![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-ref.jpg\")
<\/p>\n01.12.09 \u00c2\u00bb Source, Concepts & Initial Building<\/p>\n
So I heard about a MaK contest coming up whose
\ndeadline is the 12th of January. When did I find out? I think
\nit was December 28th or so. Oops! I thought for a few days
\nthat it was too bad since that would be fun to participate
\nin. Finally on the morning of the 31st I decided to put off
\nthe ScopeDog and try to build something cool in 12 days for
\nthe contest.<\/p>\n
I decided to build up an awesome Hardboiled
\nAFS conversion on a waterfall base with a large oak tree.
\nThings were going smoothly until 5-days in when I was informed
\nthat the conversion kit I was using wasn’t “official”
\nand would anger the Japanese. I had no idea when I purchased
\na few of them that it was considered “bad” so to
\nthe Japanese MaK community you have my apologies. While I
\nstill could enter the kit in the contest, the fallout would
\nhad been more of a mess than I wished on some friends of mine.
\nInstead I decided to make this build purely for personal sport
\nand see if I still could finish this in 12 days.<\/p>\n
When you read below you’ll see that as usual
\nI made something that should had been easy and quick into
\nsomething way complex. Below is the build on a near day-by-day
\naccount.<\/p>\n
12.31.08 \u00c2\u00bb Day One: AFS and Base Planning<\/p>\n
I started by building my Wave AFS + Francesco’s
\nHard Boiled AFS conversion. Talk about shake and bake. I spent
\n40 minutes getting the kit to a stopping point where I needed
\nto soak\/clean the resin and let seams cure. Then later that
\nnight I cleaned the seams and resin. (no pics)<\/p>\n
I also started the base for it which will be
\na summer waterfall scene on an unfinished hexagonal jewelry
\nbox. For the water I’ll be using the castin’ craft clear resin
\nas I’m familiar with it and it’s drawbacks, gloss gel medium,
\nfishing line, clear plastic, and plastic wrap. Yeah… lots
\nof stuff! The plastic wrap will be to seal the waterfall holes\/gaps
\noff from the pool so that when I pour the pool I don’t lose
\nall the resin below and make a mess. The clear plastic and
\nfishing line are coupled with the clear gloss medium to make
\nthe splashes and drips and even the falls. Here’s my reference
\npic:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
01.01.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Two: Materials and Base Sculpting<\/p>\n
Today I have the AFS wired into a pose and have
\nstarted the joint sleeves by forming a thin core of Ave’s
\nApoxie Sculpt over the wires to hold their place and create
\nsome bulk for the later folds and such. (no pics yet)<\/p>\n
I also picked up some “Super Moss”
\nPreserved Mood Moss (MOOD MOSS!? WTF?!) at Michael’s today
\nas it looks like small sprigs of it will make for some nice
\nrandomly placed weeds along with my usual moss stuff.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-05.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-06.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I also purchased something called a “clay
\npot topper” which I swear looked like Silflor over a
\ncompressed moss backing. At $1.99 for a 5″ disk I think
\nI’ll use them often. The reverse side looks like great leaf
\nlitter.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-19.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-20.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Here’s the pics so far of the base. You can
\nsee that I’ve cut some of the hexagonal box away to facilitate
\nthe 3 levels of the waterfall and the rocks. The middle tier
\nwill contain a small pool which has been dammed by a random
\nlog based on my reference pic. This gives me a great way to
\nrealistically add more water so that I can have the AFS interacting
\nwith it. The AFS will be stepping out of that pool and onto
\nthe level next to the tree. One foot will be by the tree while
\nthe other will be lifting out of the water. right now I’m
\nnot sure if the foot will be submerged but there will be splash
\neffects and many drips coming from the lifting foot.<\/p>\n
The rocks were glued onto the base after I added
\nsome odd rock in the base for filler. Smaller rocks and sand
\nwas used to fill in the gaps and then just river-rock was
\nused over that to hide the sand.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-03.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
I also made a to do list for EVERYTHING that
\nneeds done for this build. Looks like a lot but I think I
\ncan bang all this out in the 12 Days of MaKsmas! Lists help
\nme see where I’m at and schedule events to make the process
\nquicker.<\/p>\n
Hardboiled AFS<\/p>\n
Base<\/strong><\/p>\n I also created an animation showing my painting 01.02.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Three: Base Staining I stained the base with water-thinned india The upper waterfall has been started using the After Maschinen Krueger saw this and mentioned So far I have the tree trunk and branches done Looks great though and like a real scale tree. OH and that Zombie Green Mig Pigment is great Then before today was over I got a lot of the 01.03.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Four: Hardboiled AFS<\/p>\n Okay… been a productive day even though I I primed the kit about 9am this morning. Then Then after a few TAN filters (4 hours drying 01.04.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Five: Working Hard<\/p>\n No progress to report, but working hard! Check 01.05.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Six: Mounted Tree, New Leaf Method, And Falls Part 2<\/p>\n No pics of the suit right now but it’s coming Not sure what to do though as far as color. I figured out how to get green or autumn or To start out I pinned the paper on the four Once that dried I turned the paper over and I used my oak leaf punch and pinched out many Before putting them on the tree I’ll use a Michael’s had lots of translucent colors so Leaves so far. Been attaching them with small Marvy is the brand of punch I use for the oak Here’s the AFS as it is now (compare to the 01.06.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Seven: Finished AFS and Gel Sealing for Water Pools<\/p>\n HB AFS is done except for the spring hoses. Fuel stains! The blueish plasma burn mixed with On the first day of MaKmas my true love gave Yeah, that was awful… Here’s the HB AFS mounted 01.07.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Eight: Water Water Everywhere<\/p>\n I wasn’t going to, but I guess I’ll explain The first are the materials I used for the water. Next is the main water pool before the pour. I only did one pour as it was sufficient for One problem was when I tried to speed up the Next I’ll be adding more ripples and drips on Since next up is also the groundwork I began I knew I had some “Model Scene” 1\/35 01.08.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Nine: Plant Life and Completed Water Effects<\/p>\n First up the last of the water effects. The Future Floor Acrylic. Simple! Let the resin First on the images is the waterfall in-progress. I did the same thing for the foot. Below is Lastly for the base I applied the plant-life. Roots were used for two small vine-type plants The leaf litter is just crushed-up fall leaves Now back to the laser-cut Fiba paper foliage. Once “planted” I thought the burdock 01.09.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Ten: Completed Tree<\/p>\n Last night and today I completed applying the The other thing I learned is to work from the Lastly I learned that trees have a LOT of leaves. Lastly is the additional moss and lichen. I Yay! Ten days from start to completion. I’m 01.10.09 \u00c2\u00bb Day Eleven: Photos Uploaded!<\/p>\n The project is done and photographed. Click\n
\nInk<\/li>\n
\npools<\/li>\n
\nfloor<\/li>\n
\nuse gloss gel<\/li>\n
\ngel<\/li>\n
\nupper pool<\/li>\n
\nfallen whole leaves<\/li>\n
\nand weathering process for the camo scheme I decided upon.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/CamoPattern.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\nAnd Falls Part 1<\/p>\n
\nink then sealed it with this Matt Varnish:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-04.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-07.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-08.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\ngloss ge and stretched clear sprue.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-09.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-22.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nmy “twig” which I was going to base the tree on,
\nI did some thinking and root searching. Having come up with
\nnot a whole lot I decided to try something out I’ve been wanting
\nto try for a few years now. Making
\ntrees out of wire based on an article at ArmoramA<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nand textured. Based on the article, I did the wire wrapping
\nthen I covered the larger branches and trunk with a cloth-like
\nbut untextured medical tape. Then I coated, filled and sealed
\neverything, even the thinnest wires with the Liquitex Stucco
\nTexture Gel. On the thinnest wire twigs it makes them look
\nlike they have small bud-like bumps and on the larger with
\nsome vertical scribing with a needle while wet it looks like
\nbark. Really looking forward to priming it.For the smallest
\ntwigs I used really thin bead-wire glued to the smallest twigs
\nwith CA Gel.<\/p>\n
\n(birch at the moment since it’s all white, but tomorrow it’ll
\nbe a young oak tree) Thanks for the constructive criticism
\nBK… always helpful to have another set of eyes.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-10.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-11.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nfor moss effects! I also used thinned black\/brown acrylics
\nand FFA to make the wet and darkened rock effects.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-27.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\ntree painting done. I sprayed it with dark gray primer then
\nhand painted it in thinned black apple barrel acrylic.. like
\na thicker wash. When dry I airbrushed it with a medium brown-gray
\nmix AKA tree color. Then I gave it a few washes of black and
\nblack-brown. Finally I drybrushed it with a tan-gray mix of
\ncheapie acrylics. I’ll refine the color and such later but
\nthis is good enough to now set into the base.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-12.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-13.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nthink I’ve spent less than 2 hours total on the paint not
\nincluding the drying times. Yesterday I managed to finish
\nthe joint covers, pose and the texture. Even did a Hardboiled
\nDiaper like BK did on his.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nabout 11-12am I did the paint and camo, even the octopus.
