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Greetings,

Does anyone have any tips on Ash-Waste basing? I'm thinking cold, post-atomic ground but not snow -- just soft but dark grey ashes from all the destruction.


Gale Force 9 Tundra/Ash Flock Foundation is available, but i do not know if it is any good nor how to use it best.

Tips / advice / links to blogs and videos greatly appreciated.

I go quick and easy using black overbrushed with dawnstone no extra grays needed,looks nice and alien,some pics of sprue brick bases with snow but the underlayer ash waste,also some alien and industrial ones to think about using.

I appreciate the pictures. what did you use for the basing, however? Looks to be just fine or medium ballast of some sort.

have you seen GW's "Astrogranite" or "Astrogranite Debris" texture paints?...I'd say putting some of that down on the base, letting it dry, then a coat of nuln oil/other black wash, and a medium-light grey drybrush might get the kind of effect you're after?

or just glue some sand and maybe some small rocks to the base,paint it grey, black wash, then light grey drybrush

...you can make your own "texture paints" too, if you want...there's a few methods of doing it, but most involve various mixes of sand/fine gravel, paint, sometimes some pva glue, and often some kind of filler/spackle, to give you a thick, gritty paste, which dries rock-hard

 Shrapnelsmile wrote:
I appreciate the pictures. what did you use for the basing, however? Looks to be just fine or medium ballast of some sort.

Mixed Sands,for them i used very fine beach sand along with some much more gritty sand i found,nothing bought though.
But if you have the money to spare going the way ZoBo suggests would be faster.

One method I like for really fine sand/ash looking bases is the baking soda method. Basically, CA glue (super glue) and baking soda love each other, in so much as super glue essentially instantly cures when it comes into contact with baking soda, leaving a solid material topped with a fine texture that, when drybrushed, reveals to be almost to-scale sand or ash, rather than using actual sand that seems a little out of proportion (generalizing, but you get the idea). Basically put down what decorations you want (helmets, bricks, etc.), cover the rest of the base in super glue, and then dunk it in baking soda. I mix a tub of baking soda with a tub of the Army Painter basing sand (doesn't matter what color), that way it gives some variety like rocks in the sand the model is standing on, and then dunk the super glue-covered base in that mix. It will dry within a second or two, then just shake it off, dust it off, prime and paint. Very easy, very quick, and with super glue being cheap, it's inexpensive. Since you're in the U.S., if you have access a Dollar General, they sell Super Glue brand CA glue, for two tubes for a dollar. I personally love it, and I buy out their stock every few months Army Painter sand is like five dollars for a tub, and a five pound box of Arm and Hammer baking soda will last you a lifetime (trust me). I love the look of it, and it does great for ash/sand. Good luck!

 TheWarpSaysHello wrote:
One method I like for really fine sand/ash looking bases is the baking soda method. Basically, CA glue (super glue) and baking soda love each other, in so much as super glue essentially instantly cures when it comes into contact with baking soda, leaving a solid material topped with a fine texture that, when drybrushed, reveals to be almost to-scale sand or ash, rather than using actual sand that seems a little out of proportion (generalizing, but you get the idea). Basically put down what decorations you want (helmets, bricks, etc.), cover the rest of the base in super glue, and then dunk it in baking soda. I mix a tub of baking soda with a tub of the Army Painter basing sand (doesn't matter what color), that way it gives some variety like rocks in the sand the model is standing on, and then dunk the super glue-covered base in that mix. It will dry within a second or two, then just shake it off, dust it off, prime and paint. Very easy, very quick, and with super glue being cheap, it's inexpensive. Since you're in the U.S., if you have access a Dollar General, they sell Super Glue brand CA glue, for two tubes for a dollar. I personally love it, and I buy out their stock every few months Army Painter sand is like five dollars for a tub, and a five pound box of Arm and Hammer baking soda will last you a lifetime (trust me). I love the look of it, and it does great for ash/sand. Good luck!

hmm...now that sounds quite interesting...I think I'll have to give that a try myself soon, thanks for the tip!

 ZoBo wrote:

 TheWarpSaysHello wrote:
One method I like for really fine sand/ash looking bases is the baking soda method. Basically, CA glue (super glue) and baking soda love each other, in so much as super glue essentially instantly cures when it comes into contact with baking soda, leaving a solid material topped with a fine texture that, when drybrushed, reveals to be almost to-scale sand or ash, rather than using actual sand that seems a little out of proportion (generalizing, but you get the idea). Basically put down what decorations you want (helmets, bricks, etc.), cover the rest of the base in super glue, and then dunk it in baking soda. I mix a tub of baking soda with a tub of the Army Painter basing sand (doesn't matter what color), that way it gives some variety like rocks in the sand the model is standing on, and then dunk the super glue-covered base in that mix. It will dry within a second or two, then just shake it off, dust it off, prime and paint. Very easy, very quick, and with super glue being cheap, it's inexpensive. Since you're in the U.S., if you have access a Dollar General, they sell Super Glue brand CA glue, for two tubes for a dollar. I personally love it, and I buy out their stock every few months Army Painter sand is like five dollars for a tub, and a five pound box of Arm and Hammer baking soda will last you a lifetime (trust me). I love the look of it, and it does great for ash/sand. Good luck!

hmm...now that sounds quite interesting...I think I'll have to give that a try myself soon, thanks for the tip!

No problem! Thank the Tabletop Minions Youtube channel and Uncle Atom. Was browsing through his videos and came across that method and really liked how it turned out, especially mixed with larger rocks/debris.

Thank you so much everyone. I"ll post a pic later of some ash-waste specific materials I bought, and will experiment with some of these excellent suggestions as well. I appreciate the responses.
For full pics of my Konflikt '47 projects, and (eventually) the full the final post-atomic basing appearance, check out the blog in my signature.

Cheers.

For reference, in case nobody has tried it yet, this is ultimately what the baking soda/basing rocks/CA glue method looks like, if you can see (sorry for camera quality).