Back in November of 2009 I did a review of Sergy Zlobov's 70mm Trapper, sold under the "AuthorSculpt" label. Click here for review. After the review was over I decided to start the assembly and painting of the Trapper.

Now that the Trapper painting is done I started today doing the groundwork for the Trapper. A Ken Thomas base was chosen to hold the Trapper as well as a snow laden pine tree.

The Figure Kit




The Base

Above you see the Ken Thomas base with the crevice painted to represent granite stone. The base came with the Magic-Sculpt rocks fastened into the bottom of the crevice.

Next I pulled out my already made assortment of pine trees and chose one for this scene. I them added the Trapper to the base by sliding him down the brass peg already drilled into the top of the base where I wanted him located.

Above is a product I buy at Michaels Crafts called "Snow-Tex". I used my painter's trowel to scoop some out into another container and added a very small amount of water to thin down the snow so as to be easier to apply to the tree with a large paint brush.

Now I have added the tree back to the base as well as the Trapper temporailly to get a visual look at the scene before I go further. The brass pags are left in the base for the next step of scribing the surface with the back side of a knife to create a rough surface for the plaster to better adhere to.

[ More steps to come later this week ]

Wow,,,nice Guy; really sweet work here. I covet this base ...and I will steal this idea from you, unashamedly.
Looking forward to the completion.

Thanks Phil. As far as stealing the idea.....I give it to you freely. I really feel this type of base can really add to a scene. I get this type from Ken Thomas and the Hussar, in Tulsa also carries the cliff faced bases in round.

cool figure. Is this the same sculptor who is doing the 40mm wild west series that is supposed to be released by a U.S manufacturer? I look forward to more work especially your groundwork magic. You can bet I'll be counting your "rivets"

Yes MIke, Sergey Zlobov is the sculptor of this figure as well as the Mounted Mountain Man in the same scale.

No rivets here to count..............

I just love a Mountain Man with no bead work............

Beautiful base and setting.

Agreed Looking great Guy

That base is perfect for this setting! Glad to see you back at it with such vigor Guy!

Jay H.

Thanks Dimitrios ~ Gordy ~ Jay

I am actually doing the groundwork on two figures. The other is the Romeo 90mm Viking who was ready for the same groundwork.

Guy,

Glad to see you are doing something differant, your first Mountain Man? LOL!!! Great job!! Glad to see you have the old paint brush going again!

Nick

Great basework.
I'm always pleased to see some work out of your hands.
Looking forward to your next step.

marc

Looking good Guy, like the idea of the cutout section in the base, will be following this with great interest
Cheers
Tommi

It's an idea of a wonderful ground work, Guy.
If this will be completed, I'd be impressed with its wonderful.
I'd like to have an interest and follow.

Mitsutaka.

~ Nick ~ Marc ~ Tommi ~ Mitsutaka ~

Thanks guys for looking and commenting on my work. I have another step to post later today.

Looks good, look forward to seeing the next step .

question - where did you get that pine tree ? did you make it yourself ?

Thanks Johan. The pine trees are home made from dried flowers turned upside down and bass wood dowels.

The next step in the groundwork for the Trapper is mixing up the Sculpt-A-Mold with water for the actual groundwork base.

After I mix the mixture up well I always add Elmer's Glue (White Glue) to help the mixture adhere to the surface of the base.

The next step is applying the completed mixture to the base and afterwards placing the finished figure on the brass peg to imprint the snowshoes into the plaster mix while it is still wet. I will leave the figure there while I continue on with applying the mixture to the rest of the base.

Below you see the plaster applied and after finishing and while the mixture is wet I wet my finger and run around the top edge giving the edge a smooth match to the wood base edge.

Now I get out my various ground work stones and sand ( most will be sand due to the majority of the ground being covered by snow) and sprinkle the sand over the base area while the Trapper is still temporarily pegged to the base. I then add several larger stones and afterwards tilt the whole base to one side which will cause the loose sand to fall down on a piece of paper.

Now I remove the Trapper from the base and peg and place back onto a clamp holder until later. You can see the imprint and the outline of the sand. Now I won't have any sand under the snow shoes to cause problems later after I mount the Trapper permanently to the base.

After a couple of hours drying time I placed the Trapper and tree back onto the base to check for the visual effect so that if any changes with the stones are needed I can do that before the plaster sets up hard.

Having quite a lot of plaster mixture left over I decided to also do the groundwork to the Romeo 90mm Viking I also have in progress.

More photographs of the next step later this week. Any questions welcomed.

Guy, excellent choice of base and great groundwork sbs, following.

Cheers Ken

Guy,
Excellent base selection and coming along very nicely. Are you planning on using any of the new snow crystals on this?
Cheers
John

~ Thanks Ken & John ~

John - I thought about using the new snow I just reviewed but didn't think I would have enough of it to do the tree and the ground. I will try it when I do the tops of the rocks on the top and down in the crevice.