\nReally easy as you’re just hand-painting quick and random
\nsmall “c” shapes with a brush. I used Deck Tan for
\nthe base and JGSDF Olive Drab for the camo.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-03.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-04.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\ntime total) I masked off the ID stripes and used a sponge
\nwith liquid mask to pre-chip them like I did with the Slave
\n1. And that’s it so far. I’m going to let it rest a bit then
\nlater I’ll airbrush on some FFA for decals and sealing.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-05.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-06.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nout how I do groundwork
\nhere on my blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nalong quickly and very nicely so far. The tree is ready for
\nleaves having finished a bunch of washes and drybrushes to
\nget that perfect tree color. Having some “twigs”
\nhelps for reference. The waterfall in the front is shaping
\nup nicely as well. I’ve been using lots of stretched clear
\nsprue and stretched clear sheet to make the individual drips
\nand such. Dotting them with the clear gel makes for that realistic
\nrippled\/drippy water falling look. You can see some un-touched
\nsprue ready to form a side waterfall that’ll shoot out from
\nbetween some rocks. I need to tame-down and attach the bottoms
\nthen add the clear gel to do the drips and ripples. The main
\nfall is layered with sprue drips behind a sheet which has
\nmore sprue drips and vertical gel streaks.<\/p>\n
\nI’ll use very little cotton at the bases to help portray froth
\nbut I’m debating on drybrushing the falls with gloss white
\nacrylic or not. Lots of the falls pics I’ve seen are taken
\nwith a time lapse so they look white but those without look
\na lot like what I have now which is perfectly clear drips.
\nDecisions decisions…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-14.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-15.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nany colored leaves all year round. I really wanted to do a
\ngreen-leaved oak tree, not a yellow-leaved maple from the
\nyellow pre-punched leaves I already had. Plus my maple punch
\nis kinda small for 1\/20 scale. Perfect for 1\/35 however! So
\nI was thinking last night that maybe I could go to Michael’s
\nand use some sort of tinted parchment paper. No luck, but
\nI found some very thin, strong translucent green paper in
\nthe scrapbook section. I also picked up a bottle of Folk Art
\npaint that was a very leafy color. The paper is awesome as
\nthe light will still shine through the painted leaves a little
\nmaking it more realistic.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-16.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\ncorners of a piece of plywood. I then sponged on random colors
\nof the 3 darker green tones UNTHINNED. This makes the paper
\ncurls so the pins are important. The paper will also not be
\nflat but that’s not important either. After that first sponging
\ndries I used the green color I purchased and sponged that
\nall over the top. Kinda like Lin.K’s paint technique and gives
\nyou some good tonal variations and a perfect texture.<\/p>\n
\nsponged the back with a lighter sage green tone since the
\nundersides of leaves are lighter. Two other pluses to this
\nleaf method… No decay and no crispy breaking dry leaves!<\/p>\n
\nmany leaves. In the final image, that’s all the leaves from
\none 8.5″ x 11″ sheet.Might be enough or I might
\nneed more.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-17.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nrazor blade to push a crease down the center for the main
\nvein.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-18.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nI’ll be doing this again for an Autumn scene for my Gans.
\nThe also works for any leaves I think. I’ll be buying a heart-shaped
\npunch at some point to do those large leafy jungle leaves.
\nJust scissor-round the point.<\/p>\n
\ndabs of CA gel and accelerator. BKs method of matte medium
\nwasn’t working for me as it doesn’t dry quick enough… at
\nleast not mine. I also used those Brita filter balls which
\nare a greenish color as young acorns and glued clumps of them
\non many of the small branches under leaves.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-21.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n(fiskars is the small maple) and it looks like Marvy
\nhas a larger maple too<\/a>!<\/p>\n
\nlast pic) with the weathering and washes and discoloration.
