Special effects

[question]

I've always been interested in special effects in movies, tv, and theatre. Over the last few years I've moved in to more of it with miniatures. I've used GW, Woodland Scenics, and a bit of AK stuff. Does anybody have other favourite products or companies they would care to recommend?

[southstafford]

I really like the paints from MIG Ammo for chipping and weathering my minitures, I also use a lot of items from Greenstuff World their texture rollers, bluestuff mold kits, and silicone molds are great.

[ohgodsnakes]

Vallejo scenics for basing, AK oils for weathering, Tamiya for panel lining, Elegoo for printing.

[question]

Thanks guys! These will keep me busy with research for a while, then it will be $$ time. Your input is greatly appreciated.

[trantos01]

Jun 4, 2024 10:52:14 GMT -5 question said:

Thanks guys! These will keep me busy with research for a while, then it will be $$ time. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Though depending on what you want to do, at the very least you can create various types of basing with materials you probably already have around the house or can get very cheaply.

I used a combination of white glue, baking soda and a bit of white paint to simulate thick/clinging snow on my Votann models.  And I've found it to work just as well as the official stuff (Valhallan Blizzard etc).  Heck if you want to get fancy toss in some gloss varnish to make it seem like the snowflakes are sparkling in the sun.  And if you want to do mud or some other material just swap the paint color and you're good to go. 

Meanwhile if you want the model to look like its walking through sand (regular sand grains  are big enough it can look like gravel etc) spread super glue over the area you want and sprinkle baking soda over it.  They'll bond immediately and then you can either add more to make the illusion of deeper sand and/or paint it (I find watering the paints down a bit helps everything seep in) to get the needed color.

And if you want crystals or whatever, carve up some of the various transparent plastic sprues into bits and stick them on the bases. 

[oceanman]

Jun 4, 2024 16:00:21 GMT -5 trantos01 said:

Jun 4, 2024 10:52:14 GMT -5 question said:

Thanks guys! These will keep me busy with research for a while, then it will be $$ time. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Though depending on what you want to do, at the very least you can create various types of basing with materials you probably already have around the house or can get very cheaply.

I used a combination of white glue, baking soda and a bit of white paint to simulate thick/clinging snow on my Votann models.  And I've found it to work just as well as the official stuff (Valhallan Blizzard etc).  Heck if you want to get fancy toss in some gloss varnish to make it seem like the snowflakes are sparkling in the sun.  And if you want to do mud or some other material just swap the paint color and you're good to go. 

Meanwhile if you want the model to look like its walking through sand (regular sand grains  are big enough it can look like gravel etc) spread super glue over the area you want and sprinkle baking soda over it.  They'll bond immediately and then you can either add more to make the illusion of deeper sand and/or paint it (I find watering the paints down a bit helps everything seep in) to get the needed color.

And if you want crystals or whatever, carve up some of the various transparent plastic sprues into bits and stick them on the bases. 

That snow method sounds really cool. Do you have any pictures of your votann posted?

[trantos01]

Jun 4, 2024 19:50:48 GMT -5 oceanman said:

That snow method sounds really cool. Do you have any pictures of your votann posted?

Just one and I admit my camera isn't the best.

Main thing o remember is that you should only slop this stuff on (depending on ratio you place it like putty) only after you've painted everything.  Because it's really hard to fix the white if you get any colors on it (unless it's intentional blood splatter etc).

Edit: here's a video showing a version of this mix (ratios and application can vary).

[Jack Shrapnel]

alternative snow mix:

white glue, white sugar - put on base and sprinkle snow effect on top (bulks it up and puts crystals in the snow). Some examples here:

imgur.com/gallery/assorted-star-wars-legion-8I9dJjC

Lava bases:

imgur.com/gallery/great-unclean-one-PeRHyAy


paint base Mephiston red, then most of the red gets Evil suns Scarlet, then layer some bright orange over that leaving some red showing, some bright yellow over the orange leaving some of the orange showing, then few dots of white (I use Vallejo airbrush white). Once that all dries I put a layer of Spiritstone Red all over it. Then when that dries I do the base over in Ardcoat or any gloss varnish.

[question]

Love the input! I've tried some of these over the years (or variations) but reminders also help. The new stuff is more "grist for the mill". Thanks to everybody who has contributed!

[voodoo]

My mud mixture is sand, brown paint and white glue. Mix together to get desired consistency and color then glob it onto whatever needs to be muddy, white glue helps keep everything together for a long time.