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I had done some research on how to make some desert bases and originally came across a product called dead earth. essentially it was a paste you applied that cracked when dried, the thicker the layer the larger the cracks. Seeing no way to get it in the U.S. without expensive shipping, I began to search for alternatives. I came across a product made by golden, called crackle paste. http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicaldata/crcklpst.php . I went out to buy it the next day, and wouldn't you know it, GW released their new paints the same exact day, or at least I heard about them same day. Curious I watched the videos, and was impressed by the rust effects, and their new earth product. Being so new, I had no refrences to go off to see which I liked better other than the video. So I got some of both and tried them. This is my example bases I created and what I found (both bases are base coated with snakebite leather.

The first is GW's product, straight out of the can. This was test base number 3, to get a nice balanced look. The other golden's crackle paste. Also the third attempt. Here is how I would compare the two.

Cost:
Gw's paint dosent take a lot to cover a regular base, so it can go a decent ways. 4 bucks a bottle or so. Golden's paste comes in 16 ounce cans (got it at Michael's) and while it was 16.99 its probably enough to do every model I will ever buy if I want the same type of bases. Possibly enough with the same coating thickness on the pic to do a 6 by 4 board if you are so interested. So despite the higher cost, for probably what amounts to 20ish times the amount, I would have to say goldens is the better value. Though if your just doing one army, there is something to be said for the savings of the GW product.

Ease of use:
Gw's product was easier by far. Literally straight out of the can, lay it down, and wait. Easy to smooth and get even coverage with. Whatever the color of the base will be what shows thru the cracks though, so if you have a white base from a white primer, I recommend painting it first. Goldens is a paste not a paint. Id say the consistency of marshmellow spread. A bit easier to work with. I layed it down, then had to go over with a large brush and water to get a flat surface. Though on this one I left it kind of built up in areas, and was pleased with the random look, so decided to show this one off. I painted the surface with snakebite leather, then while still wet pushed a paper towel onto it to give it a lighter and darker look in places, a bit like cleaning ink from a surface. Then I applied GW nuln oil to show the cracks more, but it dident make much of a difference there as they were already about as visible, just darkened the snakebite, which I think I liked lighter, so I wouldn't repeat this step if I did it again. Anyway GWs wins by a mile for ease. (also of note, GWs dryed in about an hour, goldens for the final cracks about 3)

Durability:
Gws paint on the first one I did was pretty thick, and would rub off on touching it. This one I have brushed pretty good and very few pieces have flaked off. So with watered down elmers glue to seal it, I doubt I would have to worry about it coming off for a long time. The goldens product has to be put on about twice as thick, and makes it a little more fragile. But its not overly so, and again watered down glue to seal it would probably be sufficient. But gws paint wins here.

Effect:
Gws paint is nice, and the videos I saw with their desert theme were hansome. But its not really what I envision when I think of a dry riverbed or desert mud caked plane. If I was going to use this effect, I would probably tint it grey, and use it as say ash strewn lands from a volcano. THAT would be perfect for the effect I think. Also saw a nice lava effect done with it, with yellow and orange randomly placed on the bottom of the base. Very impressed. The golden's however Is exactly what I think of when I go for realism on my bases. In fact now about an hour after I took the pic, and its even dryer, it has a nicer look. Again this is just in my opinion.

Anyway I hope this has been informative and helpful for those of you looking for a way to base desert type bases, or even your tables.

Thanks for the review!

This is really great thank you for sharing. I am experimenting with crackle mediums as well.

No problem. Now my only debate is to use or not to use some type of appropriate grass tufts for a desert theme. looks a bit plain as is.

Does the crackle lines go all the way through the layer of crackle paint. By this I mean, if you painted a layer of red/orange and then laid down a layer of crackle paint, would the orange/red show through?

Also. how thick of a layer did you lay down?

Ifurita, the crackle does break the layer of paint so you can see what's below it. I've already seen some people that have done lava bases with the red/orange/yellow below them and it looked nice.

Cool, that's what I was interested in.

I currently painted a few more examples, gonna let em dry. Did super thick layers with both, and a large base with both side by side. Next Ill try one where I paint the crackle, then use Gws on top to see if I get any wacky results that look good.

The first picture im adding is of the golden crackle paste slopped on pretty thick. Its worth noting that I dropped it, and most of it broke off. I did not use any kind of dry pva glue on the base beforehand, which I hear helps both products "stick" better to the base. I will have to try that next.

The second picture is the paste again put on thick, this time with snakebite leather and dabbed off before drying. No ink was added. The cracks are still visible.

Third pic is what happens when you put the GW product on thicker than recommended. It also tends to flake off easily.

Fourth pic was to see if I could get some interesting looks by applying both to a base. Unfortunatley they seem to not play well together, and the GW product where applied to the golden even after it had dried for hours caused both to be lifted off the base. its a shame because it had a nice combination. Still if you can get the same brown on the golden and just put the GW next to it instead of directly on top, you have a mix of effects,

Last pic was so you could see them side by side. From right to left: Golden super thin to see the effect. Not much cracking but dosent flake off unless I scrape it with a knife. second part is Gw thin. You can clearly see the base underneath (white painted to see the effect) The third part is a medium to thin coat of goldens, then smoothed over with a brush with water on it. the left half of it has the nuln oil ink, second half inkless to give you contrast. And the 4th part is gw recommended thickness again with white base. Not particularly impressed with the white undercoat, thought it might give a nice salt plains look, but not really.

Last pic is in better light.

Very nice, thanks for putting the effort in to compare them. I prefer the Golden one to GW.

I saw a guide for using Distress crackle medium (~$8-$10 for 120 ml) recently that I thought looked good. I'll spoiler it below if you're interested in a look.

From Tyrus on Westgamer: