Friday Quick Tip: Static Grass

Continuing with our running tutorials on Basing, this week we're going to give you some very basic tips on how to use Static Grass. This tutorial builds off of what we've learned from the Basic Basing tip. The addition of Static Grass to your basing really adds a lot of character to your models with minimal effort. There are a lot of different colors of static grasses out there, and it's up to you to find the static grass that best suits the look you are going for.

For this tutorial I've used GF9's Arid Static Grass to give my Sons of Medusa a dry southwestern desert look.

Step One:


To start you'll need to dab some white glue onto your base in random fashion like in the photo. The amount of coverage is up to you, but for me, a little bit goes a long way.

Step Two:


When I'm putting static grass on the base, I tend to cover the entire base to cover any and all glue. Use tweezers to pick up clumps of grass and drop it on the base. Doing this over your container is always best so you can save any excess grass for future projects!

Step Three:


After shaking off the excess into the container, flip your model upside down and blow away loose grass. This knocks out two birds with one stone by both getting rid of the loose grass and helping to stand the static grass up even more in a more natural manner.

Step Four:


Now just let it dry! You really don't want to mess with it too much at this point. You can however clean up the rim some as you will notice some stray grass hanging over the edge.

Again, this is just building upon our basing knowledge up to this point. If you haven't read our Basic Basing tip, be sure you check it out. And if you're feeling up to it, try out our more advanced Snow Basing tip. For even more variety in your basing, you could mix all three of our basing tips!

So how about it folks, what other good tips for static grasses do you have?

Friday Quick Tip: What's a Paint Shaper?

If you already know what a paint shaper is, then you'd better have one in your tool box because these are probably the best hobby tool around. If you've never heard of a shaper before, let me fill you in: a paint or color shaper (google also for "colour shaper" which is a brand name) is basically a brush handle, but instead of bristles the shaper has a flexible silicone tip.


There are a variety of sizes and shapes available and there are a million and one uses for this thing. I received a cup tip shaper for Christmas and was a little puzzled at first. But now that I've had it for a while, I always make sure that it is close at hand when I'm painting.

Here are a few things I've used it for:

Oops! Squeegee: A few times I've touched the brush to the wrong place and instead of going back later and painting a touch up, a quick swipe from a wet shaper can pick up that oops. Wedge and cup tips work best for this technique.

Paint Reveal: You might have done this as a kid; paint a design and then put another color on top and use a tool to remove the top color to reveal the design beneath. I've experimented with this a few times and it can make for some interesting effects. First put down a color and let it completely dry. Then lay down a thin coat of paint on top and while still wet, use the shaper as an "eraser" for the top color. I recommend one of the pointed tip shapers for this type of work.

Putty Smoother: This is one of the original uses for a shaper and one it excels at. Since the tip is flexible and silicone it doesn't stick to even the stickiest epoxy putty. With a little water, the shaper can really to excellent work smoothing out rough areas. Depending on the shape you're sculpting, you could use any style of tip.

Color Shaping/Blending: Another original use of the shaper is using it to smear and blend colors. I used my shaper this way for reflected light from a burning banner. I dabbled down a small line of orange and then used my cup shaper to pull the orange away from the light source. It works great over rough surfaces because the shaper will catch only the top edges were light would naturally fall.

For wargaming-sized work, I recommend the smallest (no./size 0) shapers and if you shop around you should be able to find a 5 pack of assorted tips for under $25. A real bargain for this versatile tool.

Have you used a shaper before? What good tips do you have for using paint shapers?

Friday Quick Tip: Basic Basing

Basing is one of the base skills that every modeler needs to learn when they start out, and while it's simple to many, there are still folks out there that really don't have a clue where to start! This one is for them!

What You Will Need
Tub of Sand, Water, Glue, Old Brush, and your Mini

Step One:
To start out you're going to dot the base with Glue. You can see that here I've done two larger dots at the front and back, I've found this normally ends up being just enough glue for the next step.

Step 2:
With this step you want to take your old brush and spread it around to cover the entire top of the base. Don't worry too much about being super careful, just spread it out and you can clean it all up later!

Step 3:
This is your clean up step, clean the rim of the base with your finger, wipe away any glue on the model with a wet brush and generally fix any trouble spots before moving on to the next step!

Step 4:
Pop open that tub of sand and plant your trooper at least knee deep in it! Give your model a minute or so to sit and remove him. Blow away any loose particles and give him a quick shake, this helps later down the road when you go to paint it all as all of the loose stuff will hopefully have been nixed early on, and keep your brush from getting clogged with sand.

Another quick wipe of your finger around the rim and maybe a little additional clean up on the model itself and you should have something similar to this:


Step 5:
This is a step that I highly suggest to everyone. I always base my models prior to spray priming. This is to help lock all of the sand in with the extra coat of paint, and has really helped a lot in the long run.