\nAll that’s left is flat-coat and pigment effects. I think
\neverything is more blended in now between the tones. The chips
\nwere done with a small brush then some sponge for the finer
\nscratches like on the side-eye.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-07.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nWanna “blacken-it” them still. Also need to add
\n“drips” but will add them when I mount it.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-08.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-09.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nsome grimey black, future and water work great for them.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-10.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-13.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nto me: an AFS with a oak treeeeeee!<\/p>\n
\non the base.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-11.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/HBAFS-12.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nhow I did the water as a mini-tutorial. Mostly because looking
\nback at my Hovertruck dio<\/a>
\nthere was precious little info for me to recall reading it.
\nEverything I read I had already remembered on my own. This
\nway I can document it as I have more spectacular watery builds
\nplanned!<\/p>\n
\nCastin’ Craft Clear Resin, The Catalyst for the resin, Flat
\nEarth, Gloss Black and Clear Green Tamiya Acrylic Paint. In
\na small cup I mixed 1 oz. of resin, 6 drops of the catalyst,
\nand one drop each of the paint. Stir slowly and deliberately
\nas to not froth up bubbles in the mix.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-25.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nYou can see that I did many thin coats of the clear acrylic
\ngel in order to seal the rocks. Otherwise bubbles will come
\nup or resin will leak out. I used clear plastic under the
\ntree branch dam to keep the resin in. It’s basically invisible
\nnow. Apply the gel very thinly and try not to make it more
\nthan 1-2mm for each application. It goes on white and dries
\nclear, but if it’s too thick you’ll get frosted patches.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-23.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nthe small depth and area to be poured. I wasn’t going to but
\nthe resin was pouring nice and the color was perfect. Keep
\ndabbing the resin after about 5-10 minutes until it firms
\nup and the ripples keep their shape. When it gets tacky you
\ncan still add more texture with a cheap plastic brush. Use
\nthe leftovers from your pour-cup to test before going to the
\nmain model. You’ll find that at the beginning of the tacky-stage,
\nabout 30-minutes in for me, the texture still will soften
\nafter a few seconds. I made more texture at the bottom of
\nthe falls and under the foot.<\/p>\n
\ncuring a bit (since temp is a factor) with a heat-gun. I had
\nit set to low and was far away but it curled a few of my drips
\nas you can see below. Easy enough to remove them though and
\nmake new ones so at least it’s a minor issue and not a huge
\npeeling shrinking mess like the hovertruck.<\/p>\n
\nthe legs, water surface, and two waterfalls. I’ll add froth
\nwith polyester polyfill. Fake cotton fill for pillows. It’s
\nclearish, shiny and should work well if used VERY sparingly.
\nI’ll also be tinting the water a bit lighter under both the
\nfalls with some tinted gel. I’ll add some Tamiya “Sky”
\nwhich is a pale gray-green and Flat Earth.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-24.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nlooking through my bins and found some items I had forgotten
\nabout or didn’t think would work. For one I found a bunch
\nof oak leaves I had punched out of fall leaves god-knows when.
\nThese will be great in the ground litter.<\/p>\n
\ndandelions that might work which are made from laser-cut paper
\nbut I forgot I had a ton of other plants from the same company.
\nAll 1\/35 scale plants and leaves but should work anyway here
\nas they’re large enough for small random plants. I think they
\njust need a slight semi-gloss finish. Right now they’re too
\nmatte for real-fife. Thanks to Jindra for sending me all these
\ngreat laser-cut items.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-26.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nCastin’ Craft has some issues but all of these are workable.
\nOne problem I had with the Hovertruck base was that the surface
\nof the water seemed tacky forever. Well there’s a reason for
\nthat. Apparently after doing some searching, this type of
\nresin will not cure completely where exposed to air. That’s
\nright… air. What to do? Well there’s sprays and stuff to
\nuse or a waxy thing that ruins the clear effect. My solution
\nis my solution to all of modeling’s woes…<\/p>\n
\ncure for at least 8-12 hours on its own in a dust-free place.
