mfxposé #7: Woodland Scenics

It's been a while since we last posted, but we're back on board with some new interviews and posts on everything from terrain building to painting techniques.

We've lined up another company profile and interview this week and we were lucky enough to chat with Lynn Mitchell from Woodland Scenics about her company and their new in-roads with the gaming community.

Many of you would already be familiar with Woodland Scenics products from Tin Soldier in Sydney, HobbyCo and a bunch of other places that stock their wares.

INTERVIEW

Daniel: Can you give our readers a little background on your company? How it started, how long you've been operating, and which countries you export product to?

Lynn: We began as an architectural and engineering modeling firm making models for national and international corporations. At the time, no commercially produced scenery products existed on the market.

We made our own realistic looking model scenery using natural and synthetic products. During the summer of 1975, we displayed a sample of architectural landscape scenery at a model railroad trade show in Chicago. It was a hit, and we organized for the mass production doing business as Woodland Scenics. Our first catalog featured 28 products and our message was, and still is — it is all about realism and realism is easy!

By 1981, Woodland Scenics had more than 100 distributors nationally and was exporting to Canada, Germany and Sweden. Today Woodland Scenics, located in Linn Creek, Missouri sells more than 2,300 items for model scenery, educational arts and crafts, and gravity-driven pinewood race cars. We wholesale to more than 2,000 distributors and dealers in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North and South America.

The success of that small sample of the most realistic model railroad scenery on the market has grown into a full-scale modeling product business. For 34 years, Woodland Scenics has maintained their reputation as the industry’s foremost innovator of realistic model railroad scenery. We continue to set the industry’s standards for developing scenery and terrain building systems and for products tested for quality and safety.


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Daniel: What products does Woodland Scenics specialise in?

Lynn: We lead the world in manufacturing model scenery, offering complete systems for modeling—start to finish. From SubTerrain components for a layout base to terrain features and coloring systems to landscape materials and trees.

We really do have the most comprehensive collection of versatile, realistic and easy-to-use model scenery products on the market.










Coloring Rocks “Leopard-Spot Technique” Video Tutorial
Click here to replay video by visiting the Woodland Scenics website.



Daniel: What inspires you and your team when creating new products?

Lynn: Thirty-four years ago, we set the industry standard for model scenery by concentrating on high quality, realism and creating simple methods for model-making. Those are still our guiding principals. Modeling is a great hobby, and we want it accessible to everyone.

It’s amazing when we get letters and pictures from first-time modelers of all ages, especially those who say they never considered themselves as ‘artistic.’ They all say how easy it was and how much fun they had modeling, and they are all so proud of their results.

"Making a Tree" Video Tutorial
Click here to replay video by visiting the Woodland Scenics website.



Daniel: Which products are you looking at marketing to wargamers and the gaming industry in general?

Lynn: Virtually our entire line included in the SubTerrain, Terrain and Landscaping systems. If gamers can imagine it, they can create it with those products. They can make lightweight and realistic gaming board terrain easily, quickly and create it specific to their particular gaming board needs.




Daniel: What tips and tricks can you offer our readers when using Woodland Scenics terrain products or when terrain building in general?

Lynn: Our landscaping system is based on nature’s principal of contrasts and highlights. A young child would probably color the sky blue, the sun yellow and the leaves green. The real world is not this perfect, but rather it blends colors together in lighter and darker shades and mixtures of color. This mixing and blending will create the most realistic look for the layout.

It may sound difficult, like something only an artist would be able to do. But, it is much easier than it sounds. We keep the modeling experience simple and constantly remind modelers that there are no mistakes when modeling scenery ... at least nothing you can’t fix.

I’d like to draw attention to our Scenery Manual, a 100-plus page comprehensive guide to easily creating model scenery. It is loaded with tips, tricks, color illustrations and photos. It is very popular and most retailers carry it and it is also available through our website.

Daniel: What's the best aspect of your business and the wider industry?

Lynn: Our commitment to product innovation and quality is equal to that of our commitment to customer satisfaction with their modeling experiences. Every week, we hear from hundreds of customers with questions, comments, ideas and requests for additional products. We enjoy and encourage these inquiries and answer each one. We often request more information, pictures and permission to post their words and pictures on our website testimonial section or in our e-newsletter, Scenic View.

NEWS: GenCon Indianapolis (August 2009)

Lynn: Our trip to GenCon was fantastic. The employees who attended said the gaming community was warm, gracious and very entertaining! They loved all the costumes, the enthusiasm and thoroughly entertained with the ‘larping’. I have seen the pictures from the show and heard some stories ... a great time was had by all.



