Foliage and shrubery stores

[James Littler]

Hi folks, I have been trying to find some good sites for buying basing materials more specificly shrubs, flowers, reads, leaves and other finely detailed peices for basing. So far i havnt had much luck and was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction.

Also What is your prefered material or brand for water effect and any tips on applycation.


Oh and because i forgot to say so before, it is for 30 mm minitures GW.

 

[gohkm]

Why not just take a gander along the beach or in a park or garden? Organics, once dried out, make great basing material. You could also use dried herbs - oregano, in particular, makes for convincing leaf litter or leaves on trees in that scale. Just need a bit of patience putting it all together.

It'll be quite hard to spot potential basing materials at first, but keep at it and you'll get better. To start off with, look for small dried twigs, or go uproot some weeds - weed roots, in particular, make fine trees, with their sprouting off-branches. Just toss them into an oven at low temperatures and bake for 1/2 a day to dry them out fully.

 

[BPI]

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/

Would be my default James, despite never having ordered myself! Oft read about though and by reputation the prices are good & quantities far superior to the repackaged Silfor that companies like Army Painter package.

If you're web serarching for local stores to shop in, be sure to branch out further than wargaming, the model railway & hobby/craft stores can have plenty of appropriate products.

Though knowing which country you're in would be handy so that locals can help

Cheers, B.

 

[James Littler]

Thanks for the suggestions, and the country is england, In lancashire.

 

[BPI]

Don't know if it's local enough but you could try getting in touch with Javis in Stockport, they do loads of flocks & the like for railway modellers. I've got various of their "Countryside" Scenics products. Postcode on the packet is SK1 1YS. Even if they don't have a trade/public counter they should be able to put you in touch with a local stockist

Otherwise we'll see who else chips in from my old side of the Pennines

Cheers, B.

 

[nels0nmac]

You can also try this place http://www.internationalmodels.net/acatalog/Silflor_Tufts.html

They are generally more expensive than antenoticitis but they do have a nice range of loose leaves and the ivy is quite fun to play with as well. Best thing to do is have a compare between the two and then pick and choose the best bits.

Can't help with the water as I have only used 2 part epoxy glue to create my water effects. Epoxy is ony good for coloured/ muddy water as it doesn't dry totally clear.. it has a slightly blue green tint to it when dry .. despite being clear in the bottle.

 

[mickc22]

if you have any birch trees near you collect a bag full of the catkins (now while they are green, it's less messy) you can dry them out in a low oven or microwave, the smell isn't unpleasant,
the tedious part is sorting out the scales("leaves") from the seeds, I built a "sorting machine" when I was selling them on G2T, using a blow heater set on cold and what was basically a long box with 2 compartments
here it is:

and in action, so to speak:

I do have a few bags available if you cant be bothered to sort them

 

[James Littler]

Thanks for all the advice, should be able to build up a varied supply of materials now.