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So my mate and I have a tabletop that we want to fix and put in his garage, and I have a 7500 point space marine army that needs basing.

We are planning on doing the whom watered down pva and sand that worked well last time but... we cant agree on the colour scheme for the table.

Im dead set on an ash wasteland effect, and this same effect I desire to use on my SM bases aswell, in the theme of an exterminatis planet (I got the idea from a story in the Tyranid book where a planet was quarantined because the inquisitors could still detect Carnifexs under the layers of ash from the nuclear fall pout)

Could anyone tell me how to do the ash effect, im thinking of doing a light gray base coat with a lighter gray top coat and then a white dry brush. Also does anyone have any pics of ash effects that have been done in the past?

My former chaos army was rm an ash world. I did the same thing for their bases. But I used real honest to god ashes. I collected cigarette ashes and ashes from a fire. I covered the bases with super glue, and then dipped them into the ash pile. It works perfect and has no smell at all. It dries rock hard almost instantly and best of all, you dont have to color it lol

thx do you have any pics?

and what else did you need to do to the ash, did you give a second coat of glue?

Hmm... I take a more traditional hobbyist approach I guess...

I use pva glue and potting soil, basecoat with black, and drybrush a grey first followed with a bright white. Look how my tank traps came out for it:

OK, never heard of using potting mix before.

Did you mix the potting mix in with the PVA, how exactly did you do it, becuase i intend to use PVA mixed with sand to create a kind of cement that looks similar to the effect of your potting mix, to do embankments and the like.

Well I kinda have a weird solution in my head of how much of each (kinda like my grandma was with her spices, never measured anything or needed the taste test. She just KNEW.) but I basically mix three things together until I have a thick and pasty mixture, a safe bet would probably be one part of each:
Glue
Potting mix and sand
Cheap black craft acrylic (applebarrel preferrably, that is the only conceivable use for that garbage paint)

Just dump them into an old junky plastic container (like a used butter dish that has been cleaned out) and stir it up until evenly mixed. Apply it with either a thick (and junky) brush or a small knife. I just glob on some big chunky bits and push it around on the base until it is semi-even.

The black paint just helps skip a step; that way I don't have to wait for it to dry AND wait for a basecoat of paint to dry after that. It covers thickly, and when it dries it has a very random and organic texture to it which looks very nice after a few drybrushes. I basically just work my way up to white from gray, or if white is too much I just stop at light gray.

Ok I've rambled on enough already so I'm gonna stop there. Darn 1 AM rants...

I think what matters is getting a mixture of sizes of granules in the dry component. Sand or gravel usually come in a measured diameter so you need to mix two or three grades to get a nice, natural variation of granularity.

Is your potting compound the kind of vermiculite mineral stuff or a peat based organic mixture?

GaleForce 9 do an Ash Waste flock http://www.gf9.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=400&osCsid=5286249a456795faf38de24a67b4b450

I have a tub but have not really used it (I did a single test model). It looks ok, but it is a bit too much like looking at a base covered with salt and pepper.

Might just have been how I prepared the base, but I was not massively impressed, but you might find different.

Ash wastes often also have a green/yellowish tinge

Kilkrazy wrote:I think what matters is getting a mixture of sizes of granules in the dry component. Sand or gravel usually come in a measured diameter so you need to mix two or three grades to get a nice, natural variation of granularity.

Is your potting compound the kind of vermiculite mineral stuff or a peat based organic mixture?

Peat based, which is why it has the nice variable quality that makes it look more organic. I use it heavily mixed with plaster too with limited success.

I've never tried this but I was thinking if Chalk Dust woud work and look like ash? Either smash up a piece of chalk or rub the chalk on sand paper and use the dust like flock...

I dont have any picture no. I got rid of that army over a year ago. You only need super glue, and cigarette/wood ash. If you want it in a pile of whatnot, just put more glue in a spot after the dip and do it again until you get the desired height. Seriously, give it a try on a spare base. I bet youll like the out come. If not, just take razor blade or dremel, and take it off. Simple as that.