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So whilst basing my Seraphon ready for tabletop quality, I noticed my Aregellan earth kept flaking off the base in some areas leaving the black plastic from the base revealed underneath. Does anyone have any advice on how to stop that from happening, or how to fix the cracks?

Cheers, stay safe lads!

Agrellan earth is supposed to crack. You could paint the base underneath a different colour (red/orange/yellow can make a nice lava effect) or you may be applying it too thinly.

It's just a hazard of working with crackle paint. You may be dry brushing too hard. If bits do flake off, fill them with a texture paint like armageddon dunes. It will add to the earth effect.

Cheers both of the above, I think I will just need to paint the base underneath a colour to help give it depth.

I'll do that for the next bases, and then seal it with Matt varnish once its dry brushed!

Priming / base painting the base before using a crackle paint also actually helps the stuff to stick, as well as giving you a base colour to hide any gaps.

Also helps to give the bases a quick go-over with sandpaper.

Cheers guys, new to this specific paint and it was looking absolutely fantastic until this road block!

Something to bear in mind is that it contracts extremely significantly as it dries. You want to do a couple of passes, if the plan is to strictly do the base with the material.

Also helps to use a hair dryer on cool air setting to get a feel for how it will contract, as it starts the drying process quicker.

As mentioned in this Warhammer TV tutorial, the thickness of the application determines the size of the cracks and if it's too thick it may flake off. Without seeing yours it may be that you need to use a thinner coat of Agrellan Earth to minimize flaking.

Try applying some gloss varnish to your base before adding the crackle paint as it helps it grip the base slightly better.

Gloss? Do you mean matte? Gloss varnish is going to have more surface tension and will reduce the adhesive effect of anything applied over it.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Gloss? Do you mean matte? Gloss varnish is going to have more surface tension and will reduce the adhesive effect of anything applied over it.

No, gloss varnish. Specifically 'Ardcoat from citadel. I thought it would be bad too, but the tip came from Warhammer TV for a lava base effect using their black crackle and I tested it out. It grips much better with the 'Ardcoat than without. Specifically, with gloss varnish it stayed on and without it flaked off when I then tried to use matte to seal it in

thats weird. I'd have thought that gloss would have the opposite affect.

Priming the base goes a long way.
I also varnish over it once dry before doing any other steps.

After doing the above, I’ve never had an issue with it.

 Deadshot wrote:

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Gloss? Do you mean matte? Gloss varnish is going to have more surface tension and will reduce the adhesive effect of anything applied over it.

No, gloss varnish. Specifically 'Ardcoat from citadel. I thought it would be bad too, but the tip came from Warhammer TV for a lava base effect using their black crackle and I tested it out. It grips much better with the 'Ardcoat than without. Specifically, with gloss varnish it stayed on and without it flaked off when I then tried to use matte to seal it in

The aforementioned Warhammer TV video...

Yep, most of it has been said before... wash the bases with hot soapy water to remove any release agent from the manufacturing process, sand or score them lightly (although deep scoring with a blade can show through some technical effect paints, prime them, and seal them. I love that paint too, but have had a heck of a time getting the results I want without flaking.