The picture below is of the giant diorama our Product Development department built for the show. It was a huge hit! Several individuals wanted to purchase it ... but it was not for sale. Our scenery demonstrations went very well, and we had a constant stream of people who wanted to try it. We had a couple of show attendees write us to tell us how much they enjoyed the demos, and were delighted to find how easy it was to create dramatic looking scenery.



TUTORIALS & ONLINE MEDIA

Check out all the free how-to videos posted for Woodland Scenics, Scene-A-Rama and PineCar. Access all videos through www.woodlandscenics.com. The website also includes loads of project ideas, tips, techniques and answers to frequently asked questions.

LINKS

> Books & Videos (learning aids)
> Getting Started

VIDEO TUTORIALS

> Models of Dead Timbers and Fallen Logs
> Field Grass
> Making a Waterfall

mfxposé #6: Menic Rüttimann

We've finally got the interviews put together after a long hiatus!

This mfxposé featured artist is Menic Rüttimann, from the menix miniatures blog. He's done some beautiful work, particularly with ancient and historical periods. So surf on over to his blog for some in-depth info.



INTERVIEW

Daniel: Give us a little bit of background on yourself and where you started.

Menic: Well, I was born 1970 and brought up around dad’s N-Scale Baltimore & Ohio and Western Maryland model rail-road. As a kid I glued and painted 1/72 aeroplanes from World War I and II. As a fantasy role-playing teenager I wouldn’t paint my miniatures. I thought it sacrilegious to mess up the antique flair of pewter and patina with acrylic paint!

Daniel: What was your main source of inspiration for painting miniatures?

Menic: Hmmm, I guess the lust for painting loads of miniatures grew slowly but economics and geography where in the way. So serious painting started in 1994. I was always interested in games of strategy and tactics and started playing the Warhammer Fantasy Battle system. I built one big Bretonnian army, always lost, but kept on painting. Heraldry and the realistic background of my army finally led me to historical wargaming.



Daniel: What are your worst colours?

Menic: I hate red-yellow colour combinations. And the worst colour to highlight is red.

Daniel: And your key inspirations?

Menic: Archaeology, museums, textiles. I guess everything from Art History to Architecture, Sculpture, and building decoration. Even concepts from books, pictures and Illumination.

Daniel: Tell us a bit more about your passion for historical wargaming and painting this specific genre.

Menic: Sure. Nowadays I build ancient and medieval armies for Phil Barker's “De Bellis Antiquitatis” (DBA) and its fantasy spin-off “Hordes of the Things” (HOTT) and I still enjoy every game.



The good thing about DBA-armies is you don’t need a lot of figures. That way I can get finished in time, can use the army in play and move on to the next project and still have a life.

I started DBA in 2006 and can now field all kinds of medieval 10th-13th century armies and Saracen troops from North Africa, Spain, Syria and Sicily. Ancient Parthians and Seleucids are ready too.

I still have a lot of painted minis which didn’t make the transition from Warhammer to DBA basing standards.

Daniel: So what other sort of work do you get up to between projects?

Menic: In between I paint dragons and orcs for a fantasy army I hope to finish before my son looses interest. Right now I’m halfway through with an early Swiss army. It consists of about sixty halberdiers and some skirmishers. In game it is often hard to win with them but the mass of miniatures will have some psychological impact on the opponent, I hope.



Of course there is a lot of unpainted lead: Byzantine Cavalry, Turcopoles, Knights from the 13th-15th century, a pile of 15th c. Swiss pikes, a hillock of WH-Knights.



My aim is to paint all kinds of special or generic troops for every army in western Europe and the Mediterranean from the 10th to the 15th century. As for the Ancients, I do them in 15mm and the theme is Persia and the Mediterranean World. The 15mm stuff is still new to me but the next army will be Galatians, wild naked Celts in Turkey, haha!

Daniel: What tips can you give our readers on miniatures painting?

Menic: I think there are three important things to remember in good miniature painting:

1.) I try to do a clean job. This means the technical side of painting. How do I apply liquid plasticoid stuff on a metal background so it gives a neat surface and a trimmed border?

I try to control the consistency of the paint. I use a lot of water, but sometimes just as much as to keep the pigment flowing down the brush. I use expensive brushes with Rotmarder-hair, size 1, 2, 3.