\nThen simple brush some FFA over the surface. The future will
\nbegin to cloud which freaked me out on my test pour but just
\ndry it with your airbrush or let it air-dry and it goes back
\nto crystal clear. Apply it in several thin coats. So there’s
\nsomething else to help you and me in the future when I wonder
\nagain why my clear resin is tacky.<\/p>\n
\nYou can see how I used dabs of Clear Acrylic Gel to attach
\nmore stretched clear sprue pieces. It goes on white but dries
\nclear. Once dry you can add more “dots” to the stretched
\nsprue pieces to make them look like falling water.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-28.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nthe dry and clear water effects. At the bottom of the main
\nfalls I added a very little bit of polyfill. (used for filling
\npillows, toys, etc) It’s clear and simulates the tiny splashes
\nat the base. I added some clear gel dots to it as well.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-29.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nMoss was used for the random small plants in the leaf litter
\nand between the rocks. I also used the Fiba laser-cut plants
\nwhich I’ll describe below.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-30.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nbranches. Each used my leaf technique as described above.
\nThe small maroon leafs are from a Fiskars Maple punch. I just
\ndabbed on a semi-gloss maroon mix to my oak-leaf paper before
\npunching. The other bush also used leftover oak paper. These
\nleafs were made using those “pattern scissors” used
\nfor borders on paper. I simply cut one loopy edge of lined-up
\n1\/2 circles, flipped the scissors over and cut again. The
\nresult was lots of these small eye-shaped leaves.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-31.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nwith some punched fall leaves mixed in. TO apply it to the
\nsurface I mixed some dark soil colored pigments with some
\nMatte Gel and brushed the dirt with it. Then I poured on and
\npressed the leaf litter into that. Lastly I applied some Prepared
\nMatte Medium which is watered down matte medium. This seals
\nit, lets it keep it’s fullness but invisibly glues it all
\ntogether. Glue some full punched fall leafs to the top for
\ncontrast and to cover up bare spots.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-32.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nI used “hart’s tongue” and “burdock”.
\nThe burdock is the larger one in the pic. These are easy to
\nuse but need some prep IMO before placing on the base. First
\nthe paper looks like paper… very flat and well… like paper.
\nPlants are smooth so I airbrushed on a few thinned coats of
\nFuture. Not to gloss it but to semi-gloss it. Afterwards it
\nlooked much better. Then you simply cut them out of their
\npaper-sprues (easy) and take a rounded tool and press the
\nvein creases into them. Laying them on a soft surface makes
\nthis easy.<\/p>\n
\nwas too green. A few coats of Mig Productions Tan Filter solved
\nthat. Apply them with some Matte Gel.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-33.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nleaves to the tree. This was a painstaking process with a
\nfew learning curves. The first thing I learned is that CA
\ngel is wonderful stuff for this. I usually use the liquid
\nCA aka Super Glue, but the gel clung to the leaves and branches.
\nSmall dabs of accelerator and the leaf was affixed. At first
\nI tried Matte Gel but it took too long to dry and the leaves
\nwouldn’t stay up on their own.<\/p>\n
\ninside out and from the bottom-up. The first few branches
\nI applied leaves to I applied them all over and at first this
\nwas fine. However as I got more leaves on I began to knock
\nothers off while trying to use the tweezers and a rod to apply
\nthe leaf and CA accelerator. Since each leaf was added one
\nat a time this was very annoying and a hard-learned lesson.<\/p>\n
\nI made one sheet of leaves and thought I’d have plenty. Then
\nI thought with my second sheet of leaves would be enough.
\nThen it was another 1\/2 sheet. In the end I used almost 3
\nletter-sized sheets of punched out leaves. This was a lot
\nas I am quite frugal with the punching getting them as close
\nto the next as possible. So make more than you think you’ll
\nneed then double that. You can always use any leftovers for
\na later project.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-34.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nused my own tutorial to make this which
\ncan be found here<\/a>. The only difference with the moss is
\nthat I applied it thin first then added some thicker patches.
\nThen as it started to dry I stippled it with a stiff brush.
\nThis teased up the fibers in the flocking and made it look
\nmore natural and carpet-like. I sparingly added a brown-black
\nwash when near-dry the sparingly drybrushed it with a bright
\nlight green to simulate the new growth. I changed my lichen
\napplication as well by adding it sparingly and as dots as
\nper my reference photos seen again below.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-35.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fichtenfoo.com\/images\/prog-hardboiled\/base-ref2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nvery proud of myself for doing this piece in that amount of
\ntime and then sticking with it after I found out I couldn’t
\nenter it in that contest. I even have 2 days to spare! Sweet!<\/p>\n
\nhere for the final photos \u00c2\u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n