Hi Guys

Here is an update on the groundwork for the retreat figure that I am doing at the moment,

As ever all comments always welcome

Dave

Dave. Seems to be very good.
Are you going to paint the tree?

Rafa

Hi Rafa

The tree is actually a wild apple tree root that is stained darker, but i do think that it could be slightly darker than it is, thanks

Dave

Nice ground work Dave. That's going to be a beautiful scene when it's done.

Really nice groundwork and I can't wait to see the figure and scene completed.

Question - Do you [or anybody] do anything to preserve the branches, bracken, tea leaves, whatever? Has anybody ever had a branch or, in this case root, rot or mold?

Hi Dan

What I tent to do with branches and natural items like them is to dry them out in the airing cupboard or if you need it quickly on a low heat in the oven, both methods tend to preserve such items for a very long while and of course if you going to paint such items then the surfaces will be protected with what you paint them with... hope this helps

Dave

I echo Dave´s tip of drying roots.

And Dave, that piece is comint out very good, especially the groundwork. Could you tell us a bit more about it?

Cheers

Dave,

How do you get the gradation between the snow and the ground? Is that airbrushed? I can't see that well in the photos.

Lou

Hi Lou

Yes it is airbrushed there is a small amount gloss laquer to go on top of this yet, to give the final effect of melted snow around the edges, its coloured with the original colour used to spray the ground under the snow.

Janne

The ground work started off as the original base that came with figure, glued and screwed to the wooden base. the root was then attached to the base on a peice of steel wire to be able to bend it around to the desired position. The rest of the ground work was then built up with normal household filler and left to dry.

The next stage involved using superglue light gravel to create the muddy area under the snow, when this was dry I glued on top of this some of the leaves that used on the tree at the end. Once this was completely dry, the dark mud colour was mixed with dark leather, black and ochre, this was then airbrushed over the whole of the ground area and lightly up the tree base and left to dry.

The next stage was the snow. I use something for snow that is very difficult to get hold of, its called Alum (its actually a powder for bed sores) this aside it works brilliantly, it is transleucent and when it’s ground down to form a finer powder, it stays slightly seethrough. I use white wood glue (no water) to attach this to the surface of the ground and just sprinkle the Alum on top, then tap off the excess immediately. Then build up to give deeper snow. Once this is dry I spray the base ground colour around the edges to give the thinned out snow look and then use gloss laquer to give the final wet ground look....

I would like to hear how anybody else does snow, as I will run out of Alum one day, I just would like to say that the Alum was not prescribed for me by a doctor, I was told to use it for snow :lol:

Well I hope this helps.....

Dave

Very interesting work Dave, looks like you've put a great deal of thought into the setting for the figure.

As Lou says

I understand what Lou is saying here, it looks so natural, and really well explained too Dave, thankyou.
I bet it will look excellent with the gloss laquer applied.
How about some close-ups when you finish the groundwork?? They would be great to see if you can spare the time.

Great work

Roy.

Thanks for sharing youre method, Dave.

On this vignette Ive used "baking soda" with white wood glue just slightly diluted with water. Some was built up in two layers.



Micro Ballons used by RC builders for gaping filling is great but I cant find any good medium to glue it as its so lightweight. Ive tried clear varnish different brands, white glue, superglue, acrylic gel, acrylic medium but it doesnt sink in thus creating a sparse cover.

Hi Janne

Cool groundwork the rubble and snow are very realistic

Dave

Hi Guys

As requested some closs ups of the finished groundwork with gloss laquer

Dave

Hey Dave ,thanks for posting the close ups, your snow looks very convincing.

Keep the good work.

Cheers

Roc

Great work mate, the groundwork looks fantastic, the snow is very realistic...
ER

Dave, Fantastic job on the snow. Additionally those are some great close up pictures.~Gary

Hi Dave

the groundwork (and figure) look awesome.
The snow looks really good - and there's lots around our house to use for comparison!!

I've used microballoons, baking soda and Hudson and Allen slush before, all to varying degrees of success. Your snow looks much better.

I'll have to get some bedsores...

Andy