Here's my recipe for home-made flocking. It has the advantage of enabling you to produce colours and shades to your liking.
1. Go to local sawmill/DIY shop with sawing dept.
2. Scoop up free sawdust, only the finest grain
3. Sieve
4. Sieve again
5. Mix 1 part acrylic paint with 2 parts water in a bucket
6. Add handful of sawdust
7. Stir like a madman
8. Add paint if desired to change colour
9. Add sawdust whilst stirring until mixture is near-dry
10. Spread on newspaper in dry/warm spot
11. Leave to dry for 24 hours
12. Bob's your uncle
By using different sieves you can separate grains going from the finest to the coursest, which you can then use for different purposes.
Cheers,
Aart
very interesting and very creative.
That's a coincidence, I've literally just been reading up on this with a view to making it for the business!
Quote from: Leon on 22 March 2010, 04:00:16 PM
That's a coincidence, I've literally just been reading up on this with a view to making it for the business!
Here's another one:
1. Buy a third-hand blender at a fair
2. Cut plastic foam (from old cushions &cetera) to dice-sized pieces
3. Put pieces in blender, add 1 part acrylic paint and 1 part water
4. Blend while occasionally stirring
5. Blend and stir some more
6. Tell your wife to take over, have a smoke
7. Spread mushy mess on newspaper, let dry
8. There's Bob again
Because it tends to be clumpy this stuff is ideal for shrubs, tree foliage and such.
Cheers,
Aart
Mate, I'm *loving* number 6 here 8)
Have you met my wife? :o
Quote from: Aart Brouwer on 22 March 2010, 10:32:19 PM
Here's another one:
1. Buy a third-hand blender at a fair
2. Cut plastic foam (from old cushions &cetera) to dice-sized pieces
3. Put pieces in blender, add 1 part acrylic paint and 1 part water
4. Blend while occasionally stirring
5. Blend and stir some more
6. Tell your wife to take over, have a smoke
7. Spread mushy mess on newspaper, let dry
8. There's Bob again
Because it tends to be clumpy this stuff is ideal for shrubs, tree foliage and such.
Cheers for that, I'm gonna have to get some sawdust and sponge from somewhere!
Quote from: nikharwood on 23 March 2010, 12:43:54 AM
Mate, I'm *loving* number 6 here 8)
Have you met my wife? :o
Remember I'm Dutch, Nik. So yeah, I probably have. 8)
Cheers,
Aart
Quote from: Leon on 23 March 2010, 01:27:20 AM
Cheers for that, I'm gonna have to get some sawdust and sponge from somewhere!
I like your hands-on approach, Leon. If you guys ever want to sell scenery material at a commercial scale you'll have to experiment and develop your own
distinctive products. Don't look at other producers, don't imitate them. Look at nature. Many producers are still copying that 1957 Faller plastic fern instead of sitting down by an actual fern with a bottle of Scotch and a note pad, making some sketches and taking it from there.
It's da wave of da future, man. The days are over when people could pin a wad of foam to a cocktail stick and call it a tree. The quality and detail of the figures are now such that the landscape simply
has to follow. I believe there is huge potential for scenery stuff that is both sturdy and doesn't look like it came out of a toy factory. If your miniatures are anything to go by, I'm sure you guys will surprise us.
Cheers,
Aart
I'm not sure how well I'll do at it, but I'll give it a go and see what happens. There are some fantastic scenery companies about, some of the stuff I see at the shows is amazing, so I doubt I'll be up to their standards.
Quote from: Leon on 23 March 2010, 05:11:45 PM
I'm not sure how well I'll do at it, but I'll give it a go and see what happens. There are some fantastic scenery companies about, some of the stuff I see at the shows is amazing, so I doubt I'll be up to their standards.
I think
unity of style would be the formula to go by. The best-looking models and scenery pieces still look oddly out of place when put on a gaming table with other models and scenery of differing styles. Take for instance the camouflage of the camouflaged Panther (GR68B). It is fine by itself, but it has a different substance and texture from any sort of model flora that is out there at the moment. Only after I subtly flocked it with some of my finest flock did it suddenly appear 'natural' on my gaming table.
Another rule of thumb would be to keep your stuff as cheap as possible. Scenery should be made out of plastics, period. And everything the average gamer can do should be left completely up to him: assembly, basing, painting and/or flocking should all be optional. This would cut the price to an acceptable level so as to allow gamers to buy scenery elements by the proverbial shedload and achieve that unity of style.
Since we are among gentlemen we shouldn't engage in naming and shaming, but it has to be said that some of the finer scenery on the market is ridiculously over-priced and most of the cheaper stuff is notoriously ugly and difficult to handle (self-toppling trees, anyone?).
Anyway, these are just a few rambling thoughts from an amateur. Maybe you could open a wishlist thread on scenery and see what ideas people come up with. I guess we'll all be surprised. Wisdom of the crowd and all that.
Cheers,
Aart
I'll have to have a play about with some stuff when I have some spare time.
QuoteHave you met my wife?
Remember I'm Dutch, Nik. So yeah, I probably have.
:D :D :D
You don't want her back do you? Going cheap to a good home... ;)
@Leon: *whatever* you do, please don't ever let Karin Harwood register here :o
Quote from: nikharwood on 24 March 2010, 08:50:28 AM
You don't want her back do you? Going cheap to a good home... ;)
I like your way of thinking, Nik, but I don't think the mods would want us to take this any further. For starters it gives a whole new meaning to the word 'Nikfest'... ;D
Quote from: nikharwood on 24 March 2010, 08:50:28 AM
@Leon: *whatever* you do, please don't ever let Karin Harwood register here :o
Hey, everybody's welcome! :D
(Actually, Mat's in charge of approving people!)