Hey again.
On to the base for my Cavalry duel. Set in the farmfields outside Waterloo I needed to represent rye fields. I did so using individual strands applied like doing a hair transplant... very painstaking!

First the base was sculpted using A+B apoxy putty, groundcover was applied, then airbrushed and dry brushed various earth tones (Vallejo acryllics). Then the "rye grass" was applied, trimmed and airbrushed a pale green over the natural tan. Weights were placed on top to make the grass bend in different directions. I still have a couple of pieces of discarded equipment to be painted to scatter about.

The pics with the figures are dry mock ups just to get an idea how it will look. Looking for some input to see that I'm going in the right direction before I go much further.

Cheers

Colin

very nice work.

Marc

The work you´ve made in the ground is very effective. I like the detail of the cannon ball under the horses.

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

Thanx Marc and Eduardo,
The cannonball is part of the factory base, I added another cannonball furrow to the right of it. Before I go much further I wanted to know the grass looked "right"... not too fake looking.

Thanks again
Colin

I think, the high grass is ok, but too yellow for the june of Belgium?

Military miniatures painted by Eduardo Garcia

OK, that's what I need. I did airbrush with a thin pale green... very faint. I'll have to give a few more passes. I'm afraid I'm a hardcore big city boy, the only time I get to the country is when I'm riding... then the farmfields are just a blur then
Thanks for the input Eduardo.

Cheers
Colin

....that's how it looks in the Low Countries in the middle of june.
I love your diorama, so please give that grass an other coat of green.

Eric

Looking good Colin! The furrows look really great! I agree with the colour of the grass, needs to look greener to match the shorter ground cover. When do I get to see this in person?

Eric, that picture is exactly what I needed. When I bought the material they had some in that colour...shoulda woulda coulda. Oh well, fire up the airbrush.
Alex, Still have lots of hours to go (before I sleep) so it will be done by the time you put on your next seminar (hint, hint... when's your next seminar?)

Thank you both for your input and encouragement

Colin

Beautiful work, Colin. Did you use some of the hair you tore out making reins?
Mary

Can u see the bald patches in my avatar pic? No, I still haven't done the reins. Why do today what u can put off till tomorrow?
Colin

Looking great Colin!!! I like how you textured the putty. Looks very realistic. Maybe you will get rid of the individual strands effect by applying all around different sizes of the same material that you used to build the rye grass but now applied random to cover the spaces between the strands. Just an idea.
Looking forward to see the finished dio.
Cheers,
Zeno

Yeah Zeno, I see what you mean... I have to shoot some more green anyway so there's room for touch ups. I have a bunch of stuff to scatter around the base (swords, muskets, shakos, helmets, packs) but I don't know if it would end up too cluttered. Ouch, my brain's getting sore with this one. Think I need to paint a single figure then go back to this in a few days.

Cheers

Colin

The other thing I was thinking, after looking at the photo posted above, is maybe to vary the height of the strands a little more, I think it might be a little too uniform. I'm no nature guy either, but plodding around the various overgrown and treacherous training bases around Ontario, wild grass is exactly that - wild.

Colin:

Well, this old man has been trying to catch on since the "new look"
was presented by Gordy. So I'll make a comment about your very
dramatic Waterloo diorama. First of all, to do an equestrian figure
on a rearing horse at 54mm is very difficult. You're actually doing
two figures, a rider and a horse. And then you've added the extra
difficult job of another equestrian figure. You, Sir have a great
deal of discipline. Just the hair pulling job of adding all that
tall grasses is mind boggling to me. And I commend your skill
and attention to detail, but mostly your discipline. I agree that
a little more variety in the height of the grasses would be an
eye catching element, along with some further tonal work on the
colour/shades of the tall grasses. Wow, a really beautiful piece.
Another example, IMHO of how the hobby can sometimes be
raised to an art form. Congratulations. The Miami Jayhawk

Rick,
You, kind sir, have made me blush. I really appreciate your compliments, they make me push myself to go that extra mile on my projects. This one is far from done yet. It has been a bear so far... especially that grass. Feels like I bit off more than I can chew but I'm determined to see it through. This is the most I've ever done as far as groundwork goes... it's like another hobby in and of itself.
After a few days break from it, I'll go back and "git 'er done". Hopefully the finished product will be deserving of the compliments you've so graciously given.

Thank you again
Colin

Alex
You're right about the uniform height... after looking at it again last night, it resembles the flattop haircut I had in my avatar pic BTW nice work on the blog, I'll be following it along.
Kenny Powers Rules!!!

Colin

Cool action scene and well paint too
sam

Looking great dude! If I might, maybe extending the tall grass right to the edges of the base would also be good, there's something kinda strange about having a ring of short grass around the rim.

Colin,what a great diorama.
I have to agree with some of the folks on the tall rye grass,it will look more natural if you cut some to not look too uniform.
I love this thread,great work!!