Step 6:
This step is all up to you! Whatever color you want your base to be, paint it that color! For this model I've gone with a Bestial Brown hit with a quick drybrush of Bleached Bone. For the rim, I've gone with Chaos Black, again, it's up to you to find the best color for your model!

And that's that! From here, the window is wide open for experimentation into the world of scenic basing. Be sure you check out our Snow Basing Tip for a little more advanced methods. And if you're feeling up to it, enter our 'Take Cover!' Dawn of War II painting contest!

'TAKE COVER!' A DoW2 Painting Contest

Today we are forgoing our normally scheduled Quick Tip to bring you something a bit more exciting, our very first Painting Competition, sponsored with prize support by the fine folks over at THQ!


The contest is simple, model and paint a Blood Raven Space Marine using cover in battle! You will have one month from today to turn in both a WIP photo as well as a final contest entry photo of your mini. Once the month is up, we will gather up all entries and the winners will be selected by a panel of judges. Prizes will be handed out to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

Prizes

First Place receives a T-shirt, Body Warmer, Dog Tag, Rucksack, and a Battlegear Keyring

Second Place receives a Tote Bag, T-shirt, Battlegear Pin, and a Cap

Third Place will recieve a Dog Tag and Bodywarmer

The Rules

• Model and Paint a Blood Raven Space Marine using cover in combat.
  
• Entries must be a SINGLE Games-Workshop Space Marine on a 40mm or smaller base. Models may be any type of marine but painted in the the chapter colors of the Blood Ravens Space Marine Chapter.
  
• Take a photo of the model in progress to be sent along with your final entry.
• Send all final entries to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com with the heading 'Take Cover!', please include your name and address in the email.
• All entries must be received by March 20th at 11:59pm Central Standard Time (GMT-6)
• Entries will be displayed and voting by the judges will commence.
  
• When all votes from the judges are in, the winners will be announced and prizes will be sent out!
  

So break out the bits box and start modeling those marines shooting from behind a ruins, sniping from the bushes, or leaping from a hiding spot to assault the enemy! The possibilities are only restricted by the depths of your imagination! And for some additional inspiration, check out the recently released Dawn of War 2!

Friday Quick Tip: Using gouache to line tanks

This Friday Quick Tip is an expansion on an earlier tip to help you paint nice, clean lines without any stress. After a few requests, here is a more detailed procedure.

The key to this tip is gouache. The acrylic paint I normally use is made up of three things: pigment, solvent and binder. Pigment is the color, solvent is the thing that keeps it liquid in the pot and the binder is acrylic that keeps the pigment together once dry. When the acrylic paint dries, you are left with pigment infused plastic. But gouache is different since there is no binder- just water and pigment. It dries really flat and loses a little saturation, but since there is no binder you can get it wet again and move the pigment around.

The best part is that gouache comes in a variety of colors, is available at most art stores and is pretty cheap. I got a big set from the sale table at Michael's for less than $10.


The basic overview for this technique is that you will lazily paint the gouache into the lines of the tank, and then pick up the excess with a damp Q-tip to make the lines neat and tidy.

It comes out of the tube almost like a paste, so I squeeze out a little bit and add some water. Gouache is kinda gritty and chunky, so mix it well with the toothpick (NOT the brush!) until you get a nice, even consistency.


I recommend a liner for this. You can use a small detail round brush, but it isn't going to hold a lot of paint and it is going to make painting in the lines harder. Make sure you don't overload the brush so there's a drop at the end-- that will make your lines blobby and just create more work for you later. Be sure to make sure you also don't pick up a chunk of pigment. If you don't mix it well you can get clumps.


Then just throw it on, being as neat as you can, but don't worry if you make a mistake.


Once you have the paint in all of the armor plate lines, you'll want to remove the spots you missed and clean things up a bit. Get a whole bunch of Q-tips and a big glass of water. For a Falcon-sized tank, and if you've been pretty neat with your lining, you'll need about 35 Q-tips.

I've found that dipping the Q-tip in water makes it much too wet, as you only want a damp Q-tip to pick up the excess gouache. If you use too much water, it will reactivate the gouache and a big mess will start to run down your model. I just moisten the Q-tip in my mouth and apply it to the model, turning it as I move along a line. You always want to use a clean part of the Q-tip and NEVER lick a Q-tip that has touched gouache. DO NOT EAT THE ART SUPPLIES. If you use a dirty Q-tip, you'll make a big smear, so be careful to rotate it as you remove the excess and don't do too much at a time.


This Q-tip is dirty, so get a new one. Make sure you have a place to put the dirty, wet Q-tips like a plastic trashbag. Also, a tall glass of water will keep you from getting dry after sticking a lot of dry cotton Q-tips in your mouth. Once you get the excess gouache wiped away, you are left with some nice, clean lines.

Before:

After:

Any tips or techniques you'd like to see in more detail or done as a step-by-step tutorial?