Flocking Miniatures

Flocking your models is easy, and takes only a few moments to create some wonderful scenery for your miniatures to be a part of. While some miniature painters often skip this step, I feel that it is vital to creating the image that your miniatures are on a war-torn battlefield, rather than a black circle base.

To flock your miniatures you will need different materials depending on where you wish your miniatures to be. Are they on an icy, snow covered planet, or a scorching desert? Are they fighting for their lives in the harsh jungles of an alien homeworld, or the mangled streets of an Imperial palace? This is something you need to consider when creating your army, but today we will cover the basics: rocks and grass.

Basing your miniatures in this style is done in layers. I start with a mix of very fine rocks I picked up from the hobby store, and a more course style of rocks intermingled. I then add blobs of grass on top of the rocks, and even pieces of pine bark if I wish to have large chunks of flagstone. The color of your flocking does not matter, as it will be primed and painted over.

To start, I take one miniature at a time, and using either a toothpick or an old blade, I spread super glue all over the area of the base I wish to cover with the first layer of rocks. Take special care to make sure that you get as little on the legs or treads of the miniature as possible, as the flock will stick to your miniature's legs! Once your glue is spread (and you don't need very much), simply dip your mini into your rocks and swirl it around. Pull it out, tap it with your finger over the bag to remove the excess, and then quickly remove anything that is stuck to the model itself.

These stealthsuits are a great example of what your bases should look like. If you are using patches of grass in your terrain, you do not need to worry about a few small holes here or there that did not get filled, as you can easily cover them with the next layer.

For grass, simply place a dot of glue where you wish your grass to go. Then, take a pinch of the grass from the bag and push it down onto the spot. Hold it for about five seconds, and then tap it to remove the excess (I prefer to just take a deep breath and blow the extra from the base).

Once you reach this step, you can add any wreckage or other optional bits you wish! On larger models I prefer to take advantage of their larger bases by adding battlefield wreckage such as sand bags, abandoned weapons, or even pieces of fallen foes and destroyed vehicles! By taking a few simple moments and scrounging through your bits box, you can tell a narrative with simply the ground on which your troops are standing.