Burkish bases, messy fun!

Part 11 (whatever!) of my Burkish naval infantry saga...
Well, with all the remaining soldiers lined up it time to add the bases. This is a nice messy bit and very relaxing - I simply glue the plastic soldiers to the little MDF bases and then add PolyFilla.

Now I found that working in threes is just enough time to lay down a rough layer of Polyfilla before it starts drying a little. By the time I have done the first layer on the second three it's dry enough to go back and start smearing out the first three. Too wet and the Polyfilla is horrible to work with - it sticks to anything - and you end up pulling off more than you put on!

So, do thing in stages and you soon get into a rhythm where the Polyfilla is just at the right consistency to work with as you complete one operation in the process. Soon you have a little production line going.

I tend to work from the outside of the base in, the last stage being the bit up to the feet which demands a little more care. Polyfilla produces a wonderfully random cracked earth effect...And it's cheap!

Music while Polyfilling? The Marriage of Figaro ("Le Nozze de Figaro"), K. 492: Act II - "Voi Che Sapete"...(Just right for slapping on stuff to!)

Boy this is relaxing. I stopped for a big mug of tea and a piece of apple strudel, ahhhhhh!

Glossing over toy soldiers!

Put the final touch to my long suffering test model and gave him a few layers of clear lacquer...

I don't know if it's just me but all of a sudden this shouts 'toy soldier'! Before I was - well, not disappointed, but I thought something was missing, but now it has all come together. Glossing your soldiers really does put the cherry on the cake!

And one more thing I changed. I have repainted the base a vivid grass green, again this seems to say toy soldier more than the dull mid-green I had before. I think that it reminds me of Britains toy soldiers?

...Oh cake! Tea and cake...

Base for plastic soldier - Part 2

Haven chosen my bases - Supabases MDF 50mm x 25mm - I decided to get down to trying one out to see what they looked like. The Armies in Plastic soldiers have a slightly bumpy textured base and I wanted to incorporate this, or at least hide it if I couldn't replicate the design.

I super glued the soldier to the MDF base and then roughly daubed on some Polyfilla onto the base, covering the original AiP base...

Looking at this it seems a little big, but I have to remember that this particular soldier is mounted on one of the medium sized AiP bases, some have a larger foot print. I also placed this soldier off center as I didn't want his rife sticking out to much.

I will now paint the base - and change the green to my final choice of orange as the contrasting colour - and this Burkish Marine Infantryman will be complete.

Supabases from 15mm.co.uk

Having tested out my painting for 54mm plastic figures I have been searching the web for some suitable bases. I like the idea of a uniform base and wanted something rectangular that would fit my Armies in Plastic soldiers.

Well I seem to have found exactly what I am looking for over at 15mm.co.uk, they sell a range of MDF bases of a variety of sizes including a bag of 50mm x 25mm ones which are ideal for me.

I measured up the bases of the Armies in Plastic, which are a random variety of sizes to suit the figures stances and the result was variety of dimentions that, at their biggest, fitted within the 50mm x 25mm size (or 2 inches by one inch if you prefer).

You get 36 bases in the pack for £3.95 and while I suppose you could make these yourself cheaper by buying and cutting up a MDF sheet - can you really be bothered? (I can't!)

I am going to stick the soldiers to the MDF bases and then use Pollyfilla to make an undulating textured surface to match the AiP bases. They should look very neat when I'm finished - we shall see!

Link: 15mm.co.uk - Supabases MDF Bases