I’m constantly fighting my brushes, I sometimes punish size one by painting intricate stuff with size three. I start with white primer and then paint the skin first, mostly face and hands. For the clothing I mix colours a lot and start with a darker middle-toned colour as a first layer. Then I paint the deepest shades followed by two highlighting layers.

I use different techniques to simulate different materials: for fury textures (horses) a kind of wet-in-wet technique, or a black underground for leather and metal – which helps details stand out, Eg. belt and buckle, armour, shoes etc.



2.) I want to keep it simple. This means I try to find a useful colour scheme for the clothing. To many different colours will blur the overall appearance. I avoid using more than three.

Keep an eye on alternating dark and light colours. Paint a tunic in egg shell, let it be covered by a dark brown cape and use simple colour scheme. It's realistic and always makes a good appearance on the game-board. Keep it simple also means abstraction: tricky stuff like embroideries or heraldry looks best if applied with lively strokes.



I learn a design with paper and pen first. I try to break it down to basic forms and lines. As soon as I can draw it freehand I start to scale it down to the right size. Then I practice with paint on paper. After some time I feel confident enough and give it a go.

Big goofs get erased with a blob of paint the same colour as the primer. The process gets faster with growing experience.

3.) I paint the light. I like to “break” colours which seem too saturated for my liking. I imagine the sun shining on these and I simulate this bleaching effect by mixing in some grey. I use the more powerful colours for rich cloaks, banners or other special equipment.

For some more great tips, tricks and tutorials, check out Menic's blog.

UPCOMING: Keep an eye out for some more featured artists and companies ...

mfxposé #5: Barnes Products

Those of you looking to try your hand at a bit of sculpting are in for a treat once again. This week we're featuring Barnes Products in our mfxposé. We had a chat to people there and have included for you some of their tutorials on using patina's and Pinkysil.

SOME BACKGROUND

Barnes Products was founded in 1986 by Kevin and Maria Barnes. Kevin had a vision to introduce the latest technologies in materials such as polyeurthan, silicone rubber, gypsum that met world class standards to the Australian Industry.

Today, Barnes is run by Kevin and Maria’s daughter, Nicole Barnes, who continues to supply the highest standard of materials and service to Australia, New Zealand and many other countries.

THE BUSINESS

Their head office is based in Bankstown, NSW, where they do product testing and development, as well and packaging and distribution.

In recent years Barnes have opened retail outlets in Newtown (NSW) and Richmond (VIC) where customers get a personalised service plus technical advice based on the vast experience of their employees.

Newtown (NSW)

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Richmond(VIC)

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Walking into a Barnes store is like a treasure-trove for anyone into special effects, film prosthetics, miniatures sculpting, moulding and related fields. They've got a really wide range of products for a variety of different uses.

They've furnished us with a couple tutorials and some details on products that would suit our miniature modelling purposes. Still, check out the website or head on over to the store as you'd be surprised what you'll come across that'd be useful for a miniature effects artist.

PATINA'S

The Barnes range of Patina’s retail between $16.50 and $33.



Patina’s are used for aging metal finishes, like obtaining rust and greening finishes on metals. The great thing about them is you don’t have to start with a metal object, but can paint with a metal paint prior to application to achieve your desired effect.

Patina’s can be used in the following way:

1.) Select the item you wish to work with (ideally it can be made from plastic, wood, resin or plaster but other materials should work as long as it can be painted)

2.) Paint your item with Barnes metal paints (three coats works best)

3.) Once the metal paint is dry, apply Patina to your item using a spray (you can use a spritzer bottle) or brush (with a regular bristled paint brush).

4.) Leave your item to dry. Different Patina’s have different drying times (no longer than overnight)

PINKYSIL

Another material which is great for replicating items is Pinkysil (RRP $35.20 for 500g). You can use it to replicate your favourite characters, buildings and other terrain shapes easily.



Pinkysil is a skin safe silicone and quick setting (only half an hour).

Use Pinkysil in the following way:

1.) Stick your chosen item into the middle of a plastic container (a disposable plastic cup works well).

2.) Pour the Pinkysil according to the enclosed instructions. It's a simple 1:1 ratio by volume.

3.) Stir the Pinkysil until an even pink colour is achieved.

4.) Pour the Pinkysil over your chosen item in the plastic container.

5.) Wait approximately 30 minutes and then remove the pinkysil from your plastic container and remove your item.

6.) You’ve now created an exact replica mould of your item.

You can use Barnes resins to make solid replicas with products such as TC808, which they tell me is ideal for figurines and prototyping.



For some more great hints and how-to's, check out this link at Barnes' site.

