Getting the Most out of GW Technical paints Science Time with Basing Materials!
Here is a super useful article regarding the use of GW Technical paints written by Aeldari Lamborghini aka Zach.
We had a discussion on the WotB Discord server and he was kind enough to put this together for us. The discussion was inspired by a recent video we watched.
Science Time with Basing Materials!
I was browsing around YouTube the other day and stumbled across a video claiming that the secret to the use of Games Workshop’s (“GW”) texture paints was to use PVA glue on the base. In the video, they made use of the crackle variety of the GW Texture paints, and since I had some on hand, I opted to try it out for myself. I’ve detailed the results with some of the pictures below.
It is worth noting that this process is hardly scientific, as the amount of paint applied in each case varied, along with other factors that I couldn’t account for in my work area (light, temperature, humidity, etc.) but I gave it my best shot.
Materials Used:
3 x 32mm GW bases (textured)
3 x 24mm Wizkids bases (smooth)
White craft glue
Stynylrez Primer (light brown)
Citadel Agrellan Earth Texture Paint
Citadel Lothern Blue Layer paint
Yee Ol’Scrappy brush
GW Texture Tool/Spatula
Step 1
The first step was pretty straight forward. I created a control group of bases that were neither primed nor had glue applied to them (Red Circle). The next set of bases I used the white glue straight out of the bottle (Green Circle). The last set I applied the Stynylrez Primer by brush onto the bases (Blue Circle). After this was all done, I let
everything dry for about an hours time.
Step 2
For step 2 I forgot to grab a picture, but all I did was paint a rough blue line down the centre of each base to demarcate between thick paint and thin paint application
Step 3
Step three was fairly straightforward, I applied the Agrellan Earth to each base in different amounts. The base in the red circle (control group) had a thick application on the right side, and thin application on the left side. The bases in the blue circle (primed) had the same, along with the bases in the green circle (white glue). I waited about an hours time to see what would happen.
Results
The results are in! Unsurprisingly, the paint in the red circle that was applied without primer or PVA flaked off with the tap of my finger. I imagine it’s a result of the fact that the paint lacked a surface to properly adhere to. The blue circle where the primer was applied to had interesting results. The crackling was a lot smaller and finer than compared to the other two but adhered well to the base and wouldn’t come off. In the final green circle, the cracking was very wide and clear, and there some spots where you can see the glue being lifted from the base. There is also a noticeable shine/reflection from the dried white glue.
Conclusion
The too long, didn’t read is that prime or white glue your bases. It’ll give the paint something to adhere to, so it doesn’t fall off as you move your models around either for play or display. Of the two successful methods, you can see a wide difference in the results depending on the type of effect you want to create – the white glue looks better suited to create wider cracks and may look great with ice or fire below. The primed bases appear to give a better more solid look, like dried or cracked mud.
Link to the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqkXvwEgwOQ