the base and go from there. I dug out an old take-away container out from under the sink and proceeded to dump in sand, grit, gravel, flock, stack grass, chopped up sponge, moss, and whatever else I could find in the basing box that seemed appropriate for a desolate mountain side. To begin I gave the base a VERY generous coat of PVA then stuck it in the mix.
I left the model in the mix for a few minutes to let the basing mix soak into the PVA properly.
Then I gave it a little shake to remove any really loose bits. I was careful not to dislodge everything as I wanted to keep as much as I could on the base.
I left it to dry like that for an hour or so (or however long it took me to dip everything and get some lunch). I then mix up some sealant from PVA, water, and a few drops of washing up liquid. The washing up liquid helps reduce the surface tension of the water and lets it flow into every nook and cranny. Add enough water so it is the consistency of skimmed milk. I have to state at this point DO NOT PUT THIS IN YOUR TEA! I tastes horrible and will ruin a good cup of tea. Plus might not actually be very good for you, I don't actually know. I deployed the mix using a pipette and properly flooded the base. Now do not touch it and leave it to dry. I left it overnight before attempting to touch it.
Now sit back and enjoy your freshly rebased models.
I'm not planning anything new for this army just yet. Well, I might do a unit of Yetis if I can find some decent models. Oh, and I do want a unit of Man-Eaters if I can find something suitable. Also some Rhinox cavalry wouldn't go amiss. I really NEED a Stonehorn as well as it is a magnificent model.
Ok, maybe there will be some new Ogres in the future. I also think I need to do a proper photoshoot with these guys at some point as well.
A Tyrant's work is never done...
Flocking is, after all, one of the ways to unite an army that has different colour schemes. Great work!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Ogres need to look as ramshackle as possible. With the exception of Yarg’s Raging Bulls but that is part of their backstory (I am certain it is in one of the older Ogre posts). I am really happy with how it has come out, thank you!
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