UPCOMING: Keep an eye out for some more featured artists and companies ...

mfxposé #3: Gerry Webb

This week we're being treated to an interview with Gerry Webb of Castaway Arts. I contacted Gerry after reading a great interview with him in Broadsword magazine dating back a few years.

Gerry is a superb miniatures sculptor based in Cairns in the tropical North of Australia and tells us:

"... My wife Carolyn and I are in the midst of a long (endless?) renovation of a traditional ‘Queenslander’ home. Between that, work and real life I'm kept pretty busy ..."

But we've been lucky enough to score an interview, some pics and few handy tips along the way...


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INTERVIEW

Daniel: How long have you been sculpting miniatures?

Gerry: About 20 years or so, originally just a few for fun, but seriously for mass production for over 10 years.

Daniel: What first inspired you to become a sculptor?

Gerry: A few friends asked me to make some figures for them, types not then available. I'd done some conversions and was keen to have a go at scratch building. The key step was finding a mouldmaker who could turn the master figures into production moulds.

Daniel: Which artist in your field do you admire most and why?

Gerry: Tom Meier, The Perry twins, Richard Ansell's work on the Minden Miniatures range. I like a slim, in scale sculpt, with life-like proportions. Of course there are a whole bunch of factors that get in the way. For example, thin items have to be accentuated so they'll cast successfully, plus a lot of folks prefer the exaggerated style in various degrees.

Daniel: What was your favorite project to work on?

Gerry: That’s difficult to answer, my current project is always my favorite. In the Ancients I have an interest in early, Biblical types.



Daniel: What was your hardest project to complete?

Gerry: Possibly the Ark of The Covenant set, my first venture into brass sheet work. The lid actually fits on the main box. I probably should have made it as one solid piece, that would have been much easier.

Daniel: What are your favorite armies?

Gerry: I have to say colonials. Since turning to this dark side I haven't looked back. There is simply so much to do, it's endless. Every time I even look like running out of subjects, someone comes forward with an interesting, new subject they've been researching.

Daniel: What armies or ages would you like to sculpt in the future?

Gerry: I’m still on the Colonials theme, there are lots of subjects waiting in line there. I'm currently working on additions to the Chinese and Indian ranges. I would like to have a go at Seven Years War but it’s on the back burner for the moment.

Daniel: Where do you source your materials and tools from?

Gerry: My favorite sculpting putties are Green stuff, brown stuff, and milliput. Green stuff is great for clothing but it has a 'bubblegum' texture when it sets. Brown stuff sets hard and can be filed and sanded. Jeff Valent Studios in the USA is my usual source for Green stuff and brown stuff. Wire armatures are mainly made from paper clips, or champagne bottle wire (which is a lot more pleasant to source).



I have some old dentist tools, and some more recent purchases from the Army Painter range.

Daniel: Do you have any custom-made or special equipment for sculpting?

Gerry: My most used tools are home made. The first is a large sewing needle stuck in a brush handle, the other is a cut down wooden paint brush handle, whittled to a semi-rounded shape. These, and a dentist spatula do 90% of the work.



Daniel: What tips and tricks can you offer our readers?

Gerry: Give it a try, and keep trying. Hide your less successful sculpts in a bottom drawer, and show off the ones you like.

In the early days I had some masters break in the moulding process, simply because I hadn't made them strong enough. I learned it's no good making great detail if it's not on a strong armature and base. That's why I use paper clips, they're tricky to shape, but won't give way in the moulding press. I'm also using a lot more brown stuff/milliput to form the basic figure, before finishing the surface detail with green stuff. It makes a much stronger master figure.

These days there's on-line information that will teach you all you need to get started. Sculpting is no longer a mysterious art. A Google search is a good place to start.

Daniel: What's the best aspect of your job and the wider industry?

Gerry: That's easy to answer, I have to say the friendships formed, worldwide. I'm in regular contact with creative, helpful and enthusiastic people everywhere. I don't get to meet them all face to face, and others I only get to meet occasionally, but there is a great sense of sharing and camaraderie.

It's fun to talk to folks who have our miniatures, and find out how much they're enjoying them. Sometimes they put them to very creative uses that I hadn't dreamed of. I also enjoy comparing notes with others in the business, discussing the merits of various materials and techniques. That's where a lot of my tips and techniques came from, but in the spirit of fairness it has to be a two way exchange.

Finally, I have to give credit to Nic Robson, and the rest of the gang at Eureka Miniatures, including Rob Walter of Eureka USA. Nic is a mould maker without peer, and has been very patient with some of my more impractical designs, requests and deadlines. Without such helpful and generous people none of this would have happened.



