pacific basing ideas

7/25/2019 Pacific Basing Ideas

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Pacific Basing IdeasWith James Brown

Basing a Pacific army starts the same way as any otherforce. Begin by decide on a theme for your force - where andwhen is it fighting? For the Pacific War, there are no shortageof picturesque locations which saw major fighting. Then

choose a texture, colour scheme and ground cover which allfit the scene you are trying to evoke.

Base Texture

Filler/spackle is excellent for building up contours and variable height on your bases. It is also excellent at hiding theedges of the cast-on bases on infantry figures (which is a lot more important if you arent using the newer-style brownbases with recessed holes for the figures).

Spackle also has its own texture. Its a very fine texture, butwith drybrushing it works well for a fine sand effect.

If you prefer a more pronounced texture, then you can gluon some sand or basing grit.

Sandy Beaches

With light-coloured sand and lush tropical foliage, many of the islands in the Pacific War, from Saipan, to the thePhilippines, to coral atolls like Tarawa, had a distinctive terrain which can look great on bases.
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Of course, Pacific islands arent all beach. Withthe exception of tiny coral atolls, large areas ofthe interior of even small islands is oftenrelatively non-descript grassland. So the samebasic grassy basing common to ETO armieswont be at all inappropriate.

It's a good excuse to use nice bright colours ofstatic grass and foliage.

Step 1: Start with a base colour ofBattledress Brown (325).

Step 2: Drybrush heavily with SicilyYellow (362) to emphasise the texture.

Step 3: Apply a second, lighterdrybrush of Dry Dust (364).

Alternate colour palette


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Step 1: Start with a base colour ofSherman Drab (321).

Step 2: Drybrush heavily with MilitaryKhaki (327) to emphasise the texture.

Step 3: Apply a second, lighterdrybrush of Worn Canvas (306).

Volcanic Islands

Volcanic islands Iwo Jima being probably the best-known example share some unique features: dark-coloured sand;coarse, rocky terrain; and relatively sparse vegetation.

Above:Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Above:Iwo Jima from the summit of Mount Suribachi.

For this base I added sometexture using fine basinggritand superfine basinggrit, to mimic the harsh,rocky surface you mightexpect to see on a volcanicisland.

If you just want to show the

dark sand beach, you coulchoose to leave the textureoff.

Step 1: Start with a base colour of WornRubber (302).

Step 2: Drybrush with Bunker Grey (304).

Alternate colour palette
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Step 1: Start with a base colour ofPanzer Grey (303).

Step 2: Drybrush with Greatcoat Grey(305) to emphasise the texture.

Step 3: Lightly drybrush Worn Canvas(306) on a few areas to vary the colour.

Tropical Jungle

Lush jungle covers much of the Pacific, including Burma, New Guinea, and the interior of many islands, such as Peleliu.

Jungle Leaves

One of the most challenging types of greenery to reproducein miniature is the leafy foliage of jungle plants such as fernsand rattan palms.

Railway model suppliers are an excellent source of miniature foliage. Don't worry too much about finding the exact right


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scale you can clip

Many plants have fractal forms, where small pieces of the plant resemble miniature versions of the plant itself. Thismeans you can clip off small parts of full-sized artificial foliage from a florist or craft supply store.

Banana Palms

For banana palms, you can download and print this PDF, wita selection of sizes and colours of leaves for you to cut outand add to bases.

Banana Palms (320kB)...

Banana leaves tend to tear in the wind, so cut a few randomslices in each leaf. The white cut edge of the paper spoils thelook a bit. My easy solution for this is to dip each leaf incoffee, which soaks into the paper, dyeing it a warm brownsimilar to dry, damaged edges of real leaves.

For creeping vines such as liana and similar species, youcan use green-coloured yarn (not too vivid!). Moistenedwith watered-down PVA glue, and then carefully position iton the base, trying to kink it into bendy vine shapes.

Undergrowth

You can fill in anygaps using longgrass tufts, perhapsin brighter greencolours than you

might usually use.

Colour Palette

The more foliage you apply,the less bare earth you willsee, making the colour lessimportant. But a dark, richbrown is generally good, to

suggest damp, fertile soil.
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Step 1: Start with a base colour of BootBrown (323).

Step 2: Drybrush with Motherland Earth(383).

Last Updated On Wednesday, April 27, 2016by James at Battlefront

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