While trying to decide how I was going to base my upcoming Mexican American War project, I came across Muddy Paws compound while looking online. I was looking for something that would not be too hard to apply to my bases, when the troops are tightly packed. I often use flock for this type of project, but I did not want green bases for troops fighting in arid terrain. The normal pumice would be hard to get in-between the legs of the infantry. So, coming across this material seemed to be the perfect fit.
I went on the Etsy catalog for Muddy Paw and saw they had different colors. The tan was a little darker than I wanted and the white was too light, so I ordered both! I received the pack in a couple of days and started some experimenting.
The basing comes as different colors and roughness. They include some type of activation agent (no idea what it is) that activates when sprayed with water. Basically, you add it to your base as needed and spritz the base with some water out of a spray bottle. In theory you can put the water down first and follow with the spray again. You can also use white glue to start and they spray it once you have your covering.
As it is basically sand, you can build it up how ever you want on your base and just moisten it. If you need to add more, just put it on top and wet it again. Everything settles and matches. This makes if very easy to apply. I basically dipped my bases in a down with the stuff and tapped the bottom of the base with my finger to level the sand. If I went too far, I just sprinkled more on in the areas needed. I then just spritzed the base and left if to dry.
When I was doing my testing I saw that the sand would run off the edges. My solution was to just hit the edges of each base with some white glue to have it clink to the edges while I did the sand application. This kind of acted as a dam, so it worked well. I just went through my troops, one base at a time and left them for a few days to dry (I applied a lot of water).
As I mentioned, I ended up mixing the two light colors together to lighten things up. I still was not getting the rocky look that I wanted, so I just added some beach sand to the mix to get that effect. You can add whatever you want and it will still harden just fine. I am not sure at what point you thin it too much, but a little bit of some other material will not hurt. I even tried adding a little flock to see how that would look, but the bases looked too greenish for this project. Clearly you can do what you want!
If you just want to use this as ballast and stain and paint, that would work fine too. I went with mixing materials, which works great. Alternatively, just apply it straight from the jar! The strength of the project is that you can apply it so easily, without worry of messing up your painted figures. I was so happy with the result, I went back and ordered a few more colors to try on other projects!
- Manteuffel
Helpful post, any risk to mdf bases warping?
Truth be told, I do not use MDF (only plastic and metal), so I do not know. Being wood, there may be some risk. However, I think if you spay paint both sides of the base, it should be OK. Maybe set on a grid or screen when you spritz, so the base is not sitting in a pool of water while it is drying…