UPCOMING: Thanks to Gerry we've kick started a series of posts covering sculpting - mainly as a result of all the requests we've received from readers.

NEXT: Back to Materials and a few other overdue posts ...

Materials #4: Terrain Basics

There's so many different ways you can build terrain - and we're talking everything from trees and landscapes to water effects, mountains, buildings and general set design.

As you read and saw back in mfxposé #1 with Giuseppe Borzone, terrain and buildings can be constructed using almost anything.

But with this post we're going to look at some of the more basic materials you'll need for this sort of work - both off-the-shelf stuff and custom-made.

SOME RESOURCES...

Games Workshop have been selling their "How to Make Wargames Terrain" books for some time now. Here's a scan of my old copy, I think I bought this one around 2002:



The updated version currently on shelves is available here and looks like this:



One of the great things about the book is that it covers a broad spectrum of terrain tips and techniques that can be applied to projects that are not solely for wargaming and table-top game use.

There's a decent amount of ideas on what alternative materials you can use to create walls and rockery, from cork tiles to bits of cardboard and off-cuts of expanded polystyrene. All these sorts of materials can be sourced from your regular hobby shops like Art on King, HobbyCo, Castle Hill Hobbies, and so on. You'd be surprised what you'll find at places like Barnes and Adelaide Moulding & Casting Supplies even though these guys specialise in areas like film industry miniature effects and prosthetics work.

Online Tutorial: Check this out: Tips & Tricks 9: Designing Rocky Landscapes

DVD Tutorials: I bought this Woodland Scenics DVD at Tin Soldier for around $9 bucks during a sale a few years back. I'll review this and blog about it at some point, so stay tuned.



MATERIALS

All the usual suspects are listed as must have items for terrain building in the Games Workshop book. I'm going list them here along with a few extras:

Balsa Wood: popular for modelling material cause it's light and easy to cut. You can use this for your timber buildings, bridges and so on. File and cut pieces to shape and paint them with your undercoat, then base colours and drybrush for good effect.

Modelling Clay: I use DAS but there's plenty of others out there. When it's exposed to room temperature air it will dry hard. Store it in a zip-lock bag to keep it from drying. You can do a whole bunch of things with this sort of clay and can model an endless variety of shapes. Use any number of items to create surface texture and shape (old brush heads, tools, sticks, twigs, forks, spoons etc...). You'll even find ready-made moulds at places like HobbyCo. Even though they're not specifically made for DAS clay modelling, it works just as well in my experience. Note that it will crack if you let it dry too quickly. I like to also use Green Stuff for finer details and touch-ups.

Here's an example of a rough job with DAS for quickly adding some weight to the base of a top-heavy model:



Expanded Polystyrene: You'll find this stuff everywhere, try not to chuck any of it out if you can help it. I've noticed more and more packing polystyrene is unsuitable for model making. Particularly the ones that look as though they're compressed balls of polystryrene. They're difficult to cut and shape as required. The stuff you find inside boxes carrying electronics and computers are great. Some of the shapes will inspire unusual dungeons, castles and sci-fi docking bays. Note: only use water-based paints and glues as others can melt it. It's difficult to work with for larger projects and not as sturdy as corrugated cardboard, but you can use polystyrene to "block" out your basic shapes (crumbled newspapers and masking tape works great for filling out areas, particularly for mountain ranges). Then you coat it with your filler, PVA/Sand mixture, DAS clay or other material for surface detail. Be sure to check out Reverse Garbage for some massive amounts (and sizes!) of polystrene shapes.

Cork Tiles: Hardware stores and hobby shops supply these. I've never really had to use these, but they're great for bases and other more sturdier walls that you may need for large castles and so on. They're easy to cut and glue together.

Cocktail Sticks: Easy to find & a million uses.

Pumice Stone: You'll find these in places like PriceLine for around $6 or so. They're great if you smash them to bits with a hammer for some rubble and great shaped rocks. Because of the pumice surface being rough and partially porous, you can paint, ink-wash and drybrush them to get some great effects.



I'm actually going to use this one as a megalith or cromlech-like structure in a grasslands scene with a few archer woodsmen and Celtic-style miniatures.





Sand: Even easier to find. Look at the different grades of sand you'll find at your nearest beach. You can find it easily enough in pet shops for fish tanks or bird cages. Mix it with PVA glue to textures your bases and other flat surfaces. Paint the required areas with PVA and then scatter with sand. Some people prefer to dip the surface into sand, others simple pour it over. I use whatever suits the specific job at the time. Once it dries paint it over, use some ink washes, let it dry and then drybrush for a nice effect. You could go with earthy rock tones, mossy stones or even a winter scene by drybrushing white for a top layer of snow. You can also mix the sand with the PVA to form a paste that can be spread on your scenes with a spatula (makeshift or bought). I prefer to just use makeshift spatulas from bits of plastic shapes cut from milk cartons and yogurt tubs. You can use this for mountains, old castle walls and ruins, river-beds and the list goes on...

Straws: Great for futuristic piping and the like, especially the bendy ones.

Drain Mesh: Used for making bonsai and looks good as dungeon-grating, along with pieces of different sizes for strainer mesh (gauze wire).

Anchorage Wire: Also used for shaping branches in bonsai creation. You need a strong, waterproof adhesive to hold the wires onto rock and other surfaces. Epoxy resin is good but takes a day or so to harden - you can use a quick-drying adhesive made in Japan specifically for use on rock plantings for bonsai.

Others: The list can just go on with things like Masking Tape, Cardboard Tubes, Corrugated Cardboard pieces, Ready-mix Filler, Corks, Plasticene, Broken Rulers and bits of wood, Twigs and dried Stems, Roots from plants (washed and dried), Bendable Wiring (all sizes and types).



TOOLS

Hot Foam Wire Cutter: There's a bunch of different brands out there, some cheaper than others.

Assorted: Naturally your tool-kit can be made up of anything you find useful and that does the trick. Generally I only have a very limited set of "specialist" type tools that I've bought, the rest you can make yourself or wing it with similar items from bargain stores or raiding the kitchen. These ones below include a range of tweezers, mini-files, a pair of cutters, sculpting tool, hobby knife and a magnifying glass prop.



Check out this link at Scrap Dragon for a well-priced online supplier of accessories for model makers.

OFF-THE-SHELF TERRAIN

There's some great off-the-shelf terrain that you can buy from places like HobbyCo and Tin Soldier. This mountain/rock piece below is from Ziterdes (from HobbyCo in the QVB Sydney). They're very light weight, have some great detail and can save your life when on a deadline or doing a last-minute rush on a job (this one's called the Rock of Raburgon).



Another good place to check for ready-made rockery is your average pet store. I generally find that the larger commercialised pet stores don't have what I'm after. Usually it's the little hole-in-the-wall type shops that have a really good variety of fake rockery for fish tanks. There's a pet shop on Burwood Rd, Burwood that I passed this morning. They've got some great pieces in there that can be modified. I'd recommend ripping off the plastic plants that they sometimes come with (and save them in your "bit-box" for later).


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Some of them look great just as they are. But I always prefer to give them an undercoat and re-paint or even just a partial touch-up by drybrushing the rocks, adding ink washes and then drybrushing some highlights.

GRASS

This stuff is great and you find it in the strangest places. It's ready-made interior decorator's "moss" that you'll come across in design shops and other home furnishing stores. It's perfect for speeding up your terrain building process. With this particular one it's about 8.5" inches in diameter and costs around $10 bucks. I got it on special for $7.95 at Vivalino in Balmain.



The undergrowth along with the static flock can be bent, folded, cut and shaped however you like. I prefer to prepare a base (cork tile), then block out the hilly sections with pieces of polystrene glued firmly (or small pieces of crumbled newspaper taped down). Then lay the moss "mat" over it and use pins to pin it into the cork tile in the shape that I need.

Using a combination of pins and glue, once it's in place you can start adding the PVA Glue & Sand mixture detailed above, or ready-mix filler, to fill out sections left gaping by the polystyrene block underneath. Once it's dried give it a good undercoat and then paint it up (base colour, maybe an ink wash, then drybrush) to look like dirt and clay or rockery beneath a grassy hill. I like to add either onto the moss mat or around the edges, some Underbrush Clump-Foliage in a variety of colours, some lichen, a different coloured grass to blend with the deep green of the ready-made moss from Vivalino. This will give your scene some good tonal variety when it comes to the grasses, plants and earth associated with the composition.



Try not to allow the moss mat to look too much like an obvious ready-made addition. Actually paint glue over portions of it and scatter a different coloured static flock grass over random sections, make sure that it blends well into the next colour and add a few clumps of underbrush foliage and snippets of lichen to mimick real-life natural growth. Search on Flickr or study images at your local library on how hinterlands, Scottish moors, plains, grasslands and natural hillsides look.



