Wargaming | Modelling
Flocking with Flat Earth and Dry Brushing

A method inspired by Mark Case's blog on Basing the Hussars. Mark specialises in the Peninsular War, which rang a bell, so I thought I'd give it a go for my own Peninsular Spanish.

spanish_brown_red.jpg (301837 bytes)

An infantry battalion for my Spanish Army of the Peninsular War
Both the battlalion and the base board are flocked the same way.

Materials

  • Super glue
  • White glue / PVA
  • Games Workshop Modelling Sand
  • Kitty litter
  • Earth coloured paint, for example:
    • Tamiya Flat Earth (XF-52)
    • Dulux Colour Sampler Tinted Code 80YR14140 250 ml Extra Deep W27. At 2.60 for 250 ml this works out much cheaper than buying the Tamiya paint.
  • Dark Sand coloured paint, for example any of:
    • Ceramcoat Maple Sugar Tan (this is Mark Case's preferred shade)
    • Vallejo 70847 Dark Sand (this is what I use because I couldn't find Ceramcoat in the UK)
    • Cote D'arms 522 Pale Sand (despite the "Pale" in the title it is quite similar to the Vallejo)
    • Americana DA191 Camel
  • Pale Sand coloured paint, for example any of:
    • Howard Hues Geo-Hex Desert (I use this because Mark Case suggested it and I only found the alternatives later)
    • Vallejo 70837 Pale Sand
  • Games Workshop Static Grass (strangely I find this a dryer look than the GW Burnt Static Grass which is dark green and red)

Method

  1. Super-glue the figures to the base.
  2. Leave to dry.
  3. Paint exposed surface of the base with diluted white glue.
  4. Dunk the base in the GW modelling sand.
  5. Randomly apply spots of diluted white glue to the base.
  6. Drop bits of Kitty Litter in the glue to form piles of rocks.
  7. Leave to dry.
  8. Paint the whole stand with a slightly diluted coat of earth colour.
  9. Leave to dry.
  10. Heavy dry brush a dark sand colour
  11. Leave to dry, not that it will take long.
  12. Light dry brush a pale sand colour
  13. Leave to dry, not that it will take long.
  14. Randomly apply spots of diluted white glue to the base.
  15. Dunk the base in the static grass.
  16. Optionally glue on labels such Unit IDs for Crossfire.
Flock_P1030319_sector_no_grass.jpg (298352 bytes)

3" Town sector - no grass

Flock_P1030320_sector_grass.jpg (301304 bytes)

3" Town sector - with grass

Flock_P1030321_sector_two_grasses.jpg (304515 bytes)

3" Town sector - two types of grass
Left: GW Static Grass
Right: GW Scorched Grass

Variations when Rebasing

I quite like the effect so I have redone my Russian Naval Infantry and Spanish Civil War. Others will follow.

Spanish Civil War Variation

My Spanish civil war figures were orginally based using a rough sand, large cat litter, and a fine flock. I didn't bother starting again with the the Games Workshop sand mix and just painted directly over the original flock.

republicans_P1030371_HMG_company.jpg (240070 bytes)

Spanish Civil War: Republican HMG Company
Note: Unit ID for Crossfire = "P" for Popular Army

Naval Infantry Variation

I had already plastered my Russian Naval Infantry Battalion when I decided to use this approach to flocking. I didn't bother gluing on sand and just painted the plaster. This is quite similar to how Roland Davis bases.

naval_P1030385_storm_party.jpg (156011 bytes)

Russian Naval Infantry Battalion: Assault Platoon
Note: Unit ID for Crossfire = "N" for Naval