NEXT: Terrain Basics continues with Ibigawa rocks (I promise!) and Native Australian dried plants ...

Materials #3½: Daylight Simulation Bulbs

Yep, I've got to get out of this habit of blogging "Materials #½" posts, but this one is a little side-step to the Terrain Basics post soon to be published.

DAYLIGHT SIMULATION BULBS

I've been meaning to post about this for a while, and my two new bulbs arrived today in the mail (one's a BC bulb, the other is an ES screw-in).



I only ordered them from Scrap Dragon (Condong, NSW) about 2 days ago! Talk about quick service. I've posted about these guys in the past.

Essentially, the great thing about these bulbs is that they simulate a natural northern light that is almost identical to daylight. They make colour matching more accurate than under yellow halogen bulbs which distort the colours. The light is also restful for the eyes.



Okay, so they're more expensive than a standard lightbulb, but it's well worth it. Scrap Dragon have them for a good price (only $22 bucks) and also stock a bunch of lamps in different styles.

I definitely recommend investing in them. They work great, and the light from my lamp is so much better.



NEXT: Materials #4 with Terrain Basics...

Materials #3: Brushes & Equipment

Now time to return to our Materials series for a look at brushes and equipment. A few people have emailed me about this so I think it's time to blog about brushes ...

BRUSHES

With the brushes it depends on what sort of quality and longevity you're after.

Sable hair Brushes

Paint brushes are available in many shapes and sizes, and are made from animal hair or synthetic fibres. There's so many different brands to choose from it is true that the better quality the brush, the more money you'll save in the long run. If you use them correctly, clean them properly and store carefully - you'll be guaranteed a brush that will last.

Sable-hair are the best quality brushes out. The Kolinsky's can go up to $50+ per brush and are the absolute best in the world. They're generally associated with watercolour painting and are made from hair taken from the tail of a sable. The hair is hard-wearing, shapes well and can hold a point. It's also got great spring and flexibility and will hold water well. You need to take care of these as they'll be your best brushes. Some artists have moral issues with the production of the brush, which I perfectly understand.

There are so many others out there, squirrel hair, ox hair, goat hair, mongoose, sabeline, etc ...

What you'll essentially want to look for are Sable-hair brushes and Taklons (more on this below).

I've bought some Neef sable-hair brushes - they work wonderfully as long as you always keep the point. I use straws of different sizes to "cap" the brushes.



TIP: Always, always keep the tips pointy. Don't ever bash the brush into the base of your jar - or leave it sitting in the jar brush-end down. This will forcibly splay your brush tip as the bristles and hairs loosen in the water. Here's a little technique my water-colour illustration teacher showed us ...

Clean it thoroughly with cold water:

1.) Just jiggle it in your "dirty-water" jar, softly rub on the jar edge a few times and wipe excess paint with a lint-free cloth.

2.) Jiggle the brush in another jar of clear water, lift it out of the jar and hold it beside you as you sit in the chair.

3.) Flick it once. The action is like cracking a mini-whip but holding the brush how you normally would hold a pen.

4.) Then gently and swiftly glide it through your free-hand using the same motion as though you were pulling off the cap from a pen in one motion - but with a loose grip.

This will flick that main drop out of the reservoir of the brush-head and make a sharp point as you glide over it. Then carefully insert it into your straw cap.

NOTE: Dry, stubborn paint around the ferrule can be softened and removed with a little washing-up liquid or shampoo, followed by a good rinse in clean water.

Taklon synthetic Brushes

Taklons are your standard synthetic-fibre brushes - sometimes called acrylic brushes. These are the ones you'll usually find miniatures artists using (particularly those not familiar with sable-hair).

They're really cheap and easy to find. You can pick some good ones up for around $8 at various stores. I think Tin Soldier and Art on King (both in Sydney) have the best supplies for what I'm after.

The problem with your Taklon synthetics is that they'll hook much quicker or split down the middle eventually (hooking is when the tip of the brush literally bends over by itself). The reason why is because it's an extracted synthetic (polyester and nylon) so it will eventually want to bend in the shape that it was first "extracted" or pulled from.

Some people would prefer to go through a dozen taklons than use one sable-hair brush. Mainly because the hair is literally plucked from the tail of a sable.

When going for a taklon brush, I've found Tin Soldier has a good range of A.J. Leeman brushes (and others) with a great pen-like grib for a handle and is particularly useful when doing fine detail. For me at least, it reduces the amount of strain on your thumb, index and middle fingers and your thenar muscle. Mainly because you're not straining to do fine strokes with a thin handle.

MAKESHIFT STORAGE BOXES

Okay, I've got a number of things I use for storing and sorting my materials - be it tools, paints, miniatures, etc.

Naturally cardboard boxes of all sizes are great, I use these regularly but I'm leaning towards switching everything into clear containers so I can find things more easily.

Old Asian take-away containers, the plastic sort, are great. Throw them in the washing machine (be careful they can warp with all that hot water) or wash them thoroughly in the sink.



I generally use them for storing spare miniatures I've undercoated in the past.



I also use them for storing foliage like the Underbrush Clump-Foliage (Medium Green) that you can see in the picture (I got this from HobbyCo). This makes it easy to spray or paint glue onto twigs and dip them into the foliage sorted in different take-away containers. We'll have a tutorial on making trees later on.



OTHER STORAGE BOXES

I've bought this great storage box from Bunnings at Rockdale for around $14 bucks, only to realise I could've gotten the same one and more variety from Kmart at Hurstville for around $8 bucks! I'm going to buy a couple more from Kmart and will post up some pics on how I've used them.

This one is great for storing ad hoc bits and pieces I use regularly.



CUTTING MAT

I've got here a cheap-as-chips A3 cutting mat that only cost around $6 bucks at Roni's at Burwood Plaza in Sydney. I've seen this go for well over double (and sometimes) triple that amount. Don't bother spending top dollar for this, go down to your nearest bargain basement junk shop and see what you can find. It's self-healing and just as good as any other cutting mat.



Why a cutting mat? Well it works well just as a board for leaning on when cutting off the excesses on your die-cast miniatures. Keeps your desk a little tidier. But it's best for when you obviously cutting custom cardboard and polystyrene / foam-board shapes when creating terrain and buildings.

NEXT: Ibigawa rocks and other tools of the trade ...

Materials #1½: Containers & Treasures

Materials 1½ ?

Well, just before we move onto other materials and cover "wet palettes" in the next post, I wanted to elaborate on containers.

REVERSE GARBAGE (SYDNEY)

This weekend my fiancée and I visited Reverse Garbage in Marrickville.

It's literally a treasure trove for miniature fx artists and really, anyone who's creative.


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You could practically lose yourself in this massive shed filled with useful items normally dumped in landfill and so on. These guys share the view that things should be re-used rather than recycled.

There's everything here from massive sheets of polystyrene to rolls of paper, cardboard, boxboard, wooden skirting and boards of all sizes, plus containers galore.

I fished out a bunch of old, never-used medicine bottles and an empty Epoxy resin jar to convert into containers for everything from plaster to PVC glue & sand mixes, to custom washes or flock, lichen and other terrain materials.



There were more spray bottles and spray triggers than you could poke a stick at and plenty of other bits and pieces that could be used for terrain building.

Get yourselves down there, have a rummage around and see what you can find of use. You'll be doing a great deed for the environment and satisfying your miniature-artist craving for treasure hunting.



The prices are unbelievably cheap and they're constantly being stocked with new items. Check out their site for some more information and pictures.

REVERSE GARBAGE (BRISBANE)

For those of you in Queensland, there's a great looking Reverse Garbage in West End.


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If anyone knows of other similar Co-operatives fueling the "re-use" movement around Australia, post a comment here.

JARS - WATER & BRUSHES

As a side note to the previous post's discussion on selecting water jars - here's a little tip on taking off labels.

I've got here a Master Foods jar (for ginger) that's been washed and "de-labelled" and is currently my prop for keeping brushes upright while painting (never ever leave your brushes head-down in your water jar, you'll damage the point way too quickly).



Now, to take off the label a lot more neatly than what you normally would, my Dad's got a great trick he learnt about 30 years ago.

1.) Tear off a piece of clear cling-wrap, enough to wrap around your chosen jar;

2.) Stretching the piece of cling-wrap open, gently hold it under a tap of running water for a second or two;

3.) Once the cling-wrap is wet (do not let it buckle in on itself - keep it stretched open) wrap it right around your jar covering the label. It doesn't matter if it overlaps several times;

4.) Leave the jar out in the sun to dry for a few hours;

5.) Once dry, you peel off the cling-wrap, then use your nails to scrape away a small section of the label. Then the majority of the label will slip off nice and easy with very little adhesive markings left behind;

6.) Dab some methylated spirits on the corner of a cloth and use it to wipe down and polish up the exterior of your jar.

Happy "de-labelling".